Page "Information society" Paragraph 24

Other scholars prefer to speak of information capitalism ( Morris-Suzuki 1997 ) or informational capitalism ( Manuel Castells 2000, Christian Fuchs 2005, Schmiede 2006a, b ).

Manuel Castells sees informationalism as a new technological paradigm ( he speaks of a mode of development ) characterized by " information generation, processing, and transmission " that have become " the fundamental sources of productivity and power " ( Castells 2000: 21 ).

The " most decisive historical factor accelerating, channelling and shaping the information technology paradigm, and inducing its associated social forms, was / is the process of capitalist restructuring undertaken since the 1980s, so that the new techno-economic system can be adequately characterized as informational capitalism " ( Castells 2000: 18 ).

Castells has added to theories of the information society the idea that in contemporary society dominant functions and processes are increasingly organized around networks that constitute the new social morphology of society ( Castells 2000: 500 ).

Nicholas Garnham is critical of Castells and argues that the latter ’ s account is technologically determinist because Castells points out that his approach is based on a dialectic of technology and society in which technology embodies society and society uses technology ( Castells 2000: 5sqq ).

But Castells also makes clear that the rise of a new " mode of development " is shaped by capitalist production, i. e. by society, which implies that technology isn't the only driving force of society.