Network Economy without Politics?

I firmly believe that there is certain logic behind Darin Barney's arrangement of chapters in his book about the network society, and the one we have read for today, the Network Economy, is only one of the many topics that he will talk about. However, I still question an approach to analyze the “network economy” without considering the power relation, or the reification of it –politics, governance, educational institutions, etc. –in the society under scrutiny.

Darin Barney’s chapter has mentioned two different opinions on how the network technology will affect the employment (92-94). One is that the digital technology is a threat to the employment market because “digital technology is deeply implicated in, for example, the mobility of production operations and capital, a type of “flow” that often washes away employment in its wake” (92). Another opinion argues that from global statistics, the rise of network technology has resulted in a rise of the service sector’s employment (such as business, social, commercial, entertainment, leisure and personal services). While I do agree that both opinions are factors that influence the employment market, I propose a necessity to consider how the employment market and the government would react to such influences. After all, it is unfair to only assume that the technology side always takes the lead.

First of all, the government of a network society will take measures to better accommodate to the “network economy”, balancing the technology use as well as promoting career training of its workforce to adapt the need for information-oriented jobs. The news comes that Obama is going to meet with CEOs of the leading technology companies to discuss and learn how to ensure high-speed technological innovations while increase employment.

Education is another possible source of response to the affected job market. More and more programs targeting at increasing technology and information savvy become in par with the innovation pace. If we picture the industrial revolution with a consequence of the “management of materials” and “standardized manufacture work”, the “information revolution” might result in the “management of mind/ideas” and “formatted information generation labor”.

While Barney has articulated his composite theory consisting of essence, design, situation, and use of certain technology in the previous reading, his chapter of “network economy” does not implies a comprehensive analysis to the dynamics between technology and a society’s possible response/resolution to it.