A New Branch of Capitalism

In the era of Fordism, Capitalism was shaped by production and resources. Industrialization was booming with many jobs for unskilled workers. In our time period, Capitalism is shaped by the circulation and application of knowledge. This branch of Capitalism has come to be known as the “New Economy,” “Post-Industrial Economy” or according to Darin Barney, “Network Economy.” Although our socioeconomic system has remained the same, new tactics for businesses have emerged from Informationalism. For one thing, globalization has become bigger, better and stronger. “Electronic connections links companies though all parts of the world though a rapid response/ mutual adjustment system.” Our telecommunications is stronger so that we can do more business. Although there are still restrictions on the economy, technology is still finding ways to break them.

Before, the Industrialized Revolution would take workers who were unskilled, so they could teach them how to do the manufacturing jobs and pay them less since they had less experience and knowledge. Now, we want our workers to have more knowledge to do the technological work. This is creating a “digital divide” between the people who don’t know anything about technology to the very skillful ones. These disadvantages are all over the world: Countries who have no access to information or regions of, for instance the United States, living in poorer areas. Castell calls this “Black holes of informational capitalism” which is the “fourth world of global informational society.”

Another disadvantage is that technology is taking away jobs from people. This may be an old myth because the service sector has risen and people are finding more jobs. The network enterprise model is a huge part of the “New Economy” where instead, traditional hierarchy businesses are now interdependent, self-managing teams. This model also allows smaller firms for niche markets, as we have seen recently through Internet tracking ads on social networking sites. The “New Economy” allows the firm to move to more profitable areas and employees now have more incentives for doing their jobs. Overall, the “New Economy” is now a central part of Capitalism.