POST INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

According to Daniel Bell the three major realms of society, the techno-economic sphere, the
polity, and the culture are marked by a disjuncture. Bell’s position contrasts sharply with
functionalism and Marxism, both of which emphasize as the typical condition the
integration of society in relation either to consensus values and norms (as in the case of
functionalism) or a dominant mode of production (as in the case of Marxism).

He gives examples of societies where three realms of social structure, polity and culture
were integrated for example church dominated society of early medieval Europe and the
bourgeois society that emerged in Western Europe and North America following the
Industrial Revolution. But, in the case of the emerging postindustrial society, Bell is clear
that the major principles of organization of the three realms are in conflict. He is concerned
about the changes in social structure and its political consequences. He is expecting changes
but avoids making claims for the same.

NEW AXIAL PRINCIPLES OF POST INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

The social structure of a society is composed of economy, polity and culture. Where all were
integrated in past, now all three have different axial principles.

The axial principle of the techno-economic sphere is functional rationality, a combination

of efficiency and productivity oriented to material growth (achieved through the discipline
of occupational specialization within bureaucratic hierarchies).

The axial principle of the polity is legitimacy, based on equality and participation and
oriented to obtaining the consent of the governed for the use of power.

The axial principle of the culture is development of the self, encouraging a denial of any
limits or boundaries to experience and a distance from bourgeois norms.

Talking about the changes in the social structure, he laid emphasis on aspects of Post
Industrial Society:-
• Economy- Increasing bureaucratization of science and increasing specialization of work
into minute parts characterizes the social structure of society.
• Polity- As this society is dependent upon the scientific and technological advancement, it
makes scientists, engineers, technocrats compete with politicians or become their allies.
As a result of this, the relationship between social structure and political order becomes an
issue of power.
• Culture- As it is theoretical and cognitive knowledge, which gain importance,
enhancement of the self is challenged.

THE ABOVE THREE POINTS CAN BE SUMMARISED AS FOLLOWING TWO

CONTRADICTIONS

BETWEEN SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND CULTURE

A social structure based on the discipline of occupational specialization within bureaucratic
hierarchies and a culture based on the enhancement and fulfilment of the self and the whole
person. The two are in contradiction because one requires self-renunciation in the service of
institutional goals, while the other promotes an uninhibited pursuit of self-realization.

BETWEEN SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND POLITY

By the Social structure we mean graded occupational specialisation (meritocracy) and by
Polity we mean equal rights (equality).

The need for specialized occupational skills give way for meritocracy, that is only
candidates having best suited skills will be selected or promoted or accepted in the PIS
whereas the polity is based on the idea of equality. The idea of meritocracy will clash with
the equality. (Meritocracy believes that power should be vested in individuals on the basis of
talent, achievement rather than sexuality, race, gender and wealth, performance measured
through examination. A society in which gifted and smart, ambitious and energetic are sifted
out to help them achieve their desirable goals.)

DIMENSIONS
• Future Orientation - Control of technology in future
• Axial Principle - Centrality of theoretical knowledge as the source of innovation and
social policy
• Decision making - Creating intellectual technology such as through ICT by expanding
universities and other knowledge production centers.
• Occupational distribution - The demand for people having professional and technical
knowledge.
• Economic sector - Change from production of goods to services.

Where do majority people work? Labor force should be in services.

Colin Clark in 1930s divided economy into three sectors- Primary (agriculture based),
secondary (manufacturing or industrial), tertiary (services). He said that any industrializing
society will follow the evolutionary path of economy from primary to tertiary sector. As the
national income rises, there would be demand for services. Going by this assumption, a PIS
should be characterized by labor force being engaged in services such as trade, finance,
transport, health, recreation, research, education. If we apply this criteria, USA emerges as
only nation where more than half employees are in service economy.

Bell adds to it by highlighting that using the term ‘service’ also has some risks. What count
as services for PIS? For example, India has many household servants, but that is nit PIS,
because that is personal, and the labor is available because that person was unemployed.
Bell gives following categories of services:-
- Health
- Research
- Education
- Government
- Transportation & communication and utilities
- Business: banking, finance, real estate, insurance
- Personal: retail stores, laundries, garages, beauty shops

In Bell’s vision, it is growth of last three categories which characterize the coming of PI,
that is expansion of universities, intelligentsia, research organizations, professions and
government.

What kind of work people do, or looking at nature of occupation? The professional
and technical class.
There is an emergence of white collar occupations- office work which require some college
education. In USA the ratio between blue collar jobs and white collar jobs has been
widening. It is not only the technical and professional class that rises but also scientists and
engineers who are triple the number of working population.

The primacy of theoretical knowledge

Theoretical knowledge emerges as new axial principle of society, university, research
organizations, intellectual institutions assume importance as places where theoretical
knowledge is enriched. The primacy of theory over empiricism, abstraction into symbols to
explain different sets of knowledge. There is focus on innovation, and an urge to know
future to plan in advance. The atom bomb representing the combination of war and science,
invention of computers as bridge between theory and large data base, development of
econometric models. The merging of science, technology and economics is also popularly
termed as Research and Development. Growth of science based industries such as
computers, electronics, optics, polymers as they are primarily dependent on theoretical work
prior to production.

The planning of technology

Bell talks about hazardous effects of technological determinism such as DDT pesticides
were used as cheap fertilizers but harmed wildlife too. There is need for regulation of
technologies.

Rise of new intellectual technology

An intellectual technology is the substitution of problem solving rules (algorithm) for
judgments. These algorithms may be embodied in a machine or computer program based on
formula Whereas nineteenth century was marked by invention of the method of invention,
handling two variable problems (pressure and volume, time and distane), in the second half
of the twentieth century, there is growth of managing organized complexity…multiple
variables, gross numbers, …for example game theory, cybernetics, utility theory, set theory,
which are used to predict outcomes out of different choices in strategized situations.