Development Of Global Computer Network example essay topic

Castells sees the information age as marked by the rise of social networks. This was the development of global computer network (Internet) and other new means of global communication lead to the birth of diverse global economic, political and cultural networks (the network society). These networks are established between economic actors (global capital movements, global organization of production, global hunting of economic resources), political actors (multilateral relations between governments, political parties, social movements) a cultural factors (new global media arena. These diverse networks establish a new kind of global social order that is no more tied to local, national or regional socio-political entities and identities.

This new global social order can be envisioned as multi-layered networks that are positioned above the established state borders. Thus, these networks do not mean the withering away of nation states but radical diminishing of their powers. Since this new global form of social organization is indifferent towards established collective identities, be these local, national, or religious, one can see increasing tensions between the self (established social identities) and the net (new global network society). (Castells 2000, p 21-24) In the network society, information technology and globalization promote one another. Competitiveness in the global economy depends upon the capacity of units (firms, regions, and nations) to generate and apply knowledge-based information. The economy is global because all its core components (capital, labor, raw materials and management) are organized on a global scale and are themselves linked through informational networks.

The global economy is not just a development of the old-established world economy as identified by the world systems theory of Immanuel Wallenstein. The Old World system was based upon the geographical expansion of capital. The new global economy, which functions only in and through information technology, works on a global scale in real time. Forming virtual companies has become an important competitive strategy in today's dynamic global markets. Internet and other information technologies play an important role in providing computing and telecommunications resources to support the communications, coordination, and information flows needed. Managers of a virtual company depend on IT to help them manage a network of people, knowledge, financial, and physical resources provided by many business partners to take quickly advantage of rapidly changing market opportunities.

Instantaneous electronic communication, made possible by global computer networks and satellite transmission, allows for continuous economic decision-making to be enacted globally. Vast capital sums can be transferred immediately from any part of the planet to another. Labor appears to be much more static, but to the degree to which work itself becomes a matter of handling information, labor also becomes disposable on a global scale. (Castells 2000, p 101) Castells argues that the informational economy is not post-industrial according to the thesis of post-industrialism, modern economies are marked by a sharp decline in the importance of manufacturing and a accompanying rise in the service sector. In Castells view, the informational economy still depends in a fundamental way upon manufacturing. (Castells 2000,218-223) Manufacturing however has changed.

Work processes have become increasingly penetrated by information technology, thereby rapidly eliminating many of the older forms of industrial labor. Castells believes that information technology for the most part upgrades workers skills. The more the use of advance information technology expands, the more there is a need for autonomous, educated workers able to supervise whole sequences of work processes. (Castells 2000, p 224-225) The transformation of work and employment has brought in the flex i-workers. There is no major surge in employment (except in Western Europe) but there is great anxiety and discontent about work. Power relations have shifted in favor of capital with much downsizing, subcontracting, and networking of labor, inducing flexibility and individualization of contractual arrangements.

There is a growth of self-employment, temporary work, and part-time, particularly for women. (Freeman 1994, p 97-100).