Post-industrial Society: its history and characteristics

Among many other things, the social sciences have offered us different ways of naming and studying the history of Western societies. Currently, we have different concepts that refer to transformations in production relations, economic changes, technological production, and so on.

One of these concepts is that of Postindustrial Society., which refers to the transformations that the social organization established after the industrial revolution has undergone. Below we explain what the Post-Industrial Society is and where it comes from, as well as 5 of its main characteristics.

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From the Industrial Revolution to the Post-Industrial Society

The reason why it has been called Post-Industrial Society is to refer to the time and the transition process of a society that was established based on the consequences of the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century (the Industrial Society), to the society that has been established based on the production of this new technology.

The type of society that had been generated before the Industrial Revolution is known as Pre-industrial Society. Among other things, this society was organized by primary relationships (face to face), styles of rural life, agricultural production, an economic system of feudal and slave government, among others things.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the organization of work was transformed towards the primacy of mass production, where each person is part of a large manufacturing system. Technological innovation is booming, based on the cost-benefit logic. With this, labor relations also become wage-dependent and dependent on the market.

Subsequently, the Post-Industrial Society emerged, mainly from the technological revolution, the transformation of global geopolitics, economic interdependence through global scale, the relations between economy, state and society, where the state regulates the markets, generates competition at a global level, and ceases to be a welfare state, and finally, an internal restructuring of capitalism (Castell, 1997 in Sisto, 2009).

These transformations have been explained through many other concepts. We have, for example, the knowledge society, the information society, the technocratic era, among others. The multiplicity of terms responds to the need to understand the different ways in which our societies have developed.

For example, if we use the term "knowledge society" it is surely because we put special attention to the ways in which the latter is produced, and if we talk about Post-industrial Society probably we will place more emphasis on the relations of production that are established.

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5 characteristics of the Post-industrial Society

The concept of Postindustrial Society emerged in the 70's and has been worked on by different people. Daniel Bell is recognized as one of the first to use and develop the term, especially from his book The Coming of the Post-Industrial Society from 1973.

Among other things, Bell described 5 dimensions that are characteristic of the Post-industrial Society and that establish important differences with industrial societies: the sector of the labor force, the preference of the occupational sector, the pre-eminence of theoretical knowledge and the production of technology both mechanical and intellectual.

1. Where is the workforce?

According to Bell, unlike agricultural societies and industrial societies, post-industrial societies have the characteristic that the labor force is concentrated in the service provision sector (health, education, government).

In the words of Bell (1976), the industrial society is distinguished from previous ones by an important change in the economic sector: there is a transition from the commodity-producing economy to the commodity-producing economy services.

2. Who is the labor sector for?

The consequence of this is explained by Bell as another of the characteristics that distinguish post-industrial societies: the labor sector is practically reserved for people who have technical and professional training (specialized).

That is, the occupational distribution maintains a preference for professional and technical classes.

3. The primacy of theoretical knowledge

To train technicians and professionals, the construction and transmission of theoretical knowledge is essential. Post-industrial society has the characteristic of giving primacy to the production of this type of knowledge, not only to impact the occupational sector, but also regarding the political management of companies.

Bell (1976) calls this an “axial principle”, referring to the centrality of theoretical knowledge as a source of political innovation.

4. Generate mechanical technology

The main resource to offer solutions to the problems faced by post-industrial society is the development of technology. Not only develop technology but also control its distribution and regulation.

In other words, post-industrial society maintains development expectations and orientation towards the future in the production of technological projects.

5. Generate intellectual technology

Related to the previous point and to the primacy of theoretical knowledge, post-industrial society constantly generates solutions based on sets. ordered and finite operations, that is, in the production of algorithms, on the most intuitive resolutions, which in other societies had had more presence.

This creation of intellectual technology is also a new way of making decisions at the political level.

Bibliographic references:

• Bell, D. (1976). The advent of the Postindustrial Society. Editorial Alliance: Spain.
• Seoane, J. (1988). Post-industrial society and forms of political participation. Psychology Bulletin [Electronic Version] Retrieved June 5, 2018. Available in https://www.uv.es/seoane/publicaciones/Seoane%201989%20Sociedad%20postinductrial%20y%20formas%20de%20participacion%20politica.pdf.
• Sisto, v. (2009). Changes in work, identity and social inclusion in Chile: Challenges for research. Universum Magazine, 24(2): 192-216.