"Social Structure"-Adam Carney

            In Social Structure, Van Dijk argues that space and time are still an intricate part of modern society.  We no longer have a problem with time. Everything is stored and can be sent in an instant. There are ever more efficient ways of spreading information. Things such as emails and social media sites make it easy to constantly communicate. He also speaks of changing communication groups and the different access people have to networking technology. To many people’s interest, he gives a different insight into the digital divide and how it’s not a matter of physical access but a matter of digital “literacy” skills. Another topic discussed is how virtual communication has created discourse communities that have never been seen before. Instant messaging and things such as facebook are examples of new communication groups that are formed in our network society.  To my interest, Van Dijk takes a stand against people who negatively speak of online interaction. He speaks of online contact as a way to support each other. His views are quite interesting and make light out of the network society.

            Jan Van Dijk is a professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. He specializes in sociology and communication science. He is very well respected for the two books he published called The Deepening Divide, Inequality in the Information Society, and The Network Society, which is where our class excerpt is from. The book “The Network Society” was published in 1991 and is applicable to most people, but was most likely written for people who study or are interested in sociology. It isn’t the most difficult read and it does an incredible job of predicting the future of our technological society.

            This book got very good reviews from many of the people who read it. Professor Robin Mansell from the London School of Economics and Political Science said, “This new edition provides deep interdisciplinary insight into the significance of new media in our lives.” Also to my interest Professor Downey stated, “If there was a textbook for this course it would be The Network Society.” In the novel Life is Elsewhere, author Milan Kundera speaks of the ever-growing space and how society is seeing the individual relevance shrink. People are putting their interests into things happening elsewhere. Van Dijk agrees that people see more importance now on something happening elsewhere because they now can see what is happening at any instant due to technology.

            As a whole the piece was very interesting and is very applicable to the society we live in today. It was interesting to me how Van Dijk reconstructed the digital divide. Van Dijk writes, “After having acquired the motivation to use computers and some kind of physical access to them, one has to learn to manage the hardware and software.” He is showing society that the digital divide is not created just from physical access, but it is kept because people are not taught how to use computers and therefore never able to close the gap. If individuals are correctly taught on how to use technology the digital divide could become non-existent.

Works Cited

Dijk, Jan Van. The Network Society. London: Sage Publication, 1991. Print.

Downey, Greg. LIS201 Lecture. Humanities, Madison. 30 Sept. 2014. Lecture.

        Mansell, Robin. "The Network Society." Review. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Kundera, Milan. Life Is Elsewhere. New York: Knopf;, 1974. Print.

Wastage of Human Labor

The film Wastage of Human Resources discusses the problems with mortality and the dangers of labor that affects the size of the labor force. The focus of the film is about death and disease in the workforce and future work force. It highlights examples of common deaths of children and risk factors involved in working in an industrial plant. It also discusses broad risks to the entire population such as war, which can severely reduce the working population. This video is useful to a modern class because it shows the change in attitude towards workplace safety and the growing importance of maintaining a healthy labor force.

This film was made just after World War II in 1947 and describes the human element in the postindustrial society. Instead of focusing on automation and decentralization of factories, the film describes the working population and how companies should focus on creating a safe environment for its workers. This video is valuable because it demonstrates how workplace safety became very important after the war due to the significant decrease in the working population. It is also very interesting that the video discusses death rate among infants even though they will not be part of the workforce for at least 18 years.

The film follows a progression throughout the early life a potential worker and describes the risk factors associated with each age. The film was recorded during the postindustrial period, yet does not describe the change in machinery and factories. It is a great film to use to address the other side of the postindustrial revolution, the human element. The information society focuses heavily on machines and technology, but this video addresses the individuals affected by the change of the information society. This video provides the viewer and in-depth look at information society through the lens of the individuals living through this period. It shows the growing importance of the labor force and their safety.

https://archive.org/details/Wastageo1947

"System Technology"

This short film opens by introducing (without using the term directly) the crisis of control that occurred as American society began advancing at a more and more rapid pace, presenting computing systems as a solution to this ever expanding need for control of information. It then discusses the ways in which data processing and computers have made large distributed systems such as credit cards, large scale energy systems, and other complex industries possible. In particular, it goes into the development and testing of the air defense system the United States had put into place in the early 1960s. These highly complex systems were modeled by cross disciplinary teams of engineers, scientists, programmers, among others. Since it was not practical to launch an actual air attack on Americans in order to test the system, the correctness of the system was checked instead by creating a test set of data and calculating the expected outputs of the system by hand.

After mentioning the tedious labor required to input data to train the system, the film goes on to introduce several key enhancements to the system which automated the process further and further. For example, from human workers looking at maps and calculating coordinates with a ruler and some math, the system moved toward a punch card system that would automatically be read and validated by the system. Even this work saw automation, as the punch cards went from being generated by hand to being generated automatically given a form fed into the system. At the time of the production of the video, humans were left only to verify the final output of the system for inconsistencies.

The film finishes off by discussing other possible applications (many of which became real applications a few years later) of data processing. Among these are electronic educational programs and medical data processing, both of which are massive fields today.

This film is relevant to the theme of "information society" in that it very clearly demonstrates the capability of computers and data processing systems to enable humans to work far more efficiently, and at a larger scale. Without these systems, the infrastructures that we take for granted today, such as credit card networks, wouldn't be possible.

https://archive.org/details/6240_System_Technology_01_29_28_19

Prelinger Archives: Skyline Railways

     This film from the Prelinger Archives, shows the story of the railways in New York City.  I was drawn particularly to this film because of the amount of time I spent commuting into New York City this summer or my internship on a train.  The movie showed many clips of different transportation systems used in the city from horsecars to trains.  First it showed horsecars and their speed at 4 miles per hour.  It also showed large crowds walking through the streets of the city.  They began the film with this to set the stage for the need of a faster and more efficient way of transporting people and knowledge.  The film then follows the development of the train from the James H Scott elevated railway, to Charles T Harvey’s cable system, to a four track, electricity ran structure. This directly relates to the information of the Control Revolution, with the idea that through different technologies, including the train, could bring together a widened society and connect people and ideas throughout the US.  Although the film discusses only the growing history of trains from the first transit plan in 1833 to the end of the high and staggered structure of railways to the subways in 1904, the same themes are shown.  This idea of the control revolution and the importance of trains and vehicles to transport people and technology fast and easily is still an important factor in society.  People are constantly trying to create faster and more technologically advanced means of transportation.

https://archive.org/details/0890_Skyline_Railways_08_09_13_00

The Power of the Media, Part 1: The Open Mind

The Power of the Media, Part 1: The Open Mind

In the 1990 installment of his show, "The Open Mind," Richard D. Heffner, a professor of communications and public policy, interviews Fred Friendly, Edward Murrow's chief collaborator and professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. During the interview, Heffner and Friendly discuss the implications of mass media, particularly broadcast journalism and its evolution into a for-profit business. While it might not have been the most visually stimulating video available on the Prelinger Archives, Friendly made some points that I believe to be pivotal for any information society student to have a solid grasp of.

Friendly points out the irony in that broadcast professionals can actually get paid more for what he deems as significantly subpar work. What he means by this is that because what is shown on television is decided entirely based on ratings, and shows with little journalistic integrity or benefit to society (i.e. reality television, hyperbolized conflict, etc.) get the best ratings, there is a higher likelihood for less educational shows to succeed. Any student who seeks an understanding of the current information society must understand this concept. These shows both reflect and can influence the average individual's perception of society in terms of moral compass, political beliefs, and social norms, acting as a catalyst for information use and dispersion.

Friendly also points out the inherent danger in putting such an influential form of media as television in the hands of a few corporations. He explains that the way that companies such as Hearst obtain licenses to television networks and radio stations is through the hands of investment bankers who essentially convince owners to sell their companies for profit, making a commission for themselves in the process. This concept of the media being bought out by so few people is just as important in understanding what drives the media that we consume today as it did back in the 90s. Setting aside the relatively recent explosion of cable television, owning the license to a particular channel gives the parent company the right to filter which opinion leaders are able to broadcast their show or points of view on their network, effectively limiting the existence of true freedom of speech in the mass media.

Machine: Master or Slave

The short film I watched was titled "Machine: Master or Slave." The film was about the emergence of automation in America during WWII, and the many effects it had on both the work force and the factory owners. The film references a specific factory throughout the video, yet we never learn exactly what it is that they produce. It begins with two of the factory workers discussing the rumors circulating about possible layoffs to come, but they aren't all that concerned because they have been working at the company for several years.

Next we see what is assumed to be the head of the company discussing business with his sales manager. They have decided to put in new labor saving machines in place of their men. The benefits of this implementation of automation are lower costs and greater production of goods, but the downfall is that they must terminate the employment of 64 of their men. As the film puts it, "machines come in and men go out, everywhere the same story."

The film shows one of the factory's laid off workers come home to his wife and complain of no jobs to be had anywhere. He explains how these new machines and the implementation of high speed production are taking over, and that there are 10 men for every job that can be had. He then informs his wife that they will be moving to a farm owned by his cousin where there is work available for them both.

Later on in the film we see that the workers are not the only ones who end up suffering from the mass production that has resulted from the new factory machines. The new machinery has succeeded in increasing output by over 50%, yet inventories are piling up as a result. The company is failing to sell this additional inventory because the consumers are unable to afford it. The factory must in turn reduce the prices of their product in order to relieve inventories and get the goods back into the hands of the consumers.

Overall, I thought this film had an interesting take on automation in America, as it showed that it sometimes resulted in consequences for not only the workers but the factory owners as well. As we learned in class, the implementation of high tech machinery replaced many factory workers, and as a result they were left jobless or had to find work in more rural areas. On the other hand, the factory owners sometimes suffered also, and they were forced to deal with excess inventory and unwilling consumers. Overall, it was interesting to learn more about the downsides of automation rather than that it solely led to low costs and increased production of goods.

https://archive.org/details/machine-master_or_slave

Destination Earth

The film I watched was titled "Destination Earth", and was created in 1956. Unlike most films in the archives, this one was a cartoon. The cartoon discusses the emergence of competition in America in the post-industrial economy and the rise of large businesses. An alien from a foreign planet is sent on a mission to America to discover how to run automobiles. Not only does he discover oil as the source of automobiles, but more importantly he realizes that business competition is what makes the country operate.

The main idea of this video applies directly to our world today. We can learn many things, mostly that business competition is healthy and is the true backbone of America. It is useful to students of our modern information infrastrructure because it represents how the post-industrial economy transitioned into what our economy is today. The alien discovers that oil is not just a resource used to operate automobiles, but rather it creates a whole new sector of competition and business in America. At the time the cartoon was created in the 1950's, a national economy was emerging during the age of affluence. Oil allowed for trains and automobiles to travel across the country to conduct business, filtering into what is now an extremely large economy.

Ultimately, this cartoon goes to show that competition is the reason America went away from a post-industrial economy to what is now a country filled with constant competition of businesses. This capitalist society makes America unique to many countries, and is a large contributing factor to the massive economy that exists in 2014.

https://archive.org/details/Destinat1956

Freedom and Power (Part II)-Adam Carney

The film I viewed is called Freedom and Power (part II). It discussed the every changing society that we live in and it was dated back to 1952. An old man talks about how his life was before electricity and how much change he has seen during his lifetime. This film is useful because it talks about productivity and our ever changing society. Electricity has become an intricate part of society and our world in the future will continue grow and become more efficient. This applies directly to our class because we are constantly talking about the ever changing world around us. It was a lot for the people in the 1950's to see all these changes in products and now in today's society we continue to grow and continue to change hopefully for the better. Every product they were using is primitive to us now, but at the time it was revolutionary.

In the video the old man talks about how he grew up on a farm that was not nearly as productive as it is with his son running it. It requires a lot less people to be in agriculture because of the electric power and resources that came into the industry. People started entering the service industry, and education became a high focus in society. From generation to generation we were able to see the increasingly more intelligent society that this family came to live in.

What can be learned from this video is that society will continue to change and grow because that is what we have done for thousands of years. Technology will continue to advance and we will become a more connected and information based society.

https://archive.org/details/Freedoma1952_2

Lazonick's Globalization of the ICT's Labor Force

Lazonick's Globalization of the ICT's Labor Force

The article “Globalization of the ICT Labor Force” was written by William Lazonick in 2007 in the Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies. Lazonick studied economics at the University of Toronto, and is now a Professor and Director of the University of Massachusetts Center for Industrial Competitiveness and as well as the President of The Academic-Industry Research Network. Lazonick’s work deals with topics like economic development, the theory of innovative enterprise, high tech innovation, and the globalization of high-tech labor. His expertises are considered to be the innovation and development of the economy. Some of Lazonick’s other works include Sustainable Prosperity in the New Economy? Business Organization and High-Tech Employment in the United States, which won the 2010 Schumpeter Prize.

In this article, Lazonick talks about how offshoring has developed throughout history. At first, it was used to find low wage labor for low skilled tasks. However, in the 1970s the “East Asian miracle” occurred, which was the growth of a highly educated, high-tech labor force in Asian. This change was caused by the investment in education from local governments. However, the new growth of educated individuals in Asia did not immediately help local economies due to the “brain drain”: when developed countries took the best individuals the developing countries had to offer. For example, Lazonick mentions, “One study estimated that, given the cost of educating S&E and their lost value‐added, India transferred $51 billion to the US between 1967 and 1985” (Lazonick, Globalization of the ICT Labor Force). However, MNCs began FDI in these Asian countries, and high skilled jobs immerged offering engineers and managers opportunities to do this ICT work while at home. This caused the brain drain to slowly reverse.

Lazonicks main argument is that the globalization of the ICT labor force will continue to develop, based on the strategies of the nations involved and their demand for capital and or labor. Because India and China are so large and have so much potential for growth, these two countries demand special attention. Lastly, although the brain drain is almost reversed, Lazonick still believes future research involving his theory of the “investment triad” is needed in order to reverse the drain as well as promote as most growth as possible in China and India. This triad involves coordination between MNCs and local/ national governments.

Most negative reactions to this paper dealt with individuals who see US offshoring and outsourcing as hurting the US economy because Americans are losing jobs. In contrast, Lazonick is saying that this outsourcing and offshoring is building economies in underdeveloped countries as well as increasing their GDPs. A similar article on this topic that I discovered was titled A Perceived Role of Offshore Outsourcing Strategy in Achieving Success of Technology Start-Ups, and was written by Jayaram Madireddy. In this article, Madireddy argues offshoring and outsourcing strategies can help technology start-ups achieve success only if the MNCs monitor and control the outsourcing activities more closely. Like Lazonick, Marieddy is arguing the benefits of outsourcing, and how it can help the global economy as a whole, rather than just looking at how it effects a single country.

Works Cited

William Lazonick, “Globalization of the ICT labour force,” in R. Mansell et al. eds., The Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies (2007).

Work Pays America (Part 2) - JD Keiles

I watched Work Pays America (Part 2). It was a very interesting short clip about art in America. I didn't realize how important it is and how much goes into preserving art, especially stained glass. It was nice to see how different types of workers in America shift to do the types of work most needed. The clip later discussed how the WPA stepped into to help clean up wreckage from the flood and distribute food to the victims. The video touched on the importance of cleaning up and how the Works program took priority in stopping disease from spreading after the natural disaster. From this video, it shows how important the WPA is to keeping this country afloat in the areas where it was suffering. It was nice to see that the Works Program focused its efforts to preserve natural resources too. We as current American citizens can learn the importance in raising a good generation of youth. They really are the future of the country so it is important to raise them on good morals and values. The WPA took on a lot of responsibility in its 120 projects to better the country. Overall, this video showed the organization America had over both bettering its country's land and its citizens alike.

"Navajo Canyon Country"

The video I watched was "Navajo Canyon Country" which was a semi-colored documentary from 1954 that talked about the history and culture of the Navajo Indians in northern Arizona and New Mexico. The documentary began by showing the differences between urban American lifestyles and the lifestyles of the Navajo Indians. Shots of cars stuck in traffic were set against shots of carriages and horses running through the desert. The documentary then continued on talking about the lifestyle of the Navajo and how they continue to live as a primarily agricultural society where crops and livestock are the backbone of the economy.
The next section of the video talked about ancient civilizations that lived in the same region and how they were both similar and different to the Navajo. Comparisons were made about housing, social structure, agriculture, and culture.
I believe that this is a video that would benefit a class on Information Society for several reasons. Firstly, it gives a strong viewpoint of a society that is about as far from Post-Industrial and Networked as we can see today. At the time the film was made the Navajo shown had very little access to technology or information and thus live in an almost information-less society rather than the information society that we live in. This would help to illustrate the impacts that different forms of information have had on our society as you can analyze the differences and see how information technologies have shaped our modern, urban society.

https://archive.org/details/0122_Navajo_Canyon_Country_12_16_15_00

"Wheels of 1927"

https://archive.org/details/Wheelsof1927

I watched the Wheels of 1927, which was a black and white, soundless video about the evolution of transportation. It started out talk about the “days of the full dinner pail”, which were days in which the bike was the main form of transportation. The goal at the time was to live close to your job. It mentions how at that time, one man in the town would be in charge of the food, and all the others depended on him for it. However, this man usually lived 20 miles away, which was quite the journey.

            By 1910, cars began to be used, but it shows funny clips of individuals trying to drive the cars in empty roads. They are having trouble driving the cars, and figuring out how to push the gas and go fast, etc. Cars existed, but people were still learning to drive. However, cars soon became very useful. The 20-mile drive to get food from the main food producer was fun, “The city? Why that’s only twenty miles away; a pleasant drive.”

            Motors, good roads, and personal transportation were bringing change to attitude about work too. It brought fresh air and attractive surroundings to workers. A big point in the film was that the motorcar and road were indispensable to each other’s progress. A good road was needed for cars to progress, and as cars became better developed, the opportunity for an American highway immersed. This is a good example of how this film relates to class. The highway and motor were both aspects of the control revolution. As motors progressed, it was necessary to create transportation outlets so people could communicate better, so the highway emerged.

            Overall, I thought the video was very interesting, and it was cool to see a “vintage video” about the control revolution and how transportation was apart of it.

"Nation at your fingertips"

https://archive.org/details/0713_Nation_at_Your_Fingertips_The_09_41_22_00

This video focused on the creation and development of the telephone. It was funny to see how amazed the reaction was to this technology in this time was, when in present times we have the opportunity for constant communication with anyone in the world at any time. This video on the information technology relates to the Information Society class because it shows how transportation of communication was evolving, and the reaction of the public to this. It is also interesting to compare this advancement to advancements and present forms of technology present now.

The video began with an older couple receiving news by letter that their new grandchild had came down with the measles. She decides to use her new telephone to call her daughter across the country in San Francisco to make sure everything is okay. This part of the film uses Pathos to play on the emotions of the viewers to enhance their positive viewpoint of the telephone.

The video then continues on into an explanation of how the telephone system works with the "boy operators" working hard all day, and then transforming into new "girl operators" working the system. Another aspect that was comical about this film is the stress on gender roles in jobs during this time. The film goes on to explain the new computer-like system that controlled this telephone technology. A piece of paper would come out of the machine with codes that would need to be deciphered by professionals. Phone numbers were described and area codes were created.

Telephone communication began with across-town communication, spread to across the country, and eventually across oceans. The video displays people using the telephone in excitement. This new technology that enabled communication transportation without people having to physically travel was amazing in this time. It is interesting to compare this to present times when phone calls are one of the many fast forms of communication available.

"On Guard! The Story of SAGE"

      I found the video"On Guard! The Story of SAGE" for this week's assignment. This video was an advertisement produced by IBM and the Military Products Division during the 1950's. It features the SAGE computer which was an early military computer that was used to detect incoming air attacks, track military supplies, and monitor commercial flights.
      This video is relevant to the Information Society because it shows one of the first large scale applications of computer technology. It demonstrates how computers allow for the processing of large amounts of data into something that is human readable. The video takes about the beginnings of predictive modeling and user experience. It also talks about developing computers so that they could be housed in airplanes which demonstrates the spread of computer technology into more and more devices and the need for compact computers.
      The video also addresses how the computer impacts society. The video shows many scenes of children playing and at school in order to convey the idea that the computer is keeping families safe. Additionally the video mentions computer technologies making it so that unskilled workers can perform skilled tasks. The airplane computers put "testing computer units in the same class as testing light bulbs."
      Overall this video is an interesting look at the application of and reaction to the computer during the cold war. It shows the beginning of many computer technologies that still exist today as well as how computers were allowing for more information processing and control during this time. It also gives an example of how computers technologies make complicated work flows simpler.

https://archive.org/details/OnGuard1956

Online Activity Week 4: Prelinger Archives

The film I watched this week is titled “America for me”. It is about two young women who travelled around the United States riding a Greyhound bus. This film is important to students of our modern information structure because it made us realize the importance of travelling. Even though, we can learn a lot just by browsing the internet, travelling gives us a new set of experiences that could not be replicated by simply reading books or online articles.

Travelling is something important to broaden one’s knowledge. The woman with red lipstick and glasses said “the more we get around the country, the more we know what makes America tick.” As a teacher she was given a chance to travel the country in order to be better at teaching. Through their journey, they can see how different parts of the United States may differ greatly from each other and how each area is unique in a lot of ways. They also got a chance to learn about the diversity of cultures like watching tribal dances. The teacher kept a record of her journey in a notebook and wrote down things she learned and things she found interesting to share with her students.

Travelling by bus becomes a common way to get around the country in the 1950s. There is a network of well-connected roads that connect from city to city. These roads facilitate the integration of the vast areas of the United States. This integration is important to spur migration of skilled workers and exchange of knowledge. Despite the availability of air travel today, we can still see people travelling around the country by bus. It is an inexpensive way to travel and suitable for people who want to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Buses can also make strategic stops to places inaccessible by airplanes.

Link to film: https://archive.org/details/0655_America_For_Me

"Work Pays America Part 1"

Following my viewing of "Work Pays America Part 1",  what catches my eye as a relation to the information society is the appearance of jobs in America and how they came about. With the building connections of rural to urban life, the demand for easy transportation was crucial in reaching markets, and thus provided employment to skilled workers to create efficient highways, railroads, and bridges. Also, the emergence of airplanes led to more employment in regulating air traffic and airports themselves, the most popular airports being in Newark, New Jersey and Chicago, Illinois. Along with jobs given in the manual labor realm, white collared jobs sprung up in a multitude of ways. For example, with the new highways being built, there was a need for traffic viewing: someone to track the number of cars on the streets at certain times, and find new routes, and regulate who is on the roads to lessen human failure.
For women, careers in sewing opened up, offering them more stagnant positions. This appealed to many women because they were able to express their creativity through fashion, all while earning an income.
Another huge factor was the salience of education. Not only were children starting their education at a younger age, but adults were given the option of attending higher level and vocational schools as well. These vocational schools initiated the students to learn to utilize their natural skills.
With the presence of employment creation, and more educational opportunities. the information society is represented through the advancements in technology and new knowledge gained through these advancements. The information infrastructure from back in the "Age of Affluence" prefaces our society today in that the opportunities given our immense, and growing. It is not only about whether individuals are skilled nowadays, but do they have the technological, and vocational knowledge to succeed economically and satisfactory.

https://archive.org/details/WorkPays1937

Jen Erickson

Laurence Veysey's "A Postmortem on Daniel Bell’s Post Industrialization"

           Laurence Veysey was a professor at the University of California-Santa Cruz who taught History.  He had a fascination with utopias of past and present times (Beecher).  One of his colleagues and friends Jonathan Beecher said that he was a complex and intelligent individual that never failed to speak his mind.  Veysey did not fail to do this in his writing that was published in the academic journal, American Quarterly, A Postmortem on Daniel Bell’s Post Industrialization (1982).  The American Quarterly is the official journal of the American Studies Association (ASA), the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history (Yoshihara). His essay discussed two main things, his critiques on Daniel Bell’s ideals about Post Industrialization and his own ideas on a better explanation of this time period.  Daniel Bell coined the term “Post-Industrial Society” in his writings The Coming of Post-Industrial Society (1973) and The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976).  This term can be defined as a stage of society’s development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of an economy.  Vesey began this essay by defining this time period in a different manner, “it was a time period with widespread affluence and leisure, dependence on technology, and an emphasis on the role as a consumer rather than a worker” (Vesey, 49).  He then continues to criticize and analyze Daniel Bell’s books, where Bell relates Post Industrialization to futurology and neoconsumeratism.  Throughout Bell’s books, Vesey explains how he shows many confusing shifts in tone and is unable to achieve a sense of proportion as he views any particular subject.  Veysey describes Bell’s writing throughout the two books as follows, “the first book he writes as a prophet, the first half of the second book as a composer of fiery seremaids, and the second half of the second book on a level with the rest of society, trying to make sense of the complex problems thrown at him” (Veysey).  Throughout Bell’s writing, he describes himself as a socialist in economics, liberal in politics, and conservative in culture.  Veysey sees this as him being all over the place and epitomizing the loss of will among most American intellectuals of their own decade (Veysey).  One main criticism Veysey has is that Bell doesn’t extend to the larger society beyond the elites, showing how his writings cannot be generalized towards the American or Western society as a whole.  Now, Veysey shifts from his ideas on Bell’s writing, to his own analysis of this time period.  Bell was writing to help describe what will happen in the future, however, Veysey feels that Post Industrialization has merit that relates it to the 20^th century American past, not future (Veysey).  Veysey chooses to use the term “age of affluence” rather than Post Industrial society.  He describes the time period as an era of brief human utopia, “the middle 20^th century, a period unlike any other because a majority of the population could enjoy a reasonably comfortable life” (Veysey).  The key indicators of this time period, which he feels stretched from around the 1920’s to the 1970’s, as a shortening of the work week and growing emphasis on leisure time, arrival of hedonistic morality, the spread of new mass media, dependence on the automobile, movement to the suburbs, and a shift from the manufacturing sector to the service sector.  He continues to explain why he feels these are key factors and when they arise and decrease in American society.  Comparing Daniel Bell and Laurence Veysey’s ideas on the same time period, you can see how the Post Modern Society was viewed from two vastly different perspectives.

Works Cited

Beecher, Jonathan. "Remembering Laurence Veysey (1933-2004)." History of Education Quarterly. No. 3 (Fall, 2005) ed. Vol. Vol. 45. History of Education Society. Pp. 407-411. Print.

Laurence Veysey, "A postmortem on Daniel Bell's postindustrialism," American Quarterly 34:1 (1982).

Yoshihara, Mari. "American Quarterly." American Quarterly: The Official Publication of the American Studies Association. Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. <http://www.americanquarterly.org/index.html>.