225
Modern cities are no longer
dominated by the factories essential to
manufacturing. In the post-industrial
world of service industries, futuristic
architecture has space to thrive.
See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Manuel Castells 152–55 ■ Ulrich Beck 156–61 ■
Max Weber 220–223
WORK AND CONSUMERISM
however, the most valuable social
“resource” is scientific and
theoretical knowledge, and those
who control it hold the power.
He also claims that social
change occurs at an unprecedented
pace as scientific progress and
developments in technology
interpenetrate and propel human
societies into the future. The
post-industrial era is therefore,
he says, a period in the history
of society in which advances in
science and technology are as
unpredictable and boundless
as the human imagination.
Post-industrial society
According to Bell, post-industrial
society differs from industrial
society in three interrelated ways:
first, the production of consumer
goods is surpassed by the growth
and progress of “theoretical”
knowledge; second, developments
in science and technology become
increasingly intertwined as
universities and industry-led
initiatives form ever-tighter and
interpenetrating relations; and
finally, the number of unskilled
and semiskilled workers declines
as the majority of the population
work in, and draw upon, the
expanding service industries.
Bell refers to service industries as
those spheres of human activity
that are devoted to managing
and guiding the application of
information and knowledge.
Another key aspect of post-
industrial society, according
to Bell, is the rise in power of
“technocrats,” or people who
exercise authority through their
technical knowledge and ability to
solve problems logically. The social
power of technocrats is determined
by their skill in forecasting and
guiding new scientific ideas.
Bell believes that technology
encourages imagination and
experimentation—in so doing, it
opens up new ways of thinking
about the world. He points to the
fact that the Greek word techne
means “art.” For him, art and
technology should not be seen as
separate realms: technology, he
says, is “a form of art that bridges
culture and social structure, and
in the process reshapes both.” ■Daniel Bell
The influential social thinker,
writer, and sociologist Daniel
Bell was born in Manhattan,
New York City in 1919.
His parents were Jewish
immigrants from Eastern
Europe. His father died when
Bell was just a few months
old; his family’s name was
changed from Bolotsky to Bell
when he was a teenager.
In 1938 Bell received a
BSc from City College of New
York. He worked as a political
journalist for more than 20
years. As managing editor of
The New Leader magazine
and editor of Fortune, he
wrote widely on social issues.
In 1959, in recognition of his
contribution to political
journalism, he was appointed
professor of sociology at
Columbia University; he was
later awarded a PhD from the
same university, even though
he did not submit a doctoral
thesis. He was a professor
of sociology at Harvard
University from 1969 to 1990.Key works1969 The End of Ideology
1973 The Coming of Post-
Industrial Society
1976 The Cultural
Contradictions of Capitalism