POST-INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

Has Canada become a “Post-Industrial” Society?

Has Canada become a “Post-Industrial” Society?

What does “post-industrialism” mean and what are the main characteristics of “industrial” and “postindustrial” societies?

The post-industrial economy or postindustrial society, sometimes called new economy is the type of economy and society today developed countries, much less based on industrial production and agriculture than in previous centuries. The term was created by Alvin Toffler, or Daniel Bell.

The characteristics of the industrial society

Key characteristics of the industrial society are the production in factories and a high degree of division of labor. Usually, this is associated with an increasing spatial separation of work and homes. Characteristics of the industrial society are the trends towards urbanization, an increase in red tape, increasing the material standard of living, environmental issues as well as the concentration of productive capital.

The characteristics of the post-industrial society

The industrial economy has several key features:

Physical production (agriculture and industry) lose their predominance in favor of the tertiary sector (services).

Development is increasingly based on knowledge, creativity and information, which became the new raw materials of the modern economy (knowledge economy) and the form of the most sought capital (knowledge capital) (Godard 1994, 90).

One might add as a third characteristic building a global economy on the basis (economic globalization) without deleting local competitive advantages based more on the concept of center of excellence with competitiveness or leadership level World in a specific economic sector.

A fourth characteristic is the constraint of sustainable development, which at the corporate level, results in social responsibility.

The philosopher Michel Foucault believes that the transition to the post-industrial economy corresponds to a change of worldview. He called the post-industrial era as the hypermodern era.

Using the concepts of “industrial” and “postindustrial” societies: How has work changed in Canada over time?

Productivity found some topical in the world of work in North America, especially in Canada since the early 2000s and the finding statistical delay labor productivity against the United States, experiencing a boom in productivity interrupted for several years. In Canada as in Quebec, labor productivity grew at an average annual growth rate of less than 1 per cent during the period 2000-2004. During the period 1988-2000, the average annual growth rate of productivity was less than 2 percent (Lowe 1998, 101).

Political culture of national autonomy against its American neighbor, strong legacy of Keynesianism, industrial structure traditionally oriented towards the exploitation of natural resources, the importance of the financial sector due to the ...