Digital Revolution

Digital Revolution addresses the structural transformation of our society, in the context of the dominant impact of technologies, and the consequent changes in the overall production and wealth appropriation system. This is much beyond ‘Industry 4.0’ or neoliberalism concepts: the digital revolution is as deep as the industrial revolution was, more than two centuries ago. It is not a new feature or phase of capitalism; it goes beyond it. New structures are being born.

When manufacture surged in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was not feudalism being modernized, but a new system – capitalism - being born. Similarly, what is surging now is not just a new feature of capitalism, but a new informational mode of production. Agriculture and industry will keep playing a role, but the dominant restructuring role belongs to knowledge, information, communication, finance and other non-material factors. Our institutions and governance systems have been outpaced, they belong to another age, and we are facing the resulting chaos.

The digital revolution is leading to world-scale financialization, giant communication platforms, and a global drain on private information. In Davos they call it Industry 4.0; Bauman called it parasite capitalism; Mariana Mazzucato, extractive capitalism; Brett Christopher, rentier capitalism, and so forth. But it is not enough to add qualifiers to “capitalism”: the digital revolution is generating a radically new system. This research will be useful for all the readers or researchers interested in understanding the systemic change we are facing.