An Introduction to the Information Stage

The global economy is the new reality, it reaches out to the whole planet, but it is not planetory as it does not include the whole planet. Now there is a fourth world which is created and it is mostly women and children. The network enterprise is the network made either from segments or segments of firms, or from internal segmentation of firms. It is the specific set of linkages between different firms or segments. The work and employment have transformed in the information age because of the rise of flexi workers. The general trend in all the countries is rapid growth of self employment, temporary work, and part time, particularly for women. The individualization of work, and therefore of labour's bargaining power is the main feature of employment in the network society.

For the time Information age is the age of stepped up inequality, ploarization and social exclusion. Cultural expressions are shaped by electronic media which has led to the production of customized cottages instead of a global village. The enclosure of communication has a profound effect on politics as it can be used by a political party to transform the media in their favor as is the practice in some of hte countries like Pakistan where the ruling party tries to control media. The Information Age is also organized around new forms of time and space: timeless time and the space of flows. Because of the information technologies time is compressed in seconds, and split seconds. Space is the material support of time sharing social practices. Segments of the space of flows are penetrated by forces of resistance to domination, and by expressions of personal experiences.

Networks transform power relationships but power still exists in the traditional sense. However, there is some order of power as the power of flows in the network prevail over the flows of power.

A lot of research is being done on the effects of information age and how culture is transformed. The role of the media however will vary from context to context. Timeless space is an interesting phenomenon also.