Exam 2 Review Guide

Define and understand the concept of informationalism. (Warschauer)

Informationalism is basically the new stage of global capitalism that we are in right now. It is the third industrial revolution, which started in the 1970s. Currently, we have an information economy in which computers and the Internet play an essential enabling role. There are four features that distinguish informationalism from the prior industrial revolution: (1) The driving role of science and technology for economic growth, (2) a shift from material production to information processing, (3) the emergence and expansion of new forms of networked industrial organization, and (4) the rise of socioeconomic globalization.

Because we are currently in this informationalism stage, it is difficult to predict where it will eventually go and what the implications will be. Information and Communication Technology has contributed to a profound change in the real world we live in; yet, because we are still living in this time period, we cannot fully analyze its relation to the digital divide. So, while it is clear that ICTs have changed our world and moved us into this informationalism period, there are still debates and controversies whether or not the digital divide exists and/or where the digital divide will go from here.