The Myth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

This article argues that there is no such phenomenon as a Fourth Industrial Revolution. It derives a framework for the analysis of any industrial revolution from a careful historical account of the archetypal First Industrial Revolution. The suggested criteria for any socioeconomic transformation to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theoria (Pietermaritzburg) Vol. 68; no. 2 (167); pp. 1 - 38
Main Author: Moll, Ian
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Berghahn Books 01.06.2021
Berghahn Books, Inc
Subjects:
Analysis
Community relations
Cotton
Economic change
Factories
Industrialization
Innovations
Labor process
Manufacturing
Narratives
Per capita
Political power
Productivity
Revolutions
Scientific technological revolution
Social aspects
Social change
Social classes
Social relations
Society
Socioeconomic factors
Technological change
Transformation
Working class
Workplaces
New York
United Kingdom
Germany
India
United Kingdom > UK
ISSN:0040-5817, 1558-5816
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article argues that there is no such phenomenon as a Fourth Industrial Revolution. It derives a framework for the analysis of any industrial revolution from a careful historical account of the archetypal First Industrial Revolution. The suggested criteria for any socioeconomic transformation to be considered an industrial revolution are that it must encompass a technological revolution; a transformation of the labour process; a fundamental change in workplace relations; new forms of community and social relationships; and global socio-economic transformations. These transformations indeed characterise the Second and Third Industrial Revolutions. The aggregate of technical innovations in the latter is carefully examined, because this is a crucial part of determining whether we can meaningfully claim that a Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway. The article demonstrates that we cannot.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0040-5817
1558-5816
DOI:10.3167/th.2021.6816701