- The term “neoliberalism” has come to occupy two meanings in common parlance. On the one hand it denotes an economic and political theory. On the other hand the term stands for the realities of contemporary capitalism, a political project. Harvey, for example, distinguishes between utopian and political neoliberalism (2005, 19). While those two constructs are highly correlated, they are not one and the same, and in fact at times the realities of neoliberalism as a political project conflict with its theory (Harvey 2005, 21). As a matter of clarity and simplicity and since this book is concerned with the realities of discourse, I limit my discussion here solely to the theoretical discourse of neoliberalism, not its political implementation.
- In narrow disciplinary terms, Schumpeter is not part of the neoliberal school. But his ideas have been the intellectual bedrock of much of what is ultimately known today as neoliberalism.
- It is important to emphasize that lessons and metaphors were drawn from the most mechanical aspects of the technology, how it is constructed, its minute components, their operation, and so forth, rather than any abstract or literary trope the clock might symbolize, such as “time” or “life.”
Chapter 4
- In this chapter, I am not using Wikipedia as an authoritative resource but as a way to tap into what concepts denote in the popular culture.
- A search of the Wired archive yields a few hundreds references to the term “digerati” in the magazine.
- See http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.06/office\_spc.html. Most of the photos and illustrations referred to in the book can be accessed via the Web. A link is provided whenever that is that case.
- Coincidentally, but noteworthy, the term “Generation X,” which in Campbell’s view became “generation equity,” was popularized in 1991 by a book titled Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture written by Douglas Coupland, author of Microserfs. Generation X is characterized by nihilism, cynicism, a postmodern attitude to life, a “so what” and “who cares” attitude, distrust on societal institutions, a “take the money and run” attitude toward work, childlessness, pessimism for the future, a carpe diem attitude toward living, and slacking (Wikipedia: Generation X).
Chapter 5
- IPO stands for initial public offering: the first sale of a corporation’s common shares to public investors.
- An updated version of the older prosumer is the “produser,” a hybrid of producer and user. The difference is mainly technical: the consumer of goods of yesteryear has become the contemporary computer user who both uses and produces informational content.
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