Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society1

Human societies are made from the conflictive interaction between humans organized in and around a given social structure. This social structure is formed by the interplay between relationships of production/consumption; relationships of experience; and relationships of power. In the last two decades of the twentieth century a related set of social transformations has taken place around the world. Networks are very old forms of social organization. Relationships between capital and labor are organized around the network enterprise form of production. Relationships of consumption are determined by the interplay between relationships of production and culture. The most direct impact of information networks on…