VIOLENCE AND CHANGE IN POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES - STUDENT PROTEST IN AMERICA AND JAPAN IN THE 1960S (FROM INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD, 1978, BY MARIUS LIVINGSTON - SEE NCJ-52737)

• NCJ Number: 52746
• Author(s): R W TAYLOR; BYONG-SUH KIM
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 16 pages
• Corporate Author: Greenwood Publishing Group
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF POSTINDUSTRIALIZED SOCIETIES ON VIOLENCE AND CHANGE AND ON THE EXTENT OF STUDENT PROTESTS IN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES SINCE THE 1960'S ARE CONSIDERED.

Abstract

IN POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES, THE SOCIAL FRAMEWORK IS STRUCTURED BY AN ECONOMY WHICH FOCUSES ON SERVICES AMONG INDIVIDUAL PERSONS RATHER THAN ON PRODUCTION OF GOODS; A TECHNOLOGICALLY BASED INDUSTRY; AND THE RISE OF A NEW TECHNICAL ELITE BASED ON CODIFICATION OF THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AS SOURCES OF INNOVATION, CREATION, AND PRODUCTIVE FORCE. COMPUTERS, ELECTRONICS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, AND OPTICS HAVE BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CODIFICATION OF THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE. POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES ARE ESSENTIALLY SERVICE-ORIENTED WHERE WORK IS A SOCIALLY INTERACTIVE PROCESS BETWEEN PEOPLE. THE GROWTH OF LARGE BUREAUCRATIC HIERARCHIES, THE ELECTRONIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE 'GLOBAL VILLAGE' CONCEPT, AND THE INCREASED PHYSICAL EXPANSION OF CITIES ARE PRODUCTS OF POSTINDUSTRIALIZATION. KEY TO THE FUNCTIONING OF POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES IS THE EMERGENCE OF A TECHNOCRATIC ELITE OF MANAGERS, PROFESSIONALS, AND TECHNICIANS. THIS GROUP MANIPULATES THE CODIFICATION OF THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE AND CONTROLS DECISIONMAKING IN LARGE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES. THE MEGALOPOLIS IS THE LOCUS OF POSTINDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES AND OFTEN BECOMES A SOCIETY'S CENTRAL SOURCE OF VIOLENCE. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ECONOMIC SECTORS HAVE MERGED TO FORM A MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. INSTITUTIONALIZED VIOLENCE IS THE RESULT OF ELITE CONTROL OVER HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURES OF SOCIETY. ONE OF THE REACTIONS AGAINST INSTITUTIONALIZED VIOLENCE IS STUDENT ACTIVISM THAT AROSE IN JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1960'S. THREE THEMES OF PROTEST ARE PREVALENT IN THE U.S. STUDENT MOVEMENT: NONVIOLENT ISSUE-ORIENTED PROTEST, ANTIHIERARCHICAL-ANTIBUREAUCRATIC PROTEST; AND DISSANCTIONED-CONFRONTATION PROTEST. THE JAPANESE STUDENT REVOLT IS CHARACTERIZED BY TWO CLOSELY RELATED EFFORTS OF STUDENTS: SEARCH FOR SELF-IDENTIFY THROUGH VIOLENT MEANS, AND SEARCH FOR A NEW CONCEPT OF UNIVERSITIES. POSTINDUSTRIAL ALIENATION OF STUDENTS HAS CREATED TWO FORMS OF BEHAVIOR. ONE ESTABLISHES A FALSE-CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL MYTHS THAT RATIONALIZE EXISTING SOCIAL STRUCTURE RELATIONSHIPS AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS, AND THE OTHER CREATES A CONSCIOUSNESS BUILT UPON INDIVIDUALITY AND CONSTITUTES THE FOUNDATION FOR COUNTERFORCE CONFLICT AGAINST THE SANCTIONED VIOLENCE OF POSTINDUSTRIAL BUREAUCRACIES. NOTES ARE INCLUDED. (DEP)