KOGNITIVNI KAPITALIZAM – ULOGA ZNANJA U POSTFORDISTIČKOM DRUŠTVU / COGNITIVE CAPITALISM – THE ROLE OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE POSTFORDIST SOCIETY

Abstract

The crisis of Fordism has resulted in the changed regime of accumulation, i.e. in the establishment of a new form of economy that is marked with evolution of the “general intellect” and the great importance of knowledge in terms of economic growth. This was recognised in sociology and economic science and has led to the development of the “post-industrial” and “post-Fordist” society theories, as well as the “knowledge-based economy” theory. As regards to the latter, we shall see in the paper how its apologetic narrative is subjected to a critique by the cognitive capitalism theory that represents an alternative viewpoint on the character of the contemporary economic relations and considers the proclamation of the existence of knowledge based economy unjustified since such assertion implies another kind of economic arrangement. Other than elaborating the cognitive capitalism theory, we explain in the paper the differences between the industrial capitalism and new capitalism and the changes related to the organisation of production, economic role of state, nature of work and technology, and, among other things, changes related to the position and autonomy of the workers. Still, the main problem of the paper not only pertains to the economic questions but also to the broader question on the role of knowledge in the society. On the basis of assessment of the role of different types of knowledge in contemporary society, we come to the conclusion that preconditions for becoming of “knowledge society” have not been established yet and that the dominant economic logic represents the main obstacle to its actualization.