Selected publications on the 'knowledge-based economy'

The concept of a 'knowledge-based economy' or any of its pseudonyms such as 'information society, 'weightless economy', 'digital economy', 'new economy', 'networked economy' etc. is, in our view, rather dubious and we have published a number of critiques of it. Nevertheless, some of the issues normally covered within the 'knowledge based economy' discourse lie at the heart of our research so there are also some publications which accept it as a given and try to work within its frame of reference, whilst nevertheless hoping to problematise the concept that it is possible to separate the 'new' from the 'old' economy and the idea that 'immaterial labour' can be abstracted from the material basis of life, the planet and the economy.  Here are some of the relevant publications:

The Transformation of Work in a Global Knowledge Economy: Towards a Conceptual Framework, a report from the WORKS Project, edited by Ursula Huws with many co-authors, 2006

'Women, Participation and Democracy in the Information Society  in Shade, L. and Sarikakis, K. (eds)  Feminist International Communication Studies,  Rowman and Littlefield, forthcoming  

‘What will we do? The destruction of occupational identities in the Knowledge-based Economy’, Monthly Review, Vol 57 No 8 January, 2006

‘Vad Jobbar du Med? Om sammanbrottet for yrkesidentiteten och knonstruktionen av resercarment’, Roda Rummer, 1/2006  

O que faremos nós? A destruição da identidade ocupacional na 'Economia baseada no conhecimento' , in Resistir, January, 2006

‘The restructuring of global value chains and the creation of a cybertariat’ in May, Christopher (ed)  Global Corporate Power: Global Corporate Power: (Re)integrating companies into International Political Economy (International Political Economy Yearbook volume 15), Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006

 ‘Coding and Classification of Sectors and Occupations in the E-Economy’ in Measuring the Information Society, Huws,  Ramioul and Bollen (eds) K.U. Leuven Press, 2005

Measuring the Information Society, (editor, with  Ramioul, M. and Bollen, A.) K.U. Leuven Press, 2005 

Labour Market Changes and Welfare Perspectives in the EU, LAW final project report, December 2005

Status Report on Outsourcing of ICT-enabled Services in the EU, (with Flecker, J and Dalmann, S.) European Monitoring Centre on Change of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2004

Socio-Economic Research in the Information Society:  a User’s Guide from the RESPECT Project, IES Report 416, Institute for Employment Studies, 2004  

Opening the Black Box:  Classification of Sectors and Occupations in the eEconomy, (with van der Hallen, P.), Higher Institute of Labour Studies, K.U. Leuven, 2004

Asian Emergence:  the World’s Back Office? (with Flecker, J.) IES Report 419, Institute for Employment Studies, 2004

'Material World: the Myth of the Weightless Economy' in Panitch, L, Leys, C., Zuege, A. and Konigs, M (eds) The Globalization Decade: a Critical Reader, Merlin Press, 2004  

The Making of a Cybertariat:  Virtual Work in a Real World  Monthly Review Press,  New York and Merlin Press, London, 2003

‘A New Virtual Global Division of Labour?  Some Lessons from the EMERGENCE Project’ in Technikfolgenabschätzung - Theorie und Praxis, Vol 12, No 3/4, November, 2003    

When Work takes Flight: Final report of the EMERGENCE Project, IES Report 397, Institute for Employment Studies 2003

‘Die Produktion eines Kybertariats. Die Wirklichtkeit virtueller Arbeit’ in Das Argument, Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften 248, 2002

'The Restructuring of  Employment in the Information Society and its Implications for Social Protection' in Work Organization and Social Exclusion in the European Information Society, Campus Frankfurt/M, Frankfurt, 2002

‘E-work in a Global Economy’ in Challenges and Achievements in E-business and E-work’, Stanford-Smith, B., Chiozza, E. and Edin, M. (eds) IOS Press, Amsterdam, Berlin, Oxford, Tokyo, Washington D.C., 2002

‘The Persistence of National Differences in the New Global Division of Labour in eServices’ in Globalisation, Innovation and Human Development for Competitive Advantage, Asia Institute of Technology, Bangkok, December, 2002

Where the Butterfly Alights:  the Global Location of eWork (with Jagger, N.) Institute for Employment Studies, Report No 378, 2001

'The making of a cybertariat? Virtual work in a real world' In Panitch, L. and Leys, C. (eds) Working Classes, Global Realities, Socialist Register,  2001
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‘Der Mythos der weightless economy’ in Die Neue Őkonomie des Internet, Das Argument, Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften 238, 2000

‘Societa dell’informazione, occupazione e cittadinanza sociale’ in Mirabile, M.L. (ed)  Lavoro e Welfare della New Economy,   L’Assistenza Sociale, Oct-Dec 2000

 ‘Un monde materiale: le mythe de l’economie virtuelle’ in Nouvelles Technologies d’Information: Nouvelle Donne Sociale, Critique Communiste 159/160 Autumn 2000

‘The Changing Gender Division of Labour in the Transition to the Knowledge Society’ in Rubenson, K. and Schuetse, H.G. (eds) Transition to the Knowledge Society:  Policies and Strategies for Inidividual Participation and Learning, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 2000

'The Emergence of a new global division of labour in information services' in Where in the World? E-work location in a digital global economy, conference proceedings, October, 2000

'Material World: the Myth of the Weightless Economy', in Panitch, L., and Leys, C. (eds), Socialist Register, 1999, Merlin Press, UK and Monthly Review Press, USA, 1999

'Beyond Anecdotes: on Quantifying the Globalisation of Information Processing Work', in Mitter and Bastos (eds) Europe and Developing Countries in the Globalised Information Economy, United Nations University Institute of Technology, Routledge, 1999

'What is a Green Red Economics?: the Future of Work' Z, September, 1991