Rating the revolution: Silicon Valley in normative perspective

Duff, Alistair S.

Abstract

Silicon Valley, California – home of Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and so on – is widely regarded as the epicentre of the information revolution. However, it is not just a technical or economic phenomenon; it has also made a social revolution. The article evaluates Silicon Valley from a normative perspective, seeking to
identify its real societal impact, negative as well as positive. A select review of significant literature is followed by exposition of primary data, based on in situ face-to-face interviews with Valley occupants; these range from the chief technology officer of a global brand to a homeless, unemployed Vietnam War veteran.
The article organises its findings under three headings: the nature of information revolution; iCapitalism as a new technoeconomic synthesis; and the normative crisis of the information society. It concludes with a warning about ongoing attempts to clone Silicon Valley around the world.

Citation

Duff, A. S. (2016). Rating the revolution: Silicon Valley in normative perspective. Information, Communication and Society, 19(11), 1605-1621. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1142594

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 11, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Feb 10, 2016
• Publication Date: 2016-11
• Deposit Date: Feb 25, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 11, 2017
• Journal: Information, Communication and Society
• Print ISSN: 1369-118X
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-4462
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 1605-1621
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2016.1142594
• Keywords: ICTs; political economy; social theory; surveillance/privacy;Silicon Valley; information society
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/9571
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1142594
• Contract Date: Jan 10, 2017