Service Sector Development in the Netherlands: A Vision of the Post-Industrial Future?

Abstract

With the decline in manufacturing employment the term ‘post- industrial society’, although not exactly entering the everyday vernacular, is one that is increasingly used widely to describe economically developed nations such as The Netherlands. This article looks at the framework for the post-industrial society developed by the American social theorist Daniel Bell and applies it to service sector developments in The Netherlands, with a particular concentration on the public sector. It is found that service sector developments in The Netherlands may not be in accord with Bell's vision of our post-industrial future.