Transnational capital and the technology of domination and desire

Abstract

The revolution in information technologies has brought about a fundamental shift in the productive forces. It has become the organising tool of the transnational capitalist class in their drive to global financialisation and production. In important areas information technology has radically reduced the socially necessary labour time to produce great concentrations of wealth, the results of which have significant impacts on social relations. Additionally, the desire for new information technology products, particularly in the realm of social networking and media, has led to a monetarisation of our private information. The control of mega data servers, by both the state security apparatus and information technology corporations, has led to new forms of coercion. This dialectic, of consent and coercion, is consistent with Gramsci’s theory of cultural and ideological hegemony.