The most comprehensive approaches toward understanding information in modern ‘welfare states’ have been focussed on outlining state regulation in the monopoly stage of capitalism. This theoretical orientation has instigated a number of studies penetrating into the use of information for the purposes of state control and regulation, e.g. in income policies as well as in legislation. Less developed is the study of the other side of the dialectic: how do counter-processes manifest themselves in the course of increasing bureaucratic-corporativist regulation and control?
Evidence on following tendencies in ‘welfare states’ in Western Europe and their accentuation in Scandinavia is discussed. (1) Fragmentation and partial isolation of the traditional information institutions (school, science, journalism) from contemporary information-steering processes, necessitated by increasing flows of raw information in the market of knowledge. (2) Emergence of new information-steering activities, often in organized, institutionalized forms. (3) New information-steering is developed for centralized, state-monopoly regulated information needs and, on the other hand, for democratic information needs: these trends and counter-trends depend not only on power changes in the class struggle but also on changes in the content and experience-coping of information available for the large majorities of the population.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Not even technological necessities are ‘necessities’ in a universal or general sense to the extent that all technological alternatives would be necessary in the same form universally. We learn that technological development or STR is a combination of universal necessities and specific political choices. (An example of contemporary necessities, relatively speaking of course, is a railroad network or a telephone system, essentials today, as every economy needs exchange to survive. But the Scandinavian satellite broadcasting plan [Nordsat] is a political or commercial choice, not a technological necessity.)
2.
Discussion on the prevalent myth of ‘apolitical technology’, see, EkecrantzJan, ‘Den politiska elektroniken’, Ord & Bild, Vol. 4 (1977), pp. 34–42. See also David Dickson, Alternative Technology and the Politics of Technical Change, Fontana 1974.
3.
One international landmark was Genevieve Knupfer, ‘Portrait of the Underdog’, in Bendix, & Lipset (Eds.) Class, Status and Power, Glencoe, Illinois1953. (First published in Public Opinion Quarterly, 1947.) In the Nordic countries, the cumulative relation between intellectual activity and group activity was discussed in Erik Allardt, Pentti Jartti, Faina Jyrkilä & Yrjö Littunen, ‘On the Cumulative Nature of Leisure Time Activities’, Acta Sociologica, Vol. 3: 1 (1958). But knowledge and intellectual resources were connected with welfare concerns in Faina Jyrkilä, ‘Huoltoavun saajan vieraantuminen sosiaalisesta ympäristöstään’, Sosiaalityö, Vol. 3, ja 4 (1961–1962); showing that social welfare recipients were more isolated both from cultural and group activities than a matched control group. A pioneer welfare policy oriented major research was, of course, Sten Johansson, Om levnadsniväundersökningen. Läginkomstutredningen, Stockholm 1970.
4.
‘Welfare Work, Industrial’, in Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, New York1935, p. 399. Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 1 [1867; 1887], Moscow 1954, p. 341.
5.
Subsequent analyses yielded concepts coping with processes and structures of regulatory information. Louis Althusser discusses ‘ideological state apparatuses’ such as school, church, etc. (Louis Althusser, Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays, London 1971, pp. 121–173.) Joachim Hirsch developed a set of concepts: ideological apparatuses, integrational apparatuses and repressive apparatuses (Joachim Hirsch, Staatsapparat und Reproduction des Kapitals, Frankfurt/M 1974).
6.
It seems that this trichotomy presented by Hirsch could be useful when analysing relationships between the ‘welfare state’ and the political parties representing the welfare state ideology. In Nordic countries the reformist labour parties are often seen as representatives of the official welfare state. Possibly trade unions exert influence on degree of independence/dependence of social democrat party ideology in relation to the official state information.
7.
Discussion around the ‘welfare state’ as a concept is important but, so far, diffuse. Risto Eräsaari (Acta Sociologica, Vol. 20 (1977), No. 2, pp. 202–205) comments on different approaches and concludes that this concept is bound to be loose and diffuse because ‘welfare state’ merely ‘is an ideology with the help of which it is easy to explain and cover social, political and economic contradictions and changes’. For an over-all discussion, see Joachim Israel, ‘The Welfare State – a Manifestation of Late Capitalism’, Acta Sociologica, Vol. 17 (1975), No. 4, pp. 310–329.
8.
Man, Science, Technology, Academia PragueMoscow-Prague1973, p. 215. This analysis of the universal need for planning and rationality proceeds to specifics and points out that anarchistic market forces counteract all attempts for long-term rationality. Essentially the same conclusions are given in a U.S. self-appraisal in this formulation: ‘The welfare state is at best a hastily improvised system having characteristics stretching all the way through the range from near-statism to near-anarchy. It is an unplanned response to a host of historical forces and of political pressures which has not yet acquired and may never acquire, an internally coherent and logically formulated philosophy’ (Jacob Viner, ‘The United States as a Welfare State’, in S. W. Higginbotham (Ed.), Man, Science, Learning and Education, Houston 1962, p. 226).
9.
DahlHans F., ‘The Scandinavian Broadcasting Monopoly: An Economic Interpretation’, in BergMie, HemánusPertti, EkecrantzJan, MortensenFrands, & SepstrupPreben (Eds.), Current Theories in Scandinavian Mass Communication Research, Grenaa, Denmark1977.
10.
Dahl's argumentation is related, but only formally, with analyses of general conditions of production; see e.g. LäppleD., Staat und allgemeine Produktionsbedingungen, Berlin/W1973.
11.
TulppoPirkko (Ed.), Radioamatööreistä tajuntateollisuuteen, Porvoo 1976, pp. 39–44, 84–85, 196–220 and 278–306.
12.
NordenstrengKaarle (Ed.), Informational Mass Communication, Helsinki1974; Pertti Hemänus, Reporadion nousu ja tuho, Helsinki 1972; Maj Palmberg, ‘Finlands Rundradio och socialismen’, Häften för Kritiska Studier, årg. 5, Nr. 6–7, 1972, s. 31–41.
13.
PietiläVeikko‘Press Debate and Opinion Formation’, Research Reports from the Section of Long-Range Planning of the Finnish Broadcasting Company, no. 15/1973.
14.
The quotation and the circulation statistics are from the Finnish Newspaper Publishers Association, Publication No. 4; Reino Riikonen (toim.). Sanomalehti koulunuudistuksen osana. Sanomalehtien liitto, julkaisuja no. 4, Hyvinkää 1974.
15.
SuuronenLeo, ‘Suomen suurin koululaiskilpailu’, Kansallis-Osake-Pankin kuukausikatsaus10, 1974, 1–9.
16.
‘Minne menet markkinatalous?’EVAHelsinki1976, p. 21.
17.
‘Minne menet markkinatalous?’EVAHelsinki1976, pp. 24–31.
18.
‘Minne menet markkinatalous?’EVAHelsinki1976, p. 32.
19.
See particularly EkecrantzJan, Makten och Informationen, Lund1975; Michael Bruun Andersen, ‘Interventionsstat og massemedier’, Nordisk Forum, Vol. 14 (1977); Jukka Gronow, Klemola, Pertti ja Partanen, Juha (TANDEM), Demokratian rajat ja rakenteet, Juva 1977 (esp. Ch. IV). Anker Brink Lund, ‘Statens informationsvirksomhed og dens politiske funktioner’, Politico, nr. 2, 1977.
20.
New institutional forms to coordinate increasingly complex relations between traditional information institutions (science, school, statistics, etc.) was first conceptualized as ‘information steering institutions’ (esp. in Nordic reality) in Yrjö Littunen, ‘Yhteiskunnallinen tiedottaminen’, in Yrjö Littunen, ja Risto Sinkko (toim.), Yhteiskunnallinen tieto ja tiedotustutkimus, Tapiola 1975, pp. 261–297.
21.
Observing more advanced development in the U.S., Herbert I. Schiller in 1971 noted the growing dilemma caused by laissez-faire and regulatory imperatives. In a book version his characterization is: ‘from law of market to direct political control’ (SchillerHerbert I., The Mind Managers, Boston1973, pp. 146–171).
22.
SOU 1969: 84. Vidgad samhällsinformation (Broadening civic information), Esselte, Stockholm 1969.
23.
SOU 1969: 84. Vidgad samhällsinformation (Broadening civic information), Esselte, Stockholm, p. 241.
24.
NowakKjell, ‘From Information Gaps to Communication Potential’, in BergMie (Eds.), Current Theories in Scandinavian Mass Communication Research, Grenaa1977.
25.
See Note 2.
26.
JohanssonSten, Om levnadsnivåundersökningen, Stockholm 1970; Erik Allardt, Att ha, att älska, att vara. Om välfärd i Norden, Argos, Lund 1975.
27.
KristensenHans, ‘Having, Loving, Being – But No Acting!’, Acta Sociologica, Vol. 20 (1977), No. 3. Among early approaches the following could be listed: R. A. Bauer, (Ed.), Social Indicators, Cambridge, Mass. 1966; Jan Drewnovsky, Studies in the Measurement of Levels of Living and Welfare, UNRISD Report No. 70.3, Geneva 1970; E. B. Sheldon, & H. E. Freeman, ‘Notes on Social Indicators: Promises and Potential’, Policy Sciences, Vol. 1 (1970), pp. 97–111.
28.
Progress of social indicators.The OECD Observer, No. 85, March 1977, 24–27. See also: Measuring Social Well-Being: A Progress Report on the Development of Social Indicators, OECD, Paris 1976.
29.
ZapfWolfgang, ‘Systems of Social Indicators: Current Approaches and Problems’, International Social Science Journal, Vol. XXVII (1975), No. 3, pp. 479–498.
30.
PartanenJuha, ‘Sociology in Time of Crisis’, Acta Sociologica, Vol. 20 (1977), No. 3.
31.
SzalaiAlexander (Ed.), The Use of Time, The Hague1973.
32.
Among the few pieces of experimental evidence see McQuailDenis, ‘Preparation and Exchange of Information’, Educational Television and Radio in Britain, London1967.
33.
Simple correlations between TV-exposure and civic knowledgeability in five societies were reported in a small paper: Yrjö Littunen, ‘Cultural Efficiency of the Mass Media: An International Comparison’, in Yrjö Littunen, Pertti Tiihonen & Veikko Pietilä. Three Papers on Mass Media and Integration at International and National Level, Tampereen Yliopiston Tutkimuslaitos, mimeo, 57/1968. Also published in Mass Media and International Understanding, Ljubljana 1969.
34.
SauliHannele, ‘Suomalaisten poliittinen asiantuntemus erään kyselyn valossa’, Yleisradio, PTS-elin, sarja B 15/1972, Helsinki 1972. Nils Prick och Sten Malmström, Språkklyftan. Kristianstad 1976.
35.
Swedish radio research unit (PUB) researchers observed that more than half of those immigrant Finns who did not know Swedish watched Swedish TV-news every evening –in search of some contact? To sense belonging? To learn the language the hard way? For the behavioral evidence, see LöwanderBirgitta, Immigrants and the Mass Media in Sweden, Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, Audience and programme research dept. 9–76/77, Stockholm 1977, p. 19.
36.
For the problem of overstimulation, see Marianne Frankenhaeuser, Overstimulation – A Threat to the Quality of Life. Man in the Communications System of the Future. Statsrådsberedningen, Stockholm 1974. The concept ‘supersaturation’ was raised by some 20 Western European and American experts in 1972 in Arc et Senans (France). In a joint statement they expressed concern over the inefficiency of the school system, of the supersaturation caused by the mass media and other cultural industries which are ‘activated by a profit motive and market forces’. The individual lacks the means to cope with: ‘once he had a mind of his own; now he is becoming a mere target for information’.
37.
See, e.g., EkecrantzJan‘The Politics of Information’, a seminar report, Universiteit van Amsterdam and Stockholms Universitet, Sociologiska Institutionen, Amsterdam/Stockholm 1976, pp. 29–30. See also Note 14.
38.
Statistical and analytical comparisons suggest, at least, that the Finnish situation differs toward greater intensity of alienation and disturbances. Comparative results reported by Erik Allardt (see Note 19) indicate that both material needs and friendship relations are less satisfied in Finland than in other Nordic countries. But many other indicators show no difference.
39.
GroombridgeBrian, Television and the People, Aylesbury1972; Frances J. Berrigan, Access and the Media – New Models in Europe, Media Research Group for UNESCO and British Film Institute, London 1974.
40.
In Scandinavia especially mobile group theatres; in Finland also Turku city theater 1971–77 (the Långbacka and Holmberg period; see von BaghPeter, Milonoffja Pekka, (toim.), Teatterikirja, Helsinki 1977). As examples of democratically oriented information-steering in film art are e.g. FilmCentrum in Sweden, and Elokuvakontakti in Finland.
41.
The core of human activity in work relates to the biological basis in human development. Veikko Pietilä, ‘On the Scientific Status and Position of Communication Research’, Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Tampere, N: o 35/1977, discusses social communication as a special branch of production.
42.
Note a discussion presented by RoosJ. P., ‘Welfare Theory and Social Policy. A Study in Policy Science’, Commentationes Scientiarum Socialium, Vol. 4 (1973), Helsinki 1973, p. 44; the concept of praxis as a form of human activity, and then relates activity to welfare. At first, collective activity is indirectly rather than directly presented for discussion. However, collective steering of welfare, including information as a tool, is approached (pp. 208 ff.). An aggregate of collective activity is exposed in the concept ‘self-control by the people’ (pp. 216 ff.) where social information is also discussed, pointing toward ‘the conscious reformulation of the whole role of social information’ (p. 221). The emphasis on discussion, however, remains at the two poles: individual actor and aggregate society (or people). Development toward the intra-societal analysis should be interesting.
43.
It is, of course, generally understood that citizen activation through information is to be aimed at both personal and organized civic activities. An example of such discussions is NowakKjell, ‘Alternativa mål för samhällsinformation’, Sociologisk Forskning, Vol. 8 (1971), Nr. 4, pp. 185–196 and Vol. 9 (1972). Nr. 1, pp. 1–16. Their central concept ‘activity orientation’ refers to such activities as ‘question, criticize, discuss, ask, study, demonstrate, get organized, influence etc.’ All these activity forms certainly fall within the realm of the discussion here – but while Nowak et al. see activity as a result of (better) above-made civic information, the present concept ‘activity-geared information’ rests on a principle of activity-knowledge process totality, where collective information-building and collective activity are working together in a dialectical continuity, extending from past activity-information (experience) through present praxis to the future.
44.
SänkiahoRisto, ‘A Model of the Rise of Populism and Support for the Finnish Rural Party’, Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 6/71, p. 43.
45.
AhlbergLeif, Revolution på tjänstetid, Stockholm1975. A comparative analysis of similar projects was made by Kerstin Lindholm, ‘Fyra pionjärprojekt med samhällsarbete’, Socialstyrelsen redovisar, 1977: 9, Stockholm 1977. A surprisingly successful action programme among children was reported by Antonia Zilliacus, ‘Barn i skapande verksamhet – ett hangöförsök’, Västnyländsk årsbok 1977 (red. Sven Nordberg), Svenska kulturfonden, Ekenäs 1978.
