Three Questions on the ‘Mode of Information’ in a Logical Quandary -Revisiting Mark Poster’s Theory in the Phase of Sharing Economy-

doi:10.34227/tjocc.2020..19.87

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Research Article

Three Questions on the ‘Mode of Information’ in a Logical Quandary -Revisiting Mark Poster’s Theory in the Phase of Sharing Economy- ‘정보양식론’의 논리적 딜레마에 관한 3가지 물음 - 마크 포스터의 이론을 공유경제 국면에서 재검토하다 -: 김건우
Kun Woo Kim; 청운대학교 인천캠퍼스 교양대학 강사

Part-Time Instructor, Liberal Arts College, Chungwoon University, Incheon

31 August 2020. pp. 87-115

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Abstract

This paper critically deals with Mark Poster’s mode of information from a theoretical perspective. Why this research focuses on this subject is that the success and failure of Uber based on Sharing Economy within the established industrial economy is correspondingly a parallel to or has an isomorphism with the theoretical statement addressed by him that “the mode of production is not replaced with the mode of information.” There are several external criticisms on the mode of information from the epistemologically opposite stance to him. This article, however, makes an ‘internal examination’ of his theoretical arguments, especially of logical coherence of his theory related to technological paradigm. The result of the critical analysis of the mode of information as follows: First, the Critical Theorists regarded as technological determinists are logically considered as instrumentalists and so is he. Second, It is no more than tautological that “the mode of production is not replaced with the mode of information” on the ground that both the mode of information and the mode of production have an affinity with the instrumentalism. It can be said that the former is embedded in the positive and optimistic one in contrast to the latter in the negative and pessimistic one. Third, the poststructuralist theory of language can not explain the logic of mode of information since the former emphasizes an autonomous and self-referential mechanism of language; the latter counts it as playing not only a neutral but an instrumental role of transmitting meaning. Therefore, the poststructuralist theory of language is logically incompatible with the mode of information. Also, all of this theoretical analysis of the mode of information shows it is crucial that theory should be scrutinized in logical respects before its hasty application to phenomena.

Keywords

Mode of information

Mode of production

Technological determinism

Instrumentalism

Poststructuralism

Mark Poster

Sharing economy

이 논문은 마크 포스터의 정보양식론을 이론적인 차원에서 비판적으로 검토한다. 우버의 성공과 실패에서 알 수 있듯이, 정보 및 네트워크 중심의 공유경제가 기존의 산업경제보다 언제나 우세한 것은 아니다. 서로 다른 기술‧경제 양식이 갈등하며 공존하는 현상은 정보양식이 생산양식을 대체하지 않는다는 포스터의 주장과 일맥상통하는 ‘구조적 유사성’을 보인다. 이와 같은 양상은 공유경제라는 현상을 통해 정보양식론을 이론적으로 재고찰할 수 있는 계기를 제공한다. 정보양식론에 대한 비판은 포스터와 인식론적 입장을 달리하는 외재적 비판이 많았다. 반면, 이 글에서는 포스터의 이론을 내재적으로 검토한다. 포스터의 정보양식론을 분석한 결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 포스터가 기술결정론자로 분류하는 비판이론가들과 포스터는 기술결정론에 관한 논의를 통해 도출된 몇 가지 속성을 적용했을 경우, 논리적인 차원에서 도구주의자로 간주할 수 있다. 둘째, 정보양식이 생산양식을 대체할 수 없다는 명제는 동어반복에 불과하다. 이 두 가지 양식이 도구주의 패러다임을 공유하고 있다면, 같은 것이 같은 것을 대체할 수 없다는 당연한 주장은 무의미한 진술에 불과하기 때문이다. 정보양식이 긍정적이고 낙관적인 도구주의라면, 생산양식은 부정적이고 비관적인 도구주의로 분류할 수 있겠다. 셋째, 정보양식을 후기 구조주의 언어이론으로 설명하는 것은 논리적인 오류로 볼 수 있다. 도구주의의 인식론적 노선에 속한 정보양식이 논리적 일관성을 갖추려면 언어를 의미 전달의 중립적인 수단으로 인식해야 한다. 이와 달리, 후기 구조주의 언어이론은 의미 전달에 치중하는 언어의 지시적인 도구적 기능보다 자율성을 중시한다. 따라서 언어가 의미 전달을 위한 중립적 수단이라고 보는 관점과 언어의 자율성에 초점을 맞추는 패러다임의 양립은 논리적으로 불가능하다. 정보양식론의 분석으로 얻을 수 있는 함의는 이론을 현상에 성급하게 적용하기 전에 이론 구성에 논리적 문제가 없는지 검토하는 과정이 중요하다는 점이다.

키워드

정보양식

생산양식

기술결정론

도구주의

후기 구조주의

마크 포스터

공유경제

References

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이종석, 『새로 쓴 현대 북한의 이해』, 역사비평사, 2000.
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Poster, M., (The Mode of Information), 김성기,『뉴미디어의 철학』, 민음사, 1994.
Poster, M., (The Second Media Age), 이미옥‧김준기, 『제2 미디어 시대』, 민음사, 1995.
Poster, M., 김균, ｢미디어 시대의 문화 변동, 그 양상과 의미｣(인터뷰), 『현대사상』, 3권 1호, 민음사, 1999.
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Winner, L., (Autonomous Technology), 강정인, 『자율적 테크놀로지와 정치철학』, 아카넷, 2000.
Wittgenstein, L., (Philosophische Untersuchungen), 이영철, 『철학적 탐구』, 서광사, 1993.
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Bimber, B., “Three Faces of Technological Determinism”, Smith, M. & Marx, L. eds., Does Technology Drive History?: The Dilemma of Technological Determinism, MIT Press, 1994.
Bolter, J., “Postmodernism and Communication”, W. Donsbach, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Communication, Wiley Blackwell, 2015.
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Cramer, J. & Krueger, A., “Disruptive Change in the Taxi Business: The Case of Uber”, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 106(5), 2016.10.1257/aer.p20161002
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Marx, K. & Engels, F., The German Ideology, Progress, 1976.
Mattelart, A. & Mattelart, M., Theories of Communication: A Short Introduction, Sage, 1998.
Matzler, K., Veider, V. & Kathan, W., “Adapting to the Sharing Economy”, MIT Sloan Management Review, 56(2), 2015.
Mayer-Schönberger, V. & Cukier, K., Big Data: A Revolution that Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
Mayer-Schönberger, V. & Ramge, T., Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data, Basic, 2018.
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Poster, M., Critical Theory and Poststructuralism: In Search of a Context, Cornell University Press, 1989.
Poster, M., The Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social Context, University of Chicago Press, 1990.
Poster, M., The Second Media Age, Polity Press, 1995.
Poster, M., “Undetermination”, New Media Society, 1, 1999.10.1177/1461444899001001003
Poster, M., What’s Matter with the Internet?, University of Minnesota Press, 2001.
Poster, M., “Consumption and Digital Commodities in the Everyday”, Cultural Studies, 18(2/3), 2004.10.1080/0950238042000201581
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Sundararajan, A., The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism, MIT Press, 2016.
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｢우버 기업가치 130조…‘미국車 빅3’보다 커졌다｣, 『매일경제』, 2018년 10월 18일자. URL: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/society/view/2018/ 10/650585/ (검색일 2020년 6월 21일).

Information

Publisher :Research Institute of Creative Contents
Publisher(Ko) :글로컬문화전략연구소
Journal Title :The Journal of Culture Contents
Journal Title(Ko) :문화콘텐츠연구
Volume : 19
No :0
Pages :87-115
DOI :https://doi.org/10.34227/tjocc.2020..19.87

[1] 강정인, 『소크라테스, 악법도 법인가?』, 문학과지성사, 1994.

[2] 박동진, ｢M. 포스터의 “생산양식에서 정보양식으로의 전환” 비판: 비판적 정보양식론의 관점을 중심으로｣, 『정치비평』, 7권, 한국정치연구회, 2000.

[3] 이종석, 『새로 쓴 현대 북한의 이해』, 역사비평사, 2000.

[4] Curran, J., Fenton, N. & Freedman, D., (Misunderstanding the Internet (2nd ed.)), 김예란‧박성우, 『인터넷, 신화를 넘어 공공성으로』, 컬처룩, 2017.

[5] Heidegger, M., (Die Technik und die Kehre), 이기상,『기술과 전향』, 서광사, 1993.

[6] Poster, M., (The Mode of Information), 김성기,『뉴미디어의 철학』, 민음사, 1994.

[7] Poster, M., (The Second Media Age), 이미옥‧김준기, 『제2 미디어 시대』, 민음사, 1995.

[8] Poster, M., 김균, ｢미디어 시대의 문화 변동, 그 양상과 의미｣(인터뷰), 『현대사상』, 3권 1호, 민음사, 1999.

[9] Poster, M., (What’s the Matter with the Internet?), 김승현‧이종숙, 『미네르바의 올빼미가 날기 전에 인터넷을 생각한다』, 이제이북스, 2005.

[10] Postman, N., (Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology), 김균,『테크노폴리: 기술에 정복당한 오늘의 문화』, 궁리, 2005.

[11] Webster, F., (Theories of the Information Society (4th ed.)), 조동기, 『현대 정보사회이론』, 나남, 2016.

[12] Winner, L., (Autonomous Technology), 강정인, 『자율적 테크놀로지와 정치철학』, 아카넷, 2000.

[13] Wittgenstein, L., (Philosophische Untersuchungen), 이영철, 『철학적 탐구』, 서광사, 1993.

[14] Abercrombie, N., Hill, S. & Turner, B., Dictionary of Sociology (5th ed.), Penguin, 2006.

[15] Bimber, B., “Three Faces of Technological Determinism”, Smith, M. & Marx, L. eds., Does Technology Drive History?: The Dilemma of Technological Determinism, MIT Press, 1994.

[16] Bolter, J., “Postmodernism and Communication”, W. Donsbach, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Communication, Wiley Blackwell, 2015.

[17] Bourdieu, P., Logic of Practice, Polity, 1990.

[18] Cali, D., Mapping Media Ecology, Peter Lang, 2017.10.3726/978-1-4539-1871-5

[19] Cannon, S. & Summers, L., “How Uber and the Sharing Economy Can Win Over Regulators”, Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, October 13, 2014.

[20] Cramer, J. & Krueger, A., “Disruptive Change in the Taxi Business: The Case of Uber”, American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 106(5), 2016.10.1257/aer.p20161002

[21] Dusek, V., Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction, Blackwell, 2006.

[22] Dyer-Witherford, N., Cyber-Marx: Cycles and Circuits of Struggle in High-Technology Capitalism. University of Illinois Press, 1999.

[23] Feenberg, A., Critical Theory of Technology, Oxford University Press, 1991.

[24] Feenberg, A., Questioning Technology, Routledge, 1999.

[25] Feenberg, A., Between Reason and Experience: Essays in Technology and Modernity, MIT Press, 2010.10.7551/mitpress/8221.001.0001

[26] Geissinger, A., Laurell, C. & Sandström, C., “Digital Disruption beyond Uber and Airbnb—Tracking the Long Tail of the Sharing Economy”, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 155, 2020. 10.1016/j.techfore.2018.06.012

[27] Held, D., Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas, Polity, 1980.10.1525/9780520341272

[28] Kellner, D., Critical Theory, Marxism and Modernity, Polity, 1989.

[29] Lewis, J., Cultural Studies: The Basics, Sage, 2000.

[30] Lum, C. M. K, “Notes Toward in Intellectual History of Media Ecology”, C. M. K. Lum ed., Perspective on Culture, Technology and Communication: The Media Ecology Tradition, Hampton Press, 2006.

[31] Lyon, D., “Book Review: The Mode of Information,” Sociological Review, 39(2), 1991.

[32] Macey, D., Dictionary of Critical Theory, Penguin, 2000.

[33] Marvin, C., When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press, 1988.

[34] Marx, K. & Engels, F., The German Ideology, Progress, 1976.

[35] Mattelart, A. & Mattelart, M., Theories of Communication: A Short Introduction, Sage, 1998.

[36] Matzler, K., Veider, V. & Kathan, W., “Adapting to the Sharing Economy”, MIT Sloan Management Review, 56(2), 2015.

[37] Mayer-Schönberger, V. & Cukier, K., Big Data: A Revolution that Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.

[38] Mayer-Schönberger, V. & Ramge, T., Reinventing Capitalism in the Age of Big Data, Basic, 2018.

[39] McLaughlin, M. & Ross, J., eds., Portable Medieval Reader, Penguin, 2010. (EPUB).

[40] Miller, V., Understanding Digital Culture (2nd ed.), Sage, 2020.

[41] Munitz, M., Contemporary Analytic Philosophy, Macmillan, 1981.

[42] Poster, M., Foucault, Marxism and history, Polity, 1984.10.3817/0684060224

[43] Poster, M., Critical Theory and Poststructuralism: In Search of a Context, Cornell University Press, 1989.

[44] Poster, M., The Mode of Information: Poststructuralism and Social Context, University of Chicago Press, 1990.

[45] Poster, M., The Second Media Age, Polity Press, 1995.

[46] Poster, M., “Undetermination”, New Media Society, 1, 1999.10.1177/1461444899001001003

[47] Poster, M., What’s Matter with the Internet?, University of Minnesota Press, 2001.

[48] Poster, M., “Consumption and Digital Commodities in the Everyday”, Cultural Studies, 18(2/3), 2004.10.1080/0950238042000201581

[49] Srnicek, N., Platform Capitalism, Polity, 2017.

[50] Sundararajan, A., The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism, MIT Press, 2016.

[51] Tylor, E., Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom, John Murray, 1871.

[52] Walby, K., “Mode of Production versus Mode of Information: Marx, Poster, and an Argument for Anti-Capitalist Praxis”, Critical Sociology, 33, 2007.10.1163/156916307X230368

[53] Warsh D., Knowledge and the Wealth of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery, W. W. Norton, 2006.

[54] Wimmer, R, & Dominick, J., Mass Media Research: An Introduction (6th ed.), Wadsworth, 2000.

[55] Winner, L., Autonomous Technology: Technics-out-of-Control as a Theme in Political Thought, MIT Press, 1977.

[56] ｢우버 기업가치 130조…‘미국車 빅3’보다 커졌다｣, 『매일경제』, 2018년 10월 18일자. URL: https://www.mk.co.kr/news/society/view/2018/ 10/650585/ (검색일 2020년 6월 21일).

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