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Regional inversion and technocapitalism Regional inversion can be
part of a larger process of paradigm shift. Paradigm shifts involve
radical change in various economic, social, institutional, political and
cultural dimensions. Typically,
a paradigm shift breaks with the paths and structures set in a preceding
historical period. The
predominance of economic sectors, social orders, institutional, political and
cultural power structures can be radically changed during a process of
paradigm shift.
Paradigm shifts are
therefore revolutionary in character.
The process of change encompassed by a paradigm shift is seldom
evolutionary or incremental.
Instead of building on the structures of a preceding era, those
arrangements are often overturned or replaced. Changes that result from a paradigm shift are also often
irreversible, in the sense that the old order cannot be restored once the new
structures become established. Regional inversion can be
the geographical manifestation of a process of paradigm shift. The possibility that regional
inversion may be part of the emergence of technocapitalism must be
considered. Technocapitalism is
a new form of market capitalism involving a departure from the structures of
what may be referred to as industrial and post-industrial capitalism. Because technocapitalism can be
considered an emerging new era, many of its features are still to be
discovered. Nevertheless, it is
possible to discuss some aspects that can link regional inversion to the rise
of technocapitalism. How
does regional inversion fit in with the rise of technocapitalism? Among the various aspects that can link regional inversion
to technocapitalism, the role of intangibles is a fundamental one. Regional inversion is driven by intangibles. New knowledge and creativity are the
most important intangibles supporting regional inversion. Those intangibles are essential for
spawning the new sectors and activities upon which much of the dynamic of
regional inversion depends. Technocapitalism is also
driven by intangibles.
Creativity and new knowledge are to technocapitalism what tangible raw
materials, factory labor and capital were to industrial capitalism. Today, the intangibles that drive
technocapitalism are acquiring the highest economic value. They already account for
three-quarters or more of the worth of most products and services. Those intangibles are at the core of
the kinds of activities that are most likely to be representative of the
twenty-first century. Second, regional inversion
relies strongly on a new ecology of activities and organizations. Those organizations are highly
creative and generate much new knowledge, whether in industry or services. They have high levels of innovative
capacity and must sustain continuous streams of new inventions and
innovations to survive. The new
ecology of organizations is most visible today in emerging new sectors and
activities, such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, software
design, genomics, molecular computing and biorobotics. The new ecology of
organizations and the sectors it is spawning are also playing a very
important role in the emergence of technocapitalism. Their impacts are likely to be felt
in most every aspect of life and work in decades to come. It is very likely that those new
sectors and activities may become to the twenty-first century what aerospace
and electronics were to the twentieth.
The process of regional inversion can draw much of its dynamic from
those activities. Third, regional inversion
depends greatly on the long-term accumulation of creative talents and
skills. Those talents are built
up through the massification of educational access, particularly in higher
education. The massification of
educational access therefore creates a platform from which creativity, new
knowledge and eventually those activities mentioned above are spawned. The massification of
educational access is also a major factor in the emergence of
technocapitalism. The
intangibles upon which technocapitalism depends rely on massive access to
education. The generation,
reproduction and sustenance of those intangibles are largely a function of
long-term investments in expanding access and providing educational infrastructure. This aspect is therefore common both
to the process of regional inversion and to the emergence of
technocapitalism.
Fourth, regional inversion
depends greatly on networks to assemble and expand the resources needed to
launch its dynamic. Networks are
vital to overcome many obstacles to the process of regional inversion. They, for example, dilute hierarchies
that are supportive of the status quo, and allow organizations and
institutions to have access to resources that they would not otherwise be
able to obtain. Decentralizing and
fragmenting the means of control are important functions of networks. These functions are vital for
regional inversion, since they can help overcome or dismantle the structures
that support the status quo and prevent change. Predominant regions often secure their position by
creating structures that make it very difficult for lagging areas to advance
or contest their hold on institutions, economic sectors, and the social and
political order. Oligarchic
structures are often the means by which those aspects are controlled. By allowing the possibility of
bypassing or dismantling those structures, networks can accelerate the
dynamic of regional inversion. Networks are also playing a
very important role in the emergence of technocapitalism. Their tendency to dilute hierarchies
and to decentralize or fragment control, have allowed new activities to
emerge in a relatively short time.
Networks have become a means to access resources, acquire new
knowledge and reproduce creativity, in ways that many organizations and
institutions would not be able to do on their own. Their scale advantages have defied long established
assumptions on the limitations of organizational size and scope. By providing greater value through
the rapid expansion of access, networks have defied the belief that value can
only be derived from scarcity.
All of these characteristics have supported the emergence of
technocapitalism, and they are also relevant to the process of regional
inversion. Fifth, the globalization of
technocapitalism can be related to regional inversion. It may be possible for some regions
to bypass the structures of the status quo in their respective nations by
linking up with larger global processes. The containment imposed by a predominant region in a
national territory may thus be broken or bypassed by reaching out and
establishing international links.
This possibility might have been considered unrealistic not long ago,
but the spread of networks, the new logistics of exchange, advances in
communication technologies, and an emerging global order where intangibles
displace material resources may make it more feasible. All of these aspects
indicate that the process of regional inversion might be related to the
larger dynamic of technocapitalism.
Much remains to be known about both of these processes. However, it is becoming apparent that
there can be a potentially significant correspondence between regional
inversion and many aspects of technocapitalism. For
additional information on technocapitalism, please see the website www.technocapitalism.com by
clicking on the banner below
For
publications on regional inversion and related topics by this author, please
see the Publications section of this website. Copyright © Luis Suarez-Villa
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