Further Explorations in the "Projective City": Communitech and the "Future of Work" in the Waterloo Rgion Tech Sector




Last week at Communitech there was an event on the "Future of Work and Learning" that featured a talk by one David Mallon, chief analyst at Bersin, a U.S.-based division of the global consulting firms Deloitte.  According to an article about the event on the Commiunitech website (https://news.communitech.ca/a-masters-every-10-years-how-workers-will-adapt-to-change/), Mallon argued that "For some, that means learning the equivalent of a master’s degree every 10 years to keep pace with changing knowledge demands." “We don’t earn a living, we learn a living,” Mallon said, adding to a phrase originally used by Marshall McLuhan in 1964."

The question for discussion is this: in what ways can Mallon's argument be seen as indicative (or not) of what Boltanski and Chiapello term "the projective city" in the Waterloo Region Tech Sector?  Which kinds kind of "power" in Castells' typology of network power would such an approach to learning conceivably enhance for the individual actor in contemporary information capitalism:

1. Networking Power: the power of the actors and organizations included in the networks that constitute the core of the global network society over human collectives and individuals who are not included in these global networks. 
2. Network Power: the power resulting from the standards required to coordinate social interaction in the networks. In this case, power is exercised not by exclusion from the networks but by the imposition of the rules of inclusion.
3. Networked Power: the power of social actors over other social actors in the network. The forms and processes of networked power are specific to each network.
4. Network-making Power: the power to program specific networks according to the interests and values of the programmers, and the power to switch different networks following the strategic alliances between the dominant actors of various networks.

Please post your answers to this question by the end of Friday, February 8, and your response (at least one)  to other class members's posts by the end of Sunday, February 10.

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