ABSTRACT
This chapter on Information Society as/versus Informed Society: The Gateway constructs a teaser in which the much-publicised ‘information society’ is put under critical scanner vis-à-vis ‘informed society’. In tracing the conceptual-theoretical trajectory of information society since the 1970s, its emergence and growth as analysed by a number of pioneering thinkers, and as discussed in global summits, the chapter seeks to expose the control mechanism that lies at the heart of the dominant-mainstream visualisation of information society. In the process it argues against overstating the role of information and communication technology and makes a distinction between fast track, ready-made mechanistic ‘installation’ and slow-paced, gradual organic ‘integration’ of information society.
