Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Bantam Books (1981), Edition: 1st Printing, 537 pages
Description
Examines various aspects of modern life and analyzes changes that are occurring in such areas as the economy, politics, sexual attitudes, family life, and technology, and discusses the effect of these changes upon individuals and nations.
User reviews
LibraryThing member encephalical
Toffler's main thesis, that de-massification of production is leading to a kind of economy based upon home-based, independent, information-work contractors slash everyone has a home makerspace run by their off-grid, or perhaps, decentralized peer-peer networked alternative energy sources doesn't
What always cracks me up about books like this is, here is someone that has come up with a comprehensive anthropological and historical explanation and framework for human history and future development, yet is neither an anthropologist nor a historian. Does his outsider status give him a clarity of vision, or is he essentially just a somewhat ponderous science fiction author? When picturing The book's scenarios, I kept thinking of SnowCrash and The Diamond Age, also The Dispossessed, which all imagine de-centralized, de-massified societies.
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seem any more or less likely than any other imagined future. I think he'd be disappointed at how reactionary "Second Wavers" have been and how successfully they've caught the Third Wave. E.g., "school choice" to my knowledge is almost entirely the purview of the conservative religious movement, not progressives. Toffler does acknowledge that these historical Waves are amoral and spends some time talking about bad scenarios, though his overwhelming thrust is optimistic. I have to wonder how much of the pessimistic parts were a response to the general 70's malaise. What always cracks me up about books like this is, here is someone that has come up with a comprehensive anthropological and historical explanation and framework for human history and future development, yet is neither an anthropologist nor a historian. Does his outsider status give him a clarity of vision, or is he essentially just a somewhat ponderous science fiction author? When picturing The book's scenarios, I kept thinking of SnowCrash and The Diamond Age, also The Dispossessed, which all imagine de-centralized, de-massified societies.
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LibraryThing member Dilip-Kumar
Toffler (Alvin with his wife Heidi), of course, is one of the sages of the 20th century, and this book is another triumph of intuition, understanding, and a keen sense of ongoing processes. The main thesis is that the western world is coming to the end of the industrial revolution, and is
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transforming itself in many ways that amount toa Third Wave (the first was the Agricultural revolution, the second the Industrial). In this new dispensation, peoplemaree no longer dependent on society and their neighbours, they no longer want steady jobs, the economy gradually moves away from producing industrial and manufactured goods toward intellectual and knowledge products (and entertainment and creative works) for both production and consumption at the same time: the rise of the 'prosumer'. Many aspects of Toffler's scenario find ready resonance in our own experience: the younger generation not going after settled jobs, or residence, or marriage. But the question arises: is this a manifestation of a rise above a certain level of wealth, or is it something happening right across classes? The book, brilliant though it is, has certain drawbacks: its inordinate size (a very Second Wave character!), a frequent tendency to exaggerate and universalize, and the almost complete blind spot to religious fundamentalism and geopolitical hegemony. Hence the three stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member mykl-s
An early look at what post-industrial society might look like.
Language
Original publication date
1980
Physical description
537 p.; 7 inches
ISBN
0553144316 / 9780553144314
UPC
076783003958