Post Industrial society is described outside the factory, it is variously described as a mode of production based on information, services, knowledge computers and more recently biotechnology- it is characterised by much smaller units of production.
According to Danial Bell such a change was characterised in this way because jobs were changing from physical strength to mental agility, which he believed would further lead to a knowledge based society and as a result the working place would become much more pleasant than before as the `dirty dangerous jobs` would be replace with more satisfying and safe jobs.
However does this necessarily mean that society can be described as being post-industrial? According to Bell the past has always focused on knowledge as a central part of production as it creates more productive and efficient machinery therefore post industrial society cannot necessarily be said to be occurring.
One other way of seeing this is the emergence of post-Fordism and Mcdonaldization. Post-Fordism refers to the way production has been reorganised to meet requirements of quality, diversity and innovation. It involved inter-related changes in the organisation of work, personal policies and industrial relations. Greater skills, flexibility and commitment were also required and sin work. This led to a more organised society but not necessarily a post-industrial society.
Mcdonaldization is where things according to Ritzer (1993) are produced for consumers according to strict calculation and predictability, utilising the material environment to control the behaviour of human beings, for example fixed menus, limited options etc. this then becomes a world wide trend.
One of the main reasons given in support of the idea that this is now a post-industrial society has been the occupational structure of modern society as seen above. Also the move to service economy meant that manufacturing jobs had been overtaken. However what is failed to be noticed is that the growth of services in industrial society such as childcare, counselling and social security has not really changed and the factor that mental ability was used then in times of industrialisation shows that there really has not been an emergence of Post-industrial society.
