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Reviews
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom by Yochai Benkler
alexander0's review against another edition
3.0
The primary value of this book for a social scientist is in part 1. There are topics in parts 2 and 3 worth looking at, however for those who have read about Internet policy and law, these are arguments that have existed since the early 90s. A historical look at the past two regimes of telecomm law and policy covers a great deal of the arguments made in this text.
The valuable part, is part 1 which, in summary, suggests that the "hackers" of the 70s and 80s are the developers of a political economy neither exactly capitalist or socialist, but yet still gives us all the incentives, and material possibilities of capitalism and meet the needs of individualized labor freedoms that socialists demand for. Although this is not exactly a new argument, this is probably the first place I've read it in such a concise and applied manner. Certainly, Hayek's "Use of Knowledge in Society" theoretically summarizes this point, but it has no real context outside of the documents it is responding to. This is very situated and important in its historical context of which, today, we are much more aware.
That said, there's a lot here that will be very outdated in less than a decade. That's not very good for a book that suggests itself as a historic follow-up to The Wealth of Nations. This is not quite as resonant, and historically transcendent as Adam Smith's work.
The valuable part, is part 1 which, in summary, suggests that the "hackers" of the 70s and 80s are the developers of a political economy neither exactly capitalist or socialist, but yet still gives us all the incentives, and material possibilities of capitalism and meet the needs of individualized labor freedoms that socialists demand for. Although this is not exactly a new argument, this is probably the first place I've read it in such a concise and applied manner. Certainly, Hayek's "Use of Knowledge in Society" theoretically summarizes this point, but it has no real context outside of the documents it is responding to. This is very situated and important in its historical context of which, today, we are much more aware.
That said, there's a lot here that will be very outdated in less than a decade. That's not very good for a book that suggests itself as a historic follow-up to The Wealth of Nations. This is not quite as resonant, and historically transcendent as Adam Smith's work.
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