Temporary Contracts

On the Economy of Post-Industrial Landscape by Ellen Dunham-Jones

In contemporary society there is a fixation with the impermanent. Today everything is liquid – housing, jobs, information. As a result, a post-industrial landscape is spreading across North America.
According to Dunham-Jones, “Post-industrialism can be defined as the convergence of the ‘Information Age’ and the ‘Service Economy’ ”.
In other words, contemporary society has shifted from a society that is based on production of goods to a “production of images and information” (Dunham-Jones). As a result, cities are spreading outwards, business centres are becoming de-centralized and economic disparity is growing. The author uses New York City as an example – a city that not too long ago was a manufacturing centre. It is currently a centre of image and information creation that is supported by the service industry at the bottom. Can New York still be the culturally rich, thriving city it is known as if its function is that of a centre for the creation of imagery and information for global mass-capitalism?

Is permanence necessary in our lives today? What does it offer? Discuss.