Conflict Resolution as a State Mechanism in Modern Times: An Introduction to Conflict Resolution in a Post-Industrialized Business World

Introduction

Post-industrial business world is referred to an advanced stage in development of an industrialized society during which the state economy transits from one stage that primarily “provides goods” to the other stage that “provides services”. In other words, the service sector, made up of people such as doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, researchers, social workers, and lawyers, among others, account for more of the economic growth and wealth accumulation than the manufacturing sector made up of people such as construction workers, textile mill workers, agro - food manufacturers, and production workers. The economic transformation associated with the post-industrialized business world subsequently transforms the society as a whole. As a matter of fact, information, services, and advanced technology areconsidered to be more important in post-industrialized world than that of manufacturing tangible goods. As the name suggests, the post-industrialized world follows an industrialized societymodel(Hazen, C.D: 2018)of Europe which focused on mass production of goods with the aid of modern machinery. Post-industrialization can easily be seen in Europe and the United States that were more influenced by the impact of Industrial Revolution than other places around the world. The United States was the first country to have more than fifty per cent of the total workforce engaged in service sector during the second half of the twentieth century.

State mechanism works in three orders to resolve social, economic, political, and national conflicts. In its first order a state prevents the risk of majority of socio-economic conflicts by enacting new laws or by amending the existing laws. In its second order a state controls the rate of conflicts by imposing deterrent punishment on the conflict –mongers. In its third order a state follows the policy of surveillance across the country and propagates the message of resolution of conflicts through education system or through the administrative overhaul of value-based Public Instruction.

It has been observed that tertiary and quaternary sectors are quintessentially techno-knowledge-oriented. As a matter of fact,Information Technology is the offshoot of the technicaleducation and its primary focus is on skill development. The growing importance of Computer Science and Internet –based ‘Digital Networking’ attests to this phenomenon. The newly gained power of the digital expertsconsequently gives rise to the growing role of universities and research institutes in post-industrial business world. Post-industrial market economy can thrive being knowledge -oriented around these global hubs of knowledge production. Naturally post – industrialized society focuses on production of techno-experts and technocrats by using state mechanism.

Consequently, the greatest beneficiaries in the post-industrial market economy are young urban professionals all over the world. As a highly educated and computationally intellectualgeneration this young generation is mostly welcome in modern economy. As this young generation is also impassioned by state –sponsored ideas of liberalism, social justice, and environmentalism the shift of power into their hands for their technical knowledge is considered as risky one by the state mechanism,

The upsurge of technical knowledge and its application in Information Technology in post-industrialized business world results in a general increase in expertise throughout the world through the advanced political economy. Thus it eliminates what Alan Banks and Jim Foster have identified as ‘undesirable work as well as the grosser forms of poverty and inequality.’ This effect is supplemented by the aforementioned shift of power into the hands of educated youngsterswho are less concerned with social justice as envisaged by the state mechanism.

Economists at Berkeley University of California have studied the value of knowledge as a form of capital, adding value to material capital, such as a factory or an Industry. Thus, the addition or 'production' of knowledge could become the basis of 'post-industrial' policies that are meant to foster economic growth of the business world. Global race is noticeable in the growth plan of digital learning and Computer – Aided Learning and Teaching (CALT) all over the world today.