Prophecy and progress : the socilogy of industrial and post-industrial society

In recent years a chorus of futurologists has sprung up, some pessimistic, some not, but all seriously concerned with the future of industrial society. We are promised a 'post-industrial society'; we will be in 'future shock': the developed countries are on the verge of a new stage in history.

Prophecy and Progress takes a close look at industrial society, past and present, in order to evaluate these multifarious claims. The author begins with the industrial revolution itself, examining the ideas it inspired, especially the idea of progress and the balance of confidence and despair about industrialism. Moving on to the post-industrial idea, Dr Kumar arrives at the conclusion that much of it is plausible only because of a widespread misconception of what 'classic' industrial society was all about. He concludes with a discussion of what kind of society we can expect, one that genuinely goes 'beyond industrialism.