Postindustrial Governance: National Identities or International Integration

22nd Century Lecture Series

Governance is defined by cultural traditions, the current political system and economic model. The Industrial Age framed liberal representative democracy and the market economy. As the Industrial Age is being phased out, so is its political system and economic model—and, by implication, governance. A new kind of governance will emerge in the strongest and most dynamic economies and be steered by:

• The need to manage information. Governments will need to reconcile the imperative of open access to information with the need for organizing societies, avoiding chaos and conflicts among cultures with different values, norms, and ethics.
• The phasing out of economic incentives as the dominant parameter for business activities. Governance will take a more societal perspective, looking at ways to contribute to the evolution of societies beyond what can be measured by economic criteria.
• The likelihood that more and more activities take place on the global level. Today, political control stills seems firmly anchored in nation-states. The question becomes how we might put in place some kind of global governance, so that decisions by economic players (supranational companies) and political entities takes place at the same level.

This global view is especially difficult, because most people see their identity anchored inside a national framework while economic activity is global or international. We are thus presented with a clash between identity (cultural values) and economic activity.