The New Barbarian Manifesto: How to Survive the Information Age (Hardcover)

Ian Angell is one of them. His New Barbarian Manifesto is a bleak but compelling read--an apocalyptic vision of the future written in uncompromising style. Like High Tech/High Touch, the basic premise is that IT is not a pathway to the Utopia we imagine but a ticket to chaos, dislocation and conflict. The language tells the story: "I want to convince you that a 'brave new world' is being forced upon unsuspecting societies by advances in information technology. This is a brutal and brutish world, a world of barbarians, where the certainties of the 20th century, its power bases and its institutions are collapsing." Computerization is one of the principle villains according to Angell, promoting as it does the triumph of intellect over strength, the individual over the group. He observes that, "this ultimate automating technology, this destroyer of all jobs requiring physical strength, is totally dependent on intellectual labour. For the production of intellectual capital is the sole prerogative of the knowledge worker." More, "these talented new barbarians are realising their value and they are learning to invest their capital wisely." But Angell is no revisionist and this is the twist. He advocates a move towards new barbarianism--embracing this uncertain future for individual success. The book aims to "enable you to understand these forces and use them to advantage, with pointers on becoming a winner in this new age."

The New Barbarian Manifesto rants in hugely entertaining and provocative style and few will come away untouched by the force of Angell's vision. His bleak predictions can be difficult to stomach but who doesn't look to the future with trepidation? Still, progress isn't all doom and gloom--at least we no longer wear bowler hats to work. --Iain Campbell

'Ian Angell, "the only intellectually honest new conservative".' Toronto Star

'A prophet of the 21st Century.' Independent on Sunday

'This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to survive the information technology revolution.' Eurobusiness - London.

''It is an apocalyptic, dystopian vision of the future which calls for radical action. It is also a damning critique of most of the traditions and institutions that the west has developed during the past 200 years, including taxation, the nation-state and liberal democracy itself. Angell's thesis has the virtue of boldness.' Financial Times

An apocalyptic split in society is inevitable according to Ian Angell, already dubbed 'the Angell of Doom' by The Times newspaper. He rejects the long-held view of information technology as the benign liberator from mundane work and sees it instead as the seed for a new society of barbarians, in which winners take all, where a stateless overclass of the gifted few are free to search the world for the cheapest labour. If the scenario seems unlikely, look now at the life prisoners in the US who operate telesales services for major American airlines. Professor Angell predicts that IT, far from creating the path to Utopia, will spell poverty for the many and self-governing opulence for the few. Only those with the knowledge and power to guide the IT revolution will prosper, liberated from taxation in any state, while the manual labour falls to dispossessed production workers or more efficient robots. Offering a unique take on the negative aspects of the new technologies, this book maps the way to the ultimate collapse of society. Ian Angell tells readers what is likely to happen. He may not claim to know all the consequences, but anyone wishing to survive the information age should read his warning. Ian Angell is Professor of Information Systems at the London School of Economics and a controversial figure whose radical views have earned him a great deal of media attention.