Beyond "General Intellect"

Abstract

In advanced capitalism, science and technology are at the forefront of production. Nevertheless, traditional forms of reasoning (fuzzy logic, I+D+i, ...) , or what Marx called "general intellect", far from being simply subordinated, are being fundamentally reconstituted in line with post-Fordist thinking. The departure from Marx's view of science is due to the synergy between traditional scientific reasoning on the one hand, and, on the other hand, forms of knowledge production which are diffuse, social, commercial and co-operative. This latter form of knowledge production sustains the circulation of goods in the market. We need to point out that this is not uniformly 'high tech'; it is more like a heterogenous, neo or post-Fordist mixture of applied, commercialised science, on the one hand, and insecure conditions of employment on the other. Barcelona's "City of Knowledge" ("ciutat de coneixment") project, which is supposed to involve, and be supported by, "citizens", claims to embody these conceptions through a number of initiatives (22@, Parc de Reserca Biomèdica, Campus Mediterrani de Castelldefels....). Nevertheless, megalomaniac enthusiasm aside, the upshot of this messy project has been a city and metropolitan area configured as a 'living factory', a banana state with more or less complex technology, and a profusion of salaried executives.