The Information State in England: The Central Collection of Information on Citizens Since 1500 - Paperback

by Edward Higgs (Author)

There has been an enormous rise in the central state's collection of information on individuals since the sixteenth century. Historians have mined this rich seam for their own ends, but--until now--analysis of the significance of this information gathering has been mainly left to sociologists. Raising questions with immense contemporary relevance, Edward Higgs examines how and why the central state has become ever more involved in the collection and manipulation of personal information for both benign and repressive ends.

Back Jacket

Is the official collection of information on individuals inevitably leading to the creation of a 'Big Brother State'? In this innovative interdisciplinary study, Edward Higgs takes issue with writers such as Michel Foucault and Anthony Giddens who argue that state information gathering can be seen in terms of an expansion towards modernity, and as social control. Using ground-breaking historical research, Higgs reveals that, since 1500, the English state has always been an Information State although the nature of that state has changed markedly over the last 500 years. In its modern form, the Information State is as much about winning consent via the provision of benefits as repression in the interests of elites.

The Information State in England
- draws upon a wide range of sociological theory and historical research, as well as evidence gathered from archival sources
- challenges many assumptions about state formation and the role of information
- views the development of the state in terms of the changing balance between decentralized and centralized forms of governance
provides a critique of sociological and postmodernist concepts of modernity.

Author Biography

EDWARD HIGGS is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Essex.
EDWARD HIGGS is Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Essex.