Pfeiffer Sabine
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Hohenheim, Wollgrasweg 23, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.
Nanoethics. 2017;11(1):107-121. doi: 10.1007/s11569-016-0280-3. Epub 2017 Jan 25.
Since industrial trade fair Hannover Messe 2011, the term "Industrie 4.0" has ignited a vision of a new Industrial Revolution and has been inspiring a lively, ongoing debate among the German public about the future of work, and hence society, ever since. The discourse around this vision of the future eventually spread to other countries, with public awareness reaching a temporary peak in 2016 when the World Economic Forum's meeting in Davos was held with the motto "Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution." How is it possible for a vision originally established by three German engineers to unfold and bear fruit at a global level in such a short period of time? This article begins with a summary of the key ideas that are discussed under the label Industrie 4.0. The main purpose, based on an in-depth discourse analysis, is to debunk the myth about the origin of this powerful vision and to trace the narrative back to the global economic crisis in 2009 and thus to the real actors, central discourse patterns, and hidden intentions of this vision of a new Industrial Revolution. In conclusion, the discourse analysis reveals that this is not a case of visioneering but one of a future told, tamed, and traded.
自2011年汉诺威工业博览会以来，“工业4.0”一词点燃了一场关于新工业革命的愿景，此后一直在德国公众中引发了一场关于工作未来乃至社会未来的热烈且持续不断的辩论。围绕这一未来愿景的讨论最终蔓延到了其他国家，在2016年世界经济论坛以“掌控第四次工业革命”为主题在达沃斯举行会议时，公众意识达到了一个短暂的峰值。一个最初由三位德国工程师提出的愿景，如何能在如此短的时间内在全球范围内展开并结出硕果呢？本文首先总结了在“工业4.0”这一标签下所讨论的关键理念。基于深入的话语分析，其主要目的是揭穿这个强大愿景起源的神话，并将其叙事追溯到2009年的全球经济危机，进而追溯到这场新工业革命愿景的真正参与者、核心话语模式和隐藏意图。总之，话语分析表明，这并非是一个凭空设想的案例，而是一个被讲述、驯化和交易的未来。
