Some Geographical Paradoxes of the Postindustrial World

Paradoxes are understood as contradictions, real and imaginary oddities, illogicalities of postindustrial development and its analysis on different geographical scales, from global to local. In addition to the two paradoxes associated with the laxity of the term itself, four more are considered: (1) the flow of resources into areas of activity, countries, and regions not with increased labor productivity, as in the course of industrialization, but with the same or decreased productivity; (2) the modern world of knowledge and innovation is replete with false news, innovations, and sometimes shocking relapses of mass ignorance; (3) information is mobile and omnipresent, but information and business authors settle very selectively, in a few countries and usually in large cities and clusters thereof; (4) territories requiring external assistance may be “postindustrial by necessity” due to the weakness of other economic sectors and development options. The article does not touch upon all the postindustrial paradoxes observed at the global level and within countries, and the level (scale) frequently determines judgment about the nature of the process and its assessment. They often only seem like paradoxes, since they have completely rational and explainable reasons. Moreover, it can be difficult to separate postindustrial shifts and problems from their companions such as globalization and deglobalization, increased mobility of people, knowledge, technology and its barriers, urbanization and counterurbanization, etc. This complicates the study of postindustrial phenomena as such and partly forms the identified paradoxes, without at the same time canceling the problems of their scientific study.