Manuel Castells Libri

The Power of Identity is the second volume of Manuel Castells trilogy The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. It deals with the social, political, and cultural dynamics associated with the technological transformation of our societies and with the globalization of the economy. A brilliant account of social, cultural and political conflict and struggle all over the world. Analyzes the importance of cultural, religious and national identity as sources of meaning for people, and its implications for social movement. Throws new light on the dynamics of global and local change. New sections have been added on Al Qaeda and global terrorist networks, on the anti-globalization movement, American unilateralism and the conflicts of global governance, the crisis of political legitimacy throughout the world and the theory of network states.

In this wide-ranging and powerful book, Castells analyses the revolution in communication technologies and social media that has created a new communication system, mass self-communication. He argues that this has, in turn, transformed power relationships, the role of social movements, and their responses to recent political and economic crises.

"Manuel Castells concludes the Information Age trilogy by considering the intersection of the global network society and factional project identities. As always, the scope of Castell's argument is far-ranging. Among the subjects addressed are the collapse of the Soviet Union; the potential emergence of the Asian Pacific as the next region of major world power; and the rapidly increasing growth of a "Fourth World"--A series of "black holes of informational capitalism" (areas that have been cut off from the flow of wealth and information in the global economy) that refuses to confine itself to national borders--as likely to appear in the American inner city as it is in sub-Saharan Africa. He also raises the specter of a "global criminal economy," a dark counterpart to transnational corporations, and suggests that trends such as fascination with gangster movies "may well indicate the cultural breakdown of traditional moral order, and the implicit recognition of a new society, made up of communal identity and unruly competition." End of Millennium is perhaps the most accessible of Castell's three volumes, expertly reading the pulse of late-20th-century social trends. It's bound to provoke debate about any efforts to shape the trends of the 21st century."--http://www.amazon.com (April 12, 2011)

How wireless technology is redefining the relationship of communication, technology, and society around the world-in everyday work and life, in youth culture, in politics, and in the developing world.

Castells helps us understand how the Internet came into being and how it is affecting every area of human life. This guide reveals the Internet's huge capacity to liberate, but also its possibility to exclude those who do not have access to it.

This volume explores the patterns and dynamics of the network society in its policy dimension, ranging from the knowledge economic, based in technology and innovation, to the organizational reform and modernization in the public sector, focusing also the media and communication policies. The Network Society is our society, a society made of individuals, businesses and state operating from the local, national and into the international arena.

Der Band, den Sie in Händen halten, ist eine erheblich veränderte Fassung die ses Buches, das ursprünglich im November 1996 erschienen ist. Die gegenwär tige Version wurde im zweiten Halbjahr 1999 ausgearbeitet und geschrieben. Sie setzt sich zum Ziel, die technologischen, wirtschaftlichen und gesellschaftli chen Entwicklungen einzubauen, die während der späten 1990er Jahre einge treten sind und insgesamt die Diagnose und Prognosen bestätigt haben, die ich in der ersten Ausgabe vorgelegt habe. Ich habe die zentralen, substanziellen Elemente der Gesamtanalyse nicht verändert: hauptsächlich, weil ich glaube, dass der Kern meiner Argumentation nach wie vor zutreffend ist, aber auch, weil alle Bücher Kinder ihrer Zeit sind und am Ende von der Entwicklung und von der Berichtigung der in ihnen enthaltenen Ideen überholt werden müssen, wenn die gesellschaftliche Erfahrung und die Forschung neue Informationen und neues Wissen hervorbringen. Außer der Aktualisierung eines Teils der In formationen habe ich ein paar Fehler korrigiert und versucht, die Argumentati on wo immer möglich klarer und überzeugender zu machen. Dabei waren mir viele Bemerkungen, Kritiken und Beiträge aus der ganzen Welt nützlich, die allgemein in konstruktiver und kooperativer Weise vorge bracht wurden. Ich kann dem Reichtum der Debatte, die dieses Buch zu meiner großen Überraschung ausgelöst hat, nicht gerecht werden.