The Network Society: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

by Manuel Castells (editor)

Manuel Castells - one of the world's pre-eminent social scientists - has drawn together a stellar group of contributors to explore the patterns and dynamics of the network society in its cultural and institutional diversity. The book analyzes the technological, cultural and institutional transformation of societies around the world in terms of the critical role of electronic communication networks in business, everyday life, public services, social interaction and politics. The contributors demonstrate that the network society is the new form of social organization in the Information age, replacing the Industrial society. The book analyzes processes of technological transformation in interaction with social culture in different cultural and institutional the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Finland, Russia, China, India, Canada, and Catalonia. The topics examined include business productivity, global financial markets, cultural identity, the uses of the Internet in education and health, the anti-globalization movement, political processes, media and identity, and public policies to guide technological development. Taken together these studies show that the network society adopts very different forms, depending on the cultural and institutional environments in which it evolves. The Network Society, now available in paperback, is an outstanding and original volume of direct interest in academia - particularly in the fields of social sciences, communication studies, and business schools - as well as for policymakers engaged in technological policy and economic development. Business and management experts will also discover much of value to them within this book. S.K. Acord, W.E. Baker, T. Bates, C. Benner, N. Bulkley, M. Castells, A. Chatterjee, K.M. Coleman, M.I. Díaz de Isla, K.N. Hampton, P. Himanen, J.S. Juris, J.E. Katz, J. Linchuan Qiu, R.D. Pinkett, R.E. Rice, T. Sancho, L.J. Servon, A. Sey, I. Tubella, M. Van Alstyne, E. Vartanova, B. Wellman, R. Williams, S. Woolgar, C. Zaloom

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction

488 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Manuel Castells is Professor of Communication and the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, as well as Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, Research Professor at the Open University of Catalonia, and Marvin and Joanne Grossman Distinguished Visiting Professor of Technology and Society at MIT. He is the author of, among other books, the three-volume work The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture.

Reviews

[Malte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Er mest glad for Castells egne tekster og bogen er ikke helt ny længere (den er fra 2004 og det betyder en del af de undersøgelser der henvises til er væsentligt ældre og det er desværre lidt et problem for flere af teksterne).

[Oğuzcan Önver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Önce Castells sonra Black Mirror.