“Every now and then one reads a book of social science that is uplifting and mind expanding. These books are ambitious and lustrous, teaching us much about our world. Such is this work from the brilliant sociologist Manuel Castells. There is no other sociological work today that brings together in one panoramic expanse so many of the changes now occurring. This is a story not simply of global economic change, but of cultural upheavals. It is a tale not simply of the decline of sovereign states, but of the emergence of the new bases of power. And it is a narrative not merely about computer technology or the media, but of the very terms in which those agents work.”
–Anthony M. Orum, Contemporary Sociology
“A magnum opus if ever there was one. In my view, the finest piece of contemporary social analysis for at least a generation.”
–Frank Webster, British Journal of Sociology
“A truly stunning achievement. A scholar who, with remarkable mastery, has brought his experience over a lifetime to bear on astonishingly diversified data set, pulling them together into a compelling account of the complex relationship between the progressive and the reactionary, the globalizing and particularizing forces that are transforming our perplexing world.”
–Benjamin Barber, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Reviews
From the Back Cover
In this second volume of The Information Age trilogy, with an extensive new preface following the recent global economic crisis, Manuel Castells deals with the social, political, and cultural dynamics associated with the technological transformation of our societies, and with the globalization of the economy.
About the Author
Manuel Castells is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also University Professor and the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and Professor of Sociology at the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona. He is Distinguished Visiting Professor of Technology and Society at M.I.T., and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University. He is the recipient of numerous academic awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, C. Wright Mills Award, the Robert and Helen Lynd Award from the American Sociological Association, and the Ithiel de Sola Pool Award from the American Political Science Association. He is a Fellow of the European Academy, a Fellow of the Spanish Royal Academy of Economics, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has received 16 honorary doctorates from universities around the world. He has authored 23 books, among which are: the trilogy The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture, first published by Blackwell in 1996–8, which has been translated into 20 languages; and Communication Power (2009).
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