Manuel Castells
Key Contemporary Thinkers
1. Edition January 2006
272 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-0-7456-3277-3
John Wiley & Sons
* First in-depth study of Manuell Castells pioneering work
* Traces Castells thought from his work on urban change in the 1970s to his recent theories of global social transformations
* Distills the central ideas in Castells work into an accessible and concise introduction for undergraduate students
* Explores Castells writings on the network society, informational capitalism and democracy in crisis
* Provides a critical analysis of Castells thought in relation to ongoing debates about globalization
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1: Transformation of Baseline 1
Neo-Marxism and the Renewal of Urban Sociology 13
Technology and Social Change 20
Informationalism 28
Epistemology 33
The Politics of Research 38
2: Production 42
Postindustrialism 43
The Economic Crisis of the 1970s 46
Internationalization of the Economy 48
Global Financial Markets 50
The Network Enterprise 55
Individualization of Labor 61
Informational Capitalism: Critical Issues 65
3: Experience 75
Social movements as subjects of history 76
Social movements beyond the local 81
Social movements and the creation of identity 83
Two case studies 87
Social movements and the culture of real virtuality 99
4: The network state and informational politics 104
The theory of the state 106
The crisis of the nation-state 109
Informational politics 115
The reaffirmation of the state 118
The rise of the network state? 122
Power and networks 128
5: Flows and places 141
Castells's theory of space 142
The space of flows 145
The time of flows 155
Cities in the space of flows 162
6: The logic of networks 167
What is a network? 169
Informational networks 181
The network logic 185
Preeminence of morphology over action 196
Conclusion 199
Notes 207
Bibliography of Manuel Castells 224
Other References 241
Index 252
Introduction 1
1: Transformation of Baseline 1
Neo-Marxism and the Renewal of Urban Sociology 13
Technology and Social Change 20
Informationalism 28
Epistemology 33
The Politics of Research 38
2: Production 42
Postindustrialism 43
The Economic Crisis of the 1970s 46
Internationalization of the Economy 48
Global Financial Markets 50
The Network Enterprise 55
Individualization of Labor 61
Informational Capitalism: Critical Issues 65
3: Experience 75
Social movements as subjects of history 76
Social movements beyond the local 81
Social movements and the creation of identity 83
Two case studies 87
Social movements and the culture of real virtuality 99
4: The network state and informational politics 104
The theory of the state 106
The crisis of the nation-state 109
Informational politics 115
The reaffirmation of the state 118
The rise of the network state? 122
Power and networks 128
5: Flows and places 141
Castells's theory of space 142
The space of flows 145
The time of flows 155
Cities in the space of flows 162
6: The logic of networks 167
What is a network? 169
Informational networks 181
The network logic 185
Preeminence of morphology over action 196
Conclusion 199
Notes 207
Bibliography of Manuel Castells 224
Other References 241
Index 252
"Manuel Castells holds a well-deserved place at the centre of
debates over the 'information age' that he helped to name. Felix
Stalder offers a sustained and careful appraisal of Castells's
work, both incisively critical at some points and generously
acknowledging the quality of his achievement at others."
David Lyon, Queens University, Ontario
"This book is a very beautiful model of how one mind engages
with another: Felix Stalder has seized the essence of Manuel
Castells's work and its immense relevance to our time. Daring to be
positively critical, Stalder enlarges and also defines Castells's
arguments. Thus the book multiplies Castells by Stalder and the
result is an instant expansion of the mind of the reader."
Derrick DeKerckhove, University of Toronto
debates over the 'information age' that he helped to name. Felix
Stalder offers a sustained and careful appraisal of Castells's
work, both incisively critical at some points and generously
acknowledging the quality of his achievement at others."
David Lyon, Queens University, Ontario
"This book is a very beautiful model of how one mind engages
with another: Felix Stalder has seized the essence of Manuel
Castells's work and its immense relevance to our time. Daring to be
positively critical, Stalder enlarges and also defines Castells's
arguments. Thus the book multiplies Castells by Stalder and the
result is an instant expansion of the mind of the reader."
Derrick DeKerckhove, University of Toronto
Felix Stalder, University of Applied Arts Social Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
