Description
Book SynopsisManuel 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 contexts: 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 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.
Trade Review‘The Network Society
stimulates the reader to think about the network society in an innovative way. Because of its analytical aims and a well-balanced presentation of empirical findings and theoretical insights coming from a remarkable variety of authors, this is a book that might become a model for collaborative research in the years to come, as well as an invaluable reference for teaching and research on networking as an organizational form.' -- International Sociology - Review of Books
Table of ContentsContents: Part I: The Theory of the Network Society Part II: The Cultural and Institutional Diversity of the Network Society Part III: The Network Economy Part IV: Sociability and Social Structure in the Age of the Internet Part V: The Internet in the Public Interest Part VI: Networked Social Movements and Informational Politics Part VII: The Culture of the Network Society Index
