Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #431686 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .98 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Castells, best known for his three-volume study The Information Age (Blackwell), an analysis of societal changes wrought by communications advances, trims that work to appeal to readers who were daunted by its 1,200 pages, $80 paperback price and ponderous prose. In this excellent, readable, nontechnical summary of the history, social implications and likely future of Internet business, Castells, professor of planning and of sociology at Berkeley, covers institutions like the World Wide Web Consortium, which "presides over the protocols and development" of the Web, and phenomena like the Internet's immense ability to simultaneously liberate and exclude. There are still too many sentences like "It is fair to say that most hackers live normal lives, at least as normal as most people, which does not necessarily mean that hackers (or anybody else) fit into the ideal type of normalcy, conforming to the dominant ideology in our societies," leaving readers wondering if hackers' lives are normal or not, and whether he's trying to give a sociological side lesson. Those willing to overlook such prosodic lapses will appreciate the astute accounts of, e.g., the complications for early grassroots online citizen networks headed by community activists, but seen by many as an opportunity to move beyond their local community.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Based on the author's Clarendon Lectures in Management at Oxford University, this work focuses on the Internet and the future of networked societies. More specifically, Castells (sociology, Univ. of California, Berkeley; The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture) examines cultures spawned by the Internet as well as the Internet's effects on culture. He provides balanced coverage of e-business and the new economy; the politics of the Internet, including privacy and freedom; and the geography of the Internet. Thereafter, he considers how those topics have influenced the globalization of the Internet and the growing digital divide. This thoroughly researched volume features numerous international examples and statistics that effectively illustrate key points and make the book truly global in scope. With his knack for analyzing contemporary society, Castells has produced a timely book indeed. Including constructive lists of "reading links" and "e-links" at the end of each chapter, the text would serve as a good companion for courses in the social and computer sciences. Highly recommended for academic libraries. Colleen Cuddy, New York Univ. Sch. of Medicine Lib.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
`Review from previous edition A very readable and stimulating book.' Professor Laurie Taylor, BBC Radio 4 'Thinking Allowed'

`[An] excellent, readable, nontechnical summary of the history, social implications and likely future of Internet business.' Publishers Weekly, 12 Nov. 01

`. . . a superb guide to the workings of the internet and its wider implications. . . . [Castells] brings a sociologist's understanding of the importance of culture in business to his analysis of the internet. . . . stands supreme as a wise and insightful guide to the web.' Management Today, November 01 (UK)

`The Internet is shaping society and in turn being shaped by society. It takes a scholar of Manuel Castells's range to do justice to this phenomenon. His book is learned without being pompous, and insightful without being impenetrable. If we ever get a discipline of Internet studies, this will be one of its founding texts.' John Naughton, author of 'A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet'

`Manuel Castells has proved once again that he has an unmatched synoptic capacity to make sense of the complexities of a networked world, and here writes with clarity and insight about everything from the history of the technology to the subcultures that have done so much to shape it.' Geoff Mulgan, author of 'Communication and Control' and 'Connexity'; Head of the Prime Minister's Forward Strategy Unit

`Castells is probably the world's most highly regarded commentator on the information age and new economic order.' Management Today: Guru Guide, October 2001

`. . . a readable, articulate and persuasive account of why the internet's most powerful impacts on the shape of business, politics and society may be yet to come.' Charles Leadbeater, Financial Times, 04/12/01

`Thoroughly researched ... [and] truly global in scope. Castells provides balanced coverage of e-business and the new economy; the politics of the Internet, including privacy and freedom; and the geography of the Internet....Highly recommended for academic libraries.' Library Journal, Nov 01

`Absorbing history....Castells observes that while the Internet has the potential to strengthen democracy through broadening the sources of information and enabling greater citizenship participation, it has at the same time contributed greatly to the politics of scandal.... In his sobering final chapter, the author studies the divide between peoples and regions that operate in the digital world and those that cannot. ' Kirkus Review

`The Internet Galaxy is the best attempt by a big thinker to grapple with the net's long-term implications for our society.' New Statesman, 14/01/02