The Internet Galaxy
Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society
Published on 18. October 2001
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-0-19-924153-8 (ISBN)
Description
The Web has been with us for less than a decade. The popular and commercial diffusion of the Internet has been extraordinary-instigating and enabling changes in virtually every area of human activity and society. We have new systems of communication, new businesses, new media and sources of information, new forms of political and cultural expression, new forms of teaching and learning, and new communities.
But how much do we know about the Internet-its history, its technology, its culture, and its uses? What are its implications for the business world and society at large? The diffusion has been so rapid that it has outpaced the capacity for well-grounded analysis. Some say everything will change, others that little will change.
Manuel Castells is widely regarded as the leading analyst of the Information Age and the Network Society. In addition to his academic work, he acts as adviser at the highest inter-national levels. In this short, accessible, and informative book he brings his experience and knowledge to bear on the Internet Galaxy.
How did it all begin? What are the cultures that make up and contest the Internet? How is it shaping the new business organization and re-shaping older business organizations? What are the realities of the digital divide? How has the Internet affected social and cultural organization, political participation and communication, and urban living?
These are just some of the questions addressed in this much needed book. Castells avoids any predictions or prescriptions-there have been enough of those-but instead draws on an extraordinary range of detailed evidence and research to describe what is happening, and to help us understand how the Internet has become the medium of the new network society.
But how much do we know about the Internet-its history, its technology, its culture, and its uses? What are its implications for the business world and society at large? The diffusion has been so rapid that it has outpaced the capacity for well-grounded analysis. Some say everything will change, others that little will change.
Manuel Castells is widely regarded as the leading analyst of the Information Age and the Network Society. In addition to his academic work, he acts as adviser at the highest inter-national levels. In this short, accessible, and informative book he brings his experience and knowledge to bear on the Internet Galaxy.
How did it all begin? What are the cultures that make up and contest the Internet? How is it shaping the new business organization and re-shaping older business organizations? What are the realities of the digital divide? How has the Internet affected social and cultural organization, political participation and communication, and urban living?
These are just some of the questions addressed in this much needed book. Castells avoids any predictions or prescriptions-there have been enough of those-but instead draws on an extraordinary range of detailed evidence and research to describe what is happening, and to help us understand how the Internet has become the medium of the new network society.
Reviews / Votes
Attempting an academic survey of the internet is an heroic task ... Manuel Castells is better placed than most to attempt such an undertaking, and pulls it off with verve and clarity. * RSA Journal * Authoritative guide to the origins of the internet, how it is affecting every area of human life, and its business applications. * Sunday Times Books of the Year 2001 * This small but complete volume is a critical introduction to internet-related theories, while doubling as a simplified reader on his own ideas. The book should help to spread his influence beyond the faithful. * Prospect * The Internet Galaxy is the best attempt by a big thinker to grapple with the net's long-term implications for our society. * Mark Leonard, New Statesman * 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 Communications and Control and Connexity Director of the Performance and Innovation Unit, The Cabinet Office and head of the Prime Minister's Forward Strategy Unit * Thoroughly researched and truly global in scope. Castells provides balanced covergae 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 * [An] excellent, readable, nontechnical summary of the history, social implications and likely future of Internet business. * Publishers Weekly * Castells is probably the world's most highly regarded commentator on the information age and new economic order. * Management Today: Guru Guide * Adam Smith explained how capitalism worked, and Karl Marx explained why it didn't. Now the social and economic relations of the Information Age have been captured by Manuel Castells. * The Wall Street Journal * 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. Castells is the nearest thing the internet has to a founding philosopher. * Charles Leadbetter - Financial Times *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
2 maps
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 146 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
551 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-924153-8 (9780199241538)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2002
Oxford University Press
€64.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Manuel Castells, born in Spain in 1942, is Professor of Planning and
Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley where he was appointed in 1979. Previously he taught for twelve years at the University of Paris. He has
also been a visiting professor in fifteen universities in Europe, North America,
Asia, and Latin America. He has published twenty-one books, including the trilogy
The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture (1996-2000),
translated into fourteen languages. He has been a member of the European
Commission's Expert Group on the Information Society, of the Advisory
Committee to the United Nations Secretary General on Information and
Communication Technology, and of the Advisory Committee to the President of
South Africa on Information Technology and Development. He is a member of the European Academy.
Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley where he was appointed in 1979. Previously he taught for twelve years at the University of Paris. He has
also been a visiting professor in fifteen universities in Europe, North America,
Asia, and Latin America. He has published twenty-one books, including the trilogy
The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture (1996-2000),
translated into fourteen languages. He has been a member of the European
Commission's Expert Group on the Information Society, of the Advisory
Committee to the United Nations Secretary General on Information and
Communication Technology, and of the Advisory Committee to the President of
South Africa on Information Technology and Development. He is a member of the European Academy.
Content
Introduction ; 1. Lessons from the History of the Internet ; 2. The Internet Culture ; 3. E-business and the New Economy ; 4. Virtual Communities or Network Society? ; 5. The Politics of the Internet (I): Computer Networks, Civil Society, and the State ; 6. The Politics of the Internet (II): Privacy and Liberty in Cyberspace ; 7. Multimedia and the Internet: The Hypertext beyond Convergence ; 8. The Geography of the Internet: Networked Places ; 9. The Digital Divide in Global Perspective ; 10. Conclusion: The Challenges of the Network Society