Power of Identity (v.2) (Information Age Series)

Power of Identity (v.2) (Information Age Series)

by Manuel Castells (Author)

Synopsis

The Power of Identity is the second volume of Manuel Castells' trilogy, The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. It deals with the social, political, and cultural dynamics associated with the technological transformation of our societies and with the globalization of the economy. It analyzes the importance of cultural, religious, and national identities as sources of meaning for people, and the implications of these identities for social movements. It studies grassroots mobilizations against the unfettered globalization of wealth and power, and considers the formation of alternative projects of social organization, as represented by the environmental movement and the women's movement. It also analyzes the crisis of the nation-state and its transformation into a network state, and the effects on political democracies of the difficulties of international governance and the submission of political representation to the dictates of media politics and the politics of scandal. This substantially expanded second edition updates and elaborates the analysis of these themes, adding new sections on al-Qaeda and global terrorist networks, on the anti-globalization movement, on American unilateralism and the conflicts of global governance, on the crisis of political legitimacy throughout the world, and on the theory of the network state.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Edition: Volume II
Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell
Published: 20 Jun 1997

ISBN 10: 1557868743
ISBN 13: 9781557868749

Media Reviews
Not since Weber has there been such a determined and largely successful effort to bring to bear the results and analytical perspectives of all the social sciences on the evolution of society. Chris Freeman, University of Sussex. These three volumes represent a staggering undertaking. Castells has attempted nothing less than to take stock of our entire contemporary world. He has succeeded beyond any reasonable expectation. Truly global in scope, yet sacrificing nothing of the concreteness and detail without which enterprises of this kind can be empty and unsatisfying, this trilogy must rank as one of the great works of 'grand theory' of our time. Krishan Kumar, University of Virginia. .. . the first great philosopher of cyberspace, a big thinker in the European tradition who can nonetheless tell the difference between a bit and a browser. G. Pascal Zachary, Wall Street Journal, Europe. This is a magesterial effort to paint a comprehensive view of the current-day world society in all its political, economic, social and cultural aspects, as well as its developmental tendencies.... the best candidate available for the role of main reference book for the next century. Zygmunt Bauman, Universities of Leeds and Warsaw. Manuel Castells, one of the age's most extraordinary thinkers, is the guru's guru. The Guardian. The Information Age may be the most important analysis of the interaction between technology, economics, politics and religion ever produced. Cliff Barney, Upside. The Information Age trilogy stands as a synthesis of Castell's work over the past two decades. As such, it is an excellent source for students and academics alike, offering a range of accessible and usable introductions to the work of one of the most influential theorists. It highlights the achievements of recent global scholarship, while pointing its readers - whether they be advanced level, undergraduate or graduate students, or more established researchers and teachers - towards exciting and challenging research terrains. It is a book which will accompany us into the new millennium and beyond, helping us to make sense of the puzzling mix of newness and the ever-the-same which is 21st century capitalism. A new world indeed. Alan Latham, University of Auckland. So full are the shelves now with shallow and indulgent works on the postmodern condition, essays trapped in their own technological determinism or narrow moralism or political wishful thinking, that it has seemed unlikely that a space would be found for an enduring work of sociology examining the new world as it is changing. But Manuel Castells has found and filled that space on the shelf - and for a long time to come. Anthony Smith, THES. A magnum opus if there ever was one, these three books together constitute, in my view, the finest piece of contemporary social analysis to come available for at least a generation. The Information Age, written by Castells at the height of his intellectual power, launches him into the pre-eminence of those whose work must be read by anyone seriously engaged with trying to make sense of the world today. Frank Webster, The British Journal of Sociology.
Author Bio
Manuel Castells, born in Spain in 1942, is Professor of Planning and of Sociology, and Chair of the Center for Western European Studies at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was appointed in 1979. He also taught sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and was director of the Institute of Sociology of New Technologies at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. He has been visiting professor at the Universities of Chile, Montreal, Campinas-Sao Paulo, Caracas, Mexico, Geneva, Copenhagen, Wisconsin-Madison, Boston, Southern California, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Amsterdam, Moscow, and Hitotsubashi. He is a member of Academia Europaea (Sociology). In 1995/96 he was appointed to the European Commission's High level.