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.
Book Description
Manuel Castells is one of the world's leading thinkers on the new information age, hailed by The Economist as ""the first significant philosopher of cyberspace,"" and by Christian Science Monitor as ""a pioneer who has hacked out a logical, well-documented, and coherent picture of early 21st century civilization, even as it rockets forward largely in a blur."" Now, in The Internet Galaxy, this brilliantly insightful writer speculates on how the Internet will change our lives. Castells believes that we are ""entering, full speed, the Internet Galaxy, in the midst of informed bewilderment."" His aim in this exciting and profound work is to help us to understand how the Internet came into being, and how it is affecting every area of human life--from work, politics, planning and development, media, and privacy, to our social interaction and life in the home. We are at ground zero of the new network society. In this book, its major commentator reveals the Internet's huge capacity to liberate, but also its ability to marginalize and exclude those who do not have access to it. Castells provides no glib solutions, but asks us all to take responsibility for the future of this new information age. The Internet is becoming the essential communication and information medium in our society, and stands alongside electricity and the printing press as one of the greatest innovations of all time. The Internet Galaxy offers an illuminating look at how this new technology will influence business, the economy, and our daily lives.
Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society FROM THE PUBLISHER
Manuel Castells is one of the world's leading thinkers on the new information age, hailed by The Economist as "the first significant philosopher of cyberspace," and by Christian Science Monitor as "a pioneer who has hacked out a logical, well-documented, and coherent picture of early 21st century civilization, even as it rockets forward largely in a blur." Now, in The Internet Galaxy, this brilliantly insightful writer speculates on how the Internet will change our lives.
Castells believes that we are "entering, full speed, the Internet Galaxy, in the midst of informed bewilderment." His aim in this exciting and profound work is to help us to understand how the Internet came into being, and how it is affecting every area of human life--from work, politics, planning and development, media, and privacy, to our social interaction and life in the home. We are at ground zero of the new network society. In this book, its major commentator reveals the Internet's huge capacity to liberate, but also its ability to marginalize and exclude those who do not have access to it. Castells provides no glib solutions, but asks us all to take responsibility for the future of this new information age.
The Internet is becoming the essential communication and information medium in our society, and stands alongside electricity and the printing press as one of the greatest innovations of all time. The Internet Galaxy offers an illuminating look at how this new technology will influence business, the economy, and our daily lives.
FROM THE CRITICS
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. (Dec.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
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 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Far-reaching analysis by the author of the Information Age trilogy (The Rise of the Network Society, not reviewed, etc.) of the Internet's birth and its impact on a range of human activities, including business, social relationships, and politics. Castells (Planning and Sociology/Univ. of California, Berkeley) begins his study by looking at the creation of the Internet, developed not by business but in government institutions, universities, think tanks, and research centers: environments that fostered freedom of thinking and innovation. Its origins, he points out, are what have given the Internet its most distinctive features, openness in technical architecture and social forms and uses, and business built upon these features when it became the driving force behind the Internet's rapid expansion in the 1990s. Castells examines the new economy in some detail, looking at the relationship between the Internet and capital markets, changes in employment practices, and networking as a management tool. With a new economy based on the culture of innovation, risk, and expectations, Castells sees the emergence of a new kind of business cycle characterized by volatile, information-driven financial markets. Turning to the impact of the Internet on social relationships, he notes a new pattern of sociability, "networked individualism," in which individuals build their networks on- and offline on the basis of values, interests, and projects. 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. He also looksat unresolved issues of privacy and security, describing the Internet as "contested terrain, where the new, fundamental battle for freedom in the Information Age is being fought." In his sobering final chapter, the author studies the divide between peoples and regions that operate in the digital world and those that cannot. Absorbing history-but, with the jargon of academic sociology, an arduous read.
Art & Photography
Book Info
