Description: This first book in Castells' groundbreaking trilogy, with a substantial new preface, highlights the economic and social dynamics of the information age and shows how the network society has now fully risen on a global scale.
- Groundbreaking volume on the impact of the age of information on all aspects of society
- Includes coverage of the influence of the internet and the net-economy
- Describes the accelerating pace of innovation and social transformation
- Based on research in the USA, Asia, Latin America, and Europe
Review Quotes: Reviews of the Second Edition:
"We live today in a period of intense and puzzling transformation, signalling perhaps a move beyond the industrial era altogether. Yet where are the great sociological works that chart this transition? Hence the importance of Manuel Castells' multivolume work, in which he seeks to chart the social and economic dynamics of the information age . . . [It] is bound to be a major reference source for years to come." (Anthony Giddens, The Times Higher Education Supplement)
"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." (Wall Street Journal)
"So far, the person who has straddled the world of social theory and Silicon Valley most successfully is Manuel Castells. Castells enjoys a growing reputation as the first significant philosopher of cyberspace." (The Economist)
"A must-read." (Wired)
"This book goes a considerable way to helping us make sense of today's global information economy and our place in it." (Financial Times)