How can a network be compared to a msg according to manuep castel?
Answers
Manuel Castells is a sociologist frequently associated with information society and communications research. In this essay I will be assessing his theory on “the network society”, and outlining any relevant criticisms. By looking at Castells’ upbringing and influences it becomes clear how he came to be concerned with the theory of the network society. He was raised in Barcelona and was politically active in the student anti-Franco movement; this political activism forced him to flee Spain for France. He finished his studies in Paris and moved on to the University of Paris achieving a doctorate in sociology. Having worked at both the University of Paris and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, he later moved to California as he was awarded two professorships at Berkeley. Castells’ move to California was highly relevant as he was located close to Silicon Valley, which was where the integrated circuit, microprocessor, microcomputer and many other key technologies, were developed mainly in the 80s. It has been the site of electronic innovation for over four decades, sustained by about a quarter of a million information technology workers. Influenced by the thought of Alain Touraine, Castells was a key developer in a variety of Marxist urban sociology that emphasises the role of social movements in the conflictive transformation of the city. Transcending Marxist structures in the early 80s, he concentrated upon the role of new technologies in the restructuring of an economy. His theory of the network society is highly relevant to us as we all belong to thousands of networks, be it a school, a university, a nationality or an occupation, and all networks require some form of coordination.
According to Castells, networks constitute the new social morphology of our societies. He believes there is a radical disconnectedness in contemporary society bringing about a greater sense of autonomy due to technology. Castells believes that “we are passing from the industrial age into the information age” (Castells, 2000, 5). He talks of how this historical change was brought about by the advent of new information technologies particularly those for communication and biological purposes. He noted how space and time are being transcended in social practises due to the ability to do everything from everywhere thanks to the capacity for ubiquitous perpetual contact in communication technologies. “A number of major social, technological, economic and cultural transformations came together to give rise to a new form of society” (Castells 2000, 17). Castells first mentioned the term “network society” in his book “The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture” which was the first part of his Information Age trilogy. He claimed, “The definition in terms of a network society is a society where the key social structures and activities are organized around electronically processed information networks. So it’s not just about networks or social networks, because social networks have been very old forms of social organization, it’s about social networks which process and manage information and are using micro-electronic based technologies” (Castells, 1996, 34). Simply put a network society is a society whose social structure is made of networks powered by microelectronic based information and communication technologies. While he explains that networks are not a new form of social organization, they have become a key feature of social morphology, essentially they are new forms of old processes. He claims this is largely due to communication technologies, for example the internet or mobile telephones, which increase decentralization of operations and focusing of control which in turn increase the effectiveness of networks relative to hierarchical structures. “Communication networks are the patterns of contact that are created by flows of messages among communicators through time and space,” (Monge and Contractor, 2003, 39). “The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture” gives an account of the economic and social dynamics of the new age of information. It demonstrates research done in USA, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Castells talks of how the global economy is now characterized by the instantaneous flow and exchange of information, capital and cultural communication. These flows order and condition both consumption and production. The networks themselves reflect and create distinctive cultures. Both they and the information they carry are largely outside of national regulation. This means that society’s dependence on these new modes of informational flow can give enormous power to those in a position to control them to control us, “Networks have become the predominant organizat ional form of every domain of human activity” (Castells, 1996, 101).