The information age: economy, society and culture

In The Rise of the Network Society, the first book of this much-vaunted trilogy, sociologist Manuel Castells argues that power in the 21st century will rest in the hands not of governments, corporations or even NGOs, but rather, within the amorphous virtual networks that have developed as a result of advances in information technology. He uses the phrase 'space of flows' to depict a global environment where the significance of physical location has given way to a new emphasis on timeless, placeless 'flows'. Hence, for Castells, the Network Society 'is made up of networks of production, power and experience, which construct a culture of virtuality in the global flows that transcend time and space'. It follows that the role of national government should become less relevant and that, instead, there should be an increasingly apparent dichotomy between on the one hand global-level networks, and on the other hand, the individual's perception of identity.

In the second volume, The Power of Identity, Castells goes on to analyse several global social movements in the context of the Network Society outlined in Volume I. He examines a broad spectrum of social movements, ranging from the murderous Japanese cult, Aum Shinrikyo, to the (far more benevolent) environmental movement. His conclusion revises the concept of blurred identities within the 'information age', and ends with a simple and salient observation: 'The.main agency detected in our journey across the lands inhabited by social movements is a networking, centred form of organisation and intervention, characteristic of the new social movements, mirroring, and counteracting, the networking logic of domination in the information society.' He goes on to note: 'Their [the social movements'] impact on society rarely stems from a concerted strategy, masterminded by a centre. Their most successful campaigns, their most striking initiatives, often result from 'turbulences' in the interactive network of multilayered communication.'