The Sociology Book

152

T H E U N L E A S H I N G

OF PRODUCTIVE

C A P A C I T Y B Y

T H E P O W E R

O F T H E M I N D

MANUEL CASTELLS (1942– )

T

he last 50 years have seen

giant leaps in science and

developments in Internet-

based and digital technologies.

According to Spanish sociologist

Manuel Castells (whose work

straddles communication and

information studies and is strongly

influenced by Karl Marx), these

advances have been shaped

by—and played a key role in

contributing to—economic, social,

and political developments on the

world stage. This has led Castells

to focus on globalization and its

economic and social effects.

For Marx, industrial capitalism

was based on the production of

consumer goods and commodities.

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Network society

KEY DATES

1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich

Engels’ The Communist

Manifesto forecasts the

globalization of capitalism.

1968 Manuel Castells studies

under French sociologist

Alain Touraine on the subject

of social movements and

resistance to capitalism.

From 1990 The corporate use

of Internet-based technology

increases, spreading out to the

wider public and domestic life.

1992 US sociologist Harrison

White writes “Markets,

Networks, and Control,” a

discussion of network theory.

1999 Dutch sociologist Jan

Van Dijk writes The Network

Society, focusing on social

media such as Facebook.