Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

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This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation With History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Manuel Castells, who is Professor of Sociology and Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California of California at Berkeley.

A social theorist, Professor Castells has won the C. Wright Mills Award, and he has received the Robert and Helen Lynd Award from the American Sociological Association for his lifelong contribution to the field of community and urban sociology. Professor Castells has published twenty books and over one hundred articles in academic journals, and co-authored or edited fifteen books. His works are international, comparative, and have been translated into many languages.

His publications include a three-volume trilogy on the Information Age: Volume I: The Rise of the Network Society; Volume II: The Power of Identity, and Volume III: End of Millennium. Anthony Giddens, Director of the London School of Economics, wrote in a review of the trilogy, "It would not be fanciful to compare the work to Max Weber's Economy in Society." And G.P. Zachary, writing in the Wall Street Journal, wrote, "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 Manual Castells." His new book, Reflections on the Internet: Business and Society, will be published by Oxford University Press in 2001.

1. Background ... influence of parents ... growing up in fascist Spain ... questioning authority ... flight to Paris ... education ... attraction to sociology
2. Focus of Research ... first teaching position at Nanterre ... 1968 Movement in Paris ... the impact of the sixties ... cultural changes ... the importance of identity
3. Doing Social Theory ... theory ... empirical research ... social theory ... influences ... comparative and global perspective
4. The Network Society and Organizational Change ... definition and dialectic ... implications for global economy ... implications for the state ... case of European Union ... The Fed as an actor ... implications for warfare ... technology and bureaucracies
5. Identity in the Network Society ... the reassertion of identity ... power to exclude ... .digital divide ... case of the anti-globalization movement ... the power of mind ... the women's movement ... battle over images and ideas
6. Conclusions ... individualism and communalism ... advice for students

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