Castells, Manuel (1942–)

Manuel Castells is a prominent urban sociologist who has made major interdisciplinary impacts through his theorizing of various contemporary global socioeconomic transformations.

Born in a Catalan family in Spain in 1942 and educated in France, Castells exemplifies a global theorist of contemporary societies. His expertise ranges from urban sociology and social movements to theories of technology and network society, and he has been influential in a wide range of social science disciplines, including anthropology, urban planning, economic geography, and telecommunications. Castells is known for a combination of talents rarely gifted to a single individual: an ability to interpret, analyze, and incorporate real-world examples around the globe; an ability to craft theories by combining rigorous inductive and deductive methods; and a commitment to the masses as the ...