These volumes bring together major critical responses to, and engagement with, the work of Manuel Castells. Arguably the leading analyst of the current age, Castells' magnum opus, The Information Age, has been compared to the work of Karl Marx and Max Weber. His concept of ‘the network society’ has influenced much recent social science and his ideas have been adopted in political and policy circles.

The volumes provide an unparalleled guide to the work of Castells. They demonstrate the roots of his thinking in Marxism and the shifts in his perspective. The selection if based along two principles: the chronological development of his thought and the sequence of his major publications.

Included here are critical engagements with Castells' work on the urban question, the city and grassroots; ...

Editor's Introduction

FrankWebster

Since the publication of The Information Age, between 1996 and 1998, Manuel Castells has come to be regarded as one of the two or three leading sociologists in the world today. The trilogy has been translated into no less than eighteen languages, it has been reprinted many times over, and a revised edition of two of the volumes has also been published. Articles on Castells' work have appeared in newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian hailing him as the leading thinker of the age, while even more circumspect professional commentators have been drawn to compare his magnum opus with the output of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim. This is indeed heady company. So what makes people put ...

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