THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, COMMUNITY, AND VALUES
by Manuel Castells
Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-19-924153-8
Review by Drew Harrington <harrington@pacificu.edu>
University Librarian, Pacific University
In the late 1990s, Manuel Castells wrote the "Rise of the Network Society," a multi-volume study of the history of communications technology and its impact on society. His new book is based on the same concept, but with a more defined focus on the Internet and society. Castells looks at the early days of community building on the net—generally political /community activists who saw the Internet as a tool to organize and to bring their messages to many. Castells investigates the volatile "new economy" and how business has responded to Internet technology by vastly enlarging networking practices and implementing new ways to manage personnel and customer service. He examines the impact of the resulting loss of individual privacy for customers and employees alike. Politically, the Internet presents enormous possibilities for citizen participation and a broader based democracy, but at the same time, the growth of political scandal mongering via the Web can change the course of politics, exclusive of thoughtful consideration of substantive issues. Throughout the book, Castells points to the contradictions of the Internet—its ability to build relationships based on shared goals and values regardless of location, with the flip side being the isolation of virtual, online relationships; the Internet's potential to include and connect the masses as never before, weighed against the statistical and practical reality that Internet-based communication currently excludes more people than did older forms of communication. The entire last chapter of the book is devoted to in-depth coverage of the digital divide. There is a tremendous amount of excellent information packed in this relatively slim book, and at the end of each chapter the author includes "reading-links" and "e-links" for further study. Castells is a professor of Sociology and City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, and the book is published by Oxford University Press, so readers should not be surprised that the writing style is scholarly and academic, and while it is accessible, it can be a demanding read.
Drew Harrington can be reached at harrington@pacificu.edu.
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