Network Society.

November 25th, 2008

Manuel Castells, a former professor of UC Berkeley until 2003,

published in the year 2000 a reversed version of the book The Rise
of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and
Culture, Volume I: The Information Age: Economy, Society and
Culture. It is one of the first books which treats extensively the
question about how modern society changes under the influence of
globalization and the information technology.

His main argument is that the information technology and in

particular the internet is transforming the society. The internet
becomes the source of identity. People organize their life around this
new medium. Space is no longer a question of distance but of being
related to someone through the internet. Social movements and
group identities are shorter – in a sense of time – and individuals
can participate in different groups and change them more easily.
Societies are characterised by the fact of embracing this new
technology and developing it further. While in the 20th century basic
elements of progress were capitalism and state, in the 21 century
progress is mainly made in developing the production of knowledge,
information and symbolic communication. Castells calls this the
informational capitalism. The financial sector becomes the first
global player. An autonomous financial policy is not possible
anymore. A main question is in which way modern technology and a
society based on reason and justice can be developed.

Knowledge is a key factor of in this development. In which way can

modern technology and the internet be transformed in a medium of
knowledge exchange? Companies use the internet in many ways to
enhance their cooperation inside and with other companies. Schools
and universities are still behind when it comes to such exchanges.
There are still far more part of national identity and national thinking
– at least in the fields of humanities. A better understanding of
different cultures, traditions and their history is essential to develop
a common ground of human civilization. Students should learn
about with each other and not only look for communication when it
comes to music or movies. What do students in other countries
learn? What are their interests? What do they express when it
comes to their history?

Telling someone about me begins by telling him/her about my life.

Isn’t that the same for countries who find their common ground in
history? So why don’t we move up and look beyond our horizon?
Why should we let our work disappear or present it to teachers and
professors instead? Let’s start to get involved, to become an active
part of the information society. Let’ share our knowledge and our
ideas and look beyond our horizon.
posted by Dr. Andreas Heuer, to access his profile@Students Space,
join Students Space.