Feb 6 - Castells

In an interview for the Conversations With History Series of the Institute of International Studies of UC Berkeley, Castells said: "...as much as I think the Internet's an extraordinary instrument for creation, free communication, etc., you can use the Internet to exclude, because you can exclude in terms of the access to the network, the digital divide. But you can also exclude in terms of the culture and education and ability to process all this information that has happened on the net, and then use it for what you want to do, because you don't have the education, the training, the culture to do it, while the elites of the world do. "

It seems like, in his current work, he's concerned with the subtle but decisive boundaries of technology. Although the structures of power have changed, and the governance is not always exerted by fixed and centralized institutions (chapter 5), it seems like there are mechanisms in place to ensure that the the power is retained by the groups who benefit from it -- or would lost the most without it.

Castells' work offers, for me, one of the best approaches in terms of looking into the way society and capital interact. It brings one main question to my mind: in contrast to last week's readings, Castells' seem to have a solid belief in the social shaping of technology. Taking his quote from the first paragraph, however, he seems to believe in the existence of fluid boundaries between the various groups -- or spaces of flow -- that are maintained by those who have more at stake. Are these entities the same as before, but merely adapted to the existence in the informational city?

Although I have flirted with the Network Theory in the past, reading this book has given me a solid contact with it. I especially appreciate the fact that his work is based upon the same principles that guide my approach to questions concerning society, culture, and environment -- namely holism, multiculturalism.

Castells' interview of May 9, 2001 can be found at:
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Castells/castells-con0.html