Power of Identity 2nd Edition, with a New Preface

Providing new perspectives for studying social change in the Information Age, Castells (emeritus sociology and planning, U. of California-Berkeley) explores the construction of collective identities as they relate to social movements and power struggles in the network society. He covers identity and meaning in the network society; social movements against the new global order; the environmental movement; social movements, family, and sexuality in the Information Age; a powerless state or a network state; and informational politics and the crisis of democracy. This second volume in the trilogy was first published in 1997, and updated in 2004; a new preface is added here placing recent events and trends into the framework. The first and third volumes are titled respectively The Rise of the Network Society and End of Millennium. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
In this second volume of The Information Age trilogy, with an extensive new preface following the recent global economic crisis, Manuel Castells deals with the social, political, and cultural dynamics associated with the technological transformation of our societies and with the globalization of the economy. Extensive new preface examines how dramatic recent events have transformed the socio-political landscape of our world Applies Castells’ hypotheses to contemporary issues such as Al Qaeda and global terrorist networks, American unilateralism and the crisis of political legitimacy throughout the world A brilliant account of social, cultural, and political conflict and struggle all over the world Analyzes the importance of cultural, religious, and national identity as sources of meaning for people, and its implications for social movement Throws new light on the dynamics of global and local change