Theories of the Information Society, Third Edition - Cryptome

NETWORK SOCIETY
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In addition, the ‘network society’ induces a ‘blurring of lifestyles’ (p. 445) in
which there is a characteristic ‘breaking down of rhythmicity’ (p. 446) such that
biological stages of life are manipulated. Thus we have 50-year-old women
bearing children alongside serious attempts (through cryogenics and suchlike)
even to ‘erase death from life’ (p. 454) and ‘sexy’ 8-year-olds alongside resistance
to ageing through exercise regimes, drugs and cosmetic surgery. We come
here to consideration of genetic engineering breakthroughs, which Castells links
to information and communication matters, and which all contribute to the
promotion of a culture of timelessness.
Castells identifies ‘instant wars’ as those fought in short decisive bursts by
the powers that command the most advanced technologies, and which are
presented around the world in global media. Most people are aware of the development
of ‘information war’ (Tumber and Webster, 2006), certainly after the Iraq
wars in 1991 and 2003, the crushing of Serbia in 1999 by NATO forces, and the
speedy invasion and overthrow of the Taliban theocracy in Afghanistan late in
2001. However, Castells makes more of the end of conventional war than this.
He reminds us that participation in war, for people in Europe at least, was a rite
de passage for much of history, something he argues provided an unforgettable
reminder of one’s own mortality while serving afterwards always as a point of
reference for those who survived. That has now gone, and bolsters, too, the cult
of ‘timeless time’, leaving us living in a permanent present. In addition, Castells
discerns in the ‘network society’ an emphasis on instant communication, such
that we gather information almost immediately from around the globe, which
is presented to us in hypermedia forms that raid history without offering historical
context, so much so that we are exposed to a ‘no-time mental landscape’
(p. 463). All comes together in a culture of the ‘network society’ that induces
‘systemic perturbation’ (p. 464), a constant instantaneity, lack of continuity and
spontaneity.
The power of identity
Volume 2 of The Information Age switches emphasis away from the construction
of the ‘network society’ and its accompanying integrative and fragmenting
tendencies towards a concern for collective identities. The central subject here
is social movements, by which Castells (1997a) means ‘purposive collective actions
[which] transform the values and institutions of society’ (p. 3), and which provide
people with central elements of their identity. In other words, this book’s concern
is with the politics and sociology of life in the contemporary world.
The core argument is concerned with how identities are to be made when
traditions are being torn apart. Castells suggests, for instance, that nation states
and their associated legitimising institutions of what we know commonly as civil
society (welfare provision, rights of sovereignty, class-based politics, the democratic
process and pressure groups such as trade unions) are being challenged by
the globalising trends of the ‘network society’. Thus, for example, the Welfare
State is threatened everywhere by the pressures of global competition for the
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