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Kluge Chair in Technology and Society, 2012. Read press release

Blog: “Inquiring Minds: Scholar Manuel Castells on Social Movements”

MANUEL CASTELLS is University Professor and the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He is also Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and holds joint appointments in the Department of Sociology, in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development, and in the School of International Relations. He is Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught for 24 years. Since 2009 he is a permanent Visiting Fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study in South Africa. He is also Research Professor at the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona. He has been a Visiting Professor in 17 universities around the world and invited lecturer at hundreds of academic and professional institutions in 45 countries. He has authored 23 books, including the trilogy The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture, 1996-2003, published by Blackwell and translated into 23 languages. He has also co-authored and edited an additional 22 books.

He has received, among other distinctions, the Guggenheim Fellowship; the C. Wright Mills Award from the American Society for the Study of Social Problems; the Robert and Helen Lynd Award from the American Sociological Association; the Ithiel de Sola Pool Award from the American Political Science Association; the National Medal of Science of Catalonia; the National Prize of Sociology and Political Science from Spain; the Order of the Lion of Finland; the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Government; the Order Gabriela Mistral from the President of Chile; the Order of Santiago from the President of Portugal; the Cross of St. Jordi from the Government of Catalonia; and, most recent, the 2011 Erasmus Medal from the Academia Europaea. He has received Honorary Doctorates from 15 universities in Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia as well as several honorary professorships and university medals. He is a Fellow of the Spanish Royal Academy of Economics and Finance, a Fellow of the Academia Europaea, and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy.

He was awarded the Holberg International Memorial Prize in March 2012, the citation for which read: “Manuel Castells is the leading sociologist of the city and new information and media technologies. His ideas and writings have shaped our understanding of the political dynamics of urban and global economies in the network society.  He has illuminated the underlying power structures of the great technological revolutions of our time and their consequences. He has helped us to understand how social and political movements have co-evolved with the new information technologies.”

In fall 2013, Castells was awarded the prestigious 2013 Balzan Prize by the International Balzan Prize Foundation for his 'wide-ranging and imaginative thinking through of the implications of the great technological changes of our time.' The International Balzan Prize Foundation promotes culture, the sciences and the most meritorious initiatives in the cause of humanity, peace and fraternity among peoples.

Selected Publications

• “Communication Power” (2009)
• “End of Millennium: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture” (1998, 2nd ed. 2000)
• “The Power of Identity: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture” (1997, 2nd ed. 2004)
• “The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture” (1996, 2nd ed. 2000)

Events

• National Book Festival - 2015
• Lecture: "Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age" (Aug. 23, 2012)

Photo credit: Maggie Smith