International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2022

Manuel Castells’ theory on network society and power

(Abstract)

Wanchun  Deng

Manuel Castells is a world-famous sociologist. His research in the fields of network sociology and information sociology is famous all over the world. Network society and power are two important concerns in his academic career. This article constructs an analytical framework of Castells’ network society and power theory by taking his research of network society and related topics as the latitude and taking his power research as the longitude. According to the analytical framework, this article first analyzes Castells’ discussions on network (information) economy and power, network society and power, identity, culture and power, communication network and power, and then expounds his construction of power theory of network society.