The Internet Galaxy
Encyclopedia
The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society is a book by Manuel Castells
, Professor of Sociology and Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California. It was published by Oxford University Press
in 2001. The title is a reference to The Gutenberg Galaxy
, a 1962 book by Marshall McLuhan
. It is regarded as a good introduction to Social informatics
.
to WWW.
Castells believes that "The openness of the Internet's architecture was the source of its main strength". Then he states that the 'Internet Culture' is structured by four kinds of culture including: 'the techno-meritocratic culture', 'the hacker culture', 'the virtual communication culture', and 'the entrepreneurial culture'.
Next, Castells analyses the vital status of Internet in the business and economy fields, and he refers to the impact of virtual communication which is based on the Internet communication to the reality in the following chapter. In terms of the Politics of the Internet, Castells points that 'social movement' and 'the political process' use Internet as a new communication medium to 'acting' and 'informing'. And there is an issue between 'Privacy and Liberty in Cyberspace' relates to 'the politics of the Internet' is mentioned in this book.
In the last three chapters, Castells analyses the Internet from multimedia
, geography and 'the digital divide in a global perspective'. Finally, he talks about the challenges of the network society such as freedom of the Internet.
's famous slogan "The medium is the message
". By substituting network for medium, Castells reinforces McLuhan's message that, in this case, it is the network which is important not the content. The opening may then be seen to be an invitation to explore the meaning of network via the content of the book. The word network itself is of ambiguous interpretation: infrastructure or society? Both interpretations are at play in the book. Since Castells is by profession a sociologist, then one expects a focus on network as society.
to characterize all those who participated with "big science" and "military research" in bringing the Internet into being.
The history of the Internet is diverse and well documented. Castells makes considerable use of John Naughton's text, "A Brief History of the Future", who noted for example that the Request for Comment Feature (RFC), introduced by Steve Crocker in 1969-04-07, not only gave rise to a de facto documenting of the research ideas at the time of their fermenting but also to the Open Source movement.. Castells gives his own take on the subject. Ultimately, for him, the Internet is a cultural creation.
It is important to take note of how Castells understands and uses the word Network.
For him, the network is a word that often has connotations of community. So, when he speaks of virtual networks he is not (necessarily) speaking of virtual networks in the technological sense
but in the community sense of people networking.
This is that chapter of the book which one must read in the context of the pre-9/11
world.
There are different ways in which to picture the geography of the Internet.
The picture of the graph on the cover of the book resembles that of Matt Britt shown on the right.
the September 11 attacks and around the time of the
dot-com bubble
) is the
inclusion of the e-Links section at the end of every chapter. Each e-Link is given as a URL, followed by a short text of one or two lines to describe the content. For example, at the end of Chapter 6 "The Politics of the Internet II: Privacy and Liberty in Cyberspace", a collection of 4 e-Links is given:
and the short explanatory text following is "Websites providing technological resources to protect privacy."
There is one major flaw associated with the e-Links. None of the e-Links in The Internet Galaxy provide "the date of last access".
Manuel Castells
Manuel Castells is a sociologist especially associated with information society and communication research....
, Professor of Sociology and Professor of City and Regional Planning at the University of California. It was published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
in 2001. The title is a reference to The Gutenberg Galaxy
The Gutenberg Galaxy
The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man is a book by Marshall McLuhan, in which he analyzes the effects of mass media, especially the printing press, on European culture and human consciousness...
, a 1962 book by Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
. It is regarded as a good introduction to Social informatics
Social informatics
Social informatics is the study of information and communication tools in cultural, or institutional contexts...
.
Overview
The book contains 9 chapters. Castells starts with the history of Internet, focuses on the process of Internet evolution influence our society. He emphasizes the development of Internet from 1962 to 1995, the extension from ARPANETARPANET
The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network , was the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of a set that came to compose the global Internet...
to WWW.
Castells believes that "The openness of the Internet's architecture was the source of its main strength". Then he states that the 'Internet Culture' is structured by four kinds of culture including: 'the techno-meritocratic culture', 'the hacker culture', 'the virtual communication culture', and 'the entrepreneurial culture'.
Next, Castells analyses the vital status of Internet in the business and economy fields, and he refers to the impact of virtual communication which is based on the Internet communication to the reality in the following chapter. In terms of the Politics of the Internet, Castells points that 'social movement' and 'the political process' use Internet as a new communication medium to 'acting' and 'informing'. And there is an issue between 'Privacy and Liberty in Cyberspace' relates to 'the politics of the Internet' is mentioned in this book.
In the last three chapters, Castells analyses the Internet from multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
, geography and 'the digital divide in a global perspective'. Finally, he talks about the challenges of the network society such as freedom of the Internet.
Opening: The Network is the Message
The title used for the preface or introductory text is called "Opening" and the name given to this Opening is "The Network is the Message". It is a mimicry of Marshall McLuhanMarshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
's famous slogan "The medium is the message
The medium is the message
"The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived.- Publications :...
". By substituting network for medium, Castells reinforces McLuhan's message that, in this case, it is the network which is important not the content. The opening may then be seen to be an invitation to explore the meaning of network via the content of the book. The word network itself is of ambiguous interpretation: infrastructure or society? Both interpretations are at play in the book. Since Castells is by profession a sociologist, then one expects a focus on network as society.
Lessons from the History of the Internet
Castells introduces the label ″Libertarian″Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
to characterize all those who participated with "big science" and "military research" in bringing the Internet into being.
The history of the Internet is diverse and well documented. Castells makes considerable use of John Naughton's text, "A Brief History of the Future", who noted for example that the Request for Comment Feature (RFC), introduced by Steve Crocker in 1969-04-07, not only gave rise to a de facto documenting of the research ideas at the time of their fermenting but also to the Open Source movement.. Castells gives his own take on the subject. Ultimately, for him, the Internet is a cultural creation.
The Culture of the Internet
"The culture of the Internet is a culture made up
of a technocratic belief in the progress of humans
through technology, enacted by communities of hackers
thriving on free and open technological creativity,
embedded in virtual networks aimed at reinventing
society, and materialized by money-driven entrepreneurs into
the workings of the new economy."
It is important to take note of how Castells understands and uses the word Network.
For him, the network is a word that often has connotations of community. So, when he speaks of virtual networks he is not (necessarily) speaking of virtual networks in the technological sense
Virtual network
A virtual network is a computer network that consists, at least in part, of virtual network links. A virtual network link is a link that does not consist of a physical connection between two computing devices but is implemented using methods of network virtualization.The two most common forms of...
but in the community sense of people networking.
e-Business and the New Economy
"But markets also react to macro-economic conditionsMacroeconomicsMacroeconomics is a branch of economics dealing with the performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of the whole economy. This includes a national, regional, or global economy...
, and to policy decisions—or to their anticipation. Or to the disparity between the anticipation and the actual event. Markets react as well on the basis of non-economic criteria. These are influenced by what I call informationTurbulenceTurbulenceIn fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
s from various sources, such as political uncertainty... technological anticipations... or even personal moods or statements from key decision-makers..."
Virtual Communities or Network Society?
"In contrast with the notorious cartoon published by
The New Yorker in the pre-history of on-line communication,
on the Internet you better make sure
that everyone knows that you are a dog, and not a cat,
or you will find yourself immersed in the intimate world of cats.
Because on the Internet, you are what you say you are,
as it is on the basis of this expectation that a network
of social interaction is constructed over time."
The Politics of the Internet I: Computer Networks, Civil Society, and the State
"In this context [of a world dominated by homogeneous, global information flows], communication of values, mobilization around meaning, become fundamental. Cultural movements... are built around communication—essentially the Internet and the media... to affect the consciousness of society as a whole."
Networked Social Movements
Castells shows how the Internet has been used for mobilizing people to support certain kinds of political, religious, or other social causes:- the Zapatista movementZapatista Army of National LiberationThe Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a revolutionary leftist group based in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico....
in ChiapasChiapasChiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...
, MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... - the Falun Gong movementFalun GongFalun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
, leader Li HongzhiLi HongzhiLi Hongzhi is the founder and spiritual master of Falun Gong , a "system of mind-body cultivation" in the qigong tradition. Li Hongzhi introduced Falun Gong on 13 May 1992 in Changchun, and subsequently gave lectures and taught Falun Gong exercises across China...
in New YorkNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - the Direct Action NetworkDirect Action NetworkDirect Action Network was a confederation of anarchist and anti-authoritarian affinity groups, collectives, and organizations that was formed to coordinate the direct action portion of anti-WTO mobilization in Seattle in 1999....
in SeattleSeattle, WashingtonSeattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
The Politics of the Internet II: Privacy and Liberty in Cyberspace
"Unless governments stop fearing their people, and therefore the Internet,
society will resort once again to the barricades to defend freedom and this will mark a stunning historical continuity."
This is that chapter of the book which one must read in the context of the pre-9/11
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
world.
The End of Privacy
Castells mentions a few official programs of governments:- the Echelon programECHELONECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK–USA Security Agreement...
of the US/UK - the FBI Carnivore program
- the "FBI Digital Storm"
Multimedia and the Internet: The Hypertext beyond Convergence
"Human culture only exists in and by human minds,
usually connected to human bodies.
Therefore, if our minds have the material capability
to access the whole realm of cultural expressions—select them,
recombine them—we do have a hypertext: the hypertextHypertextHypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
is inside us."
The Geography of the Internet: Networked Places
"Cities are faced with a challenge... It follows that public space and monumentality (museums, cultural centers, public art, architectural icons) will play a key role in marking space, and facilitating meaningful interaction."
There are different ways in which to picture the geography of the Internet.
The picture of the graph on the cover of the book resembles that of Matt Britt shown on the right.
The Digital Divide in a Global Perspective
"Education, information, science, and technology
become the critical sources of value creation
in the Internet-based economy.
Educational, informational, and technological resources are
characterized by extremely uneven distribution throughout the world
(UNESCO, 1999)."
Conclusion: The Challenges of the Network Society
"I imagine one could say: ″Why don't you leave me alone?!
I want no part of your Internet, of your technological civilization, of your network society! I just want to live my life!″..."
e-Links
One of the significant features of the book (published in 2001 beforethe September 11 attacks and around the time of the
dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
) is the
inclusion of the e-Links section at the end of every chapter. Each e-Link is given as a URL, followed by a short text of one or two lines to describe the content. For example, at the end of Chapter 6 "The Politics of the Internet II: Privacy and Liberty in Cyberspace", a collection of 4 e-Links is given:
- cnetdownload.com
- junkbusters.com
- silentsurf.com
- anonymizer.com
and the short explanatory text following is "Websites providing technological resources to protect privacy."
There is one major flaw associated with the e-Links. None of the e-Links in The Internet Galaxy provide "the date of last access".