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<div align="center"><font size=5 color="#0000FF"><b>Communication
Technology, Media, and Power<br>
</font><font size=5>Manuel Castells <br>
</font><font size=4>Science, Technology, and Society, Media Arts and
Sciences, Urban Studies and Planning, MIT (Visiting)<br><br>
</b></font></div>
Professor Castells will be give an STS Colloquium at MIT on <b>Monday,
March 12th, at 4:00 pm in the Bartos Theater</b> (lower level of Building
E15). Before his talk, we will hold a <b> reception from
3:30-4:00</b> in the atrium area outside of Bartos. I hope you will
be able to join us at Monday's colloquium. Please pass information
about Professor Castells' talk along to your colleagues and
students.<br><br>
<b><u>ABSTRACT</u></b> <br>
Power has always been decided in the realm of communication. In our
societies, politics is largely media politics. Communication evolves
according to the evolution of communication technology. Internet-based
communication and wireless networks have allowed the emergence of self
mass communication, that is mass communication that is originated by
social actors or individuals without mediation of governments or
corporate media. Under these conditions social movements and insurgent
politics enhance their capability to intervene in the new communication
space. On the other hand, corporate media are also increasing their
presence in the horizontal networks of communication. As a result
of these trends, mass media and horizontal networks of communication are
converging. Thus, we are witnessing a historical shift of societys public
sphere from the institutional realm to the communication space. This
analysis is based on a number of case studies, data analysis and
literature review, some of which are included in my recent book
"Mobile Communication and Society," MIT Press 2006.<br><br>
<b><u>BIO<br>
</u></b>Manuel Castells is the Marvin C. (1951) and Joanne Grossman
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Technology and Society at MIT, and
Professor of Communication and the holder of the Wallis Annenberg Chair
in Communication Technology and Society at the Annenberg School for
Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He is, as
well, Research Professor at the Open University of Catalonia in
Barcelona, and Professor Emeritus of Sociology and of City and Regional
Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds courtesy
appointments as Professor of Sociology in the USC Sociology Department
and as Professor of Planning in the USC School of Policy, Planning, and
Development. <br><br>
He is the author of 23 books and editor or co-author of 15 additional
books, as well as over 100 articles in academic journals. His trilogy
<i>The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture</i> was published
by Blackwell in 1996-98 in the first edition and in 2000-2003 in its
second edition. His most recent books are <i>The Internet Galaxy</i>
(Oxford University Press, 2001), <i>The Information Society and the
Welfare State: The Finnish Model</i> (Oxford University Press, 2002, with
Pekka Himanen), <i>La societat xarxa a Catalunya</i> (Mondadori, 2003,
co-author), <i>The Network Society: A Cross-Cultural Perspective</i>
(Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2004, editor and co-author),
Globalizacion, <i>Desarrollo y Democracia: Chile en el Contexto
Mundial</i> (Santiago: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 2005), and <i>Mobile
Communication and Society: A Global Perspective </i>(MIT Press, 2007,
co-author). <br><br>
<b><u>Talk location:</u></b>
<a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?zoom=level2&centerx=711279&centery=496140&oldzoom=level3&map.x=306&map.y=187" eudora="autourl">
http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?zoom=level2&centerx=711279&centery=496140&oldzoom=level3&map.x=306&map.y=187<br>
<br>
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If you have any questions about Monday's colloquium, please contact me at
452-2390. Thank you.<br><br>
A schedule of events for the week of March 12th is attached. Please
remember to check the MIT on-line calendar
(<a href="http://web.mit.edu/events" eudora="autourl">
http://web.mit.edu/events</a>) for a complete listing of MIT
activities.<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Debbie Meinbresse<br>
STS Program, MIT<br>
617-452-2390<br>
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