ABSTRACT
Castells argues that we are undergoing a transformation towards an ‘information age’ the chief characteristic of which is the spread of networks linking people, institutions and countries. There are many consequences of this, but the most telling is that the network society can exacerbate splits between increased integration of global affairs and heightened social divisions. Castells’s concern is both to examine ways in which globalisation integrates people and processes and to assess associated fragmentations and disintegrations. This supplies the unifying theme of his trilogy.
