Professor Manuel Castells

Manuel Castells is Research Professor at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), in Barcelona. He also a University Professor and the holder of the Wallis Annenberg Chair of Communication Technology and Society at the USC Annenberg School of Communication

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Manuel Castells is Research Professor at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), in Barcelona. He also a University Professor and the holder of the Wallis Annenberg Chair of Communication Technology and Society at the Annenberg School of Communication, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, the Marvin and Joanne Grossman Distinguished Professor of Technology and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University. He was Professor of Sociology and of City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley (1979-2003).

He has been Visiting Professor in 29 universities around the world and invited lecturer at hundreds of academic and professional institutions in 43 countries. He has authored 22 books, including the trilogy ‘The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture’, 1996-2003, published by Blackwell and translated into 23 languages. His most recent book is ‘Communication Power’ (Oxford, 2009). He has also co-authored and edited an additional 23 books.

He has received Honorary Doctorates from 14 universities and several honorary professorships and university medals. He is a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Economics and Finance, a member of the Academia Europea, and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. He was a founding member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council, and is a member of the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Positions held at the OII

  • Distinguished Visiting Professor, November 2006 – December 2010
  • Advisory Board Member, September 2002 – October 2006

Current projects

Past projects

  • A Decade in Internet Time: Manuel Castells

    Recorded: 22 September 2011

    Duration: 00:16:53

    Manuel Castells' keynote at the plenary session "A Decade in Internet Time" to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Oxford Internet Institute.

  • Cultures of the Internet

    Recorded: 18 October 2010

    Duration: 00:09:58

    Professor Manuel Castells discusses the main themes of his lecture in the OII's "Society and the Internet" lecture series, examining and exploring the origins of the Internet in the culture of freedom, sharing and libertarian ideals.

  • The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Towards A New Economic Culture?

    Recorded: 28 October 2009

    Duration: 01:29:00

    Manuel Castells draws on arguments from his book Communication Power in discussing the structural causes and implications of the 2008 economic crisis, and in claiming that we are moving, without much understanding, towards a new form of global capitalism.

  • Communication Power in the Network Society

    Recorded: 23 October 2008

    Duration: 01:14:36

    Professor Manuel Castells presents the major thesis of most recent work to be published in the book 'Communication Power'. The book argues that power is 'based on the control of communication and information'.