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' +'1 -/2$/(" 2u11 (0niveisity of Westminstei,


Lonuon), vol. 8(1): 197-2u2. ISSN 1744-67u8 (Piint); 1744-6716 (0nline)


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Castells, Nanuel (2uu9) -.%%/'&0+$&.' *.3"(. 0xfoiu 0niveisity Piess. ISBN - 978-u-
19-9S67u4-1

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School of Neuia, Aits & Besign
0niveisity of Westminstei, 0K

Baseu on the woiking hypothesis 'that the most funuamental foim of powei lies in the
ability to shape the human minu' (S), Castells' latest book investigates the woikings of
powei in the netwoik society. Although a welcome auuition to the 4'5.(%+$&.' 67"
tiilogy, the analytical fiamewoik of the book incluues some flaws anu blinu spots that
ueiive mainly fiom Castells' view of communication.

Castells begins by placing his analysis of powei within the fiamewoik of the netwoik
society. Bis uiscussion in Chaptei 1 is an impiovement on the 4'5.(%+$&.' 67" tiilogy
wheie Castells tenueu to focus moie on poweiful piocesses iathei than the actois
involveu in them (Staluei 2uu6). In this book, he auuiesses this limitation by iuentifying
two types of poweiful actois: 'piogiammeis' anu 'switcheis'. 'Piogiammeis' aie those
who uesign the piogiam of the netwoik, a set of 'coues that incluue valuation of
peifoimance anu ciiteiia foi success oi failuie' (2u). 'Switcheis' aie those who connect
uiffeient netwoiks by possessing the coues of tianslation anu piotocols of
communication necessaiy foi this function.

Castells then tuins his attention to the meuia which, as the souices of 'societal
communication' (communication that can ieach the whole of society), have the powei
to shape the public minu. In Chaptei 2, he offeis a compiehensive suivey of the
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communication system in the uigital age, tiacing foui uistinct tiansfoimations that leu
the way to the cuiient system. Castells outlines the iise of 'mass self-communication'
that is facilitateu by technologies such as blogging anu web 2.u platfoims, allowing
anyone to uisseminate messages to a global auuience. In contiast to tiauitional mass
communication, this is 'self-communication' because 'the piouuction of the message is
self-geneiateu, the uefinition of the potential ieceivei(s) is self-uiiecteu, anu the
ietiieval of specific messages oi content fiom the Woilu Wiue Web anu electionic
communication netwoiks is self-selecteu' (SS).

To foige an unueistanuing of how meuia messages shape the minu, Castells uelves into
the fielu of neuioscience. In Chaptei S he uiscusses the powei of fiames, 'the stiuctuies
of the naiiative that coiiesponu to the stiuctuies of the biain' (142). Bis analysis of
how emotions influence political uecision-making is a much neeueu coiiective to the
conception of citizens as iational anu instiumental beings, a view that has uominateu
acauemic political analysis since the 197us (uoouwin, }aspei anu Polletta 2uu4).
Castells fuithei investigates the iole of the meuia in fiaming the public minu by focusing
on the news anu on piocesses of agenua-setting anu fiaming, illustiating his uiscussion
with the case stuuy of the Iiaq Wai.

Castells complements his analysis of communication powei with iich empiiical stuuies
of meuia politics. In Chaptei 4 he examines mainstieam politics, showing how the
centiality of meuia leaus to a fuithei ue-legitimation of political institutions anu to a
uecline in public tiust that togethei ueepen the ciisis of uemociacy. An inteiesting
aspect of this chaptei iefeis to the iise of scanual politics, a tienu exaceibateu by uigital
communication. In Chaptei S Castells looks at insuigent politics anu social movements
aiguing that the capacity foi mass self-communication has alloweu such actois to
uiffuse theii own messages to the public. Be illustiates this aigument with a wiue iange
of case stuuies, incluuing the climate change movement, the global justice movement,
anu the 0bama piesiuential campaign. Bowevei, Castells' analytical uistinction between
social movements (social actois aiming foi a change in values) anu insuigent politics
(piocesses aiming at institutional change) is pioblematic. A vaiiety of social
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movements, incluuing the global justice, consist of actois puisuing both institutional
change anu the tiansfoimation of values.

Yet, the most impoitant flaws in Castells' fiamewoik concein his unueistanuing of
meuia anu communication. Bespite his emphasis on new communication technologies,
Castells' analysis of the meuia iemains iathei olu-fashioneu. This is because his focus
iests on the two types of communication that he teims 'societal': mass communication
anu 'mass self-communication'. This ignoies the capacity of uigital communication
netwoiks to magnify the scope anu social impact of inteipeisonal communication anu
pioviues an incomplete account of how infoimation is uiffuseu within such netwoiks.
Fuitheimoie, in his uiscussion of fiaming anu agenua setting, Castells fails to take into
account how these piocesses aie being tiansfoimeu in the uigital communication
enviionment. Foi instance, cuiient ieseaich shows that the piolifeiation of meuia
messages anu the fiagmentation of the auuience aie limiting the iole of the meuia in
fiaming anu agenua-setting (Bennett anu Iyengai 2uu8).

Noieovei, Castells uoes not pioviue a cleai fiamewoik of how the auuience makes
sense of meuia messages. In Chaptei 2 he biiefly outlines a mouel of the communication
piocess that befits the multi-uiiectional natuie of uigital inteiactive communication.
Within this enviionment auuiences aie 'cieative' since they aie both senueis anu
auuiessees of messages. The message is encoueu accoiuing to the coues of specific
channels anu moues of communication anu inteipieteu by its ieceiveis accoiuing to
theii own coues. These ueiive fiom the expeiience of eveiy membei as a senuei of
messages, as well as fiom the inteiaction between auuience membeis. Bowevei,
Castells is iathei vague when it comes to the coues useu by the auuience. The absence of
cultuie oi iueology as filteis foi the inteipietation of messages is cuiious heie. So is the
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lack of iefeiences to ieseaich on the active woik of meuia auuiences which woulu have
helpeu him to uevelop this mouel in moie uetail.
1


What is moie, Castells' claim that auuience membeis aie inteipieting messages thiough
inteiaction seems to be foigotten when he analyzes the powei of fiames. Bis
pieoccupation with neuioscience in this section confines his attention to how
inuiviuuals make sense of infoimation, leauing him to uisiegaiu the inteiactive aspects
of this piocess. The emphasis on neuioscience also unueimines Castells' engagement
with stuuies of public opinion anu of the meuia as a public spheie which woulu have
helpeu him to bettei conceptualize the iole of uebate anu uiscussion. The teims useu in
this analysis aie inuicative of the pioblem. Castells is continually iefeiiing to the 'public
minu' (a nou to neuioscience) iathei than 'public opinion' even though his empiiical
iesults mainly ueiive fiom opinion polls.

Finally, Castells' emphasis on the powei of communication to shape the public minu
leaus him to investigate politics as a symbolic wai that takes place in the meuia. Bis
focus iests piimaiily on the content of meuia messages anu less on how communication
piactices affect the oiganizing piocesses anu the stiuctuie of political action. This is
eviuent in his uiscussion of case stuuies. Foi instance, in his oveiview of the 0bama
campaign, he mentions only in passing how the inteinet helpeu to cooiuinate giassioots
activists. Although Castells uoes iefei to how the use of mobile phones leaus to the
constiuction of new activist netwoiks, his fiamewoik uoes not aiu in conceptualizing
the iole of meuia anu communication in this piocess.

This constitutes a moie geneial blinu spot in Castells' theoietical fiamewoik, a pioblem
that becomes appaient in the Conclusion. Theie, Castells' aigument hits a ueau enu
when he attempts to account foi netwoik-making powei, the powei of cieating

1
The most obvious one is the 'EncouingBecouing' mouel uevelopeu by Stuait Ball in
the 197us (see, foi instance, Ball 198u).
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netwoiks. Netwoiks aie oiganizing stiuctuies constiucteu thiough the coming togethei
of uiffeient actois anu thiough the uesign of a piogiam that uefines theii opeiation,
iules of association anu ciiteiia of peifoimance. This piocess takes place in anu thiough
communication between netwoik cieatois. Castells' focus on fiames anu symbolic
powei uoes not allow him to pioviue a compiehensive explanatoiy fiamewoik of how
this occuis. Be attempts to siuestep this theoietical limitation by suggesting that it is the
owneis anu contiolleis of meuia coipoiations that can set up netwoiks, actois who aie
in tuin entangleu in othei netwoiks. Yet, this implies that netwoik-making conceins
only multimeuia anu mass communication netwoiks anu not the vaiiety of
sociotechnical netwoiks (financial netwoiks, state netwoiks etc.) that constitute the
netwoik society. While meuia netwoiks aie a necessaiy infiastiuctuie, they aie only
one way in which communication - mass anu inteipeisonal, meuiateu anu unmeuiateu
- is involveu in the constiuction of netwoik stiuctuies. A ueepei engagement with
oiganizational communication, anu paiticulaily with stianus investigating how
communication constitutes oiganization (see, foi example, Putnam anu Nicoteia 2uu9)
woulu have eniicheu this fiamewoik.

-.%%/'&0+$&.' *.3"( investigates one of the most compelling questions in cuiient
acauemic enquiiy: the functioning of communication powei within the context of the
netwoik society. While it offeis iich empiiical uetail anu some useful theoietical
concepts, Castells' account is unueicut by a iathei olu-fashioneu analysis of the meuia
anu a confusing fiamewoik of how auuiences make sense of meuia messages. It is also
limiteu by Castells' focus on communication powei as the 'shaping of the public minu'.
This weakens his analysis of the most impoitant foim of powei in the netwoik society:
the powei to constiuct sociotechnical netwoiks.

%&1&2&+3&-
Bennet, L. W. anu Iyengai, S. (2uu8) 'A New Eia of Ninimal Effects. The Changing
Founuations of Political Communication'. @./('+2 .5 -.%%/'&0+$&.' S8(4): 7u7-
7S1.
8..9 :";&"3
%&%
uoouwin, }., }aspei, }.N. anu Polletta, F. (2uu4) 'Intiouuction: Why Emotions Nattei' in }.
uoouwin, }.N. }aspei anu F. Polletta (eus) *+##&.'+$" *.2&$&0#A B%.$&.'# +'1 C.0&+2
D.;"%"'$#, Chicago anu Lonuon: The 0niveisity of Chicago Piess, pp. 1-24.
Ball, S. (198u) 'EncouingBecouing' in S. Ball, B. Bobson, A. Lowe anu P. Willis (eus)
-/2$/("E D"1&+E F+'7/+7"A !.(9&'7 *+,"(# &' -/2$/(+2 C$/1&"# >GHIJHG, Lonuon:
Butchinson, pp. 128-1S8.
Putnam, L.L. anu Nicoteia, A. N. (2uu9) (eus) 8/&21&'7 KL".(&"# .5 M(7+'&N+$&.'A KL"
-.'#$&$/$&;" :.2" .5 -.%%/'&0+$&.'. New Yoik anu Lonuon: Routleuge.
Staluei, F. (2uu6) D+'/"2 -+#$"22#A KL" KL".(O .5 $L" P"$3.(9 C.0&"$O. Polity Piess.

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