Manuel Castells

Manuel Castells is University Professor and holder of the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. He also holds appointments as Professor of Communication, Sociology, Planning, and International Relations. Castells earned degrees in Law and Economics from the Universities of Barcelona and Paris, a Licence in Public Law and Political Economy from the University of Paris in 1964, a Diplôme in Sociology of Work in 1965, a Diplôme d’Études Approfondies in Sociology in 1966, a Doctorat de 3e Cycle in Sociology from the University of Paris in 1967, a Doctorado in Sociology from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and a Doctorat d’État es Sciences Humaines from Université de Paris-V Sorbonne. His career includes positions as Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Paris (1967-1969) and University of Montreal (1969-1970), Associate Professor and Director of the Seminar for Urban Sociology at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris (1970-1979), Professor of Sociology and Director of the Institute for Sociology of New Technologies at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (1988-1993), and Professor of City and Regional Planning and Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley (1979-2003), where he is now Professor Emeritus. He joined USC as Professor of Communication in 2003 and was appointed University Professor in 2009. Previously, he served as Director of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute at the Open University of Catalonia (2001-2012) and Director of Research at the Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge (2011-2018).

A leading scholar on globalization, the network society, and internet studies, Castells has authored key publications including the trilogy The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture (Wiley-Blackwell, 1996-2000), Communication Power (Oxford University Press, 2009), The Internet Galaxy (Oxford University Press, 2001), Rupture: The Crisis of Liberal Democracy (Polity Press, 2018), and Another Economy is Possible (Polity Press, 2017). His work has profoundly influenced the fields of communication technology, sociology, and urban planning. Among his numerous honors are the Balzan Prize (2013), Holberg International Memorial Prize (2012), C. Wright Mills Award (1983), Robert and Helen Lynd Award (1998), Ithiel de Sola Pool Award (2004), Erasmus Medal from Academia Europaea (2011), and election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2024). He has received over 30 honorary doctorates and holds fellowships in the British Academy, European Academy of Sciences, and Mexican Academy of Sciences. Castells has lectured at more than 300 institutions in 46 countries and held visiting professorships at institutions including MIT, Oxford, Tsinghua University, and others.

Professional Email: castells@usc.edu