Future society III at COMP6044

Future society III no comments

Posted at 1:45 pm in Sociology

In my first blog post called Self and business in social networks, I was refering to the concept of self and four methods through wich self-consciousness is achieved. In his first trilogy volume called The Rise of the Network Society, in the chapter Prologue: the Net and the Self, Castells explains that the first step in an informational society is the organization by recognition of itself based on cultural attributes. This was the fourth method of self identification described in my post: 4. cultural perspectives – depending on the origin of the individual. In the second volume The Power of Identity, Castells defines identity as a source for the meaning and experience, distinguishing between three forms and origins of identity building:

Legimitizing identity – introduced by dominant institutions e.g. nationalism
Resistance identity – generated by the dominated minorities opposed to the institutions of the society
Project identity – based on some cultural values, a new identity is built

e.g. feminism challanging patriarhal family, reproduction, sexuality and personality on which societies have been historially based

e.g. green culture, smart meters, preserving nature

In the final chapter called Conclusion: Social Change in the Network Society, Castells sees the information networks we presented in our previous post as the organizers of activity and sharing information, as producers and distributors of cultural codes.

I see a similarity between Castells’s forms of building identities and Nietzsche’s history types:

Monumental history – study of nation’s heroes conducted in order to invoke them in all their greatness [1]
Antiquarian history – local history of specific social and civic communities [2], history as consolation and reassurance, as the positive continuity that provides a people with its identity [1]
Critical history – the sort of history one utilizes when the monumental structures fail to inspire and when antiquarian musings become mired in unproductive thoughts and a conservative motionlessness [2]

Wikipedia differentiates identity as personal and social, where social identity is defined as a person’s conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations (such as national identity and cultural identity).

In our next post we will look into Castell‘s last trilogy volume End of Millennium.