Book Review: Manuel Castells, Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age
| Date | 01 June 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0973598415608534 |
| Published date | 01 June 2015 |
| Author | Suhita Saha |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
72 Book Reviews
rare photographs. Covering Pakistan in 400 pages is a tough call.
Ms. Ayesha Jalal charts through these turbulent waters very smoothly.
Undoubtedly a must read for scholars, journalists, policy makers, and
anyone interested in Pakistan.
Amartya Ray
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Ghoksadanga College
Coochbehar, West Bengal, India
Manuel Castells, Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements
in the Internet Age. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2012, 320 pp., $74.95,
ISBN: 978-0-7456-6284-8.
DOI: 10.1177/0973598415608534
The concept of social movement has made a prominent impact in the
discourse of social science in different phases of history. Social move-
ments, as a form of group action, focus on specific political or social
issues to carry out social change. The conventional discourse of social
movement tends to focus on the importance of leadership behind the
collective action, but the new social movement discourse holds that
the idea of leadership, particularly in the digital age, has become much
more scattered and virtual.
This book contains eight chapters. The first chapter focuses on the
conceptual underpinnings of the nature of outrage in this digital era. The
different types of movements starting from the Egyptian Revolution to
Occupy Wall Street, in the digital era, have been analyzed as case studies
in the subsequent chapters.
The introductory chapter, “OPENING: Networking Minds, Creating
Meaning, Contesting Power,” discusses how the dictatorships have been
overthrown in the backdrop of political cynicism, cultural emptiness, and
personal hopelessness. The outrage began on Internet social networks, as
these are spaces of autonomy, largely beyond the control of government
and corporations that monopolized the channel of communication as the
foundation of their power throughout the history. It was also primarily
the humiliation provoked by the cynicism and arrogance of those in
power, be it financial, political, or cultural, that brought together those
To continue reading
Request your trial