Mobile Communication and Society

A Global Perspective

MIT Press

Wireless networks are the fastest growing communications technology in
history. Are mobile phones expressions of identity, fashionable gadgets, tools for
life -- or all of the above? Mobile Communication and Society
looks at how the possibility of multimodal communication from anywhere to anywhere
at any time affects everyday life at home, at work, and at school, and raises
broader concerns about politics and culture both global and
local.

Drawing on data gathered from around the world, the authors
explore who has access to wireless technology, and why, and analyze the patterns of
social differentiation seen in unequal access.They explore the social effects of
wireless communication -- what it means for family life, for example, when everyone
is constantly in touch, or for the idea of an office when workers can work anywhere.
Is the technological ability to multitask further compressing time in our already
hurried existence?

The authors consider the rise of a mobile youth
culture based on peer-to-peer networks, with its own language of texting, and its
own values. They examine the phenomenon of flash mobs, and the possible political
implications. And they look at the relationship between communication and
development and the possibility that developing countries could "leapfrog" directly
to wireless and satellite technology. This sweeping book -- moving easily in its
analysis from the United States to China, from Europe to Latin America and Africa --
answers the key questions about our transformation into a mobile network
society.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Castells, Manuel

Fernández-Ardèvol, Mireia

Qiu, Jack Linchuan

Sey, Araba

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Elektronik | Nachrichtentechnik Nachrichten- und Kommunikationstechnik Drahtlostechnologie
• Technische Wissenschaften Technik Allgemein Technologie: Soziale & Ethische Aspekte

Über Autor(innen)

Castells, Manuel
Manuel Castells is Professor of Communication and the Wallis Annenberg Chair in
Communication Technology and Society at the Annenberg School for Communication,
University of Southern California, as well as Professor Emeritus of Sociology and
Planning at the University of California, Berkeley, Research Professor at the Open
University of Catalonia, and Marvin and Joanne Grossman Distinguished Visiting
Professor of Technology and Society at MIT. He is the author of, among other books,
the three-volume work The Information Age: Economy, Society, and
Culture.

Qiu, Jack Linchuan
Jack Linchuan Qiu is Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism and
Communication at Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a coauthor (with Manuel
Castells, Mireia Fernández-Ardèvol, and Araba Sey) of Mobile Communication
and Society: A Global Perspective (MIT Press, 2006).