Over the years, Castells’ work has been met with several noteworthy critiques. Some criticisms of Castells’ work compare his ideas to functionalism, in that they include some “abstract system-building.” In other words, there is a certain level of inattention to individuals, while sweeping generalizations are made about society.Mann, Douglas. 2008. “Postmodernism: Political Economy and Communications.” Pp. 274–275 in Understanding Society: A Survey of Modern Social Theory. Canada: Oxford University Press. Additionally, Castells’ work includes observations about the intense global influence of informationalism. There is some discrepancy about how much of the globe is truly “dominated” by expansive informational networks. The global population is so diverse that there are many exceptions to the idea of complete global domination. These information networks have the potential to be useful “ideal types” for studying global relations, but one should exercise caution when using them to model the real world. Castells has also been criticized for the conservatism that appears within his theories. He has noted that there is “little chance of social change” within the network society. This reveals a thought process that supports the status quo, which can be a problem for social change and justice movements. Related to this criticism, some scholars have found it peculiar that while Castells’ theorizes quite a bit about global connection, he does not explore the potential of those global connections to establish an international system for the protection of human rights and cultural difference.Stevenson, Nick. 2003. “Manuel Castells.” Pp.95 in Key Contemporary Social Theorists, edited by Anthony Elliott and Larry Ray. Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
over the years castells’ work has been met with several noteworthy critiques some criticisms of castells’ work compare his ideas to functionalism in that they include some “abstract system-building” in other words there is a certain level of inattention to individuals while sweeping generalizations are made about societymann douglas 2008 “postmodernism political economy and communications” pp 274–275 in understanding society a survey of modern social theory canada oxford university press additionally castells’ work includes observations about the intense global influence of informationalism there is some discrepancy about how much of the globe is truly “dominated” by expansive informational networks the global population is so diverse that there are many exceptions to the idea of complete global domination these information networks have the potential to be useful “ideal types” for studying global relations but one should exercise caution when using them to model the real world castells has also been criticized for the conservatism that appears within his theories he has noted that there is “little chance of social change” within the network society this reveals a thought process that supports the status quo which can be a problem for social change and justice movements related to this criticism some scholars have found it peculiar that while castells’ theorizes quite a bit about global connection he does not explore the potential of those global connections to establish an international system for the protection of human rights and cultural differencestevenson nick 2003 “manuel castells” pp95 in key contemporary social theorists edited by anthony elliott and larry ray blackwell publishers ltd