End of the millennium

The final volume of the Information Age trilogy, in a revised and expanded edition. End of the Millennium is the final volume of Manuel Castells' fascinating trilogy, The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. This revised and expanded edition includes a new preface by the author on the processes of global social change induced by the transition from the old industrial society to the emerging global network society. This book presents a study of the collapse of the Soviet Union, attributing its demise to the inability of industrial statism to lead the country's transition to the information age. The volume also highlights the growth of inequality, polarization, and social exclusion worldwide, taking Africa as examples, urban poverty, and the various forms of child exploitation. Furthermore, Manuel Castells analyzes the globalization of organized crime, which profoundly affects the economies and politics of several countries. It assesses the political and cultural foundations of the emergence of the Asia-Pacific as the most dynamic region of the global economy and reflects on the contradictions of European unification, proposing the concept of the network state. In the overall conclusion of the trilogy, included in this volume, Castells ties together the threads of his arguments and findings, presenting a systematic interpretation of our world at the turn of the millennium.