Round table “The Network Society Today: (Revisiting) the Information Age Trilogy”

Round table “The Network Society Today: (Revisiting) the Information Age Trilogy”

The Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), the UOC’s research institute specializing in the study of the internet and the effects of interactions between digital technologies and human activity, is celebrating 20 years since its founding.

The event to mark this will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the publication of the first volume of Manuel Castells‘ The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Castells, Professor of Sociology at the UOC and the current Spanish Minister for Universities, was formerly director of the IN3 and will take part in the event.

The key part of the event will be a talk by Castells himself: The Network Society in the age of pandemics.

There will then be a round table discussion moderated by philosopher and member of the UOC’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Marina Garcés. The members of the panel will analyse Castells’ work and the implications for today. The panel will include Diana Roig Sanz, ERC grant holder and ICREA Research Professor at the IN3; John Thompson, Professor of Sociology and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge; Fernando Calderón, Professor at Argentina’s Universidad Nacional San Martín (UNSAM) and Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO); Ida Susser, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center; Felix Stalder, Professor of Digital Culture at Zurich University of the Arts, and Hana Jalloul, lecturer of International Relations at Univeristy Carlos III (Madrid).

The event will be entirely in English. It will be hybrid (both online and in person) and streamed live from 6 p.m.

Program

6 p.m. – Opening words from IN3 director David Megías

6.05 p.m. – The Network Society in the age of pandemics a talk by UOC Professor of Sociology and Spanish Minister for Universities Manuel Castells.

6.25 p.m. – Round table discussion, moderated by philosopher and member of the UOC’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities Marina Garcés, involving (in alphabetical order):

  • Fernando Calderón, Professor at Argentina’s Universidad Nacional San Martín (UNSAM) and Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO)
  • Hana Jalloul, University Carlos III (Madrid)
  • Diana Roig-Sanz, ERC grant holder and ICREA Research Professor at the IN3
  • Felix Stalder, Professor of Digital Culture at Zurich University of the Arts
  • Ida Susser, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center
  • John Thompson, Professor of Sociology and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, University of Cambridge

8.25 p.m. – Closing words from UOC President Josep A. Planell

8.30 p.m. – Close

Links:

Event in UOC’s website