Dr. Manuel Castells

Biography

Manuel Castells is a renowned academic recognized for his profound contributions to the fields of City and Regional Planning and Sociology. He served as a Professor at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design from 1979 to 2003. Currently, he holds the Wallis Annenberg Chair in Communication Technology and Society at the University of Southern California, where he also teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, indicating his dual expertise in these domains. Castells obtained his law and economics education from the University of Barcelona and Paris, and in 1979, he moved to the United States, where he earned a Ph.D. in sociology and human sciences from the University of Paris-Sorbonne. His seminal work, "La Question Urbaine," published in 1972, has been translated into ten languages and has become a classic in urban studies. Over his distinguished career, Castells has authored twenty books and is widely cited by scholars in social science and communications. Notably, he received the prestigious Balzan Prize from the International Balzan Prize Foundation in 2013 and the Holberg International Memorial Prize from the Parliament of Norway in 2012, underscoring his influence and recognition in the global academic community.

Research Interests