Networked society and new social movements.docVIP

Networked society and new social movements 　　【Introduction】 After the end of Cold War， the economic relations of different regions and states were becoming much closer. Not every individual is included in the world economic system， however， all of us are affected by it. And this also changed the organization of our world： we are living in a society which is constituted by different forms of networks. As for Castells， ‘A network is simply a set of interconnected nodes’ （Castells， 1999）. And it has three main basic characteristics： it has no center； this system operates mainly through inclusion and exclusion； and it is an ‘appropriate organization’ with ‘extreme flexibility’ （Castells， 1999）. The notes can be states， regions， or different individuals. They can be separated into different ranks， but the whole network has no center. Each actor has some degrees of autonomy and at the same time， no one can escape from others’ influence. All the actors included in the network can share information or products， and they are all producers. So in order to maximize the productivity of the whole system， network itself must be sensitive about the value of each actor. And this is enabled by its flexibility. 　　However， this flexibility also causes a series of social problems. The first form of inequality is ‘overexploitation’， which happens among certain groups of people who are easily to be discriminated in a particular social condition， like immigrants， ethnic minorities and female workers （Castells， 1999）. They are disadvantage social groups because of social， cultural or historical reasons. And the second inequality is about the individuals who are excluded from the network because of various reasons. They are not able to provide valuable resources for the system because of their poor education level or limited technological knowledge. These people live in extreme poverty and do not have the capacity or method to change their lives. Moreover， the autonomic operation of the n