The Phenomenon of Communication in Contemporary Humanities Research (Based on the Work of M. Castells)

Abstract

The article discusses the phenomenon of communication in contemporary humanities research based on thework of Manuel Castells, whose papers allow for understanding communication as a fundamental mechanismof organization of social relations, power, culture and identity under the conditions of the information age.Special attention is paid to the analysis of key concepts of Castells’ theory, such as «network society», «spaceof flows», «timeless time», «mass self-communication», which disclose the new morphology of the societybased on network forms of coordination, global circulation of information and transformation of the publicsphere. The goal of the article consists in revealing theoretical and methodological potential of the Castells’work for interpretation of digital media, network communities, symbolic power and new forms of collectiveand individual identity. The methodological base of the research comprises social and philosophical, herme-neutic and comparative-analytical approaches that allow for combining philosophical, sociological andculturological levels of analysis. The article makes a conclusion that in contemporary humanitaristics, com-munication acts as an explanatory principle, and Castells’ concept remains one of the most productiveframeworks for the research of social and cultural transformations of late modernity. It is demonstrated thatCastells’ optics is especially valuable for studying digitalization, mediatization of daily life, restructuring ofthe mechanisms of social impact and change in the status of the humanitarian knowledge itself, which is in-creasingly more included in the analysis of forms of life that are mediated by network, platform and commu-nication. Research results may be used in preparing papers in communication philosophy, mediatheory,culturology, sociology, digital anthropology and modern epistemology.