Editing Manuel Castells (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===

Manuel Castells was born on February 9, 1942, in the city of [[Hellín]], in La Mancha region, Spain. His parents, Fernando Castells Adriaensens and Josefina Olivan Escartin were both civil servants. He also has a younger sister named Irene. The family's residence in La Mancha was short lived, as it was related to Castells' parents' work. In fact, due to the mobility of his father's career as a finance inspector, Castells' childhood was also mobile. He grew up in the cities of Madrid, Cartagena, and Valencia.<ref name="Conversations with Manuel Castells">{{cite book |last1=Castells |first1=Manuel |last2=Ince |first2=Martin |title=Conversations with Manuel Castells |date=2003 |publisher=Polity Press |location=Cambridge |pages=7–8 |chapter=Manuel Castells: Life and Work}}</ref>

Politics were a part of Castells' life from an early age. He notes:

<blockquote>My parents were very good parents. It was a conservative family — very strongly conservative family. But I would say that the main thing that shaped my character besides my parents was the fact that I grew up in fascist Spain. It's difficult for people of the younger generation to realize what that means, even for the Spanish younger generation. You had actually to resist the whole environment, and to be yourself, you had to fight and to politicize yourself from the age of fifteen or sixteen.<ref>Harry Kreisler, Manuel Castells, ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GBB7U5mv0w Conversations with History: Manuel Castells]'' (video interview, 9 May 2001), Berkeley, CA: University of California Television (UCTV), 2001, 1min26sec.</ref></blockquote>

Castells' engagement is evident in his early opposition to [[Francisco Franco]]’s [[Francoist Spain|semi-fascist regime]]. His father initially fought in its favor as a member of the Falange Party. Castells' father eventually abandoned this mentality, as he was no longer pleased with Franco's rule.<ref name="Conversations with Manuel Castells"/>

===Early education and activism===

Castells completed his secondary education in Barcelona. He was a strong student, and in 1958, he completed his course of study two years early, at the age of sixteen. The same year, He continued his education at the [[University of Barcelona]], where he studied both Law and Economics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Castells |first1=Manuel |last2=Ince |first2=Martin |title=Conversations with Manuel Castells |date=2003 |publisher=Polity Press |location=Cambridge |pages=8–9 |chapter=Manuel Castells: Life and Work}}</ref>

Beyond these subjects, Castells was also interested in literature and the theatre. However, the oppressive Franco government cracked down on students’ self-expression. Theatre performances were censored and student journals were shut down. This motivated Castells to join the anti-Franco movement in 1960 at age 18. He was one of very few students to engage in this kind of activism, largely because it was highly illegal and dangerous. Secrecy was imperative. Castells joined an opposition group of diverse ideologies called the [[Workers' Front of Catalonia|Workers Front of Catalonia]]. From there, he coupled his formal education with copious amounts of reading to supplement his activism. Among many other topics, Castells involved himself in the exploration of [[Marxism|Marxist]] and [[anarchist]] theory. In May 1962, Castells' activism led him to participate in a strike. Its goal was to protest the iron-fisted government and stand in solidarity with exploited miners in the Asturias region of Spain.<ref>[https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/spanish-coal-miners-challenge-franco-dictatorship-1962]</ref> This resulted in many of Castells' friends being arrested and beaten. Fortunately, Castells was able to escape to France, but without the social support he had access to in Spain. As a result, he was not able to complete his degree at the University of Barcelona. Following his escape, a fellow resistance member assisted him in achieving political refugee status, and he travelled to Paris.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Castells |first1=Manuel |last2=Ince |first2=Martin |title=Conversations with Manuel Castells |date=2003 |publisher=Polity Press |location=Cambridge |pages=8–10 |chapter=Manuel Castells: Life and Work}}</ref>

In Paris, at the age of 20, he completed his degree, and then progressed to the [[University of Paris]], where he earned a [[doctorate]] in Sociology. Castells graduated from the [[Sorbonne University|Sorbonne]] in 1964 and received his PhD from the [[University of Paris]] in 1967.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|pages=70}}</ref>

=== Catalan identity ===

Castells identifies as [[Catalonia|Catalan]] largely because of his connection to Barcelona, which is recognized as the center of the [[Catalan independence movement|Catalan movement for independence]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Barcelona |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Barcelona |website=Britannica.com |access-date=18 October 2021}}</ref> He spent a large portion of his adolescence there, completing his secondary and beginning his college education at the [[University of Barcelona]]. Castells also traces his paternal lineage to the city. This aspect of Castells' identity is related to his resistance to Franco's oppressive regime. The [[Catalan language]] was not taught at school under Franco, and Castells' family, being from a Spanish speaking region of Spain, therefore did not speak it. However, he took the initiative to teach the language to himself while at University, which he states has helped him feel more connected to his Catalan identity. Castells is a Catalan nationalist, but not a separatist. He has expressed support for the Catalan Socialist Party.<ref>Castells, Manuel, and Martin Ince. 2003. “Manuel Castells: Life and Work.” Pp.8 in Conversations with Manuel Castells. Cambridge: Polity Press.</ref>

===Academic career===
[[File:PrixBalzan2013-photoMosimann.jpg|thumb|Castells and other recipients of the Balzan prize in 2013]]

At the age of twenty-four, Castells became an instructor in several Parisian universities, and would teach from 1967 to 1979. First, he taught at the [[Paris X University Nanterre]] (where he taught [[Daniel Cohn-Bendit]]). He was terminated from this position as a result of the [[May 1968 protests in France|1968 student protests]]. He then taught at the [[École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales]] from 1970 to 1979.

In 1979, the [[University of California, Berkeley]] appointed him as Professor of Sociology, and Professor of [[city planning|City and Regional Planning]]. In 2001, he was a research professor at the UOC-Universitat Oberta de Catalunya ([[Open University of Catalonia]]), Barcelona. Then, in 2003, he joined the [[University of Southern California]] (USC) [[University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication|Annenberg School for Communication]], as a professor of Communication and the first [[Wallis Annenberg]]-endowed Chair of Communication and Technology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Endowed.aspx |title=Endowed Faculty Chairs |publisher=USC Annenberg |access-date=4 February 2012 |archive-date=24 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124233549/http://www.annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Endowed.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Castells is a founding member of the [[USC Center on Public Diplomacy]], and a senior member of the diplomacy center's Faculty Advisory Council and is a member of the [http://arnic.info/ Annenberg Research Network on International Communication].

Castells divides his residence between Spain and the US. Since 2008, he has been a member of the governing board of the [[European Institute of Innovation and Technology]]. He has been the minister of universities in Spain since January 2020 until December 2021.