The Network Society

Jan A.G.M. van Dijk (1952) is emeritus professor of communication science and sociology of the information society and still working at the University of Twente, the Netherlands. His main domains of research are the social aspects of the digital media, digital democracy and the digital divide. His best known English books are The Network Society (Four Editions, Sage Publications), Digital Democracy (2000, Sage Publications), The Deepening Divide (2005, Sage Publications), Digital Skills (2014, Palgrave Macmillan), Internet and Democracy (2018, Routledge) and The Digital Divide (2020, Polity Press). Since the year 2020 he is working on an overall work called Power & Technology, combining theories of social and natural power explaining the use of technology in human history. During his long career he was an advisory of many governments and departments as well as the European Commission.

Chapter 1. Introduction
A New Infrastructure for Society
A Second Communications Revolution?
Characteristics of the New Media
Communication Capacities of the New Media
The Nature and Design of the Book
Chapter 2. Networks: The Nervous System of Society
What is a Network Society?
A Short History of the Human Web
Networks at All Levels
Causes of the Rise of Networks
The Seven ′Laws′ of the Web
From Mass Society to Network Society
Chapter 3. Technology
Technical Foundations of the Network Society
Current Technical Trends
Chapter 4. Economy
Causes of the Current Communications Revolution
A Flow Economy
Enterprise 2.0
Markets, Hierarchies and Networks
Characteristics of a Network Economy
The Producers: From Infrastructure to Service Providers
The Consumers: The Pushers and Pulled
Chapter 5. Politics and Power
The Vulnerability of Networks
Network Politics
The Internet: A Tool for Democracy?
E-Participation
Power in the Organization
Privacy and Personal Autonomy
Chapter 6. Law
The Law Undermined by Networks
Who Rules the Internet?
Information and Communication Freedom
Intellectual Property Rights
The Right to Privacy
Chapter 7. Social Structure
Space and Time in the Network Society
The Blurring Spheres of Living
The Rise of the Social Media
Unity and Fragmentation: A New Social Cohesion
Networks and Social (In)Equality
The Digital Divide
The Instability of the Network Society
Chapter 8. Culture
What Is Digital Culture?
Characteristics of Digital Culture
The Quantity and Quality of New Media Content
Digital Youth Culture: Foreshadow of the Future?
Trends in New Media Use
Chapter 9. Psychology
Perception and the New Media
Cognition and the New Media
Learning with the New Media
The Social Psychology of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
Changes in Human Personality?
Chapter 10. Conclusions and Policy Perspectives
General Conclusions
The Network Society in North America, Europe, East Asia and the Third World
Policy Perspectives for the Network Society