Network Logic - Index of

2. Living networks
Fritjof Capra
In recent years networks have become a major focus of attention in
science, business, and also in society at large and throughout a newly
emerging global culture. Within a few years the internet became a
powerful global network of communications, and many of the new
internet companies act as interfaces between networks of customers
and suppliers. Most large corporations today are organised as
decentralised networks of smaller units, connected to networks of
small- and medium-sized businesses that serve as their subcontractors
and suppliers, and similar networks exist among
non-profit and non-governmental organisations. Indeed,
‘networking’ has been one of the main activities of political grassroots
organisations for many years. The environmental movement, the
human rights movement, the feminist movement, the peace movement,
and many other political and cultural grassroots movements
have organised themselves as networks that transcend national
boundaries.
With the new information and communication technologies,
networks have become one of the most prominent social phenomena
of our time. Sociologist Manuel Castells argues that the information
technology revolution has given rise to a new economy, structured
around flows of information, power and wealth in global financial
networks. Castells also observes that, throughout society, networking
has emerged as a new form of organisation of human activity, and he
Demos 25