The Information Age: Transnational Organized Crime, Networks, and Illicit Markets

Abstract

In his landmark trilogy, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, sociologist Manuel Castells argued that networks, information technology, and global economic flows were altering the nature of politics, power, and states. This article examines the network dynamics Castells wrote about in relation to transnational crime and illicit economic markets. The article further explores Castells’s influence on the study of transnational organized crime, illicit networks, and the global illicit economy