By exploring the experiences of community activists and organizations working with information and communication technology (ICT) to build communities, this book offers a grounded and informed study of the role ICT plays in people's lives. The author emphasizes the importance of networks built around trust, shared spaces and local knowledge bases in the formation of significant relationships in contemporary Western societies and in doing so, questions many of the assumptions which inform the rhetorics of the information age.

KAREN F. VANS is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Studies, University of Liverpool, UK. Her research has addressed the following areas: city spaces; crime; community; and cyberspace. Her recent publications include Zero Tolerance or Community Tolerance; Managing Crime in High Crime Areas (co-author with S.Walklate), and A Tale of Two Cities; Global Change, Local Feeling and Everyday Life in the North of England (co-authored with I.Taylor & P.Fraser).