Editing Manuel Castells (section)

===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"/>