Globalisation, modernity and postmodernity

Question 1

What are the 4 features of modern society?

Answer 1

1. Nation state
2. Capitalism
3. Rationality, science and technology
4. Individualism

Question 2

What does the nation state argue?

Answer 2

-The state is the focal point of modern society= key political unit

Question 3

What have modern states created?

Answer 3

Administrative bureaucracies, educational, welfare and legal institutions to regulate citizens lives

Question 4

What is capitalism?

Answer 4

Private ownership of the means of production

Question 5

What does the nation state regulate?

Answer 5

The conditions under which capitalism operates

Question 6

What is modern society organised on?

Answer 6

Fordist principles i.e. mass production

Question 7

What does rationality, science and technology lead to?

Answer 7

Declining influence of religion

Question 8

What does individualism refer to?

Answer 8

Greater personal freedom and the ability to define our own identity

Question 9

What is the definition of globalisation?

Answer 9

Increasing interconnectedness of people across national boundaries

Question 10

What do we now live in?

Answer 10

‘Global village’

Question 11

What is the first change that has led to globalisation?

Answer 11

Technological changes
-Satellite communications, internet, TV= time-space compression

Question 12

What type of society do we now live in?

Answer 12

‘Risk-society- Beck
-Threats to our wellbeing come from human-technology

Question 13

What is the second change that has led to globalisation?

Answer 13

Economic changes
-Global economy= weightless- activity involves the production of information, rather than physical goods e.g. data processing is distributed through global electronic networks

Question 14

What operate on a global scale?

Answer 14

Trans-national companies- they form a seperate global capitalist class

Question 15

What is the third change that has led to globalisation?

Answer 15

Political changes

Question 16

What does Ohamae argue?

Answer 16

We live in a ‘borderless world’ i.e. TNC and consumers have more economic power than national governments - undermines the nation state

Question 17

What is the fourth change that has led to globalisation?

Answer 17

Changes in culture and identity
-We live in a global culture where western-owned media companies spread western culture to the rest of the world
-Globalisation undermines traditional sources of identity like class

Question 18

What questions does this raise?

Answer 18

1. Does this mean we are no longer living in modernity- are we in a post-modern society?
2. Do we need new theories to understand society?

Question 19

What is postmodernity?

Answer 19

-Argues that we live in an unstable, fragmented, media-saturated global village
-There are no sure foundations to knowledge- no objective criteria to prove a theory as correct

Question 20

What do postmodernists argue about the Enlightenment theory?

Answer 20

It is dead- we cannot use knowledge to improve society as we don’t know whether that knowledge is correct

Question 21

What are all-embracing theories considered as?

Answer 21

Meta-narratives- big story
-No-one has access to the truth- all accounts of reality are equally valid

Question 22

Who talks about Simulacra?

Answer 22

Baudrillard

Question 23

What does simulacra refer to?

Answer 23

Images that have no original in reality but that can be produced to create a more satisfying result than reality itself

Question 24

What is a hyper-reality?

Answer 24

A condition in which what is real and what is fiction are seamlessly blended together

Question 25

What does Baudrillard see as a major source of simulacra?

Answer 25

TV- our inability to distinguish between image and reality

Question 26

What happens to culture?

Answer 26

-Differs fundamentally from modern society because the media-produces ever-changing images= culture becomes fragmented and unstable

Question 27

What happens to identity?

Answer 27

Becomes de-stabilised as we can now construct our own identity e.g. 'pick and mix' identity

Question 28

What are the strengths of postmodernism?

Answer 28

1. The rejection of all-embracing meta-narratives is valuable 2. Makes important points about the significance of the media on culture and identity

Question 29

Who criticises postmodernism?

Answer 29

Philo and Miller: 1. Ignores power and equality i.e. ruling class use the media to promote their views 2. Overlooks the effects of poverty on restricting how people construct their identities 3. By assuming all views are true, it becomes valid to assume that the Nazi's were right to murder millions during the holocaust- morally indefensible

Question 30

What do theories of late modernity suggest about the rapid changes we are witnessing?

Answer 30

They are a continuation of modernity

Question 31

What are happening to the key features of modernity?

Answer 31

Being intensified e.g. pace of social change is increasing

Question 32

What have we entered?

Answer 32

Late phase of modernity

Question 33

What does Giddens argue is one feature of modernity?

Answer 33

Disembedding- no longer need face-to-face contact to interact- its become much more interpersonal

Question 34

What are we forced to become?

Answer 34

-Tradition and custom have become much less important- no longer a guide on how to act -Forced to become more 'reflexive'- monitor, reflect and modify our actions in light of information about their possible risks and opportunities

Question 35

What does reflexivity mean?

Answer 35

Nothing is fixed or permanent- everything is up for challenge -Culture in late modern society= increasingly unstable

Question 36

What is a risk-society?

Answer 36

Beck- dangers we face today are manufactured risks as a result of human action e.g. climate change

Question 37

What is late modernity characterised by according to Beck?

Answer 37

Growing individualisation- thinking for ourselves and taking account of the risks attached to different courses of action= reflexive modernisation

Question 38

What is a strength of late modernity theories?

Answer 38

They provide a sociological alternative to postmodernism- recognises we can use knowledge to improve society and reduce risks we face

Question 39

Why are late modernity theories criticised?

Answer 39

Not everyone is able to re-shape their lives to reduce exposure to risks, as they suggest e.g. poorer individuals are exposed to more environmental risks as they are more likely to live in heavily polluted areas, but they can't move out of these areas due to lack of income