Download Globalisation, modernity and postmodernity

Crime and Deviance
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Understand some of the reasons for the
trend towards globalisation,
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Understand and identify the difference
between modernity, post modernity and
late modernity,
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Evaluate the strengths and limitations of
postmodernist and other theories of recent
changes in society.
1.
Major changes that have occurred in
society in recent year decades,
2.
Theories that have been brought forward
in order to explain those changes.
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The nation-state – bounded territory, 1
ruler, share language
Capitalism – private ownership of the
means of production
Rationality, science & technology –
secular ways of thinking
Individualism – increasing personal
freedom can choose life path – class still
important
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Nineteenth and twentieth century.
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If we use the correct theory & methods we can
discover meta narratives: the factors that control
society & our behaviour.
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This can be used for progress: to understand &
solve society’s problems.
Technological changes (satellite
communications, transnational travel,
internet)
2. Economic changes (electronic economy such
as the production of information,
transnational companies)
3. Political changes (loss of power by the state
–Richard Branson)
4. Changes in culture and identity (global
culture – influences of the western world
worldwide)
1.
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Find evidence of your own contact with
globalisation
1.
Look at the labels in your shoes/clothes and find
four different countries in which they have been
produced.
2.
Identify 4 events in distant parts of the world that
you have seen on TV in the last month.
3.
Identify 4 global brands that you have seen
advertised in this country if possible seen in other
countries.
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Globalisation
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The idea that the world is becoming
increasingly interconnected and that
barriers are disappearing
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Postmodernism
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Theories of late modernity
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Marxist theories of postmodernity
What is
postmodernism ?
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A rejection of modernist theories.
No metanarratives
No progress
Free-will
Society is fragmented: it can no longer be
analysed as a whole.
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The Enlightment project – if knowledge
cannot be guaranteed we cannot use it to
improve society
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All embracing theories such as Marxism are
simply meta-narrative – someone’s version
of reality, not actually the truth
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Postmodernism
Rejects modernist views that we have
certain, true knowledge of society that will
enable us to improve it. Post modern
society is unstable and diverse – impossible
to have absolute explanations
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Michel Foucault
We cannot guarantee that any of our
knowledge is correct, therefore we cannot
use any ‘knowledge’ to improve society
Any theory that claims to have the truth
about how to create a better society (e.g.
Marxism) is a meta-narrative (big story) –
just someone’s version of reality, not the
truth
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Postmodernists argue that all views are
true for those who hold them
No-one has special access to the truth,
including sociologists.
We should recognise and
celebrate the diversity of
views
rather than seek to impose
one version of the truth on
everyone.
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Society is no longer based on the production of
material goods but rather on buying and selling
knowledge in the form of images and signs. Eg T.V
programmes
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Signs stand for nothing other than themselves –they
are not symbols of some other real thing they are
meaningless -
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For example, tabloid newspaper articles about
fictitious soap opera characters are ‘signs about
signs’ rather than about an underlying reality.
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Baudrillard calls such signs simulacra
(singular: simulacrum).
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Baudrillard describes this situation as
hyper-reality; where the signs appear more
real than reality itself. But they are
meaningless. (T.V main cause of problem of
distinguishing between reality & image)
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In the postmodern media-laden
condition, we experience something
called "the death of the real": we live our
lives in the realm of hyperreality,
connecting more and more deeply to
things like television sitcoms, music
videos, virtual reality games, or
Disneyland, things that merely simulate
reality.
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Media involvement in the ever changing
face of values, and version of the truth,
Prevents people from believing in one truth
due to the extensive amount of metanarratives,
Ability for individuals to construct their
identity based on the wide variety of images
and lifestyle portrayed,
Media created hyper reality leaves us
unable to distinguish images from reality.
1.
Suggest 2 examples that would fit the
category of simulacra.
2.
Discuss with two fellow students how
reality TV fits into Baudrillard’s analysis
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1.
2.
Read page 256 in your text book
Is Harvey correct in claiming that political
decisions do make a real difference to
people’s lives?
Identify three recent government
decisions that could be said to have made a
difference.
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Emphasize the significance of the media for
culture and identity,
Marxist criticisms (Philo and Miller, 2001)
1. Ignores power and inequality,
2. Overlooks the effects of poverty,
3. Unjustified claims that people cannot
distinguish between images and reality.
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Giddens: Reflexivity
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Beck: Risk Society
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1.
2.
3.
Giddens – Reflexivity
Disembedding: the lifting out of social
relations from local context or interactions
– we do not need face to face contact in
order to interact,
Reflexivity:
We are constantly re-evaluating our ideas
and theories thus nothing is fixed or
permanent, everything is up for challenge.
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1.
2.
Beck (1992)– Risk society
Believes in the power of reason in order to
create a better world
Believes that society today faces new
dangers
1. In the past inability to control nature,
2. Manufactured risks resulting from human
activity.
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Beck sees late modernity as a period of
individualisation (tradition no longer
governs how we act),
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Individuals think for themselves and reflect
on the possible consequences to their
actions (reflexive modernisation)
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Reflexivity enables us to reflect on our
actions,
Not everyone has the option such as the
poor who are exposed to more
environmental risks but may be unable to
afford a healthier one.
Rustin (1994) Capitalism is the cause of risk
But Late modernity (LM) does provide an
alternative to post modernism (PM)
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Enlightenment project (achievement of
objective knowledge and using it to improve
society),
Jameson (1984)
Harvey (1989)
Similar views to that of postmodernist,
Establishing a link between postmodernity
and capitalism
ModernityLate modernityPost modernityGlobalisationEnlightenment projectSimulacra-
Modernists:
 Crime is a social problem
caused by one or two
major factors.
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Look at society as a whole
The problems of crime
have to be solved &
controlled so that there is a
good society
Postmodernists:
 Cannot understand crime if
we see it as a problem.
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Focus on urban areas
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Are diverse and
fragmented and so cannot
be controlled.