Bauman Flashcards
What kind of theorist is bauman?
Identifies as Marxist, but had a clear postmodern lens (interested in fluidity and change)
What does he mean by liquid modernity?
Society and fluid and unstable. Change occurs quickly and globally. Compares contemporary society to skating on thin ice.
eg ebola, global warming
Bauman’s definition of liquid modernity:
liquid modernity is the “growing conviction that change is the only permanence, and uncertainty is the only certainty”
BAUMAN (2000) ‘Liquid modernity’
What are the two sides to globalisation?
That it divides and much as it unites.
Some argue that this is an incredibly romanticised view, not all are free from beyond borders.
What issue does Bauman have with the ‘freedom to move’?
It is scarce and unequally distributed.
Rich can fly global at ease, yet refugees are prevented from entering certain countries, notably Slovakia, Romania and Denmark
What is Baumans opinions on the homogenisation thesis?
It is wrong. People’s experiences are differentiated, not uniformed.
Some are globalised, but many are fixed, and fixity is a new dimension of poverty.
What is an absentee landlord?
a person/group that own and rent out a property, but do not live within the local region, therefore lacking community responsibility.
Deptford’s Convoy’s Wharf
After failed gentrification with 1992 Deptford City Challenge, property developers have lead to economic increase in area
eg Hutchison Whampoa, Hong Kong based property developing company
Bauman on space
Space is socially constructed. Geographical boundaries remain intact, but no longer matter.
No longer need face to face contact = interaction is impersonal (GIDDENS, 1981, ‘time space distanciation and the generation of power’)
Definition of globalisation:
a “stretching process”. Where “the modes of connection between different social contexts or regions become networked across the earths surface as a whole” GIDDENS (1990) ‘consequences of modernity’
What is the ‘third space’
‘cybernating space’
space is no longer geographical/architectural but virtual. Less physical.
BAUMAN (1998) ‘globalisation: the human consequences’
What does Paul Virilio say about the third space? (referenced by Bauman in globalisation)
“Within the interfacing of computer terminals and video monitors, distinctions of here and there no longer mean anything”
PAUL VIRILIO (1991) ‘the lost dimension’
How does Bauman critique Virilio (1991)?
Not a homogenous, standardised experience for everyone.
The third, cybernating space is not available to everyone. POLARISING.
What are ‘elite spaces’?
Rich elites have more control over certain spaces.
They define them culturally and symbolically.
Separating themselves from locality (gates communities, moats and castles etc). Restricted access.
What are consumer spaces according to Bauman?
Rather than socialising to interact, we are now motivated by consumption. Eg pubs, now becoming niche, sites of CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION.
