Late and post modern theories

Question 1

Features of modern society

Answer 1

Nation state:refers to the significance of government and politics for all citizens
Capitalism:economy based on private ownership of wealth and business
Rationality:decline in religious thinking and increase in rational thinking
Individualism:people competing for jobs and status

Question 2

Society post globalisation

Answer 2

Globalisation:growing of interconnectedness of countries around the world from 1950s EG-transport links,trade and media

• rapid expansion of technology and media EG-phones,cars
• Social changes.Decline in structural influences and growth in individualism

Question 3

All knowledge is relative

Answer 3

Relative:what is true for one person may not be true for another
-Anti foundationlism:believe there is no way of proving a theory or knowledge base as objectively true or false
-critical of theories which focus in ‘enlightenment’:claim to explain how the social/physical world works
-All world views are meta narratives:Big explanations which offer explanations for how the world works
EXAMPLE:marxist (Karl marx) who thought he undercovered the best way to organise society (communism) when this happened it clearly did not improve the quality of life for people
Lyotard:good to have a diversity of opinions
-All views should be seen as having equal validity
EG-women and LGBT

Question 4

Society now is media saturated

Answer 4

Media saturated:people are over exposed to media and social media due to technological changes EG-phones and TV
-people are incapable of telling the difference between what is real and what is fake
-growth in social media causes a blurring if boundaries between fact and fiction
-society today is not about material goods but production and selling of knowledge and info
-media is a big source of human consumption
BAUDRIALLARD:
Media has an approach called simulacra:media audiences are exposed to info which is not factual but an artificial representation
1)Real life event occurs-notes are taken of event
2)Media edits the details before publishing-make it more interesting
3)People believe it must be true version of events
4)Hyper reality is created-don’t challenge the info put to them and accept what they are told as the abspulte truth.Lost ability to critical of the worlds around the,

Question 5

Culture and identity are diversifying

Answer 5

• Structural influences on our identity have lost relevance j. society today EG-religion,ethnicity and gender
• Today people construct their own identity using consumerism to shape themselves EG-gym,tattoos,hair styles and piercing
• Culture is changing due to multiculturalism the notion of value consensus has been weakened
• Fake info from the media means people are less certain what is real and what is fake->breaks down value consensus
• people are less trusting in political leaders and critical of those in power->reduces control government have over people
• social improvement is impossible as people are indivualistic

Question 6

MARXIST AND POSTMODERN

Flexible accumulation

Answer 6

Harvey:
-decline of production and industry in western countries had to find new ways of making money
-Flexible accumulation:idea that businesses and the employees who work for them have to be flexible in how they operated to gain profit
EG-online shopping
-Businesses need to keep up with changing customer demands and social trends so they have to rebrand products EG-clothing, cars, apple
-eveythjng is a commodity (things sold for profit) EG-sports,food, music
-Time and space compression:the world is shrinking and we have easier access to global cultures and traditions
-global cultures are being imported to the UK and used for profit EG-americas thanksgiving,restaurants putting on events to celebrate

Question 7

MARXIST+POST MODERN 
Working class has weakened

Answer 7

-reduced likelihood of ever moving away from capitalism
Two reasons:
1)rise in other social justice movements
EG-feminism
-people are not united in a shared sense of injustice.
-Everyone fighting for a different cause
2)People are more accepting of capitalism
-due to standards of living improving
-people are less willing to change it as enjoy the lifestyle their living
-Hope for a rainbow alliance:all groups work together

Question 8

LATE MODERNITY

changes to social interactions and social choice

Answer 8

-haven’t left modernity completely
changes that has moved us into period of late modernity:
1)Social interactions have become disembedded
-no longer restricted to interact in traditional ways
-Technology has enabled people to communicate on a global scale->removes global barriers
-structures EG-gender + ethnicity continue to be influential so likely people use technology to communicate those they share common ground with
2)People are more reflexive
-people have greater freedom to evaluate and adjust their life choices
-Traditional influences have less power so people can pursue individual goals EG-family,class and gender
-Not moved away completely as people still pursue traditions EG-marriage
-brings about growth of instability and risk in late modern societies
-growth if indivualism contributes to creation of real threats EG-nuclear war

Question 9

LATE MODERN THEORY

more man made risks

Answer 9

Beck:
-Late modern society faces new dangers which were not present in earlier modern times
-majority of threats to our safety and well-being are human made->due to science and technology
Reflexive modernisation:people constantly have to evaluate the risks which are attached to their different courses of actions+plan the most effective solution to improve situation
-leads to risk consciousness
-People working in social justice and politics also apply reflexive modernisation when making decisions about wider society
-optimistic that those with power can and often will use their reflexivity in order to assess global risks and minimise impact