Marxist View on Globalisation Flashcards
What are Marxist ideas critical of and why
They are critical of digital forms of communication, particularly the way in which these are being used by global capitalist corporations
What do Marxists believe about social media platforms
That they can reach out to so many more people than conventional media in order to shape peoples ideas. Consequently digital social media is a potentially powerful way for the ruling class to bring about cultural hegemony.
How does digital social media cause cultural hegemony
By legitimising the inequalities brought about by capitalism, by encouraging the powerless and the poor to uncritically accept capitalism and by discouraging the questioning of inequalities in income and wealth so bringing about a state of false class consciousness which allows politicians who represent the wealthy and privileged to rule by consent.
What do marxists argue about the popularity of social media
Social media sites, such as Facebook, function to reinforce false class consciousness because digital social networks mainly focus on non-critical issues such as identity and entertainment, but rarely focus on protests and social change.
What do marxists argue about those who participate in digital culture
They are not created equal.
- Corporations, governments exert greater power than aggregates of consumers or those with genuine political and economic grievance
- Digital technologies and networks mainly strengthen the power of existing elites
- The ownership of many of the social media platforms that control the flow of digital data is concentrated in a handful of companies
What do marxists argue about the internet and other digital forms of communication
They are methods of surveillance used by the wealthy to control and regulate people
- Whistle blowers, Edward Snowden revealed the UK government was illegally intercepting smart phones
- This activity lead some critics of digital media to suggest that individual freedom, privacy and liberty are under attack and the human rights of UK citizens are being infringed
What do marxists argue about powerful digital communication
That the powerful digital communication and social media, which undermines the concept of a participatory digital culture. They argue that friendship and connectedness have become commodified.
Algorithm makes people make choices that benefit capitalist agencies. Social media content may therefore simply reflect capitalist ideology
What have digital companies and social media not really done
They haven’t protected the poor and powerless online
The state has put little legislation into place to regulate how digital communication companies and social media platforms use personal information
What is a criticism on the Marxist view on Globalisation
It assumes a unified conspiracy on behalf of the providers of digital forms of communication. However, the capitalist owners of digital forms of communication are not united because their companies are involved in competition with one another for a bigger share of the market and therefore profit
What do marxists tend to over-emphasise
Social class at the expense of other inequalities that may also result in muted voices, such as ethnicity, gender and sexuality
