Theory - Globalisation, Modernity and Postmodernity

Question 1

What are the the features of modernist theories?

Answer 1

Modernist theories arose with ‘modern societies’ in the late 1700’s, they partake in the Enlightenment tradition belief in rationalism and the use of this and science to better and progress as a society.

Question 2

What are the features of modern society?

Answer 2

• The nation-state
• Capitalism
• Rationality, science and technology
• Individualism

Question 3

Outline ‘the nation-state’ as a feature of modern society.

Answer 3

The primary actor in the modern world is the ‘nation-states’, a powerful centralised state, whose population usually shares the same language and culture and that have large bureaucracies and institutions that regulate citizens behaviours; citizens also gain a sense of identity from their nation, identifying with symbols like the flag.

Question 4

Outline capitalism as a feature of modern society.

Answer 4

Economies of modern societies are run based on private ownership of the means of production and the use of wage labourers, organised based on a ‘Fordist’ highly specialised division of labour and raising living standards but creating large wealth inequality both domestically and internationally.

Question 5

Lash and Urry (1984) and nation-states and capitalism:

Answer 5

The nation-state regulates capitalism to redistribute wealth and avoid class conflict, creating a system of ‘organised capitalism’.

Question 6

Outline rationality, science and technology as features of modern society.

Answer 6

Rational, scientific and secular explanations and ways of thinking begin to dominate public mindsets and leave little room for magico-religious explanations, technically efficient forms of organisation like bureacracies also dominate social and economic life and leave little room for religious forms.

Question 7

Outline individualism as a feature of modern society.

Answer 7

Greater personal freedom and ability to choose our own identity leads people to abandon tradition and notions of ascribed status. However, structural inequalities still shape people’s identities and choices

Question 8

What are the four changes that globalisation creates?

Answer 8

• Technological changes
• Economic changes
• Political changes
• Cultural and identity changes

Question 9

How does globalisation create technological changes?

Answer 9

Improving technologies has allowed us to traverse around the world and communicate with anyone in seconds, this allows us to have greater contact with those from other nations and weakens the nation-state as a distinguishable region.

Question 10

Beck (1992) and technology:

Answer 10

Technological improvements have also led to more ‘manufactured risks’ with global warming and terrorism, leading to a ‘risk society’ where the danger comes from human-made technology rather than natural disasters, thus creating a ‘global risk society’ of constant fear.

Question 11

How does globalisation create economic changes?

Answer 11

The global economy is increasingly an ‘electronic economy’ where the goods are no longer physical but electronic, allowing 24-hour financial transactions and production, distribution, and consumption through the global electronic networks; MNCs also operate across borders and produce a huge amount of the goods and services that are consumers globally, creating a ‘global capitalist class’.

Question 12

How does globalisation create political changes?

Answer 12

Some have argued that the nation-state is becoming increasingly less important in a globalised world:
- Ohmae (1994): we now live in a ‘borderless world’ where MNCs and consumers hold more economic power than national governments
- Lash and Urry (1994): the increasing failure of nation-states to regulate MNCs is creating a system of ‘disorganised capitalism’.

Question 13

How does globalisation create cultural and identity changes?

Answer 13

MNCs have created a global monoculture by spreading Western values and products to non-Western nations; additionally, changes like the movement of traditional working-class jobs to less regulated countries have weakened traditional sources of identity like class.

Question 14

Who are the main postmodern theorists?

Answer 14

• Foucault
• Lyotard
• Baudrillard

Question 15

How do Postmodernists draw of Foucault?

Answer 15

Postmodernists draw on Foucault’s idea of ‘discourse’ (sets of ideas that have become established as knowledge or a way of thinking that make us see things a certain way) whereby there is no way of knowing whether a theory is true, also known as ‘anti-foundationalism’. Also Foucault’s concept of disciplinary power.

Question 16

What are the two consequences of Postmodernism’s ‘anti-foundationalism’?

Answer 16

• The Enlightenment Project of achieving progress through true, scientific knowledge is dead. If we cannot guarantee our knowledge is correct, we cannot use it to improve society.
• Any all-embracing theory that claims to have the truth about how to create a better society, such as Marxism, is a mere ‘meta-narrative’ (big story), not reality and often aid totalitarianism (USSR) - this leads them to adopt a ‘relativist position’, arguing all views are true for those who hold them

Question 17

What are Foucault’s views on the state?

Answer 17

• Belief in the panopticon and the surveillance society
• Biopolitics: politics is increasingly focussed on controlling populations, with sociology and demography as tools

Question 18

What was Lyotard’s view of meta-narratives?

Answer 18

Knowledge is just a series of ‘language games’ (ways of seeing the world by different social groups); postmodernity is preferable in this way as it has a diversity of language games and focusses on ‘local narratives’ rather than domination by a meta-narrative that claims a monopoly of truth.

Question 19

Outline Baudrillard’s idea of ‘hyper-reality’

Answer 19

Baudrillard (1983) argues that society is no longer based on the exchange of physical goods, rather now of knowledge in the forms of images and signs that bear no relation to physical reality, they stand for nothing other than themselves - Baudrillard calls these symbols ‘simulacra’. He calls this situation, where signs appear more real than reality and substitute themselves for the latter, ‘hyper-reality’.

Question 20

What is the implication of Baudrillard’s ‘hyper-reality’ on culture and meta-narratives?

Answer 20

Additionally, the constant, pervading and ever-changing images, values and versions of the truth by the media cause culture to be fragmented so that there is no longer a coherent or fixed set of values in society; additionally, this (alongside the failure of traditional meta-narratives to deliver a better society) causes a loss of faith in meta-narratives.

Question 21

What are the implication of Baudrillard’s ‘hyper-reality’ on identity.

Answer 21

Identity is destabilised and is no longer class-ascribed (due to the lack of reality), we are now able to construct it based on the goods we consumer (as identity increasingly intertwined with consumption under postmodernity); however, it is also shaped by media representations.

Question 22

What are the implications of Baudrillard’s ‘hyper-reality’ on progress?

Answer 22

Baurillard is pessimistic: he argues that the inability to distinguish reality from image makes it impossible for us to improve society as we can’t grasp onto the problems that require change. Additionally politics is now consumed as a spectacle, with real issues replaced by image-driven narratives, like ‘trans women are predators’.

Question 23

How is postmodernism useful?

Answer 23

Postmodernists make important observations about current society, such as th importance of media; additionally, some argue that rejecting all-embracing meta-narratives is useful.

Question 24

What is the Marxist criticism of postmodernism?

Answer 24

Philo and Miller (2001):
- It ignores power and inequality and its effect on things like media representations
- Claiming that we freely construct our identities through consumption overlooks the effect of poverty
- Postmodernists are simply wrong to claim that people cannot distinguish between reality and media image.
- There are factually true statements and disagreeing is borderline dangerous

Question 25

Why is postmodernism self-defeating?

Answer 25

Why should we believe a theory that claims that no theory has the truth?

Question 26

How are late modernists different from postmodernists?

Answer 26

Late modernists argue that the rapid changes we are experiencing are the intensification of pre-existing features of modernity, meaning that features and theories of modernism are still applicable.

Question 27

What are the two reasons Giddens argues late modern society is experiencing rapid change?

Answer 27

- Disembedding: ‘the lifting out of social relations from local contexts of interaction’, breaking down geographical borders and making interaction more impersonal - Reflexivity: tradition and custom have lost influence over how we act, forcing us to become ‘reflexive’ (constantly monitoring and modifying our actions in light of new information), which leads to greater instability and change

Question 28

What doe Giddens argue is a big problem in late modernity?

Answer 28

Late modern society faces much more ‘high consequence’ risks like MAD theory and global warming, all of which are ‘manufactured’ or human-made rather than natural risks; however, Giddens rejects the postmodern idea that there is nothing we can do.

Question 29

Outline Beck's (1992) theory of 'risk consciousness'

Answer 29

Today’s late modern society, or ‘risk society’, faces new dangers - 'manufactured risk', rather than natural dangers. Additionally, he believed that (in line with reflexivity and his belief we are becoming more individualistic) we are constantly taking into account the possible risks of certain lines of action, also known as ‘reflexive modernisation’ - as a result, ‘risk consciousness’ becomes increasingly important as we become more aware of risks and seek to avoid them in our choices.

Question 30

What was Beck's view on science and progress?

Answer 30

Although he is sceptical about scientific progress because of the risks it has brought, he still believes in our ability to use rationality to overcome them; because we are capable of reflexivity, we can evaluate risks rationally and take political action to reduce them.

Question 31

How is late modernism useful?

Answer 31

Unlike postmodernism, they show that rational analysis of society remains possible and recognise that, while our knowledge may never be perfect, we can still use it to improve society and reduce the risks we face.

Question 32

Give 3 criticisms of late modernity.

Answer 32

- Ignores structures that inhibit us from reflecting on our actions and reshaping our lives accordingly to minimise risk - poor lack choice. - Rustin (1994): it is capitalism, with its pursuit of profit at all costs, that is the source of risk, not technology as Giddens argues. - Hirst (1993): movements like environmentalism won’t bring about social change as they are too fragmented to challenge capitalism

Question 33

How does Marxist postmodernism differ from its predecessor?

Answer 33

Postmodern Marxists differ from regular postmodernists as they do not see it as a fundamental break with the past, but simply a new stage in capitalism - Harvey argues that capitalism is a dynamic system that has major changes during the periodic crises of profitability, leading to postmodernism in the 70’s.

Question 34

Outline Harvey's theory of 'felxible accumulation'.

Answer 34

The 70's crisis gave way to a new ‘regime of accumulation’ (a new way of achieving profit) through ‘flexible accumulation’ or post-Fordism; this involves: - the use of information technology, - an expanded service and finance sector, - job insecurity and the requirement for workers to be ‘flexible’ to fit their employers’ needs This enables production of nicher goods (instead of standardised) and easy switching between production of different goods causing many of the key features of postmodernity; for example, production of more niche goods creates wider cultural diversity in society.

Question 35

How has 'flexible accumulation' changed consumption?

Answer 35

It has turned leisure, culture, and identity into commodities - Jameson argues that postmodernity represents a more developed form of capitalism as it is able to commodify every aspect of life.

Question 36

How does Harvey argue that 'flexible accumulation' plays into globalisation?

Answer 36

He argues that its leads to 'time-space compression' for multiple reasons: - Commodification of other cultures - Creation of worldwide financial markets - New information and communication technologies

Question 37

What is the Marxist Postmodernist perspective on progress?

Answer 37

Harvey and Jameson argue that flexible accumulation has also brought political change, specifically the weakening of the working class and socialist movements, with specialised oppositional movements growing in their place, like environmentalism. However, Harvey and Jameson are hopeful that these groups can form a ‘rainbow coalition’ to create change.

Question 38

How is Marxist postmodernism useful?

Answer 38

Unlike late and postmodernists, Marxist Postmodernists are able to explain the changes that have occured by placing them within the context of a capitalist system.

Question 39

Give a criticism of Marxist Postmodernism.

Answer 39

It desserts the core idea of Marxism, such that, by believing by accepting that political opposition to capitalism has fragmented into many different social movements, they abandon the possibility of a w/c revolution overthrowing capitalism. It also rejects the core ideas of postmodernism, like the rejection of meta-narratives, it itself being a meta-narrative.