Topic 9 - Globalisation, Modernity & Postmodernity

• Enlightenment


  Creation of a new framework of ideas about man, society and nature, which challenged existing conceptions rooted in a traditional world-view, dominated by Christianity
• Modernity


  Particular era in human history characterised by scientific thought, individualism, industrialisation, technical development and rejection of some traditional values
• What is Modernity?


  • Rise of the nation state
  • Rise of representative democracy
  • Creation of government bodies/bureaucracies that regulate citizens' lives
  • Rise of capitalism
  • Industrialisation
  • Cheap, mass produced consumer goods lead to a rising standard of living
  • Rationality, science and technology
  • Decline of magico-religious ideologies
  • Diversification of communication
  • Individualism
  • Growth of tolerance as a political and social belief
  • Structural factors still important
• Globalisation


  Process by which previously unconnected isolated nations have become interconnected
• Changes that have contributed to globalisation

  • Economic Changes
  • Technological Changes
  • Cultural Changes
  • Political Changes
• Economic Changes


  • Global economy is increasingly an 'electronic economy'
  • Trans-national companies (TNCs) operate and organise production on a global scale
• Technological Changes


  • Ability to cross continents quickly and exchange information globally
  • Increased risks on a global scale from technology
• Cultural Changes


  • Harder for cultures to exist in isolation from one another, especially due to mass media
  • Spread of Western culture globally
• Political Changes


  • Globalisation has undermined the power of the nation-state
• Postmodernism


  Belief that rejects modernist thinking of progress and the view that we can have certain, true knowledge of society that will enable us to improve it
• Key figures of a postmodern society


  • Unstable
  • Fragmented
  • Media-saturated global village
  • Image and reality are indistinguishable
• Postmodernist view of truth


  • Truth is relative and there is no one, correct explanation for things
  • Cannot prove or disprove whether something is factual
• Consequences of postmodernist anti-foundationalism


  • The Enlightenment project and its focus on Science is useless
  • Any theory which claims to speak the truth is just a meta-narrative
• Postmodernist view of knowledge


  Knowledge is just a discourse, a set of ideas that have become established as a way of thinking and speaking about the world
• Jean Francois Lyotard's view of postmodern society


  • Marxism and functionalism were meta-narratives that no longer fit with people's sense of isolation and individualism
  • Economic growth and expansion have gone beyond human scope
  • Knowledge is now just a set of 'language games' or ways of seeing the world
  • There is no absolute truth, it is all relative
  • This type of society is preferable as it allows marginalised groups to have a voice
• Jean Baudrillard's concept of simulacra and hyperreality


  • 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
  • Signs bear no relation to physical reality, they exist with no basis in reality
  • We base so much of our life on simulacra that we live in hyperreality
• Postmodernism has identified key important features of contemporary society, highlighting how we have progressed since modernist times and the ways in which media and culture affect our identities
• Postmodernism fails to explain why and how these key important features came about - Late Modernity tries to explain these changes in more detail
• Postmodernism is pessimistic and says we cannot improve society - David Harvey rejects this, saying political decisions DO make a real difference to people's lives and can solve problems
• Postmodernism ignores the fact that some people are limited to create their own identities by factors such as poverty
• Late Modernity


  • Today's rapid changes in society are not as a result of a new era, but a continuation of modern society
  • Key features of Modernity have Intensified
  • Still subscribes to the Enlightenment Project
• Disembedding


  The lifting out of social relations from local contexts of interaction
• Reflexivity


  • We have to constantly monitor, reflect on and modify our actions, ideas and theories
  • Nothing is fixed or permanent
• Risk Society


  • Late modern society faces new kinds of dangers in comparison to the past
  • We have developed a 'risk consciousness', meaning that the main challenge for humanity is to respond to the challenge of the risks we have created
  • In the past, risk was the inability to control nature, but in late modern society, dangers are manufactured
• Examples of risks in Late Modern Society


  • Dangers or benefits of certain foods, leading to changes in eating habits
  • Fragility of relationships, leading to rising divorce and separation rates
  • Risk of terrorism, leading to concerns over international/EU relationships and voting choices
  • Health scares like Covid-19, leading to choices to have vaccines, wear masks, isolate etc.
• Concept of reflexivity suggests we all can make choices to re-shape our lives; however, some people are unable to do this i.e., those in poverty can't afford to move out of polluted/dangerous areas
• Late modernity theories do provide a sociological alternative to postmodernism that shows a rational analysis of society remains possible
• Marxist Theory of Postmodernism


  • Postmodern society is merely the product of the most recent stage of capitalism
  • Flexible accumulation has turned leisure, culture and identity into commodities
  • Flexible accumulation has led to the compression of time and space
  • Flexible accumulation has weakened the working class and socialist movements, which have been replaced with feminism, eco-warriors etc.
• Marxists are hopeful that these new social movements will group together to create a "rainbow alliance" and bring about change