Global, social and cultural change

what is globalisation

• the intertwining of our lives with people that are economically, politically and socially different

• a process in which the world is becoming a single place

what are the dimensions of globalisation

• the shrinking of space and time

• increase of cultural interactions and flows

• shared risks and problems, - calling for global solutions (climate change, immigration, terrorism).

• Tighter interconnections and interdependencies

what is neoliberalism

• belief that social good can be maximised by maximising market use and involving human action in it

• free market capitalism

• hegemonic

what is hegemony

describes the dominant values beliefs and perceptions that justify societal organisation

• gramsci used it to explain how powerful social groups maintain their position ideologically: by reinforcing their worldview as the accepted cultural norm.

how was there a change in hegemony?

• there was a post war consensus (keynes) where despite polictical party, they all tolerated or encouraged nationalisation, strong labour unions, heavy regulation, high taxes, and a generous welfare state.

• 45-79

• changed when thatcher came to power, challenging hegemonic beliefs

what factors led to the global growth in neoliberal politics?

• Productivity slowdown – Crisis of mixed economies

• Information technologies – Rapid global capital mobility

• Global production shift – Outsourcing to low-wage economies

• Neoliberal theory rise – Think tanks & academic legitimacy

• Cultural shift – Individualism & anti-working-class rhetoric

• Soviet collapse – End of socialist alternative

• Class restoration – Reassertion of elite wealth & power

• Shock doctrine – Crises used to impose market reforms

what became the new way to run society from the 70s?

• laissez faire capitalism

• new ICT allowed for fast global trading w electronic reps of goods like stocks, shares and currencies

• since markets were responding to the changes well, governments gave more control to private companies

how is neoliberalism globalised

• IMF and world bank

• Lenders of last resort to countries in crisis

• Ends up imposing neoliberal policies on receiving countries

what social changes has neoliberalism created/inspired?

• the way we understand ourselves - ‘neoliberal subjectivity, individualism rather than collectivism

• the way we understand those around us -

• the way we work - public goods sold to private companies

what are the consequences of neoliberal globalisation

• A global ‘race to the bottom’ of wages and social welfare

• Increase in social inequality (within a society and among different countries).

• Cultural homogenization and loss of ethnic traditions/ways of life.

• Unequal global distribution of benefits and problems.

• Increased environmental destruction.

what big changes have there been in the past few century’s

• GDP per person has increased

• world pop growth has grown

• life expectancy has increased

what was work like in pre industrial society

• Slow increase in division of labour

• Labour was typically unfree

• Work was regarded negatively

• Wage labour was uncommon

• People engaged in a number of activities

○ But some would train to become specialists in one task. - restricted to crafters, blacksmiths, leatherists and artists

People worked for survival rather than passion

whats the importance of the industrial revolution to us today?

• a period of rapid change

• went from agrarian societies to industrial and capitalist societies

what did industrial capitalism revolutionise

technology, demography, agriculture and transport

Adam Smith - Wealth of nation

• our individual need to fulfill self-interest results in societal benefit, in what is known as his "invisible hand".

• w a division of labour, this promotes stability and prosperity

• smith rejects gov interference and feels they should serve only : protect national borders; enforce civil law; and engage in public works (e.g. Education).

weber on work - 1905

the "Protestant work ethic"—rooted in Calvinist beliefs of predestination and asceticism—fueled the rise of modern capitalism by transforming hard work into a moral duty. He viewed modern labour as increasingly rationalized, bureaucratic, and trapped in an "iron cage" of efficiency, where act less based on values and more on efficiency

what is marxists critique on alienation

• Work, rather than being about joy and creativity, is dull, repetitive and degrading

• Workers alienated from

• The product

• The activity of work

• Their essence as a human being

From others

how did ford change capitalism

• created first affordable automobile

• • Ford’s share of the market: 10% (1908) -> nearly 50% (1914).

  • Standardised mass production

  • Use of assembly line. Increase in efficiency & productivity.

  • Higher Wages (5$ a day in 1914…almost double than the norm of the time, plus a share in profits)

what is scientific management

why do some say we are witnessing the emergence of post industrial society

• Shift from manufacturing to service-based industries

• Emergence of ‘knowledge’ as a form of capital

• Growth in professional sectors (e.g. ICTs, sciences, creative industries)

what is precarious labour

Work that is insecure, leaving workers in doubt about their future employment and income

• temporary jobs

• part-time jobs

• zero-hours contracts

• internships

• ‘casual’ labour

• freelancing

• self-employment

what is happenign to craft and free time

getting monetised

whats the gig economy

• short-term tasks are advertised by companies through online platforms with workers bidding a (wage) price to undertake the job as an independent contractor, working on a series of discrete ‘gigs’

• insecure working arrangements

what are drivers of precarity

• Structural change linked to globalisation

• Offshoring, outsourcing, capital outflows.

• Destruction of long term industrial jobs in North.

• Replaced with “disposable” work force in South.

• Neoliberal policies

• Opening borders to trade and capital flows.

Attacks on trade unions & labour rights.

what are the efffects on workers

• Uncertain income, inability to make commitments

• Absence/precarity of work community

• Limited legal protection of labour rights

• Fear of stepping out of line

• Blurring of line between work and free time

• Alienation

• A new ‘reserve army’ of flexible workers made into ‘contractors’.

• Allowing employers to economise on wage costs.

• Shifting cost of uneven workloads to the worker and/or the state.

• Undermining statutory obligations.

• employment rights and anti-discriminatory legislation.

• Uber drivers sleeping in cars

• Insecurity, variable hours/income, lack of protection from labour laws.

• Absence/precarity of work community. Resistance to regulate.

• Limited legal protection of labour rights.

• “The destructuring of existence” (Bourdieu, 1998).

Blurring of line between work and free time.

what elements of post industrial society are in the workplace?

• More investment in technology

• More machines

• (Fewer) workers becoming even more productive

• More surplus that is re-invested in even better technologies

• Surplus wealth allows investment in more areas: leisure, education, science…in other words, in the sector of services

• more space for new social relations and money

• autonomous jobs and self employment

• boring and uninspiring jobs - rise of the precariat

what do we see in the network society

• info is processed like a raw material

• the new socio-technological system is integrated into everyday life

• virtual networking

• flexible - more change can happen

• technologies integrated into info systems like fridges being connected to the internet

how did the internet become commercialised

• Internet history: US military > universities > hobbyists > WWW

• originally, internet use wasn’t used as a way to make money. over time, companies like google sought profit through advertising

what is the gift economy

the idea that internet services are posed as free to attract user base and then it finds ways of making money (usually through ads)

how have we seen the rise of big data

• internet actions of users have been commodified

• data on server farms to : generate consumer profiles, outsource workers and improve algorithms

what are the consequences of big data

• activities become mediated to be analysed

• platforms pose as one but actually work with many other businesses

• data is analysed to record and commodify human behaviour

  • uses this to produce revenue and market control

what is the panopticon

• foucalt

• prison where you don’t know if you’re being viewed or not so it becomes a self policing type of thing

• Power as technology: there doesn’t even need to be a guard

• Surveillance produces knowledge through observation, management, regulation.

where does surveillance happen today

• cctv

• transport

• consumer

• medical

• education

what is dataveillance

• the systematic monitoring of people or groups, by means of personal data systems in order to regulate or govern their behaviour” (Delgi – Esposti, 2014)

• Surveillance produces knowledge through observation, management, regulation

• Has psychological effects: people being to police themselves

is privacy for perverts?

• In order to engage with digital services we give up some of our privacy

• we undergo a process of dispossession where we lose control of our information and agentlessness in the surveillance economy

cambridge analytica

what did zuboff say?

• surveillance capitalism ‘aims to predict and modify human behaviour as a means to produce revenue and market control’ (p75)

• ‘big data’ as a ‘raw material’ has opened new markets and new forms of organisation, in short, a new form of capitalism.

• rise in algorithms has made this possible

what is surveillance capitalism

• firms are interested in getting more data to achieve a certain outcome

• info they get cookies and trackers

• undergo a process of dispossession - personal experiences are turned into data for profit

how is there an assault on human autonomy

Zuboff argues that digital companies treat people as “mass users” rather than citizens, concentrating power while eroding privacy and manipulating behaviour. She believes strong regulation is needed, but tech companies often use their wealth and influence to avoid it.

why is climate change a matter of social justice?

• wealthier countries contribute more

• climate change treaties benefit industrialised countries

• a lot of infrastructure and resources are taken from third world countries and used to fuel the western world

anthropocene

Proposed geological epoch coined by Paul Crutzen (2000)

Antropos (man) + cene (new epoch) = epoch of man

Others have argued that capitalocene is more apt (Moore, 2017). Not all humans have contributed.

rich create problems for all then tell us were to blame - moore

capitalist ideology of growth

• baudrillard says that we live in a growth and excess society that produces wealth and poverty

• nature seen as og thing but now culture comes before nature and has replaced it

• living in a world of signs flooded w technology and nature is relegated - barely know anything about it

what is the reason klein suggests that we havent lowered emissions yet

• bcs the things that need to be done conflict w capitalism

  • radical solutions which offers opportunities in terms of reinvigorating democracy, closing the gap between rich and poor, and new jobs.

what’s the tension between climate change and economic growth

 ‘short-termism’ of party politics (particularly in the West) and the long-term strategies required to protect the climate - making new policies, targets that aren’t met

how has political resistance been seen?