globalisation, modernity and postmodernity

modernity and globalisation, postmodernism, theories of late modernity, and Marxist theories of postmodernity

modernity and globalisation - modern society

characteristics that distinguish it from previous traditional societies:

The nation-state is the central political unit in modern society, defined by a bounded territory, centralised govt, and a population with a shared language and culture. It organises social life through extensive institutions and serves as a key source of identity for its citizens.

Capitalism The economy of modern society is capitalist. the nation-state becomes important in regulating capitalism and maintaining the conditions under which it operates. Lash and Urry describe this as 'organised capitalism'.

Rationality, science and technology Rational, secular, scientific ways of thinking dominate and the influence of magico-religious explanations of the world declines. Technically efficient forms of organisation, e.g. bureaucracies and factories, dominate social and economic life. Science becomes increasingly important in industry, medicine and communications.

Individualism Tradition, custom and ascribed status become less important as the basis for our actions. greater personal freedom and can increasingly choose our own course in life and define our own identity. but, structural inequalities such as class remain important in shaping people's identity and restricting their choices.

modernity and globalisation

we live in one interdependent 'global village' and our lives are shaped by a global framework.

(1) economic changes

(2) changes in culture and identity

modernity and globalisation - globalisation - technological changes

technology also brings risks on a global scale. Beck (1992) → we are now living in 'risk society', where increasingly the threats to our well being come from human-made technology rather than natural disasters.

modernity and globalisation - globalisation - economic changes

TNCs operate across frontiers, organising production on a global scale. Most TNCs are Western-based.

privatisation and the globalisation of education policy

modernity and globalisation - globalisation - political changes

globalisation has undermined the power of the nation-state. Ohmae (1994) → we now live in a 'borderless world' in which TNCs and consumers have more economic power than national govts. States are now less able to regulate the activities of large capitalist enterprises, a situation Lash and Urry describe as 'disorganised capitalism'.

modernity and globalisation - globalisation - changes in culture and identity

globalisation makes it harder for cultures to exist in isolation from one another. A major reason for this is the role of info and communications technology (ICT), especially the mass media. Today we find ourselves living in a global culture in which Western-owned media companies spread Western culture to the rest of the world. Economic integration also encourages a global culture. e.g. TNCs such as Nike, selling the same consumer goods in many countries, help to promote similar tastes across national borders. In addition, the increased movement of people such as tourists, economic migrants, refugees and asylum seekers helps to create globalised culture.

postmodernism

postmodernity is an unstable, fragmented, media-saturated global village, where image and reality are indistinguishable. In postmodern society, we define ourselves by what we consume. It isn’t a continuation of modernity, but a fundamental break with it. For postmodernists, this new kind of society requires a new kind of theory - modernist theories no longer apply.

knowledge
anti-foundationalist view: there are no sure foundations to knowledge - no objective criteria we can use to prove whether a theory is true or false. two consequences:
(1) The Enlightenment project of achieving progress through true, scientific knowledge is dead. If we can’t guarantee our knowledge is correct, we can’t use it to improve society.
(2) Any all-embracing theory that claims to have the truth about how to create a better society, such as Marxism, is a meta-narrative - just someone's version of reality, not the truth. thus there’s no reason to accept the claims that the theory makes.

postmodernists reject meta-narratives such as Marxism cuz they’ve helped to create oppressive totalitarian states that impose their version of the truth on people. rejecting meta-narratives that claim absolute truth, postmodernists take a relativist position - all views are true for those who hold them. all accounts of reality are equally valid. we should thus celebrate the diversity of views rather than seek to impose one version of the truth on everyone.

Lyotard (1992) → in postmodern society, knowledge is just a series of different ‘language games’ or ways of seeing the world. but, postmodern society, with its many competing views of the truth, is preferable to modern society, where meta-narratives claimed a monopoly of truth and sometimes sought to impose it by force. Postmodernity allows groups who had been marginalised by modern society, such as minority groups and women, to be heard.

postmodernism - Baudrillard (1983): simulacra

in today's society, the focus has shifted from producing material goods to exchanging knowledge through images and signs. These modern signs, or simulacra as Baudrillard calls them, no longer reflect reality but instead replace it, creating a state of hyper-reality. He criticises tv as a primary source of these simulacra, blurring the line between image and reality.

culture, identity and politics
Postmodernists → culture and identity in postmodern society are fundamentally different from those in modern society, largely due to the media's role in creating hyper-reality. The constant flow of shifting images and values from the media leads to a fragmented and unstable culture, with no shared or fixed set of values. this array of different messages and ideas also undermines people's faith in meta-narratives. Confronted by so many different versions of the truth, people cease to believe wholeheartedly in any one version. also, given the failure of meta-narratives such as Marxism to deliver a better society, people lose faith in the possibility of rational progress.

In postmodernity, identity also becomes destabilised. e.g. instead of a fixed identity ascribed by class, we can now construct our own identity from the wide range of images and lifestyles on offer in the media. We can easily change our identity simply by changing our consumption patterns - picking and mixing cultural goods and media-produced images to define ourselves.

Baudrillard is pessimistic about the postmodern condition. Media-created hyper-reality leaves us unable to distinguish image from reality. This means we’ve lost the power to improve society: if we can’t even grasp reality, then we have no power to change it. Political activity to improve the world is impossible, and so the central goal of the Enlightenment project is unachievable.

AO3 - limitations of postmodernism

Philo and Miller (2001) → the claim that we freely construct our identities through consumption overlooks the effect of poverty in restricting such opportunities.

Best and Kellner (1991) → while postmodernism identifies some important features of today’s society (such as the importance of the media and consumption), it fails to explain how they came about.

theories of late modernity

the rapid changes we’re witnessing aren’t the dawn of a new, postmodern era. they’re a continuation of modernity.

key features of modernity that were always present have now become intensified. e.g. social change has always been a feature of modern society, but now the pace of change has gone into overdrive.

if we’re still in the modern era, then the theories of modernist sociology are still useful. theories of late modernity subscribe to the Enlightenment project - they still believe we can discover objective knowledge and use it to improve society.

theories of late modernity - Giddens: reflexivity

today we no longer need face-to-face contact in order to interact - disembedding breaks down geographical barriers and makes interaction more impersonal.

In late modern society, tradition and custom become much less important and no longer serve as a guide to how we should act, increases individualism. Without traditional guidance, individuals must engage in constant self-reflection, evaluating their actions based on potential risks and opportunities. This reflexivity results in an unstable culture where ideas and norms are constantly subject to change.

together, disembedding and reflexivity account for the rapid and widespread nature of social change in high modernity. in particular, by enabling social interaction to spread rapidly across the globe, they help to drive globalisation.

modernity and risk
Giddens → in late modernity we face a number of high consequence risks - major threats to human society. These include military risks such as nuclear war, economic risks such as the instability of the capitalist economy, environmental risks such as global heating, and threats to our freedom from increased state surveillance. All of these are 'manufactured' or human-made rather than natural risks.

but, Giddens rejects the postmodernist view that we can’t intervene to improve things. we can make rational plans to reduce these risks and achieve progress to a better society.

Beck: risk society

Beck (1992) → today's late modern society - which he calls 'risk society' - faces new kinds of dangers. In the past, society faced dangers as a result of its inability to control nature, such as drought, famine and disease. Today, the dangers we face are manufactured risks resulting from human activities, such as global warming.

Beck sees late modernity as a period of growing individualisation, in which we become increasingly reflexive. Tradition no longer governs how we act. As a result, we have to think for ourselves and reflect on the possible consequences of our choice of action. This means we must constantly take account of the risks attached to the different courses of action open to us. Beck calls this reflexive modernisation.

As a result, 'risk consciousness' becomes increasingly central to our culture - we become more aware of perceived risks and seek to avoid or minimise them. but, a great deal of our knowledge about risks comes from the media, which often give a distorted view of the dangers we face.

risk, politics and progress
Postmodernists like Baudrillard reject the Enlightenment belief in progress through rational knowledge, but Beck disagrees, arguing that despite the risks science has created, we can still use rationality to address them. Through reflexivity, we can assess risks and take political action, as seen in movements like environmentalism that seek to redirect technological development.

AO3 - evaluations of theories of late modernity

limitation: The concept of reflexivity suggests that we reflect on our actions and then are free to re-shape our lives accordingly to reduce our exposure to risks. but, not everyone has this option. e.g. wc are generally exposed to more environmental risks cuz they’re more likely to live in heavily polluted areas, but may be unable to afford to move to a healthier one.

limitation: Criticising Beck, Rustin (1994) → it’s capitalism, with its pursuit of profit at all costs, that is the source of risk, not technology as such.

strength: theories of late modernity provide a sociological alternative to postmodernism. They show that rational analysis of society remains possible. They also recognise that, while our knowledge may never be perfect, we can still use to improve society and reduce the risks we face.

Marxist theories of postmodernity

Jameson (1984) and Harvey (1989) believe that today’s society has moved from modernity to postmodernity. but, rather than seeing postmodernity as a fundamental break with the past, Marxists regard it as merely the product of the most recent stage of capitalism. thus, to understand postmodernity we must examine its relationship to capitalism.

For Harvey, capitalism is a dynamic system, constantly developing new technologies and ways of organising production to make profits. but, capitalism is prone to periodic crises of profitability, and these produce major changes. Postmodernity arose out of the capitalist crisis of the 1970s, which saw the end of the long economic boom that had lasted since 1945.

flexible accumulation
this crisis gave rise to a new regime of accumulation - a new way of achieving profitability, which Harvey describes as 'flexible accumulation'. involves the use of info technology, an expanded service and finance sector, job insecurity and the requirement for workers to be 'flexible' to fit their employers' needs. It permits the production of customised products for small, 'niche' markets instead of standardised products for mass markets, and easy switching from producing one product to producing another. These changes brought many of the cultural characteristics of postmodernity, such as diversity, choice and instability.

Flexible accumulation also brought changes in consumption. It turned leisure, culture and identity into commodities. Cultural products such as fashion, music, sports and computer games have become an important source of profit. Jameson → postmodernity represents a more developed form of capitalism cuz it commodifies virtually all aspects of life, including our identities.

Harvey → this more developed form of capitalism also leads to another feature of postmodernity - the compression of time and space. The commodification of culture (e.g. foreign holidays), the creation of worldwide financial markets, and new info and communications technologies, all serve to shrink the globe.

Marxist theories of postmodernity - politics and progress

Harvey and Jameson → flexible accumulation has also brought political changes characteristic of postmodernity. it has weakened the wc and socialist movements. In their place, a variety of oppositional movements have emerged, e.g. environmentalism, women's liberation, anti-racism. but, Harvey and Jameson are hopeful that these new social movements can form a 'rainbow alliance' to bring about change.

Thus, Marxist theorists of postmodernity agree with postmodernists that we’ve moved from modernity to postmodernity. but, Best and Kellner → they differ from postmodernists in two ways:
(1) They retain a faith in Marxist theory as a means of explaining these changes.
(2) They argue that the goal of the Enlightenment project - to change society for the better - can still be achieved.

AO3 - evaluation of Marxist theories of postmodernity

Marx's og view of the Enlightenment project was that it would be achieved by the wc leading a revolution to overthrow capitalism and create a better society. By contrast, by accepting that political opposition to capitalism has fragmented into many different social movements such as feminism and environmentalism, Marxist theories of postmodernity appear to abandon this possibility.

but, the strength of these theories is that by relating the recent changes in society to the nature of capitalism, they are able to offer a sociological explanation of them - something that postmodernists fail to do.