glabalisation, modernity, postmodernity

What are the 5 key features of a modern society

1. Industrialism - moved from farms to cities to work in factories

2. Rationalism - society started valuing reason, science, & efficiency, institutions like schools & hospitals became more organised & rule-based

3. Nation-state formation - countries became more organised with clear boarders & gov - expectation to follow national laws

4. Capitalism - private ownership, competition, paid work became the norm - class division

5. Shared life course - most experienced the same basic structure of life which was highly predictable & orderly

What are the modern theories & their links to industrialisation

Feminism - grew alongside women’s suffrage movements & industrialisation which brought women into the workforce

Functionalism - the rise of industrialism disrupted traditional social structures, threatening community life & order

Marxism - developed during industrialisation due to capitalism advancing which caused immense social & economic inequalities

What is globalisation

The process of the world becoming more interconnected, with people, ideas, goods, money, & information

What are the 2 consequences of globalisation

The world feels:

. Shrinking - distance seems shorter as communication, travel, & trade happen almost instantly (e.g. video calling from another country)

. Compressing - local & global events influence each other immediately (e.g. social media making distant conflicts feel close)

What are the 4 key features of a postmodern society

1. Diversity & choice - able to shape identities based on our own choices, rather than traditional factors

2. Consumerism - identity is expressed through consumption, reflecting a shift from production → consumption

3. Fragmentation - society is made up of diverse social groups & values with no single dominant culture

4. Media saturation - blur the line between reality & representation

What are the key beliefs of postmodernists

Traditional modernist explanations no longer fully explain society, society is - fragmented, diverse, uncertain, drive by images, media, and consumerism

Who are the postmodern theorists

Leotard

Baudrillard

What are Lyotard’s beliefs

In postmodern society people have lost faith in meta narratives (big theory that claims to tell the truth about how the world works)

E.g. religion & science

The truth is relative - what is true depends on personal perspectives & cultural context

Why have individuals lost faith in science & religion

. Science - contributes to the development of nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, & unethical experiments

. Religion - struggles to address modern social issues

Example of a political meta narrative that lost faith

Soviet Union & Marxism

Union was built from Marxist ideologies but had to rely on surveillance, censorship,& violence to maintain control → communist party became a privileged elite

Criticism of Lyotard

If no theory is true why should we believe his theory either

What are Baudrillard’s beliefs

We have lost our connection to reality, we now live in a world dominated by simulacra (images, symbols,& representations) that stand in for reality but no longer reflect it accurately

We now live in a state of hyperreality where the simulation feels more real than the reality

Example of simulacra

Princess Diana’s death

People grieved as though they knew her personally because the media created a simulacrum of her as kind & caring - this media image became more real than the woman herself

Examples of hyperreality

Reality TV - (the Kardashian’s) these shows present themselves as ‘real life’ but are carefully staged, edited, & scripted to create drama

Views often respond as if what they see is genuine

Why does Baudrillard criticise modern theories

They assume there’s a real social world we can study & explain e.g. Marxism studies class relations

But this ‘real world’ has dissolved into simulations (media & representations) so these theories are analysing something that no longer exists in the same way

Criticisms of Baudrillard

Underplays our capacity for critical thinking & ability to spot fake news - we know when something is fake/exaggerated

Even if our views are distorted by media there is still an objective reality that can be studied by sociologists (poverty, inequality, power imbalances)

What are the key beliefs of late-modernists & sociologists

Society is still modern but evolving

Beck & Giddens

3 key features of late-modernism

1. Reflexivity - the ability of individuals/society to reflect on & adapt their actions - globalisation gives us access to vast information so people critically evaluate traditions & norms rather than blindly following them

2. Individualism - traditional social structures weakened → shape our own identities

3. The risk society

What is the risk society & the two types of risks

In late modern societies risks are increasingly created by human activity, tech, & industrialisation - climate change, pandemics

1. Manufactured - created by our own actions & decisions

2. Natural - natural disasters

Example of a global risk - Marxism

Global capitalism

Top 1% hold most of the world wealth while workers in poorer countries face exploitation through global supply chains

Example of a global risk - Feminism

Global pay gap

Violence against women

Why do Beck & Giddens believe modern theories are still relevant

They help us understand global risks by identifying the causes of social problems & suggesting ways to improve society

Evaluation of Beck & Giddens

Acknowledge that inequality still exists & how modern theories are still helpful in explaining & preventing them

Their own explanations of how individuals respond to risks underplay how those inequalities limit people’s choices