Globalisation, modernity and postmodernity

Crime and Deviance

Learning Objectives

Understand some of the reasons for the trend towards globalisation,

Understand and identify the difference between modernity, post modernity and late modernity,

Evaluate the strengths and limitations of postmodernist and other theories of recent changes in society.

2 key issues....

1. Major changes that have occurred in society in recent year decades,

2. Theories that have been brought forward in order to explain those changes.

Modern society – late 18th century

The nation-state – bounded territory, 1 ruler, share language

Capitalism – private ownership of the means of production

Rationality, science & technology – secular ways of thinking

Individualism – increasing personal freedom can choose life path – class still important

What Are Modernist Theories?

Nineteenth and twentieth century.

If we use the correct theory & methods we can discover meta narratives: the factors that control society & our behaviour.

This can be used for progress: to understand & solve society’s problems.

Globalisation

1. Technological changes (satellite communications, transnational travel, internet)

2. Economic changes (electronic economy such as the production of information, transnational companies)

3. Political changes (loss of power by the state –Richard Branson)

4. Changes in culture and identity (global culture – influences of the western world worldwide)

Globalisation

Find evidence of your own contact with globalisation

1. Look at the labels in your shoes/clothes and find four different countries in which they have been produced.

2. Identify 4 events in distant parts of the world that you have seen on TV in the last month.

3. Identify 4 global brands that you have seen advertised in this country if possible seen in other countries.

Key term definition

Globalisation

The idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected and that barriers are disappearing

How do we explain those changes?

Postmodernism

Theories of late modernity

Marxist theories of postmodernity

Have a think ????

What is postmodernism ?

What Are Postmodernist Theories?

A rejection of modernist theories. No metanarratives No progress Free-will Society is fragmented: it can no longer be

analysed as a whole.

Knowledge and antifoundationalism

The Enlightment project – if knowledge cannot be guaranteed we cannot use it to improve society

All embracing theories such as Marxism are simply meta-narrative – someone’s version of reality, not actually the truth

Key term defintion -

Postmodernism Rejects modernist views that we have

certain, true knowledge of society that will enable us to improve it. Post modern society is unstable and diverse – impossible to have absolute explanations

Knowledge

Michel Foucault We cannot guarantee that any of our

knowledge is correct, therefore we cannot use any ‘knowledge’ to improve society

Any theory that claims to have the truth about how to create a better society (e.g. Marxism) is a meta-narrative (big story) – just someone’s version of reality, not the truth

A relativist position

Postmodernists argue that all views are true for those who hold them

No-one has special access to the truth, including sociologists.

We should recognise and celebrate the diversity of views rather than seek to impose one version of the truth on everyone.

Baudrillard: simulacra

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. Eg T.V programmes

Signs stand for nothing other than themselves –they are not symbols of some other real thing they are meaningless -

For example, tabloid newspaper articles about fictitious soap opera characters are ‘signs about signs’ rather than about an underlying reality.

Simulacra

Baudrillard calls such signs simulacra (singular: simulacrum).

Baudrillard describes this situation as hyper-reality; where the signs appear more real than reality itself. But they are meaningless. (T.V main cause of problem of distinguishing between reality & image)

Baudrillard

In the postmodern media-laden condition, we experience something called "the death of the real": we live our lives in the realm of hyperreality, connecting more and more deeply to things like television sitcoms, music videos, virtual reality games, or Disneyland, things that merely simulate reality.

Culture and identity

Media involvement in the ever changing face of values, and version of the truth,

Prevents people from believing in one truth due to the extensive amount of meta-narratives,

Ability for individuals to construct their identity based on the wide variety of images and lifestyle portrayed,

Media created hyper reality leaves us unable to distinguish images from reality.

Questions

1. Suggest 2 examples that would fit the category of simulacra.

2. Discuss with two fellow students how reality TV fits into Baudrillard’s analysis

Individual task – 10 mins

Read page 256 in your text book

1. Is Harvey correct in claiming that political decisions do make a real difference to people’s lives?

2. Identify three recent government decisions that could be said to have made a difference.

Evaluation of postmodernism

Emphasize the significance of the media for culture and identity,

Marxist criticisms (Philo and Miller, 2001)1. Ignores power and inequality, 2. Overlooks the effects of poverty, 3. Unjustified claims that people cannot

distinguish between images and reality.

Late Modernity

Giddens: Reflexivity

Beck: Risk Society

Theories of late (high) modernity

Giddens – Reflexivity

1. Disembedding: the lifting out of social relations from local context or interactions – we do not need face to face contact in order to interact,

2. Reflexivity:3. We are constantly re-evaluating our ideas and

theories thus nothing is fixed or permanent, everything is up for challenge.

Theories of late modernity

Beck (1992)– Risk society

1. Believes in the power of reason in order to create a better world

2. Believes that society today faces new dangers

1. In the past inability to control nature, 2. Manufactured risks resulting from human

activity.

Beck continued....

Beck sees late modernity as a period of individualisation (tradition no longer governs how we act),

Individuals think for themselves and reflect on the possible consequences to their actions (reflexive modernisation)

Evaluation of late modernity

Reflexivity enables us to reflect on our actions,

Not everyone has the option such as the poor who are exposed to more environmental risks but may be unable to afford a healthier one.

Rustin (1994) Capitalism is the cause of risk

But Late modernity (LM) does provide an alternative to post modernism (PM)

Marxist theories of postmodernity

Enlightenment project (achievement of objective knowledge and using it to improve society),

Jameson (1984) Harvey (1989) Similar views to that of postmodernist, Establishing a link between postmodernity

and capitalism

Key terms

Modernity-Late modernity-Post modernity-Globalisation-Enlightenment project-Simulacra-

RECAP - How Do Postmodernists See Crime And Deviance?

Modernists: Crime is a social problem

caused by one or two major factors.

Look at society as a whole The problems of crime

have to be solved & controlled so that there is a good society

Postmodernists: Cannot understand crime if

we see it as a problem.

Focus on urban areas

Are diverse and fragmented and so cannot be controlled.