The idea of modernity and the social processes struggling for and against it are characteristic features of contemporary societies. The Enlightenment in western Europe and similar cultural trends in India and other parts of world have led to a drastic shift in the way we theorize society and what kind of institutions and actions we want to build. Opposition to modernity comes from quite diverse sources, including what we can call the pre-modern, the anti-modern and the post-modern. Arguments are made that social trends as well as the way we understand knowledge have led to the fragmentation of all foundations. In terms of social processes this is said to be connected with the decline of communism and with the emergence of post-industrial society and also with post-fordism. The growth of the media and consumerism are also connected with the emergence of post-modernism. A contrary view is held by other theorists who argue that there is not one but multiple modernities and we are entering an era of reflexive modernity and not post-modernity. Meta-narratives of various kinds are enjoying a resurgence, ranging from a conservative clash of civilizations to critical theories of globalization. Globalization itself may be seen as a vast interconnecting of social processes in opposition to the claims of post-modernity. How we visualize the unfolding of modernity and post-modernity has far-reaching consequences on the policies and interventions we may wish to promote. It is becoming essential to view contemporary times through an integration of the forces shaping the interaction between the individual, the collective and their living and non-living environment. Ecological theories offer insights into this and provide a valuable perspective on the broad trajectories of social change taking place today.
Weeks 13,14,15
Core Readings:
Fraser, Nancy. 2000. “Rethinking Recognition.” New Left Review, no. 3 (June): 107–20.
Giddens, Anthony. 1990. “The Reflexivity of Modernity.” In The Consequences of Modernity, 36–54. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Appadurai, Arjun. 1990. “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy.” Theory Culture Society 7: 295–310.
Additional Readings:
Ritzer, George. "Contemporary Theories of Modernity.” In Sociological Theory, 8th ed., 547-73. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
Ritzer, George. "Globalization Theory.” In Sociological Theory, 8th ed., 574-604. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011.
Foucault, Michel. "What Is Enlightenment.” In The Foucault Reader, edited by Paul Rabinow, 32-50. Vintage, 1984.
Jameson, Frederic. 1991. Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Chapter 1
Bell, Daniel. “Welcome to the Post-Industrial Society.” Physics Today, February 1976, 46–50.
Wallerstein, I. M. (2000). The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis. In The essential Wallerstein (pp. 71-105). New York: New Press : Distributed by W.W. Norton. (Original work published 1974)
Kant, Immanuel. An Answer to the Question: "What Is Enlightenment?” London; New York: Penguin Books, 2009.
Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoffrey Bennington and Brian Massumi. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
Bell, Daniel. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. New Delhi: Arnold Heinemann, 1974.
Giddens, Anthony. Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990.
Beck, Ulrich. Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage, 1992.
Wallerstein, Immanuel. The Politics of the World Economy: The States, the Movements and the Civilisations. Cambridge and Paris: Cambridge University Press and Maisons des Science de l'Homme, 1984. pp 3-18.
Sanderson, S. K. (2001). Evolutionary theorizing. In J. Turner (Ed.), Handbook of Sociological Theory (pp. 435-458). Springer.
Smith, M. (2011). Against ecological sovereignty. In Against Ecological Sovereignty: Ethics, Biopolitics and Saving the Natural World (pp. 193-218). Minneapolis and London: University Of Minnesota Press.
Pepper, D. (1993). The Marxist Perspective on Nature and Environmentalism. In From Deep Ecology to Social Justice (pp. 32-58. London and New York: Routledge.