Giddens and Habermas are
critical of post-modernism and
suggest that general theories and
meta-narratives can still be
constructed and shaped.
Technology may be a
positiveoutcome to create a
platform for democratic discussion
and reclaiming of life world
Beck and Sznaider (2006) argue that this is
the notion of globalisation e.g. people shop,
work, love, marry, are education, use the
internet internationally and combine multiple
identities.
Giddens (1999) argues that globalisation is
characterised by multiple features. 1 = the relationship
between space and time which is exemplified via new
means of communication. Secondly is the notion of
reflexivity whereby people actively think about and
socially construct their lives.
Therefore, a globaliised world is arguably a
'runnaway world'
Second Age
of Modernity
Beck and Sznaider (2006) assert
that the beginning of the 21st
Century Modernity is now
characterised by and undergoing
global transformation which
undermines concepts of modernity.
We should now concern outselves not with a
'post-modern' condition but a 'cosmopolitan condition'
Development of immigration, development of labour
migration, geographical mobility, development of
national/international exchanges through
post/telephone/internet, campaigns such as
Amnesty International that exist worldwide,
international criminality and politically motivated
transnational terrorism, marriages, news coverage
(media)
We hae a network of
interdependences. The
cosmopolitan outlook has a
number of implications on
sociological research as Beck
maintains that sociologists should
adopt methodological
cosmopolitanism so that
researchers can investigate the
transnational phenomenon of
today.
Beyond Societies
Urry (2000) argue that a global
network of interdependences
undermine individual nation states
that adopt their own social
structures. Early structural
theories considered sociology in
areas such as social class,
gender and ethnicity etc hwoever
Urry argues that today it focusses
too much on globalisation
This undermines traditional ways of
studying sociology which Urry calls a
'post-societal stage of sociolgy'.
Urry believes that sociology must
examine the diverse 'mobilities of people,
objects, images and information' through
the central concepts of global networks
(i.e. McDonalds/Disney) and global flows
(i.e. people, info and money)
By studyying society like this we
can see both horizontal mobility
accross global networks and vetical
mobility (i.e. up/down the social
heirarchy in individual nation states).
He also stresses the usefulness of Mann's
(1993) claim that we live in a global society that
is not unitary, ideological or a state but a single
power network with mass quanitities of people,
materials, messages that threaten the
ecosystem and atmosphere.
This links to the
anthropocentric
view of green
crime and also
primary green
crime e.g.
deforestation in
the Amazon
EVALUATION
Interesting questions surrounding the debates of
post-modernity and the second age of modernity. Perhaps the
most intruiging is applyying Beck's notion of cosmopolitan
methodology.
However, how would this work in empirical testing e.g.
investigating teacher labelling and also in tradtional areas of
sociology such as the family, belief and crime?