Culture and Identity: Critical Theories`Ross Abbinnett brings a keen and subtle philosophical mind to bear on themes and debates that have become commonplace in sociology. This is a sinuously written book which casts new light on pressing contemporary issues. It is required reading for everyone who wants to think seriously and with an open mind about the terrain of the present′ - Keith Tester, Professor of Sociology, University of Portsmouth This incisive and timely book provides a concise and reliable guide to the debate on modernity and postmodernity. In particular the work of Lyotard, Beck, Bauman, Baudrillard, Giddens, Jameson and Derrida is critically reviewed. Culture and Identity provides: a thorough and accessible discussion of the main themes in the modernity-postmodernity debate; a shrewd and penetrating account of how these themes address everyday life; a novel account of how technology is altering our perceptions of the `human′; and a balanced account of the hope for radical politics and radical critique to correct the excesses of capitalism. What emerges most forcefully from the book is the error of dismissing postmodernism as a self-indulgent and ultimately, dangerous piece of ideology. Abbinnett provides a pertinent reminder of the continuing importance of the themes and challenges raised in the `postmodern moment′. |
From inside the book
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... demand our attention at the beginning of the twenty - first century ? Well , to begin with , they are not simply abstract , philosophical constructions ; for the ' self ' who participates in everyday social interaction can do so only ...
... demands and satisfactions of the present ; the moral stricture is entirely independent of love , friendship and ... demand springs from the idea of a perfect constitution of ends which is always beyond the present organization of ...
... demand ( Rose , 1981 , pp . 214-20 ) , his notion of ethical life has still been transformed by the urgency and persistence of Marx's critique of capitalism . As I have said , one of the main concerns of the book will be to look at ...
... demand of Enlightenment philosophy has been confined to the instrumental organization of social relations . However ... demands impact directly on the normative - communicative potential of the lifeworld . What is required of a critical ...
... the attempt to determine the a priori rules of moral , aesthetic and cognitive - theoretical judgements . Thus , in so far as the demand for abstract classification establishes the conditions for the dominance of expert 7 Introduction.
Contents
15 | |
25 | |
35 | |
Postmodernism and the Aesthetic | 43 |
Deconstruction and Identity | 53 |
Technology Ideology and the Culture Industry | 73 |
Information Simulation and the Silent Majorities | 96 |
The Postmodern and the Sublime | 112 |
Culture Politics Différance | 125 |
Derrida Fukuyama and the New World Order | 137 |
Science Technology and Catastrophe | 159 |
Capitalism Globalization and Cosmopolitanism | 190 |
Bibliography | 217 |