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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... economic recognition . In general , ' post - Enlightenment ' philosophy has characterized this relationship in terms of the ... economy . The analysis of culture and ideology that has come out of the Frankfurt School , I will argue , is ...
... economy . To return to my question about the relationship of the individual to the values of his or her own culture therefore , Kant's essay sets out a discourse of will and reflexive sovereignty which is supposed to exceed every ...
... economic relationships ; the fetishism of commodities and the infinite extension of human desire ; the collapse of the ... economy of culture . For Hegel , we have seen that the concept of ethical life , of the substantive culture which ...
... economies . What Harvey is referring to is the rationalization of public , private and geographical space which ... economy are experienced socially and culturally as ' disconcerting and disruptive bouts of space - time compression ...
... economic crises in the mode of production , we must recognize that postmodern flexibility represents one pole of an ... economy has adopted the ideology of ' Fordism ' or ' flexible postmodern- ism ' , will ' vary from time to time ...
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 |