1.2.6
Modernity & Post-Modernity
The ‘Modernist’ Era
The ‘Modernist’ Era
Key features of modernism:
The nation state
The nation state
The nation state:
- Each country developed a political unit that had its own sovereignty.
- Within each boundary, the population would usually share a common language and culture.
Capitalism
Capitalism
- Capitalism:
- The economic system of the modernist era.
- It is the job of the state to regulate the capitalist system however its nature is to bring about inequality within society.
Growth of science and rationalisation
Growth of science and rationalisation
- Growth of science and rationalisation:
- The dominance of religious belief in the traditional societies wanes (reduces) and is replaced by the new dominant belief system.
Individualism
Individualism
- Individualism:
- Although social class, gender and ethnicity still classify people into set groups, there is generally more personal freedom than in traditional societies.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism
Postmodernists argue that things have changed from the Modernist era due (mainly) to globalisation.
Postmodernism
Postmodernism
- Postmodernists argue that things have changed from the Modernist era due (mainly) to globalisation.
- They argue that all countries are now connected and therefore the separate nation states are no longer significant in the way that they used to be.
Decline of the nation state
Decline of the nation state
- Each nation state no longer has total autonomy as several global political organisations exist.
- Examples include the United Nations and The European Union.
- Therefore postmodernists argue that due to such changes, modernism no longer exists and we need new theories such as postmodernism to explain society.
The ‘death of the social’
The ‘death of the social’
- They believe we are experiencing the ‘death of the social’.
- Jean Baudrillard argues that for some individuals their only interaction with the outside world is through the media and this, therefore, shapes the way they think about the world.
Loss of community
Loss of community
- As a result, the traditional need for a sense of belonging to a community has become redundant and no longer relevant.
- Baudrillard refers to this process as the ‘death of the social’.
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
Jump to other topics
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
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