Culture and Identity: Critical Theories

by Ross Abbinnett

Overview

'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'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761965183
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	07/21/2003
Series:	Politics and Culture Series
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.42(w) x 9.66(h) x 0.77(d)

About the Author

Ross Abbinnett is a Lecturer in the School of Social and Historical Studies at the University of Portsmouth

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
	Introduction	1
Part 1	Postmodernity and Postmodernism	13
1	Levinas and Bauman: the Ethics of Care	15
2	Beck and Giddens: Risk and Reflexive Modernity	25
3	Baudrillard: Media and Simulation	35
4	Lyotard and Jameson: Postmodernism and the Aesthetic	43
5	Derrida: Deconstruction and Identity	53
Part 2	Media, Culture and Identity	71
6	Technology, Ideology and the Culture Industry	73
7	Information, Simulation and the 'Silent Majorities'	96
8	The Postmodern and the Sublime	112
9	Culture, Politics, Differance	125
Part 3	Postmodernism and the End of History	135
10	Derrida, Fukuyama and the 'New World Order'	137
11	Science, Technology and Catastrophe	159
12	Capitalism, Globalization and Cosmopolitanism	190
	Bibliography	217
	Index	221