| Subject: Re: Thoughts on _Globalization_ |
Author:
Chris
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Date Posted: 10:20:21 10/31/02 Thu
In reply to:
Dustin
's message, "Re: Thoughts on _Globalization_" on 08:59:17 10/30/02 Wed
Agreeably so, an outside view might not always provide the best critique. Alternately, the fact that someone is outside of, yet impacted by, a particular culture might enable him/her to look upon social changes (or lack thereof) in that culture a little easier, due to the distancing and the fact that he/she might not be completely steeped in it. When I taught in England, teen-agers seemed to have a sharper (though not always negative) critique of American society than many adult Americans. I think this was/is possible due to the fact that they CONSUME American (pop) culture (e.g., tv shows, McDonald's, etc) more than their own, but they are tied emotionally to their culture (i.e., dealing with the social and political issues that directly impact them) not the American (pop) culture, thus they do not have a positive affective investment in American culture, unlike many Americans (at least those in power) who have not had to think about or digest American culture from a different side of the road. Pertaining directly to Bauman, he has practiced sociology for over fifty years.
Anyhow, great discussion. Thanks, Dustin and Dave, for arranging this.
Chris
>Good to hear from you, Matt. I have snipped the
>majority of your post for the purposes of this brief
>comment in these moments before class; hopefully, I'll
>be able to say more later.
> In particular, I'm sympathetic to your
>uncertainty/wonder/concern (whatever we shall call it)
>about the role of America in Bauman's _Globalization_.
> I had similar concerns. Moreover, I had similar
>concerns with Jameson (though not so severe) when,
>nearing the end of that main first chapter in
>_Postmoderinism_, he reiterated how his examination
>had been grounded in the transnational, though
>distinctly American (I don't have the text -- forgive
>my inability to quote directly here), logic of late
>capitalism. And it was the "American" part that was,
>if I remember correctly, inserted and basically
>glossed over. So the question remains: to what degree
>is his audience supposed to extrapolate the role of
>America in this global capitalism? The best microcosm
>of it? The worst? The microcosm exerting the most
>influence on the global scale, and yet embroiled in
>the global scale?
>
>Dustin
>
>
>
>>Well, here goes:
>>
>>First off, I would have to say that many of Bauman's
>>arguments are interesting, but many are just as
>>sketchy as his authority is. The back cover of the
>>book says that he is a professor at the University of
>>Leeds (apparently in Poland) and the U. of Warsaw.
>>That makes me wonder: how much of an authority is he
>>on American society? Although he doesn't always seem
>>to be talking only about America, there are many times
>>that he does seem to be. This limited view also makes
>>me question the applicability of his ideas to other
>>nations.
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