MODERNITY AND GLOBALIZATIONGurminder K. Bhambra

REVISION LECTUREWeek 19

EXAM REVISION

Context What background knowledge do you need to

answer the question? Historical events? Standard sociology explanations? Critiques?

Debates What are the key debates associated with this

topic? What are the arguments for? Against?

Conclusion What do I think about this topic?

WHAT IS MODERNITY? Historical background

Political and Economic revolutions as indicated by the French and American Revolutions and industrialisation

Sociological explanations Modernization theory Multiple modernities Postcolonial critique

Debates / controversies Have we always been modern? Is modernity a linear, diffusion-ist phenomenon

or a global one? Does modernity have global conditions of

emergence?

INSTITUTIONS OF MODERNITY

The French Revolution and the Modern State How does the French Revolution contribute to the

idea of becoming modern? What is the relationship of the French Revolution

to the modern state? Why is the state significant to modernity?

Authority and Power – the French and American Revolutions How does political participation change? What is the significance of this new form of

political participation to modernity?

INSTITUTIONS OF MODERNITY

Industrial Capitalism and the Protestant Ethic How does Weber understand capitalism? Why is Protestantism important for Weber?

Industrial Capitalism and Alienation How does Marx understand capitalism? What’s the difference between Marx and Weber?

SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF MODERNITY

From Modernization Theory to Multiple Modernities What is modernization theory? What are the problems with modernization

theory? What are multiple modernities? How does the theory of multiple modernities

differ? Beyond Multiple Modernities

What are the critiques of multiple modernities theories?

How effective are these critiques?

MODERNITY AS GLOBAL

The Modern State as an Imperial State Why is it important to understand the modern

nation-state as being an imperial state? Democracy – Inclusion and Exclusion

How does a wider perspective alter what we might understand about the emergence of democracy?

Industrialisation – Slavery and Colonialism What is the relationship of slavery and

colonialism to the industrial revolution?

SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF GLOBALISATION

Why Globalisation Now? What is globalisation? How is it defined? When

did it start? Why has it suddenly become important?

Cosmopolitanism What is cosmopolitanism? What is its relationship to globalisation?

Globalisation as Connections What does it mean to understand globalisation

as connections? What does it mean for sociology?

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS Trade, Global Economics, and Social

Movements What is the relationship of social movements to

global trade and economics? How does looking at the concerns of social

movements alter the ways in which we might understand global trade and justice?

The Transnational Family What are transnational families? What is their relationship to globalisation?

Universal Human Rights What is the relationship of human rights to

modernity? Why are they significant?

EXAM QUESTIONS Read the questions – take your time – read

them carefully Choose the questions you want to answer Plan your answer Answer the question asked, specifically Answer 3 questions The quality of your answer counts for more

than the quantity of words Think about the question Answer the question Write legibly and neatly Answer the question

ASSESSED ESSAY Title

Keep your focus on the question throughout the essay Introduction

What are you looking at, why are you looking at it, how are you going to look at it

Main body Clear, distinct sections, made up of paragraphs, each

dealing with one theme; might use sub-headings Provide links between sections; give your essay

direction Use evidence to back up your claims; reference

Conclusion Reflect on the arguments you have put forward Consider the implications of what you have written Draw these points into a final concluding sentence

REFERENCES To give information, to illustrate a point, to

present a particular perspective, to present an argument or counter-argument

Support your argument with more than one source

Select examples from a range of sources Be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of

the evidence used

Why reference? To show that you have researched your material To acknowledge the source of the information used To distinguish between your ideas and the ideas of

others To provide support to your ideas

REFERENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY Book

McLennan, Gregor 2006. Sociological Cultural Studies. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan

Article Wittrock, Bjorn 1998. ‘Early Modernities: Varieties and

Transitions’, Daedalus: Early Modernities summer 127 (3): 19-40

Chapter in an Edited Book Spivak, Gayatri Chakrabarty 1990. ‘Post-structuralism,

Marginality, Postcoloniality and Value’, in Peter Collier and Helga Geyer-Ryan (eds) Literary Theory Today. Cambridge: Polity Press

Website Dimitrijevic, Nenad 2006. ‘Moral responsibility for

collective crime’, Eurozine http://eurozine.com/pdf/2006-07-05-dimitrijevic-en.pdf

accessed 23 June 2007

ACADEMIC CONDUCT

Plagiarism is when you intentionally pass off someone else’s work as your own, be it from a published source or from the web or from another essay (your own or somebody else’s!)

If you’re using words, phrases, ideas from someone else – reference them

WEBSITES Academic writing course

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/csde/usp/wsc/cm4a1

Undergraduate skills programme http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/csde/usp/recipes

On referencinghttp://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/main/help/guidespublications/bib_cit/

On academic writinghttp://www.utoronto.ca/writing/advise.html

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/celte/languagesupport/aez/resources/