Ross Abbinnett 
Culture and Identity [PDF ebook] 
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′.

Inhoudsopgave

Introduction

PART ONE: POSTMODERNITY AND POSTMODERNISM

Levinas and Bauman

The Ethics of Care

Beck and Giddens

Risk and Reflexive Modernity

Baudrillard

Media and Simulation

Lyotard and Jameson

Postmodernity and the Aesthetic

Derrida

Deconstruction and Identity

PART TWO: MEDIA, CULTURE AND IDENTITY

Technology, Ideology and the Culture Industry

Information, Simulation and the `Silent Majorities′

The Postmodern and the Sublime

Culture, Politics,
Différance
PART THREE: POSTMODERNISM AND THE END OF HISTORY
Derrida, Fukuyama and the `New World Order′
Science, Technology and Catastrophe
Capitalism, Globalization and Cosmopolitanism

Over de auteur

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