Culture and Identity

'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'.

ISBN 076196519X   Part volume Politics and Culture Series ISBN13 9780761965190 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher SAGE Publications Ltd   Weight (grammes) 363 Imprint SAGE Publications Ltd   Published in London Format Paperback   Series editor Turner, Bryan S. (Deakin University and University of Essex), Turner, Bryan S. (Deakin University an Publication date 01 Jul 2003   Series title Politics and Culture Series Library of Congress 2002113501   Height (mm) 234 DEWEY 306   Width (mm) 156 DEWEY edition DC21   Spine width (mm) 13 Pages 240   Academic level Tertiary education, Professional / Scholarly

		Acknowledgements
		Introduction		1
Pt. 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
Pt. 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
Pt. 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

'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

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