One dimensional man
About: This article is published in Philosophical Books.The article was published on 1965-05-01. It has received 2842 citations till now.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the plausibility of the notion of liquid modernity as an irreversible process and propose to treat changes in contemporary society as liquid radicalizes fluidity but it fails to provide recognition for the possibility of re-solidification.
Abstract: Zygmunt Bauman’s metaphor of liquid modernity addresses the juxtaposition of increased freedom and mobility with accelerated anxiety in an era of deregulated consumption. His proposal that this emergent condition represents a transition from solid to liquid modernity requires closer scrutiny. If solid modernity concerns new forms of engagement consequent to the breakup of old ones, does liquidity necessarily suggest a process of disembedding without any prospect for re-embedding? This question raises the need to address the plausibility of liquidity as an irreversible process. To treat changes in contemporary society as liquid radicalizes fluidity but it fails to provide recognition for the possibility of re-solidification. Data from some recent studies of race, class and religion suggest such a possibility and the need to re-evaluate the notion of liquidity.
32 citations
Cites background from "One dimensional man"
...2 Lasch was voicing a critique of capitalist culture already made by other authors such as Fromm (1956), Marcuse (1964) and Bell (1976)....
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Dissertation•
01 Jan 2014
32 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the primary discursive reduction that occurs in the popular text/talk of neuromarketing: the reduction of the consumer to the state of a poor in world animal (animalization of thinking).
Abstract: Consumption research has been informed traditionally by cognitive psychology but it has now incorporated the diagnostic techniques of neuroscience to give rise to neuromarketing. Using bio-imaging technologies to track how consumers respond to advertising stimuli, neuromarketing aims to predict and manage consumer buying behaviour by decoding how instinctive drives can be triggered to enact buying habits. This paper examines the primary discursive reduction that occurs in the popular text/talk of neuromarketing: the reduction of the consumer to the state of a poor in world animal (animalization of thinking). Using a hybrid analytic of textual analysis and a Heideggerian philosophical frame, this work traces how discourses used to sell neuromarketing represent specific kinds of non-knowledgeable consumers. This hybrid approach offers consumption scholars a new perspective for understanding how animal representations of the consumer are deployed in neuromarketing as a discursive world.
32 citations
Cites background from "One dimensional man"
...Long considered a practice of manipulating minds, advertising has increased significantly in its coercive power with the rise of behavioural psychology techniques during the mid-twentieth century (Marcuse 1964; Packard 1957)....
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Abstract: One hundred seven adults' family activities and experiences were studied via the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). Respondents carried automatic paging devices and were randomly signalled to fill out self‐reports over the period of one week. While some scholars have claimed that communication during television viewing is nonexistent, talking occurred during 20 percent of family television time. Respondents who watched more television also spent more time with their families and reported feeling as well affectively while with family members as did light viewers. However, family viewing experiences were reported as being more passive than family activities generally. Heavier viewers also reported lower levels of activation during non‐TV family activities than did light viewers. Implications are discussed.
32 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jul 2013
TL;DR: This paper argued that instead of abstract utopian or dystopian accounts of technology, Marcuse's philosophy of technology can be read as a cautionary approach developed by a concrete philosophical utopian, and reevaluated his key texts in order to challenge the view that his philosopy of technology is abstractly utopian.
Abstract: This thesis provides a reevaluation of Herbert Marcuse's philosophy of technology. It argues that
rather than offering an abstract utopian or dystopian account of technology, Marcuse's philosophy of
technology can be read as a cautionary approach developed by a concrete philosophical utopian.
The strategy of this thesis is to reread Marcuse's key texts in order to challenge the view that his
philosophy of technology is abstractly utopian. Marcuse is no longer a fashionable figure and there
has been little substantive literature devoted to the problem of the utopian character of his
philosophy of technology since the works of Douglas Kellner and Andrew Feenberg. This thesis
seeks to reposition Marcuse as a concrete philosophical utopian. It then reevaluates his philosophy
of technology from this standpoint and suggests that it may have relevance to some contemporary
debates.
Marcuse's writings on technology are the primary focus of this thesis, together with a range of
major secondary sources. My discussion is accordingly narrow, although its implications are
sometimes extensive.
Chapter one introduces the problem to be addressed and locates it in the relevant secondary
literature. It explains the strategy and the structure of the thesis as well as the limits of the enquiry.
Chapter two reevaluates the influence of Marxian theory on Marcuse's philosophy of technology
and shows he appropriated it as a critical-analytical approach to modern society. Chapter three
emphasises how Marcuse's critique of the decline of the 'second dimension' of critical reason gives
a specific cast to his thought whilst drawing out the implications of his distinction between technics
and technology. This chapter also acknowledges the early influence of Marcuse's Heideggerian
formation. Chapter four shows that Marcuse's philosophy of technology may have more relevance
to contemporary debates about the philosophy of technology than might be expected. It does so by
giving a critique of the current emphasis on perpetual economic growth from the perspective of the
kind attributed to Marcuse. Chapter five defends Marcuse's concept of nature from a number of
prominent contemporary criticisms and suggests that, despite its apparent concerns, it remains
relevant to the determination of issues common to philosophers of technology and the environment.
Chapter six defends Marcuse’s philosophy of technology from contemporary ‘instrumental’
accounts, and chapter seven undertakes the same task in relation to autonomous accounts of
technology.The thesis concludes that dismissals of Marcuse’s philosophy of technology as abstractly utopian
and pessimistic are one sided and in some respects precipitate. Moreover, there may be something
still to be learnt from his approach to this area of research. His philosophy of technology is arguably
more valuable than the existing literature suggests because it has concrete philosophical features
that can then be applied to developments since his death. This is not to suggest that Marcuse’s
claims can be made out or that his theorising is free from serious problems, it is to correct the record
in certain limited respects.
32 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined accounts of travelers in terms of Erving Goffman's front versus back distinction and found that tourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences.
Abstract: The problem of false consciousness and its relationship to the social structure of tourist establishments is analyzed. Accounts of travelers are examined in terms of Erving Goffman's front versus back distinction. It is found that tourists try to enter back regions of the places they visit because these regions are associated with intimacy of relations and authenticity of experiences. It is also found that tourist settings are arrenged to produce the impression that a back region has been entered even when this is not the case. In tourist settings, between the front and the back there is a series of special spaces designed to accommodate tourists and to support their beliefs in the authenticity of their experiences. Goffman's front-back dichotomy is shown to be ideal poles of a continuum, or a variable.
2,627 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1995
TL;DR: Casey as discussed by the authors explored the effects of contemporary practices of work on the self and found that changes currently occuring in the world of work are part of the vast social and cultural changes that are challenging the meta trends of modern industrialism.
Abstract: Despite recent interest in the effects of restructuring and redesigning the work place, the link between individual identity and structural change has usually been asserted rather than demonstrated. Through an extensive review of data from field work in a multi-national corporation Catherine Casey changes this. She knows that changes currently occuring in the world of work are part of the vast social and cultural changes that are challenging the meta trends of modern industrialism. These events affect what people do everyday, and they are altering relations among ourselves and with the physical world. This valuable book is not only a critical analysis of the transformations occurring in the world of work, but an exploration of the effects of contemporary practices of work on the self.
540 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors interpret critical urban theory with reference to four mutually interconnected elements: its theoretical character; its reflexivity; its critique of instrumental reason; and its emphasis on the disjuncture between the actual and the possible.
Abstract: What is critical urban theory? While this phrase is often used in a descriptive sense, to characterize the tradition of post‐1968 leftist or radical urban studies, I argue that it also has determinate social–theoretical content. To this end, building on the work of several Frankfurt School social philosophers, this paper interprets critical theory with reference to four, mutually interconnected elements—its theoretical character; its reflexivity; its critique of instrumental reason; and its emphasis on the disjuncture between the actual and the possible. On this basis, a brief concluding section considers the status of urban questions within critical social theory. In the early 21st century, I argue, each of the four key elements within critical social theory requires sustained engagement with contemporary patterns of capitalist urbanization. Under conditions of increasingly generalized, worldwide urbanization, the project of critical social theory and that of critical urban theory have been intertwined a...
356 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide an overview of the key images of identity in organizations found in the research literature, including self-doubters, strugglers, surfers, storytellers, strategists, stencils and soldiers.
Abstract: This article provides an overview of the key images of identity in organizations found in the research literature. Image refers to the overall idea or conceptualization, capturing how researchers relate to — and shape — a phenomenon. Seven images are suggested: self-doubters, strugglers, surfers, storytellers, strategists, stencils and soldiers. These refer to how the individual is metaphorically understood in terms of identity, that is, how the researcher (research text) captures the individual producing a sense of self. The article aims to facilitate orientation — or encourage productive confusion — within the field, encourage reflexivity and sharpen analytic choices through awareness of options for how to conceptualize self-identity constructions.
289 citations