Showing papers on "Contemporary society published in 1984"

The new journalism and the image‐world: Two modes of organizing experience

Abstract: This essay provides a cultural analysis of the New Journalism. Two modes of New Journalism are distinguished based on their ways of constructing the relationship of image to reality, observing to living, and storytelling to experience. The two modes, designated ethnographic realism and cultural phenomenology, reflect alternative ways of responding to cultural change and organizing the experience of reporting. These approaches to understanding social reality are related to the problem of creating meaning in contemporary society.

Literature and the social order in eighteenth-century England

Abstract: Recent scholarship had emphasised the importance of a number of non-literary, economic and social debates to the understanding of Augustan Literature. Debates over the place of land, money, credit and luxury in society, as well as strands of radical thinking, are prominent throughout the period. Originally published in 1984, this anthology of eighteenth century writings about contemporary society is divided into sections on the social order, economics, the poor and crime, with a general introduction identifying some of the dominant social discourses of the period. They reflect the emergence of an embryonic capitalist society, with its challenge to feudal ties, and of a nascent bourgeois class. This collection of writings is not intended to provide material for an empirical historical account of these changes, but to give some idea of the ideological terms in which they are perceived, endorsed or contested by contemporaries; and provide a set of discursive contexts in which the imaginative literature of the period can be read. The texts themselves repay close analysis as the bearers of complex ideological positions and it is interesting to observe how, for example, Pope accommodates Shaftesbury and Mandeville in the Moral Essays. A fascinating anthology, Literature and the Social Order in Eighteenth-Century England, complete with editor’s introduction and notes on the passages, aims to suggest lines of inquiry without offering a ‘total’ reading.

American Feminism in the Age of the Body

Abstract: The call for "control over one's body" has come to be seen as the most radical demand feminists can make It is claimed that realizing such control would create the most profound revolution possible for women Integral to this call for seizing control over our bodies is the belief that we must seize control over our sexuality-that our sexuality has been torn from us and that we must recover or discover either an autonomous female or a feminist sexuality Where did this language come from? Feminists have striven to be self-reflective and to question the nature and origins of our beliefs Yet, curiously, there has been little questioning of how and why the language of control and sexuality has come to dominate contemporary feminist discourse Our goal here is first to raise some questions about the genealogy of such language and about how it has framed the development of feminist issues We will then broach an alternative formulation, which we call "contextual feminism" In considering how the language of control became so fundamental to feminist discourse, it is relevant to take note both of the emergence of feminism out of liberalism and of its shared borders with Marxism as a theory of society and revolution Despite important philosophical differences between Marxism and liberalism, both ideologies partake of Western society's uncritical acceptance of science as the sole means for discovering truth It is ironic that Marxism, which purports to challenge the value system of the dominant class, has nonetheless readily adopted that class's notion of scientific certainty and control And it is particularly ironic that radical feminism, which so self-consciously rejects Marxism, has nevertheless emulated Marxism's principle of seizing control over production with the analogue of seizing control over reproduction19 There are several problems with the language of control First, it slips too readily into a language of domination Second, it presumes a centering of power that simply may not exist in contemporary society: we are asked to seize power, yet power is no longer held by a clearly identifiable and coherent group Third, as many artists, philosophers, and scientists have recognized, our physical cultural world is largely an indeterminate one; thus the epistemological certainty requisite for control is unavailable

The Gender Gap: Psychology, Social Sturcture, and Support of Reagan

Abstract: In the 1980 presidential election, eight percent fewer women than men voted for Ronald Reagan. The implications of this fact for American electoral politics have received considerable attention in the popular media, to the extent that the gender gapas the difference between men's and women's political attitudes has been christenedhas become somewhat of a cliche. The lessons which the current differences in political opinion hold for our larger understanding of gender in contemporary society, however, have barely been addressed in either popular or academic literature.

Modernization and social stratification in Iceland

Abstract: Some myths of Icelandic society are examined and empirically tested in this thesis. The myths are variants of two basic themes: firstly, the idea that the Icelandic social structure is funda- mentally unique, and, secondly, the belief that the contemporary society is exceptionally egalitarian in many respects. The uniqueness theme is reflected upon by maintaining an international comparative perspective throughout the presentation, and by examining the characteristics and degree of modernization in Icelandic society. In relation to the equality theme, some important aspects of socio-economic advantages are examined. Opportunities of individuals and class formation are also assessed, and then the analysis moves to the level of organizations and labour market relations, i.e., to unionism, conflict, and inflation. The findings seriously question or discard the themes which are considered. Thus, we show that Iceland has modernized to a very high level, sharing most of the basic social structural features which have been found to produce a "family resemblance" amongst advanced societies. Iceland is also found to have an inequality structure with familiar characteristics. The degree of income inequality seems to be on level with the Scandinavian societies, but when other related advantages are also considered, such as welfare and security aspects, the net outcome is that inequality appears to be greater in Iceland. Upward mobility has been extensive, mainly due to changes in the occupational structure, but the patterns are fairly typical. The structure of the industrial relations system has signifi- cant affinities with comparable Scandinavian systems, but the level of industrial conflict has been extensive in Iceland. Inflation has similarly prevailed at a very high level for a long period. By relating inflation to distributional conflicts and the inequality structure, we offer a novel interpretation of this outstanding characteristic. Lastly, the relatively poor showing in the welfare league arid the intense distributional conflicts are explained by relating them to the distribution of political power in the society. Unlike the Scandinavian societies, Iceland has not been dominated by a large social-democratic party. The conservative Independence Party is the largest political party in the country and it has been the dominant force in governments for most of the post-war period.

Structural and cultural conflict in American Indian education

Abstract: Actor Iron Eyes Cody, dressed in full buckskins and feather, stands overlooking a freeway. In the background high-rise buildings are shrouded in smog. The actor is symbolic of a culture which existed as a partner to the natural environment, a culture not prized by our now materialistic one. A tear comes to Cody's eye. His natural environment has been obliterated by our society's artificial one, the natural defiled for the material, perhaps hopelessly polluted. This commercial for the preservation of the environment interestingly characterizes society's compartmentalization of issues and social contexts without understanding the underlying bases which support them. Our evolv ing contemporary society has sought to obliterate the Native American and his/her culture both actually and figuratively, yet Americans hold the sym bol of the noble warrior in high regard. We figuratively revere the natural while empirically holding the manufactured, artificial, and materialistic in the highest regard. Society lives in one cultural context while idealizing the other without accounting for the fact that the two are completely out of phase with one another. Contemporary society presumes to admire the Native American and his/her culture while at the same time choosing a countercul ture which is in direct conflict with the natural one.

Practical Philosophy, Civil Liberties, and Poverty

Abstract: It is often said nowadays that there has been a great revival of practical philosophy. But the complaint is also sometimes heard that philosophers do not have much practical influence and that, as philosophers, they do too lit tle practical work in public communication and politics. Such statements raise questions about the nature of practical philosophy and about the pro per role of philosophers in social and political practice. In this paper I shall try to throw some light on these questions in three ways. First, I shall analyze some of the different things that are or may be meant by calling philosophy "practical." Second, I shall indicate certain priorities in such practicality so far as it bears on the proper role of philosophers. Third, I shall develop an example of what I regard as the preferred mode of practical philosophy by giving an analysis of a specific but basic practical problem of contemporary American society.

A Format for an Ethical and Emotional Divorce

Abstract: Expresses the notion that a ritual of divorce is sorely needed in our contemporary society. Offers a format for such a ritual and provides a detailed example of a ceremony. Critical comments and responses are offered by experienced divorce and marriage counselors, one a Protestant minister, the other a Rabbi.

Youth, Sex, Family: The Quest for New Life Units

Abstract: The conflict between generations is part of contemporary common sense, though it is usually described as a phenomenon of every historical period. Yet there is a sense in which the particularity of youth culture in the 1980s is acknowledged, though usually in negative terms; the aggressiveness, violence, challenge in that sub- or counter-culture is what is generally emphasised, especially in the mass media. The consequent debate centres often around concepts of ‘respect’, ‘discipline’ or ‘order’ — as if ‘today’s youth’ had suffered some corruption, a negative influence which had hitherto been kept at bay. The causes and explanations revert in general to simple psychological categories, or to ill-defined references to the lack of structural restraints in contemporary society, an excess of sexual or personal freedom and an idealisation of the tighter family structures of the past.

What Should Be the Relationship between Policing and Politics in Contemporary Society

Abstract: Most chief police officers would claim that it is their independence from outside pressure which enables them to enforce the law impartially and thus to preserve the unique British system of policing, relying as it does upon the co-operation of the public. They would also claim that the present arrangements for police accountability go just about as far as is possible without threatening that system, and that any substantial transfer of control over the police to bodies dominated by party political interests would undermine police impartiality and thus be detrimental to British democracy. However, critics of the system of accountability which has evolved over the last 150 years and was reviewed and codified in the Police Act 1964, believe that it fails to provide the necessary powers to enable elected representatives, particularly at a local level, to exercise effective control of the police; effective control which, it is claimed, is essential if personal liberty is to be preserved and the possibility of police oppression obviated. For the purposes of this essay \"politics\" will be taken to mean \"the business of government\", which in Britain means government in which Parliament is supreme. Although a distinction is often made between the business of government and party politics, in practice the effect through Parliament of the latter upon the former cannot be denied. In fact it is at the very root of the constitution that the executive machinery of the state should be subject to general control by elected representatives. That principle applies equally to local government. Because policing is a government function it is often argued that it should, like the other arms of the executive machinery, be subject to such control. The thesis that will be advanced below, however, is that the present degree of separation of the police from the other elements of government must be maintained. Indeed, it will be argued that such separation is fundamental to the British way of life, involving as it does the principle that citizens should be free from

Teaching Contemporary Italian Culture

Abstract: 'hile not abandoning their interest in matters of a pedagogical nare, foreign language teachers have in recent years frequently called for workshops on the contemporary society of the country whose language they teach. Accordingly, the Association of the Middlebury Italian School Alumni attempted to respond to this kind of interest, if only minimally, by suggesting to Dr. Clavio Ascari, the Director of the Middlebury College Italian School, that a workshop on contemporary Italy be included as part of the school's summer offerings. This was accomplished by enlisting the cooperation of a native scholar and an academician, well-versed in the contemporary scene, and an American professor of Italian whose experience in language pedagogy would guide the participants in their endeavors to relate the informational aspects of the workshop to their own course objectives. Professors Enrico Pozzi of the University of Rome and Remo Trivelli of the University of Rhode Island agreed to the undertaking. This workshop was offered for the first time in the summer of 1982 and repeated in 1983. Of the eleven people enrolled over the two summers, ten were teachers of Italian (eight at high school level and two at college level). The exception was a college teacher of English whose interest in the topic of the workshop was her motivating force. Since two weeks were hardly sufficient to accomplish the double task of gleaning information about contemporary Italy and learning to adapt it to classroom use, each day was very carefully planned and divided, specifically into a two-hour morning session and a one-hour afternoon/evening session. In the morning session Pozzi discussed contemporary Italy since 1968, a country in transition as the result of change in many areas of society: e.g., youth, the media, government, and education. Readings were based on two collections of essays, Dal '68 a oggi come siamo e come eravamo and Il trionfo del privato (both volumes Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1980), in addition to a number of articles in periodicals and newspapers. In the afternoon/evening session Trivelli guided the participants in determining the best methods for in-

Commentary to Chapter 5

Abstract: Professor Abernethy’s discussion is full of disquieting implications that she either does not see or chooses to ignore, or that do not trouble her. Her position is either inadequate or filled with foreboding moral and political implications, or a combination of the two. Although my comments are prompted by her essay, they are more broadly applicable to certain powerful tendencies in contemporary American society. These trends would transform our understanding of moral and social life by redescribing social beliefs, institutions, and practices in narrowly medical, functionalist, econometric, or socio-biological language that strips us of our capacity to make moral evaluations.