Contemporary society

About: Contemporary society is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3991 publications have been published within this topic receiving 91755 citations.

The End of Public Space?People's Park, Definitions of the Public, and Democracy

Abstract: The nature of public space in contemporary society is changing. This paper uses the turmoil over People's Park in Berkeley, California, as a means for exploring changing ideas about and practices in public space. I argue that as public space is increasingly privatized or otherwise brought under greater control, possibilities for democratic action are minimized. To make this claim, I provide a brief outline of the roots of the August 1991 riots at People's Park. I then examine the role that public space plays in modern democracies, and how ideas about public space have developed dialectically with definitions of who counts as “the public.” In American democracy, “the public” is constituted by private individuals. In this paper, I suggest that the presence of homeless people in public spaces raises important contradictions at the heart of this definition of “the public.” Many commentators suggest that these contradictions have led to “the end of public space” in contemporary cities, or at the very ...

Strange Multiplicity: Constitutionalism in an Age of Diversity

Abstract: Part I. Demands for Constitutional Recognition: 1. The constitutional question raised by the politics of cultural recognition: six examples and three similarities 2. The mutual recognition of cultural diversity: three features of the common ground and three historical movements 3. The spirit of Haida Gwaii as a symbol of the age of cultural diversity 4. A constitutional dialogue in The spirit of Haida Gwaii Part II. Diversity and Contemporary Constitutionalism: 5. Anwering the constitutional question: an outline 6. Two languages of contemporary constitutionalism and the three schools of modern constitutionalism 7. The challenge of post-modernism and cultural feminism 8. The challenge of interculturalism Part III. The Historical Formation of Modern Constitutionalism: The Empire of Uniformity: 9. Constitutions ancient and modern 10. Seven features of modern constitutionalism 11. Example of forging the seven features: Locke and Aboriginal peoples 12. Vattel, Kant and their followers 13.The reform of diversity in Europe and the colonies 14. The American revolution and the guardians of empire today Part IV. The Historical Formation of Common Constitutionalism: The Rediscovery of Cultural Diversity, Part I: 15. The hidden constitutions of contemporary societies 16. Understanding constitutionalism: Wittgenstein and Hale 17. Examples of the three conventions: the Aboriginal and common-law system and the conventions of mutual recognition and consent 18. The Aboriginal and common law system and the convention of continuity 19.The Aboriginal and common law system and constitutional dialogue Part V. The Historical Formation of Common Constitutionalism: The Rediscovery of Cultural Diversity. Part II: 20. Diverse federalism and the conventions of mutual recognition, continuity and consent 21. Diverse federalism and continuity: the Quebec act and the ancient constitution 22. Diverse federalism, the three conventions and the American revolution 23. The modern attack on diverse federalism: the Durham report and its followers 24. Linguistic minorities and the three conventions: the form of reasoning appropriate to mutual recognition and accommodation 25. Intercultural citizens, gender differences and the three conventions Part VI. Constitutionalism in an Age of Cultural Diversity: 25. A summary of contemporary constitutionalism 26. Replies to four objections to contemporary constitutionalism 27. Two public goods of contemporary constitutionalism: belonging and critical freedom Conclusion: the philosophy and practice of contemporary constitutionalism Notes Bibliography Index.

The discourse of advertising

Abstract: This comprehensive introduction to advertising discourse examines the language of contemporary advertising, not as an isolated object, but in complex interaction with the texts around it, with music and pictures and, importantly, with the people who make and experience it. Clearly explaining relevant theories of linguistics and poetics, each chapter ends with a series of stimulating exercises, and theoretical discussion is accompanied by examples from literary and sub-literary texts and recent advertisements. Putting forward the controversial view that adverts answer a need for play and display in contemporary society, Guy Cook explores the social function of advertising, moving from the uses of sound and sight, through creativity and word play to the poetic intricacies of the text to assess the effect of these on the people who receive adverts everyday, and whose identity is partly constructed by them.

Crime and the American Dream

Abstract: The basic idea behind this book is that the American dream TTitselfTT and the normal social conditions engendered by it are deeply implicated in the problem of crime (e.g., our cultural emphasis on achievement which promotes productivity and innovation, also generates pressures to succeed at any cost). In looking at the American dream, Messner and Rosenfeld examine interconnections between culture and institutional structure in contemporary American society and explore the implications of these interconnections for levels of crime.This critical examination challenges students to question and critically analyze broadly supported cultural goals and social organization. The book's tightly crafted theoretical perspective also helps students see the application of theory to real world problems.

Multimodality and Literacy in School Classrooms

Abstract: The characteristics of contemporary societies are increasingly theorized as global, fluid (Bauman, 1998), and networked (Castells, 2001). These conditions underpin the emerging knowledge economy as it is shaped by the societal and technological forces of late capitalism. These shifts and developments have significantly affected the commu nicational landscape of the 21st century. A key aspect of this is the reconfiguration of the representational and communicational resources of image, action, sound, and so on in new multimodal ensembles. The terrain of communication is changing in pro found ways and extends to schools and ubiquitous elements of everyday life, even if these changes are occurring to different degrees and at uneven rates (A. Luke & Car rington, 2002). It is against this backdrop that this critical review explores school mul timodality and literacy and asks what these changes mean for being literate in this new landscape of the 21st century. The two key arguments here are that it is not possible to think about literacy solely as a linguistic accomplishment and that the time for the habitual con junction of language, print literacy, and learning is over. As Kress (2003) writes,