Unit 7 - Culture

Lecture, continued

People who are trying to understand the processes of change during the "Electronic" or "Information" Revolution are called "postmodernists." Some of them are sociologists but there are also postmodernists in all social science and humanities disciplines. George Ritzer is the best known American postmodern sociologist. You may have already read one of more of his books. His first one was called McDonaldization and has been widely assigned in sociology classes. He has also written about the social impacts of credit cards and shopping malls. In The Globalization of Nothing (GoN) he moves on to discuss how American culture is being imported to the rest of the world through modern technologies. Since both the material The postmodern perspective may a little difficult for you to understand at first so don't hestitate to ask questions. I've provided some links to web sites about George Ritzer's work on the Resources page for Unit 7. You might want to explore some of these for background especially if you haven't read McDonaldization for any of your other classes.elements (PCs, satillite dishes, DVDs, cell phones) and the content of American culture are both available all over the world, it is useful for us to look at the cultural process that operate to spread technologies and ways of knowing around the world. The postmodern perspective may a little difficult for you to understand at first so don't hestitate to ask questions. I've provided some links to web sites about George Ritzer's work on the Resources page for Unit 7. You might want to explore some of these for background especially if you haven't read McDonaldization for any of your other classes.

While it is easy to see the various ways that technologies, both material and non-material, are spread through or between cultures, we need to keep in mind that other elements of culture, such as values, norms, beliefs, & social practices are also diffused. Television is a technology that has spread around the world. The very presence of television sets affects cultures as people change interaction patterns. And, the content of television programs has also affected the culture of many societies. A colleague of mine has studied how satellite television has changed traditional family interactions in Damacus, Syria, since the small dishes became available in the mid-1990s. People spend less time with their extended families than they did in the past as they stay home to watch favorite television programs. Programs like Baywatch and Friends change perceptions of the world and alter values and traditions. Women learn to want more freedom in dress and behavior. Both material and non-material elements have changed Syrian culture. Music is another form of non-material culture that spreads around the world and has the power to change culture. It has always diffused from one culture to another. Modern technologies simply mean that it spreads faster and that there is more feedback than in the past.

Ritzer is arguing that in the past cultures affected each other through the importation of things, material culture, but each society essentially kept its own traditions, values, beliefs, norms. Its own culture. We have seen a process in American society where more and more of the culture is created by or through the media. We watch sports on TV instead of playing them. We watch "Friends" instead of spending time with friends. We download music from the Internet rather than making our own. The exploits of movie stars and television personalities are reported on the national news along with, or sometimes instead of, congressional votes. Name brands are valued for the name rather than for the product. Teenagers must have a certain brand of jeans, for example, which are no better or worse than other brands but have a certain cache' in teenage culture. Our traditions, values, beliefs, and norms are no longer our own but are handed to us through the media. It is this sort of "empty" culture that Ritzer calls "nothing" and it is what he sees as being imported all over the world along with the technologies. Greeting card and candy companies promote new holidays such Grandparents Day to build their sales and those holidays become important to us. Our traditions, values, beliefs, and norms are no longer our own but are handed to us through the media. It is this sort of "empty" culture that Ritzer calls "nothing" and it is what he sees as being imported all over the world along with the technologies.

I think you will find Ritzer's perspective interesting and provacative. I know it will help us to understand additional dimensions of social and cultural change.