GS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Gianni Vattimo, Gwynne Dyer, Glocalization
The climate horizon - gwynne dyer
Mon sept 26 7-9
Senate and board chamber
Core Concepts: Globality and G-local-ization
Globality as Social Condition
Contested Concepts
- Raging debates on our current condition
- We are trying to decipher the signs of the times: this is not an exact science
- One's view of the current state of the world is informed by one's perspective on
things, much like the story of the blind men trying to describe the elephant
- Global Studies: an interdisciplinary understanding of different dimensions of our present
condition
The Global Condition: Globality
- Are we entering a new era, a new epoch beyond the modern era?
- If the modern condition is known as modernity, should the postmodern condition be
called globality?
- Globality signifies a social condition characterized by tight global economic, political,
cultural, and environmental interconnections and flows that make most of the currently
existing borders irrelevant (Steger, 9). → social condition = state of our era/time in which
we live
A Requiem for Modernity?
- Gianni Vattimo wrote The End of Modernity
- Asked if we were entering a post modern age
- Would have to know what was modern to know if we were postmodern
Change or Continuity?
- Does globalization mark the end of modernity? → modernity, 1450-1989
OR
- Is it more of the same, i.e. the continuation of the unfinished project of modernity? →
the extension of the logic of modernity on a global scale
Globalization: Process of Transformations
- Globalization refers to: a set of external, material social processes that appear to be
changing our modern world into a new social condition
- Globalization also involves: a new internal, subjective consciousness about the human
race as one people and the world as our home
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Globalization and Localization: Contradictory Processes
World Cup - a Global or Local Event?
- Political representation
- Sense of identity / pride
- Unfair treatment to workers, had to improve conditions
- Most watched event
- Symbolic representation of globalization
World Cup - a Glocal Event
- Political, economic, cultural, ideological, and environmental aspects
- Connectivity and flows
- Glocal dynamics
- The specific complex of connections and flows link the global to the local and
vice versa
The Olympic Movement
- The Olympics are a symbol of globalization and yet date back to Ancient Greece
- 1980 Olympic Games held in moscow, boycotted by Canada, US, Western Europe →
mark of resistance to invasion … 1984 games held in LA, soviet bloc boycotted
- Sense of connection, yet disconnection… celebration, yet protest
- Protests to Olympics: Bread not Circuses
- Opposition to Toronto bid for 1996 Olympics
- Obscene to spend millions of dollars, when people are homeless and
going hungry
- Return on investment never accrues to most vulnerable
- Helped to scuttle success of bid
- Proponents and Opponents of globalization express opposing tendencies
- Need to understand proponents and opponents
Wavin Flag used for Coke ad, original lyrics somber “violent prone”, “poor people zone”,
changed lyrics to make it more positive
*paying attention to the world media shows world of misery, war etc. … doesn’t include long
periods of peace and order, good news isn’t shown*
*paradox of human condition - continue to rise and fall - hope is not extinguished*
Globalization: Opposing Tendencies
- Difficult to predict with precision where we’re headed because globalization is
contradictory
- Global and the local equally strong
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
We are trying to decipher the signs of the times: this is not an exact science. One"s view of the current state of the world is informed by one"s perspective on things, much like the story of the blind men trying to describe the elephant. Global studies: an interdisciplinary understanding of different dimensions of our present condition. Globality signifies (cid:3247)a social condition characterized by tight global economic, political, cultural, and environmental interconnections and flows that make most of the currently existing borders irrelevant(cid:3248) (steger, 9). Social condition = state of our era/time in which we live. Gianni vattimo wrote the end of modernity. Asked if we were entering a post modern age. Would have to know what was modern to know if we were postmodern. Is it more of the same, i. e. the continuation of the (cid:3247)unfinished project of modernity(cid:3248)? the extension of the logic of modernity on a global scale.
