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CRITICAL MEDIA THEORIES
Normative theories are theories that seek to locate media structure and performance in the milieu (environment) in which they operate, they are observation of situation within which the press operate. The basic assumption of the normative theory is that, “the press always take on the form and coloration of the social and political structure within which it operate” (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm, 1995) cited by Anaeto et al 2008, it is also described as a theory that deal with what ought to be. They are theories that explain the expected operation of media under political and economical circumstance The origin of normative theories of the press seen from two opposing view point 1. Radical libertarian (first amendment absolutist) and technocratic control, the first amendment absolutist takes the idea of “ free press” as literal and oppose government regulation while the technocrats do not trust the media and believes in use of regulators to act in the public interest 2. Propaganda and mass society theories are used to justify media regulation. There are six normative theories of the press, in 1950 Siebert et al mentioned four theories, two more were added by McQuail in 1980.these theories are • Authoritarian theory • Libertarian theory • Social responsibility theory • Soviet communist media theory • Democratic participant theory • Developmental theory AUTHORITARIAN THEORY The authoritarian theory is an idea that placed all forms of communication under the control of a governing elite or authorities. It describes a situation where government in the hands of a tyrant or ruling elite who exercises repressive powers over the people, lays down the laws as to what the media can communicate. The media here are servants of state, mouthpiece of government. If they are perceived to fail in that capacity, by showing a degree of editorial independence, they are censored or shut down. In this context, authoritarians justified their control as a means to protect and preserve a divinely ordained social order. In most countries, the control rested in the hands of a king, who in turn granted royal charters or license to media practitioners. Free speech challenges authority and free speech that criticizes, or implies criticism of those in power is regarded as subversive. Hence, practitioners could be jailed for violating charters or licenses could be revoked. Censorship of all types, therefore, was easily possible. Authoritarian control tended to be exercised in arbitrary and erratic ways. Sometimes considerable freedom might exist to publicize minority viewpoints and culture as long as authorities didn’t perceive a direct threat to their power. Authoritarian theory doesn’t prioritize cultivation of a homogenous national culture, it only requires acquiescence to a governing elite. LIBERTARIAN PRESS/ FREE PRESS THEORY The Libertarian theory or Free Press theory is one of the “Normative theories of press”. The theory originally came from libertarian thoughts from 16th century in Europe. It is an exact opposite of the authoritarian theory. Watson (2000) its first principle is that the free press is servant to none but its readership in its task of informing, educating and entertaining. It is believed that International trade and urbanization undermine the power of a rural aristocracy which leads various social movements like the Protestants reformation, which demands individual’s freedom and their own lives and free thoughts. Liberalism means information is knowledge and knowledge is power. Free expression from any authority, unchecked by censorship – internal or external. Libertarianism claims fearlessness in the pursuit of the truth. The libertarianism is an idea of individualism and limited government which is not harmful to another. Libertarian theory advocates, people are more enough to find and judge good ideas from bad. The theory says people are rational and their rational thoughts lead them to find out what are good and bad. The press should not restrict anything even a negative content may give knowledge and can make better decision whilst worst situation. The libertarian thoughts are exactly against or opposite to the authoritarian theory which says “all forms of communication works under the control of government or elite like king”. The libertarian theory enables people to realize their potential and since news is about people making the news, the press reminds us that the society has not grown to an entity of greater importance than the people comprising it. Whether or not we regard free press as a natural right depends upon how much we assume that people desire to know the truth and will be set free by it. In Areopagitica, a powerful Libertarian tract published in 1644, John Milton asserted that in a fair debate good and truthful arguments will always win out over lies and deceit. This idea came to be known as Milton’s self-righting principle, and it continues to be widely cited by contemporary media professionals as a rationale for preserving media freedom. Libertarians basically follow dictates if their conscience, seek truth, engage in public debate and create a better life for themselves Strength of the free press theory lies in the following;
- Freedom of press will give more freedom to media to reveal the real thing happening in the society without any censorship or any authority blockades.
- Is reliable with U.S media traditions, as the principle is duly enshrined in the first amendment to the constitution.
- It gives more values for individuals to express their thoughts in media.
- Is too positive about individual ethics and rationality. Theory also has its weaknesses, these include;
- Theory is excessively positive about media’s willing to meet responsibilities which may lead people into negative aspects.
- Ignores need for reasonable control of media.
- Ignores dilemmas posed by conflicting freedoms. A classic example of this theory, is the Wiki leaks website which published all sorts of confidential or restricted files in public space and especially classified documents. These articles
provided brief knowledge about the government and its activities which helps people to identify what is happening in the society and its gives great choices to elect a better president in future. Sometimes these documents may work against the government and its authority that is why most of the country is not willing to allow libertarian thoughts because it may affect their power and kingdom SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY In mid 20th century most of the developing countries and third world nations have used this social responsibility theory of press which is associated with “the Hutchins Commission on the Freedom of the Press” in United States at 1942. In the book “Four theories of Press” (Siebert, Peterson and Schramm) it’s been stated that “pure libertarianism is antiquated, out dated and obsolete.” That paved way for replacement of Libertarian theory with the Social responsibility theory. Social responsibility theory allows free press without any censorship but at the same time the content of the press should be discussed in public panel and media should accept any obligation from public interference or professional self regulations or both. The theory lies between both authoritarian theory and libertarian theory because it gives total media freedom in one hand but the external controls in other hand. Here, the press ownership is private and media have an obligation to the public that amount to a form of public stewardship. The social responsibility theory moves beyond the simple “Objective” reporting (facts reporting) to “Interpretative” reporting (investigative reporting). The theory links with the democratic process and the media are guardians of that process, vigilant on behalf of the citizens, with a duty to be honest and fair to all. The theory balances the claims for freedom with the need for responsibility. It urges that in public interest, in the interest of true representation, both sides of a case should be stated. Professionalism was created in the media by setting up a high level of accuracy, truth, and information. The commission of press council also included some tasks based on social responsibility of media, which are as follows:
- Formulate the code of conduct for the press
- Improve the standards of journalism.
- Safeguarding the interests of journalism and journalist.
- Criticize and make some penalty for violating the code of conduct. Social responsibility theory appealed to the idealism of individual media practitioners and tried to unite them in service of cultural pluralism. It encouraged them to see themselves as front-line participants in the battle to preserve democracy in a world drifting inexorably towards totalitarianism. Dennis McQuail (1987) summarized the basic principles of the theory as follows:
- Media should accept and fulfill certain obligations to society
- These obligations are mainly to be met by setting high or professional standards of informativeness, truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance.
- In accepting and applying these obligations, media should be self-regulating within the framework of law and established institutions.
- The media as a whole should be pluralist and reflect the diversity of their society, giving access to various points of view and to rights of reply.
- Society and the public have a right to expect high standards of performance and intervention.
- The media should avoid whatever might lead to crime, violence, or civil disorder or give offence to minority groups. For this theory to work successfully, it would demand a pluralist media in a pluralist society and is only responsible through multiple ownership. Critics of Social Responsibility Theory are of the belief that
- Media will not play monopoly because the audience and media scholars will raise questions if media published or broadcast anything wrongly or manipulate any story.
- Media Standards will improve.
- Media will concern all class audience rather than focus on higher classes in the society.
- Media may work autonomously but certain thing is controlled by the government and other public organization. However, one way of satisfying the demands of this theory is the establishment of public service broadcasting in many parts of the world. This will ensure cultural and political pluralism. SOVIET MEDIA THEORY After the 1917th revolution, the Soviet Union was restructured with new political system based on the Marxist-Leninist principles. The newly formed communist party by Lenin shows much interest in the media which serves to the working class in the country and their welfares. So the Soviet originated a theory from Marxist, Leninist and Stalinist thoughts, with mixture of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel ideology and called it The Soviet Media Theory also known as Communist Media Theory. The same theory was developed and followed by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy. The government undertakes or controls the total media and communication to serve working classes and their interest. Theory says the state have absolute power to control any media for the benefits of people. They put end to the private ownership of the press and other media. The government media provide positive thoughts to create a strong socialized society as well as providing information, education, entertainment, motivation and mobilization. The theory advocates that all media message systems are in the service of the state, as well as voice of the people. Here, the public was encouraged to give feedback which would able to create interests towards the media.
The pioneering European sociologists, however, also offered a broad conceptualization of the fundamentals of society and its workings. Their views form the basis for today's theoretical perspectives, or paradigms , which provide sociologists with an orienting framework—a philosophical position—for asking certain kinds of questions about society and its people. Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: the symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict perspective. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for explaining how society influences people, and vice versa. Each perspective uniquely conceptualizes society, social forces, and human behavior (see Table 1). The symbolic interactionism perspective The symbolic interactionist perspective , also known as symbolic interactionism , directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. Although symbolic interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world, the American philosopher George H. Mead (1863–1931) introduced this perspective to American sociology in the 1920s. According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which spoken words serve as the predominant symbols, make this subjective interpretation especially evident. The words have a certain meaning for the “sender,” and, during effective communication, they hopefully have the same meaning for the “receiver.” In other terms, words are not static “things”; they require intention and interpretation. Conversation is an interaction of symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world around them. Of course, anything can serve as a symbol as long as it refers to something beyond itself. Written music serves as an example. The black dots and lines become more than mere marks on the page; they refer to notes organized in such a way as to make musical sense. Thus, symbolic interactionists give serious thought to how people act, and then seek to determine what meanings individuals assign to their own actions and symbols, as well as to those of others. Consider applying symbolic interactionism to the American institution of marriage. Symbols may include wedding bands, vows of life‐long commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a Church ceremony, and flowers and music. American society attaches general meanings to these symbols, but individuals also maintain their own perceptions of what these and other symbols mean. For example, one of the spouses may see their circular wedding rings as symbolizing “never ending love,” while the other may see them as a mere financial expense. Much faulty communication can result from differences in the perception of the same events and symbols. Critics claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level of social interpretation—the “big picture.” In other words, symbolic interactionists may miss the larger issues of society by focusing too closely on the “trees” (for example, the size of the diamond in the wedding ring) rather than the “forest” (for example, the quality of the marriage). The perspective also receives criticism for slighting the influence of social forces and institutions on individual interactions. The functionalist perspective According to the functionalist perspective , also called functionalism , each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society's functioning as a whole. The government, or state, provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. That is, the family is dependent upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law‐abiding, taxpaying citizens, who in turn support the state. If all goes well, the parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, the parts of society then must adapt to recapture a new order, stability, and productivity. For example, during a financial recession with its high rates of unemployment and inflation, social programs are trimmed or cut. Schools offer fewer programs. Families tighten their budgets. And a new social order, stability, and productivity occur. Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus , or cohesion, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole. Emile Durkheim suggested that social consensus takes one of two forms:
- Mechanical solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when people in a society maintain similar values and beliefs and engage in similar types of work. Mechanical solidarity most commonly occurs in traditional, simple societies such as those in which everyone herds cattle or farms. Amish society exemplifies mechanical solidarity.
- In contrast, organic solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when the people in a society are interdependent, but hold to varying values and beliefs and engage in varying types of work. Organic solidarity most commonly occurs in industrialized, complex societies such those in large American cities like New York in the 2000s.
The functionalist perspective achieved its greatest popularity among American sociologists in the 1940s and 1950s. While European functionalists originally focused on explaining the inner workings of social order, American functionalists focused on discovering the functions of human behavior. Among these American functionalist sociologists is Robert Merton (b. 1910), who divides human functions into two types: manifest functions are intentional and obvious, while latent functions are unintentional and not obvious. The manifest function of attending a church or synagogue, for instance, is to worship as part of a religious community, but its latent function may be to help members learn to discern personal from institutional values. With common sense, manifest functions become easily apparent. Yet this is not necessarily the case for latent functions, which often demand a sociological approach to be revealed. A sociological approach in functionalism is the consideration of the relationship between the functions of smaller parts and the functions of the whole. Functionalism has received criticism for neglecting the negative functions of an event such as divorce. Critics also claim that the perspective justifies the status quo and complacency on the part of society's members. Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when such change may benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise. The conflict perspective The conflict perspective, which originated primarily out of Karl Marx's writings on class struggles, presents society in a different light than do the functionalist and symbolic interactionist perspectives. While these latter perspectives focus on the positive aspects of society that contribute to its stability, the conflict perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever‐changing nature of society. Unlike functionalists who defend the status quo, avoid social change, and believe people cooperate to effect social order, conflict theorists challenge the status quo, encourage social change (even when this means social revolution), and believe rich and powerful people force social order on the poor and the weak. Conflict theorists, for example, may interpret an “elite” board of regents raising tuition to pay for esoteric new programs that raise the prestige of a local college as self‐serving rather than as beneficial for students. Whereas American sociologists in the 1940s and 1950s generally ignored the conflict perspective in favor of the functionalist, the tumultuous 1960s saw American sociologists gain considerable interest in conflict theory. They also expanded Marx's idea that the key conflict in society was strictly economic. Today, conflict theorists find social conflict between any groups in which the potential for inequality exists: racial, gender, religious, political, economic, and so on. Conflict theorists note that unequal groups usually have conflicting values and agendas, causing them to compete against one another. This constant competition between groups forms the basis for the ever‐changing nature of society. Critics of the conflict perspective point to its overly negative view of society. The theory ultimately attributes humanitarian efforts, altruism, democracy, civil rights, and other positive aspects of society to capitalistic designs to control the masses, not to inherent interests in preserving society and social order. AUDIENCE THEORY
. The audience concept usually means “receivers”. Audiences are both a product of social context and a response to a particular pattern of media provision. An audience is defined in different and overlapping ways: *By place *By the particular type of medium or channel involved *By the content of its messages *By time In 1939, the audience could be exemplified as a new form of collectivity made possible by the conditions of modern societies. It was called “mass” as a phenomenon that differentiated from older social forms. The mass audience was large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed. Its members didn’t and couldn’t know each other. When used by early commentators, the term generally had a pejorative connotation, reflecting a negative view of popular taste and mass culture. While impersonality, anonymity, and vastness of scale might describe the phenomenon in general, much actual audience experience is personal, small scale, and integrated into social life and familiar ways. Many media operate in local environments and are embedded in local cultures. Since most people make their own media choices freely, they do not typically feel manipulated by remote powers. The social interaction that develops around media use helps people to incorporate it into everyday life as a friendly rather than an alienating presence.
- Goals of Audience Research We can classify research goals in terms of the main uses to which information about the audience can be put. *Media-centred goals Sales and ratings Managing audience choice behavior Looking for new audience market opportunities Product testing and improving effectiveness *Audience-centred goals Meeting responsibilities to serve the audience
It suggests that a media text can ‘inject’ or 'fire' ideas, values and attitudes into a passive audience, who might then act upon them. This theory also suggests that a media text has only one message which the audience must pick up .This theory suggests that the audience is powerless towards resisting the impact of the message which, in some cases, could be dangerous. This appeared to be the case in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, leading up to the second World War. Powerful German films, such as Triumph of the Will (Riefenstahl, Germany, 1935), seemed to use propaganda methods to ‘inject’ ideas promoting the Nazi cause into the German audience. In 1957, an American theorist, Vane Packard, who was working in advertising, wrote an influential book called The Hidden Persuaders. This book suggested that advertisers were able to manipulate audiences and persuade them to buy things they may not want to buy. This suggested advertisers had power over audiences. In fact, this has since proved to be an unreliable model, as modern audiences are too sophisticated. This theory stems from a fear of the mass-media, and gives the media much more power than it can ever have in a democracy. Also, it ignores the obvious fact that not everyone in an audience behaves in the same way. Cultivation Theory This theory also treats the audience as passive. It suggests that repeated exposure to the same message – such as an advertisement – will have an effect on the audience’s attitudes and values. A similar idea is known as desensitisation, which suggests that long-term exposure to violent media makes the audience less likely to be shocked by violence. Being less shocked by violence, the audience may then be more likely to behave violently. Cultivation Theory The criticism of this theory is that screen violence is not the same as real violence. Many people have been exposed to screen murder and violence, but there is no evidence at all that this has led audiences to be less shocked by real killings and violence. Also, this theory treats the audience as passive, which is an outdated concept. Two Step Flow Theory Katz and Lazarsfeld assumes a slightly more active audience. It suggests messages from the media move in two distinct ways. First, individuals who are opinion leaders, receive messages from the media and pass on their own interpretations, in addition to the actual media content. The information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience, but is filtered through the opinion leaders, who then pass it on to a more passive audience. The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media, with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the opinion leaders. They are not being influenced by a direct process, but by a two-step flow. This theory appeared to reduce the power of the media, and some researchers concluded that social factors were also important in the way in which audiences interpret texts. This led to the idea of active audiences. Active Audiences This newer model sees the audience not as couch potatoes, but as individuals who are active and interact with the communication process and use media texts for their own purposes. They are prosumers (producers and consumers). We behave differently because we are different people from different backgrounds with many different attitudes, values, experiences and ideas. This is the active audience model, and is now generally considered to be a better and more realistic way to talk about audiences. Uses and Gratifications Model This model stems from the idea that audiences are a complex mixture of individuals who select media texts that best suits their needs – this goes back to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs above. The users and gratifications model suggests that media audiences are active and make active decisions about what they consume in relation to their social and cultural setting and their needs. This was summed up by theorists. This means that audiences choose to watch programmes that make them feel good (gratifications), e.g. dramas and sitcoms, or that give them information that they can use (uses), e.g. news or information about new products or the world about them. ‘Media usage can be explained in that it provides gratifications (meaning it satisfies needs) related to the satisfaction of social and psychological needs’. Blumler and Katz in 1974 Blumler and Katz (1975) identified four main uses:
- Surveillance – our need to know what is going on in the world. This relates to Maslow’s need for security. By keeping up to date with news about local and international events, we feel we have the knowledge to avoid or deal with dangers.
- Personal relationships – our need for to interact with other people. This is provided by forming virtual relationships with characters in soaps, films and all kinds of drama, and other programmes and other media texts.
- Personal identity – our need to define our identity and sense of self. Part of our sense of self is informed by making judgements about all sorts of people and things. This is also true of judgements we make about TV and film characters, and celebrities. Our choice of music, the shows we watch, the stars we like can be an expression of our identities. One aspect of this type of gratification is known as value reinforcement. This is where we choose television programmes or newspapers that have similar beliefs to those we hold.
- Diversion – the need for escape, entertainment and relaxation. All types of television programmes can be ‘used’ to wind down and offer diversion, as well as satisfying some of the other needs at the same time. Reception Analysis Reception Theory Reception analysis is an active audience theory that looks at how audiences interact with a media text taking into account their ‘situated culture’ – this is their daily life. This theory was put forward by Professor Stuart Hall in ‘The Television Discourse - Encoding/Decoding’ in 1974, with later research by David Morley and Charlotte Brunsden. The theory suggests that social and daily experiences can affect the way an audience reads a media text and reacts to it. Hall suggests that an audience has a significant role in the process of reading a text , and this can be discussed in three different ways :
- The Dominant or Preferred Reading. The audience shares the code of the text and fully accepts its preferred meaning as intended by the producers.
- The Negotiated Reading. The audience partly shares the code of the text and broadly accepts the preferred meaning but can change the meaning in some way according to their own experiences.
- The Oppositional Reading. The audience understands the preferred meaning but does not share the text’s code and rejects this intended meaning. This can be called a radical reading that may be, say Marxist or feminist or right wing Interactive Audiences The internet has opened up new ways to receive and interact with information. We can ‘read’ texts that are downloaded to our computers, or mobiles, or watch TV-on-demand and not just when the broadcasters want us to receive it. We can access music and film wherever we are with an Internet connection. We have access to media 24/7. A prosumer is a person who consumes and produces media. It is derived from "prosumption", a dot-com era business term meaning "production by consumers". These terms were coined by American futurist Alvin Toffler, and were widely used by many technology writers of the time. It applies to the fact that we can CREATE our own media and contribute, generating our own audiences. The real power of the audience seems to lie in being able to take part in a media text. Twenty-first-century audiences are creating their own distribution systems withoutmediation from institutions or companies. Websites such as YouTube, Instagram and blogs offer new possibilities for audiences. It is what we do and what we spend our money on that gives an audience its value, and to some extent its power. Things that influence audiences include new technologies. New technologies, in turn, influence audiences and institutions. UNIT 2 SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS Semiotic Analysis is a broad theoretical hypothesis of symbols and signs that pacts particularly with their meaning in both synthetically created and natural words. It includes semantics, syntactic, and pragmatics. It can be a study of symbols and behavior of using symbols, mainly in language. Semiotic Analysis History: In the middle of 19th and 20th centuries, the effectual work done by Charles Sanders Peirce and Ferdinand de Saussure directed to the manifestation of semiotics as a technique for testing facts in various fields such as communications, anthropology, aesthetics, semantics, and psychology. A noticeable awareness in the pattern and structure following the exercise of special signs connects semiotics among the techniques of structuralism. Semiotic Analysis Objectives: Semiotic analysis signifies a method designed for the analysis of special texts in spite of the standard in which it is offered. In support of these purposes, special text can be any message conserved in a structure having an independent existence. It may possibly develop ergonomic plan or a structural analysis in circumstances where it is essential to make sure that individuals are able to interconnect more efficiently with their surroundings. The mode of interaction can vary; it can be a large-scale as found in structural design, or a small-scale as found in the design of instrumentation for individuals. Applications of Semiotic Analysis:
Later, Freud came up with a more sophisticated and structured model of the mind, one that can coexist with his original ideas about consciousness and unconsciousness. In this model, there are three metaphorical parts to the mind:
- Id : the id operates entirely at an unconscious level and focuses solely on basic, instinctual drives and desires. According to Freud, two biological instincts make up the id: a. Eros, or the instinct to survive that drives us to engage in life-sustaining activities. b. Thanatos, or the death instinct that drives destructive, aggressive, and violent behavior.
- Ego : the ego acts as both a conduit for and a check on the id, working to meet the id’s needs in a socially appropriate way. It is the most tied to reality and begins developing in infancy.
- Superego : the superego is the portion of the mind in which morality and higher principles reside, encouraging us to act in socially and morally acceptable ways (McLeod, 2013). PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY Do you think your personality is greatly influenced by the sexual pleasure you receive throughout your life? Well, that's what Sigmund Freud believed. His theory of psychosexual development focuses on the effects of sexual pleasure on one's psyche. According to him, every child is full of energy that needs to be channelized in the right direction. The overall development of a child depends on the way he/she controls or directs this energy. He named this energy as libido. He believed that libido provides the basic platform for the mind to run on. Freud's five stages of development essentially showcase how sexuality starts from a very young age in humans, and how it develops till adulthood at different stages. If these stages are not completed or are unsatisfied, a person may get fixated, which may lead to a conflicted personality in the adulthood. Given below are the five stages of psychosexual development in chronological order as described by Sigmund Freud. Oral Stage This stage occurs from birth to around the age of one year. As the name suggests, in this stage, a child tries to gratify his libidinal energy through his/her mouth by sucking, biting, chewing, etc. You would observe children putting everything in their mouth at this age, be it food, toys, or soil. Oral fixation has two possible outcomes. According to Freud, if a person is dissatisfied at this stage, he/she is characterized by pessimism, suspicion, and sarcasm and grows into an adult who reduces tension or anxiety through chewing gum or the ends of pens and pencil. Such a person is said have an oral receptive personality. On the other hand, an overindulged person is known to have an oral aggressive personality, which is characterized by optimism, gullibility, hostility, etc. A normal person, with an oral passive personality is characterized by indulging in smoking, kissing, eating, oral sexual pleasures, etc. Anal Stage This stage occurs between two to four years when a child starts toilet or potty training. According to Freud, the child becomes aware of his/her anus at this stage and tries to gratify this zone with retention or expulsion of the feces. Anal
fixation may occur due to strictness showed by the child's parents while toilet training, which can have two possible outcomes. The first can be a person with an oral retentive personality, which is characterized by stinginess, excessive tidiness, perfectionism, and stubbornness. The other possible outcome is an anal expulsive personality, which is defined by a lack of self control, carelessness, and messy behavior. Phallic Stage This stage occurs between four to six years of age when the erogenous zones of the body, i.e., the genitals, start developing. At this stage, children frequently indulge in playing with their genitals in order to explore them. How parents react to this behavior of their children decides the outcome of the fixation at this stage. According to Freud, boys and girls experience Oedipus complex at this stage and the boys suffer from castration anxiety. According to Carl Gustav Jung, who did not agree with Freud about girls too experiencing the Oedipus complex, girls experience Electra conflict and suffer from a penis envy. According to Freud, a boy is more attracted towards his mother and the daughter is attracted towards her father at this stage, and both dislike the same-sex parent. It may be a stage when children idolize their parents, which Freud interpreted as sexual desire. This is one of the most debatable parts about this theory that is still discussed today. Latency Stage This stage occurs from the age of six till puberty when children express no sexual feelings. According to Freud, children at this stage suppress their sexual energy and direct it towards asexual pursuits, such as, school, athletics, hobbies, social relationships, friendships with same-sex, etc. Fixation at this stage results into sexual unfulfillment in later life. Genital Stage This stage occurs from puberty till death, which is also the period when children reach sexual maturity. How children explore and experiment their sexuality at this stage defines their adult behavior. Children with more resolved psychosexual development have greater capacity to develop normal relationships with opposite sex, whereas a fixation at this stage results into the child being frigid and impotent in later life, while also having unsatisfactory interpersonal relationships. For better understanding, take a look at the following chart that would help you understand the stages in a glance. Stage Year Characterized By Oral Stage 0 - 1 years A child derives pleasure through mouth by sucking, biting, and swallowing etc. Conflict arises when the oral needs of child are not met. Anal Stage 2 - 4 years Anus becomes the center of gratification as toilet training starts and the pleasure is derived by defecating or retaining faces. Phallic Stage 4 - 6 years Genitals become the center of gratification and children develop attraction towards the parent of opposite sex. Boys and girls suffer from Oedipus complex (according to Freud) and girls suffer from Electra complex (according to Carl Gustav Jung). Latency Stage 6 years - puberty No psychosexual development occurs in children. The libido is diverted towards asexual activities. Genital Stage Puberty - death It is the puberty period when sexual urges reawaken that may lead to children exploring their sexuality. Freud's theory states that a person's development is completed by the time he/she reaches adulthood. Sexual experiences of individuals dominate their behavior throughout their life. However, this theory of psychosexual development was and is still criticized by experts due to its overemphasis on sexuality without any corroborative data. Instead, psychologists today believe that personality development is a continuous process that happens throughout life. Sociological Analysis Social analysis is the practice of systematically examining a social problem, issue or trend, often with the aim of prompting changes in the situation being analyzed. Social analysis frequently involves issues of equality and social justice, but the insight gained from combining social analysis techniques and CRM analytics can also help organizations create business strategies and policies that are sensitive to particular social issues and likely to be perceived by customers as having a positive social impact. For example, after discovering through analysis of a customer survey that increased efforts to develop renewable energy would be viewed in a positive light, an oil company might decide to expand its investments in biogas,geothermal energy and solar power research. TYPES OF SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
workers gradually lose their ability to develop the finer qualities which belong to them as members of the human species. The cutting of these relationships in half leaves on one side a seriously diminished individual physically weakened, mentally confused and mystified, isolated and virtually powerless. On the other side of this separation are the products and ties with other people, outside the control and lost to the understanding of the worker. Submitted to the mystification of the marketplace, the worker's products pass from one hand to another, changing form and names along the way—"value", "commodity", "capital", "interest , rent "wage"—depending chiefly on who has them and how they are used. Eventually, these same products—though no longer seen as such—reenter the worker's daily life as the landlord's house, the grocer's food, the banker's loan, the boss's factory, and the various laws and customs that prescribe his relations with other people. Unknowingly, the worker has constructed the necessary conditions for reproducing his own alienation. The world that the worker has made and lost in alienated labor reappears as someone else's private property which he only has access to by selling his labor power and engaging in more alienated labor. Though Marx's main examples of alienation are drawn from the life of workers, other classes are also alienated to the degree that they share or are directly effected by these relations, and that includes the capitalists. 4 THEORY OF VALUE What is the effect of the worker's alienated labor on its products, both on what they can do and what can be done with them? Smith and Ricardo used the labor theory of value to explain the Cost of commodities. For them, the value of any commodity is the result of the amount of labor time that went into its production. Marx took this explanation more or less for granted. His labor theory of value, however, is primarily concerned with the more basic problem of why goods have prices of any kind. Only in capitalism does the distribution of what is produced take place through the medium of markets and prices. In slave society, the slave owner takes by force what his slaves produce, returning to them only what he wishes. While in feudalism, the lord claims as a feudal right some part of what is produced by his serfs, with the serfs consuming the rest of their output directly. In both societies, most of what is produced cannot be bought or sold, and therefore, does not have any price. In accounting for the extraordinary fact that everything produced in capitalist society has a price, Marx emphasizes the separation of the worker from the means of production (whereas slaves and serfs are tied to their means of production) and the sale of his or her labor power that this separation makes necessary. To survive, the workers, who lack all means to produce, must sell their labor power. In selling their labor power, they give up all claims to the products of their labor. Hence, these products become available for exchange in the market, indeed are produced with this exchange in mind, while workers are able to consume only that portion of their products which they can buy back in the market with the wages they are paid for their labor power. "Value", then, is the most general effect of the worker's alienated labor on all its products; exchange—which is embodied in the fact that they all have a price—is what these products do and what can be done with them. Rather than a particular price, value stands for the whole set of conditions which are necessary for a commodity to have any price at all. It is in this sense that Marx calls value a product of capitalism. The ideal price ("exchange value") of a commodity and the ways in which it is meant to he used ("use value") likewise exhibit in their different ways the distinctive relationships Marx uncovered between workers and their activities, products and other people in capitalist society. "Exchange value" reflects a situation where the distinct human quality and variety of work has ceased to count. Through alienation, the relations between workers has been reduced to the quantity of labor that goes into their respective products. Only then can these products exchange for each other at a ratio which reflects these quantities. It is this which explains Smith's and Ricardo's finding that the value of a commodity is equal to the amount of labor time which has gone into its production. While in use value, the physical characteristics of commodities—planned obsolescence, the attention given to style over durability, the manufacture of individual and family as opposed to larger group units, etc.—give unmistakable evidence of the isolating and degraded quality of human relations found throughout capitalist society. Surplus-value, the third aspect of value, is the difference between the amount of exchange and use value created by workers and the amount returned to them as wages. The capitalist buys the worker's labor power, as any other commodity, and puts it to work for eight or more hours a day. However, workers can make in, say, five hours products which are the equivalent of their wages. In the remaining three or more hours an amount of wealth is produced which remains in the hands of the capitalist. The capitalists' control over this surplus is the basis of their power over the workers and the rest of society. Marx's labor theory of value also provides a detailed account of the struggle between capitalists and workers over the size of the surplus value, with the capitalists trying to extend the length of the working day, speed up the pace of work, etc., while the workers organize to protect themselves. Because of the competition among capitalists, workers are constantly being replaced by machinery, enabling and requiring capitalists to extract ever greater amounts of surplus value from the workers who remain. Paradoxically, the amount of surplus value is also the source of capitalism's greatest weakness. Because only part of their product is returned to them as wages, the workers cannot buy a large portion of the consumables that they produce. Under pressure from the constant growth of the total product, the capitalists periodically fail to find new markets to take up the slack. This leads to crises of "overproduction", capitalism's classic contradiction, in which people are forced to live on too little because they produce too much. Critical Political Economy Now
Critical political economy is a tool with which we can critically examine the media. It takes a distinctly Marxist approach to the study of communications. Focuses include analyzing how various economic classes are affected, how people have different levels of access to communications technologies, how capitalism affects the media and cultural industries, and how corporate ownership affects what the media produces. Key question for critical political economy approach is whether the economics of production shape public discourse (i.e. the range of debates available) and change the meaning within a text. Analysis of media and communications through the critical political economy lens reveals various critiques, such as: Major corporations and competition can be questioned in context of monopolies and oligopolies (Examples: Warner Brothers, AOL , McClatchy Company, Bertelsman, 20th Century Fox) [This reveals unequal power relations and a lack of freedom and consumer choice.] Critical Political Economy argues it is crucial to examine power and differs from mainstream economic approaches because it is holistic, historical, delves beyond technical efficiency to address justice and moral issues, and focuses on the relationship between capitalist enterprise and public intervention. When applied to current media transformations, critical political economy can produce unique insights. Take for instance, this recent development in European television: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/business/media/european-television-ado… Starting with the integration of the drama ‘The Borgias’ into European markets, producers of continental europe have been inspired to make American-style TV series to sell in the United States and other international markets. Previous dramas from Europe garnered little interest from Americans but now, european producers, with the French in the lead, are making major transformations by shooting only in English and working with far larger budgets than before. Previously, production budget did not exceed €600,000, or $800,000 per hour. Now, in competition with American dramas, budgets are expected to compete with American budgets exceeding $3 million per hour. At this point, we must keep in mind that critical political economy of mass-media is the analysis of a specific phase of development linked to historically distinct modalities of cultural production and reproduction. In this sense, it is shocking that Europeans are voluntarily welcoming American culture into their previously culturally-elitist hallowed grounds. In reference to William Urrichio’s “Displacing Culture: trans-national culture, regional elites, and the challenge to national cinema,” Europeans maintained an attitude of cultural isolationism from the U.S., criticizing Americans’ lack of social cohesiveness. This was during a time (early 1900s) when the European film industry criticized Hollywood for its cultural barbarism and ensured a distinct separation of styles and production to prevent ‘Americanization.’ From that era to now, my how far we have come. It can be deduced that in light of the current vulnerable global economy, european producers are recognizing the potential profitability of english-based, large-scale dramas. They are opening up to Amercanization. They also recognize that with the acceptance of American style dramas, a larger audience can be reached (thus more profit). Although these new dramas will be filmed in American- style and in English, the influence of the producer’s foreign backgrounds will surely be reflected as well, thus increasing the diversity of output. The capitalist competitive mindset is powerful enough to influence a company’s production goals and to deter away from its longstanding national identity (in language and history, as delineated by Urrichio). The corporates involved in this transformation–F1 and Gaumont in France, Europacorp, and Tendem Communications in Germany are all actively pushing towards Americanization. This potentially brings to question the extent corporations will go to gain profit and to maintain their competitiveness in a capitalist system. UNIT 3 The Frankfurt School and Critical Theory The Frankfurt School, known more appropriately as Critical Theory, is a philosophical and sociological movement spread across many universities around the world. It was originally located at the Institute for Social Research ( Institut für Sozialforschung ), an attached institute at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. The Institute was founded in 1923 thanks to a donation by Felix Weil with the aim of developing Marxist studies in Germany. After 1933, the Nazis forced its closure, and the Institute was moved to the United States where it found hospitality at Columbia University in New York City. The academic influence of the critical method is far reaching. Some of the key issues and philosophical preoccupations of the School involve the critique of modernity and capitalist society, the definition of social emancipation, as well as the detection of the pathologies of society. Critical Theory provides a specific interpretation of Marxist philosophy with regards to some of its central economic and political notions like commodification, reification, fetishization and critique of mass culture. Some of the most prominent figures of the first generation of Critical Theorists were Max Horkheimer (1895-1973), Theodor Adorno (1903-1969), Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), Friedrich Pollock (1894- 1970), Leo Lowenthal (1900-1993), and Eric Fromm (1900-1980). Since the 1970s, a second generation began with Jürgen Habermas, who, among other merits, contributed to the opening of a dialogue between so-called continental and the analytic traditions. With Habermas, the Frankfurt School turned global, influencing methodological approaches in other European academic contexts and disciplines. It was during this phase that Richard Bernstein, a philosopher and
Cultural hegemony is derived from the term "hegemony", which is a method of gaining dominance by a leader state (territory) over other subordinate states, by threatening them with powerful means. The import of the term has evolved over time, from having signified a militaristic dominance, then a geopolitical dominance, and finally a cultural dominance. Cultural hegemony is a concept put forth by the Italian, Marxist philosopher, Antonio Gramsci. The concept implies the dominance of a custom-made culture that meets the needs of the majority but serves the interests of the dominant social class. It involves the careful manipulation of the social institutions by the dominant group, so as to impose their beliefs, perceptions, values etc, on other social groups in such a way that the modified social culture is accepted as the norm. Such a cultural state leads to the acceptance of the resulting social, economical, and political discrepancies as normal. These social constructs, in turn, are viewed as natural and beneficial to the larger population, when in fact it benefits only the dominant group. It eventually functions to replace the majority's worldview with that of the ruling social class. In recent times, hegemony has becomes a foundational part of mass media. The media is viewed as an independent and impartial entity. However, media broadcasting within a state have to follow a set guideline and protocol while producing any form of news. Since these establishments are inherently commercial in nature, they must follow these given rules in order to do business and survive. This causes the introduction of a bias that is favorable to the state and political system that licenses the media establishment. Therefore, a partially untrue version of events is put forth for assimilation by the public. ▣ Its impact on education is seen by the widespread use of English as the language of instruction. It has become important to be proficient in the English language if one is to excel professionally. This is reinforced by the fact that majority of the elite educational institutes provide education only in English and do not accept students who are not well versed in the language. This occurs to such an extent, that the knowledge of this language has become synonymous to being educated and intelligent, and those lacking it are deemed to be uneducated and unintelligent. ▣ Another example of cultural hegemony, is the use of schools and other institutions to preach and spread a specific point-of-view. Many religious institutes that do not support the sciences, advocate a non-evolutionary origin of life on earth and promote belief in the sudden miraculous emergence of intelligent life forms due to the efforts of a deity. ▣ A historical example of hegemonism was the unification of the East and West Berlin by the destruction of the Berlin wall, undertaken by the U.S and the countries of the allied forces due to their supreme economic power. ▣ The most common example of hegemony can be observed in the franchising and globalization of world cuisine, which involves franchises like KFC, Starbucks, McDonald's, etc. It also includes the practice of foreign companies to produce products that would sell well in the foreign market. The recent U.S. and British interventions in other countries like Iran and Afghanistan are also examples of hegemonic purposes where, by intervening and restoring order in the foreign land, access is gained to the affairs of that government. ‘Cultural globalisation refers to the rapid movement of ideas, attitudes, meanings, values and cultural products across national borders. It refers specifically to idea that there is now a global and common mono-culture – transmitted and reinforced by the internet, popular entertainment transnational marketing of particular brands and international tourism – that transcends local cultural traditions and lifestyles, and that shapes the perceptions, aspirations, tastes and everyday activities of people wherever they may live in the world’ Migration is an important aspect of cultural globalisation, and in this sense, this process has been going on for several centuries, with languages, religious beliefs, and values being spread by military conquest, missionary work, and trade. However, in the last 30 years, the process of cultural globalisation has dramatically intensified due technological advances in both transportation and communications technology. The globalisation of food is one of the most obvious examples of cultural globalisation – food consumption is an important aspect of culture and most societies around the world have diets that are unique to them, however the cultural globalisation of food has been promoted by fast food giants such as McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks. The spread of these global food corporations has arguably led to the decline of local diets and eating traditions. The Globalisation of sport is another fairly obvious example of cultural globalisation – think of all the international sporting events that take place – most notably the World Cup and The Olympics, and Formula 1, which bind millions together in a shared, truly global, ‘leisure experience’. Converging Global Consumption Patterns – today you can go to pretty much any major city in the world and share in a similar ‘consumption experience’. Also, more and more people in Asia and South-America are coming to enjoy high-consumption lifestyles like in the West – car ownership and tourism are both on the increase globally for example. Central to this is the growth of similar styles of shopping malls, and leisure parks which provide a homogeneous cultural experience in different regions across the world.
Ethnocentrism is when a person tries to judge the culture of other people from the point of view of their own culture. Ethnocentrism can look at things like language,custom, religion and behavior. An ethnocentric person will use their own culture as the basis for judging other cultures. They see their own culture as the best and believe other cultures should change to be more like theirs. The term was first used by sociologist William G Sumner. He defined it as “the technical name for the view of things in which one's own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it”. (PS this is more exclusive word for "racist") Ethnocentrism is not often presented as such a serious problem in movies, and is more often seen as a sort of entertaining device. The father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding constantly states that he can trace any word back to Greek origins. Furthermore, the entire movie is centered around the thrills and issues of planning a Greek wedding. Ultimately though, the movie has a happy ending, subtly suggesting that the positives outweigh the negatives. Another example of ethnocentrism that is covered with humor occurs in the comedy American Wedding. Upon learning that her grandson is not marrying a Jewish girl, Jim's grandmother becomes inconsolable. Furthermore, Michelle's father makes the mistake of toasting to his soon-to-be in laws with hopes that they will sit many happy shivas together. He is painted as a fool for his statement, and the movie subtly indicates a Jewish ethnocentrism. Cultural Change Media & Consumer Culture Commodification of Culture Commodification it's the ability to change a cultural product (souvenir) or service (restaurant service) in order to meet consumers (tourists) demand and supply. UNIT 4 Communication Media and Social Inequality Politics Behind Portrayal Impact of Media Sex and Violence Gender Issues in Mass Media UNIT 5 Nationlism, Globalisation and Modernity Convergence in Global Competition Modernisation Introduction Modernisation theory elaborates the development process within the societies. Theory states that the marginalised and underdeveloped societies develop in the same phase with that of other developed countries by providing proper support. This theory developed as the economic, social, and political system of developed in the west European and North American countries which have spread to South America, Asia and Africa, the underdeveloped countries. The modernisation theory is been evolved from idea of progress which propagated the idea of self-development which leads to the development of the society. It developed the concept of the technological and economic development can change the people’s perceptions. The ideas of French sociologist Emile Durkheim provided strong foundation for the development of modernisation theory. He compared the development of the society with that of the evolution of an organism. As the organism evolves the more complex it becomes. Likewise when the society develops, the complexity increases. Modernisation Theory Modernisation theory is used to explain the advancement of societies and its progress. The studies regarding the theory is based on the assumption that modernisation was exemplified by the western countries as they were able to progress from the primary stages of underdevelopment. And the underdeveloped countries tend to follow the western developed culture. Rostow has explained this idea through his stages of growth. According to him these five step model outlines the stages through which each country pass through to be developed.
- Traditional society – The conservative society distinguished by basic professions like agriculture. They will lack the knowledge about technology as the changes are seen pessimistically
- Pre-conditions for take-off – As the needs increases within the society the production increases and so does manufacturing
- Take-off – In this stage of development industrialisation happens at a fast pace. In this stage the perspective of people changes due to the establishment of scientific technologies
The term ‘technological determinism’ was coined by Thorstein Veblen and this theory revolves around the proposition that technology in any given society defines its nature. Technology is viewed as the driving force of culture in a society and it determines its course of history. Karl Marx believed that technological progress lead to newer ways of production in a society and this ultimately influenced the cultural, political and economic aspects of a society, thereby inevitably changing society itself. He explained this statement with the example of how a feudal society that used a hand mill slowly changed into an industrial capitalist society with the introduction of the steam mill. WINNER’S HYPOTHESES Langdon Winner provided two hypotheses for this theory:
- The technology of a given society is a fundamental influencer of the various ways in which a society exists
- Changes in technology are the primary and most important source that leads to change in the society An offshoot of the above hypotheses which is not as extreme is the belief that technology influences the various choices that we make and therefore a changed society can be traced back to changed technologies. Technological determinism manifests itself at various levels initially it starts with the introduction of newer technologies introduces various changes and at times these changes can also lead to a loss of existing knowledge as well. For example, the introduction of newer agricultural tools and methods has seen the gradual loss of knowledge of traditional means of farming. Therefore technology is also influencing the level of knowledge in a society. Examples of Technological determinism History shows us numerous examples to explain why technology is considered to be determining the society that we live in. The invention of the gun changed how disputes were sorted out and changed the face of combat. A gun required minimum effort and skill to be used successfully and could be used from a safe distance. This when compared to how earlier wars were fought with swords and archery lead to a radical change in the weapons used in war. Today with the discovery of nuclear energy, future wars will be fought with nuclear arsenal. Each new discovery causes a transition to a different society. The discovery of steam power let to the development of the industrial society and the introduction of computers has led to the dawn of the information age. Technological Drift Winner believed that changes in technology sometimes had unintended or unexpected results and effects as well. Winner called this phenomenon as ‘technological drift’ where people start drifting more and more among a sea of unpredictable and uncertain consequences. According to Winner, technology is not the slave of the human being but rather humans are slaves to technology as they are forced to adapt to the technological environment that surrounds them. Forms of Technological Determinism An alternative weaker view of technological determinism says that technology is serving a mediating function because despite it leading to changes in culture, it is actually controlled by human beings. When control of technology slowly reduces from being in the hands of few human beings, it passes completely into the control of technology itself. This view of humans having no control is referred to as ‘autonomous technological determinism.’ Technological Determinism and Media New media are not only an addition to existing media, they are also new technologies and therefore do have a deterministic factor as well. Marshall McLuhan made a famous statement that “the medium is the message.” This means that the medium used to communicate influences the mind of the receiver. The introduction of news print, television and the internet have all shown how technological advances have an impact on the society in which we live in. Criticism of Technological Determinism A critique of technological determinism is that technology never forces itself on members of the society. Man creates technology and chooses to use them. He invents television and chooses to view it. There is no imposition on the part of the technology to be used rather technology requires people to participate or involve themselves at some point or another to use a car or a microwave. The choice of using technology and experiencing its effects therefore lies in the hand of a human being. POSTMODERNISM-ASPECTS Postmodernism holds the techniques and ideas same as modernism, but emphasises on parody, playfulness and irony. Postmodernists focus on the role of exploring the universal system by creating what is known as the truth itself. For most of the postmodernists it is the rhetoric that gives rise to any sort of a perceived reality that is universal. Postmodernist thoughts are basically deliberate departures from those of the modernist approaches that have been previously dominant. Postmodernists trust that the westerners’ claims of freedom and affluence continue to be nothing but empty promises and they have not met the needs of humanity. They affirm that truth is relative. It means truth is something that it is up to the individual to determine for themselves. It’s been more than four centuries that the postmodernists have advocated and fostered a “new age way” of creating and rationalizing the human life and progress. Typical postmodernists are atheists but then some of them prefer to follow the eastern religious thoughts and customs. In fact many are naturalists including humanitarians, environmentalists and philosophers. These postmodernists confront the core religious and capitalistic values of the western world; they seek change for a new age of liberty within a cosmic commonality.
Criticism There are four broad classifications of post modern criticisms: § Criticism from the perspective of people who decline the concept of modernism and its sprouts § Criticism from the people who uphold modernism, who also believe that post modernism is deficient of the crucial characteristics of the so called modern project. § Criticism within the post modern community who seek improvement or change based on their understanding of post modernism § And finally from those who trust that post modernism is just a passing one and not a growing phase in social organization One common criticism of post modernism is that it is brilliantly diverse. But then much of post modernity centered on the opinion that it tries to deconstruct modernity. It encourages obscurantism [which is the practice of deliberately preventing facts from being known] in ways that were similar to reactionary movements of the past. The term post modernism when used in a negative sense, describes those tendencies that are perceived as relativist, counter-enlightenment or anti-modern. And specifically in relation to the critiques of rationalism, universalism and science. The tendency to the “abandonment of objective truth” is specifically attacked by most criticisms. Because critics see it as the most crucial unacceptable feature of the post modernity. American literary critic and Marxist Political theorist, Frederic Jameson criticises post modernism. He claims the cultural logic of the late capitalism, for its refusal to seriously engage with meta-narratives [the complex idea that is thought to be a brief explanation of historical experience or knowledge] of capitalization and globalization. MODERNISM AND POST MODERNISM-VARIATIONS Modernism is a label for a wide variety of cultural movements, whereas Post modernism is used in a wider sense to refer to the activities from 20th century that exhibit awareness and re-interpret the modern. It is based on socio-political theory. Using rational and logical means to gain knowledge was the base for modernism but then post modernism rejected the application of logical thinking. The post modern era thinking was based on unscientific and irrational thought process [as a reaction to modernity]. Modernism had an objective, theoretical and analytical approach whereas the post modern approach was subjective. Post modernism lacked the analytical nature and its thoughts were flamboyant and completely based on belief. The basic difference between modernism and post modernism is, modernist thinking is all about searching for an abstract truth of life but post modernist thinking trust that there is no universal truth or abstract.
