Lliure Elecció (9991)

Identity and Culture in the Global Information Society(82741) 

Theme 1. Introduction

1.1. Globalization, myth or reality?
1.2. Neoliberalism and globalization.
1.3. Perspectives on globalization. Antiglobalization and new social movements.
1.4. The debates on the globalization of culture.
1.5. Towards a global identity? 

Theme 2. The controversy on the notion of Culture

2.1. Culture or cultures?
2.2. The role of cultural industries. The reconfiguration of mass culture.
2.3. The debate on the “cultural exception”.
2.4. The role of technology on shaping cultural forms. The case of digital culture. The role of the Internet. The fragmentation of the public sphere and redefinition of culture, truth and reality.   

Theme 3. Identity

3.1. Sketch on traditional sources of identity patterns.
3.2. Perspectives on the constituency of identity.
3.3. National and post-national identity.
3.4. The role of mass media in the development of post-modern identities.      
3.4.1. Television and public service philosophy. 
3.4.2. The Internet paradigm and new identities. 

Theme 4. Public policies on identity and culture. The role of mass media

4.1. The crisis of the sovereign state.
4.2. Media and the politics of crisis.
4.3. The “public service” commitment. The decline and fall of public service broadcasting.
4.4. The EU media policy. The Media Programme.
4.5. The policy of European states. Cases.
4.5.1. Channel policies. The case of Ch4 and the BBC.
4.5.2. Programming policies. The case of Dutch TV.
4.5.3. Production policies. 

Theme 5. The effects

5.1. The debate on the constituency of society.
5.2. The arousal of a new sense of collectivity, cultures and identities.  

Required work and form of assessment

This course is assessed through three different kinds of work:
1. Final essay, worth 50% of the final qualification. This essay needs to be proposed to the professor on the date stipulated with the following information: objective, methodology, sources and an approximate proposal of index. No essay will be admitted without this previous presentation.
2. Public presentation of one of the suggested readings. This presentation shall be done in groups and following the instructions given by the professor (connection with the content of the course; advantatges/disadvantatges of a specific perspective, etc.). The set of readings will be available at OCÉ. This presentation will be worth 25% of the final qualification.
3. Class participation, worth 25% of the final qualification. Since the course will be focused on the discussion of specific perspectives connected to the concepts of “identity” and “culture”, participation is highly encouraged. The evaluation of participation includes interest, ability to pose and connect different perspectives, questions and suggestions about other students presentation, questions to the professor, etc.

readings

Required readings
Barker, Ch. Televisión, globalización e identidades culturales. Barcelona: Paidós, 2003
Chomsky, N. Profit over people. Neoliberalism and global order. New York [etc.]: Seven Stories, 1999.
Huntington, S. P. & Berger, P. L. (Eds.). Many globalisations. Cultural diversity in the contemporary world. Oxford [etc.]: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Gellner, E. Culture, identity and politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
Giddens, A. Un mundo desbocado. Los efectos de la globalización en nuestras vidas. Madrid: Taurus, 2002.
Hall, S.; Du Gay, P. (Eds.). Cultural identity. London: Sage Publications, 1996.
Meyrowitz, J. No sense of place. The impact of electronic media on social behaviour. New York: Oxford University Pres, 1985.
Price, M. E. Television, the public sphere and national identity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Raboy, M.; Dagenais, B. (Eds.). Media, crisis and democracy. Mass communication and the disruption of social order. London: Sage Publications, 1992.
Sinclair, J. Televisión: comunicación global y regionalización. Barcelona: Gedisa, 2000.
Tracey, M. The decline and fall of public service broadcasting. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Various authors. The postnational self belonging and identity. Edited by Hedetoft, U. & Hjort, M. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2002.
Various authors. Mass communication, cultural identity and cross-cultural relations. Barcelona: Centre d’Investigació de la Comunicació, 1992.
Wolton, D. ¿Internet, y después? Una teoría crítica de los nuevos medios de comunicación. Barcelona: Gedisa, 2000.

Recommended readings
Arendt, H. & Finkielkraut, A. La crisi de la cultura. Barcelona: Pòrtic, 1999.
Arendt, H. Entre el pasado y el futuro. Ocho ejercicios sobre la reflexión política. Barcelona: Península, 2003 (1954).
Klein, N. No logo. Barcelona: Paidós, 2001.
Nye, J. The paradox of American power. Why the world's only superpower can’t go it alone. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
O’Brien (et. al.). Contesting global governance. Multilateral economic institutions and global social government. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Petrie, D. (Ed.). Screening Europe. Image and identity in contemporary European cinema. London BFI Publishing, 1992.
Salam Pax. The Baghdag Blog. Atlantic Books, 2003. (Trad. Barcelona: Mondadori, 2003).
Sholte, J. A. Globalization. A critical introduction. Houndmills [etc.]: Macmillan, 2000.
Stiglitz, J. El malestar de la globalización. Madrid: Taurus, 2002.
Veseth, M. Selling globalization. The myth of the global economy. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner, 1998.
Various authors. A place in the world? Places, cultures and globalization. Oxford: The Open University, 1995.
Various authors. Making sense of collectivity. Ethnicity, nationalism and globalization. Edited by Malesevis, S., Haugaard, M. London [etc.]: Pluto, 2002.
Various authors. Identity and difference. The Open Unviersity. London: Sage Publications, 1997.
Various authors. Culture, globalization and the world-system contemporary conditions for the representation of identity. London: Macmillan, Departament of Art and Art History. State University of New York at Binghamton, 1991.