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AQA A Level Sociology late modernism 20 mark essay
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Full 20 mark essay (with a plan) on late modernism for AQA A Level Sociology papers 1 and 3 sociological theory
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Item A:Contemporary society has had many changes and developments since the enlightenment
and industrial revolution. While some sociologists would argue that modernity has continued
and evolved, bringing contemporary society into a 'late modern' era, others argue that the
characteristics of modernity no longer exist, and therefore society is now Post-modern.
Applying material from Item A and your own knowledge, evaluate the claim that
contemporary society is late modern (20 marks).
1) “modernity has continued and evolved, bringing contemporary society into a ‘late
modern’ era” - Giddens
- Defines late modernity as capitalism, industrialism, surveillance capacity, military
power; these existed in modernity but have since evolved (so society has changed
but not so much that we have left modernity): capitalism has changed as we have
transitioned to a service economy/no more jobs for life, military has changed b/c of
nuclear weapons + MAD (Russia/Ukraine), surveillance capacity has increased: UK
is one of the most surveilled countries in the world
- These risks have created the ‘juggernaut of modernity’: society can be directed to
some extent but could also run out of control so people feel insecure + unstable e.g.
anxiety around COVID vaccines (shows trust in science is no longer guaranteed)
- So whilst society has clearly changed significantly, the characteristics of modernity
remain in place meaning we haven’t entered postmodernity yet
- AO3: these changes have come about largely due to globalisation (e.g. transition to a
service economy only possible b/c we outsource manual jobs to other countries on
the cheap) + globalisation is a key characteristic of postmodernity; some would argue
society may still resemble late modernity in some aspects but is far too different to
still be in the modern era
2) “the characteristics of modernity no longer exist, and therefore society is now
Post-modern” - Baudrillard: modernity has ruptured + become a new type of society
- Society is now dominated by the media/entertainment industry (not true of modern
era); this has lead to simulacra (= image replacing reality w/ a more favourable
representation) + hyperreality (=inability to distinguish reality from a simulation of
reality): people don’t live in the real world, TV has become a part of life
- E.g. when a character was wrongfully imprisoned on Eastenders in 1998, PM Blair
intervened because people were starting a campaign to have her freed
- So the characteristics of society have changed to the point where we are no longer in
modernity; society is so different + our view of the world is so distorted that it must be
categorised separately as post-modern (+ the new characteristics are of a
postmodern society); media (key aspect of modernity) has much greater influence
- AO3: Baudrillard rejects metanarratives (define) but by making sweeping
generalisations then he is arguably just creating another metanarrative to attempt to
define society; not everyone (if anyone) struggles to distinguish between reality +
fiction + in recent years media literacy has become more important due to the rise of
misinformation/disinformation
3) Lyotard: in postmodern society knowledge has become fragmented + is particular +
subjective to different groups rather than universal + objective as was claimed during
the modern era
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