Globalization and Social Identity - Essay Example

?Globalization and Social Identity Introduction In the modern age, societies are characterized by a rise in the mobility of people, capital, and technology and even the information related to these entities. Amongst these, people and capital have emerged as uncontrollable players who constantly disrupt the production processes and the balance of power. Thus, power can no longer be contained within formal institutions and has thus become an integral part of the global information network (Castells, 1999). Sassen (2001) says that while capital, technology and information are distinct, the global network of production and social space has produced a primary association between them. This recasts power into an important symbolic weapon for people who aspire to enhance their influence and for those who tend to resist it. Such developments in the political, economic and social spheres have resulted in dynamic changes within urban spaces. Cities like Paris that consist of vast metropolitan areas have attained a high degree of complexity and face issues like spatial & social fragmentation and inter-cultural tensions. The advent of the symbolic sphere has led to the growth of social interaction as a crucial component in urban development. Consider the Paris metro for example. This vast city-wide transit system creates economic benefit, is projected as a work of art, serves as an important symbolic image of the city and creates public spaces. Thus, social spaces and urbanism have evolved through reciprocal interaction wherein both rely on global flows for their survival and advancement. The main purpose of this essay is to drive forth the point that people are being increasingly displaced from the real. Social interaction within the network society has forced the individual identity to be highly privatized. Places and social interactions are constantly becoming repetitive. People become removed from ‘place’ as today’s high-speed infrastructure allows and even forces us to be in constant motion. Social spaces within a global city like Paris are in constant transformation. In this context, the essay explores ways in which new social spaces can be formed within this network society. Modern social interaction The future decades will be shaped by capitalistic phenomenon like globalization, innovation and mobility. These factors help in reshaping social interaction through successive de-construction and re-construction along with the rapid inclusion of public perceptions and new values. Latour (2005) believes that social reorganization is focused towards superseding time and space. He however warns against assuming the emergence of a ‘global society’ and instead views the current trends as gradual steps towards enhanced global interdependence. This new world depends immensely on technology for maintaining power, creating wealth and redefining social spaces. The rapid digitization and the growth of the Internet has localized global flows and altered the nature of global capitalism. There is renewed flexibility in networking and better management of the service economy. As mass human-intensive production systems have been overtaken by flexible forms of production, many thinkers welcomed the onset of the post-industrial age. In his book titled ‘The rise of the Network Society’, Castells (1999) acknowledged a fundamental shift from an industrial society to one driven by informational networks. The emergence of this new society has reshaped production from depending on energy sources to knowledge generation, an important precursor to technological advancement. Castells further adds that the present structure of society result in a dependence of individuals and organizations on information. Thus, power no longer likes within institutions but is instead present within social codes and propagates through the global framework of information exchange. Castells terms this as the new communication system that functions through a universal digital language. Such a facility generalizes the creating and distribution of information along global networks but customizes it based on social identities when accessed by end users. The inclusion and automation of information is providing new ways to create, transform and transmit information while also extending the range and scope of application. In addition, it also facilitates an integration of all communication devices and media thereby adding an extra level of interactivity. However, new cyber-spaces are being created from concepts like ‘digital community’, ‘virtual reality’ etc., leading to the evolution of ‘real virtuality’ where any interaction is itself an experience beyond pure physical senses (Castells, 1999). Growth of the Network Society and Heterotopia Foucault (1986) introduced the concept of ‘Heterotopia’ to attribute different places and organizations that obstruct the normal flow and continuity of ordinary space. While the notion of utopia inverts the current society, Heterotopias represent such inversions that exist in reality. Foucault categorizes these entities as ‘Heterotopic’ as they alter the existence of the common place and society. All examples discussed by him as part of heterotopias including school, psychiatric institutions, library, museums and hotels provide an overview of the vast expanse of this concept. The topic of ‘Heterotopia’ has led to the creation of a new domain that facilitates a modern and often archaic way to organize social spaces. Foucault uses different examples from the history of space to suggest the emergence of a network space within which Heterotopias have undergone some fundamental changes. Instead of interrupting the ensuing normality, heterotopias can simulate or achieve the experience of place within the non-place. In simpler words, heterotopias can be discussed by analyzing the friction between place and non-place (topicality and non-topicality). The introduction of ‘Heterotopia’ by Foucault has assumed a sense of relevance against recent developments in the discussions on public space and social identity. Thus, Heterotopia has redirected and reignited the current debate on the transformations of social space. Individualism and Social Identities According to Auge (1995), globalization has resulted in to primary outcomes namely individualism and inequality. Both these factors have important psychological effects on people. Auge (1995) also says that people use their selves to determine their actions and guide their understanding. People develop these notions by carefully observing the results of their actions and those of others around them. People also use their selves as a source of inspiration as every individual wishes to improve his self-esteem. With age, this constant urge to improve helps reduce any uncertainty about personal identity and behavior. The fundamental point being driven forth here is that there is a basic distinction between social and personal identity. While both are associated with the same individual, they are completely different based on the social identity theory. Social identity provides a reference to the different social categories and groups (like nationality, ethnicity, family etc.) to which the individual belongs. Some of the characteristics of each group become the defining attributes of the individual’s self. These attributes vary from time to time based on their importance to the self. Moreover, different social identities assume significance under different conditions. Personal identities, on the other hand, are dependent on the unique characteristics and behavioral patterns of the individual. While personal identities are also the products of interpersonal interactions, they are nevertheless not derived through the social groups to which the person belongs. The rising prominence of individualism among people at organizational and societal levels indicates that people will rely more on their personal identity. While managers and superiors encourage employees to think and work as individuals, a large part of an individual’s daily activities have become independent and repetitive in nature. Consider, for instance, the example of daily metro commuters, who enter the same station at the same designated time on each working day, stand at the same place on the platform, take the same train to the same destination and leave the destination station on their own. Most of these activities occur in a sequential manner without any external intervention or assistance. However, Auge (1995) observes that such individual actions, when performed repetitively on a frequent basis, tend to diminish human awareness and physical perception. The mind ceases to engage with the physical senses and the individual cannot recollect any event during the time spent within the station. Thus, it appears that such people get dissociated from reality for brief periods, resulting in an invasion of their personal space whereby the mind becomes highly charged and privatized. The fragmentation of social groups like family and religion has also been cited as reasons for the rising prominence of personal identity. People value personality driven characteristics like attractiveness and ambition over social virtues like integrity and dependability. Sassen (2001) thinks that a minority of people may still depend on their social identities due to rising inequality in the society. Many people often feel that the social system has treated them in an unjust fashion. Many also face procedural injustice and may eventually view the systems of governance and institutions as unfair. Such people may feel powerless resulting in a degradation of their self-esteem. Since maintaining courage and self-esteem are important motivations, people prefer to associate themselves with others whom they view as having undergone similar issues. A Hypothetical case Consider the previous assignment regarding the hypothetical installation of the Paris super metro. While such a transit system does not exist currently, the idea was to initiate a simulative approach in order to study the effects of globalization and urbanism on the social identities of individuals. The goal of this 21st century infrastructure project is to catapult Paris into the league of global cities. The motivation for this idea was derived from the recent plan outlined by the French government for a Greater Paris that would fit into the modern era. The French president, Mr. Nicholas Sarkozy wants Paris to be regarded as an ecological city that radiates beauty and happiness and rival the likes of London, New York and Tokyo. In fact, Mr. Sarkozy believes that Paris would cease to exist as an agglomeration and evolve into a real city. The plan received formal approval from the parliament after eight months later primarily through the efforts of Christian Blanc, a former chief executive of Air France. The idea was to construct a 130 km long super metro that would the whole of outer Paris by the year 2017. Costing €21 billion and spanning across 40 stations, the super metro would connect the city’s airports with business districts like ‘La Defense’ besides some ‘banlieues’. Further, the area around every station was to be developed on the lines of an economic hub (Economist, 2009). While the above proposal seems very promising and looks poised to transform Paris into a truly global city and economic powerhouse, it will also led to further segregation and fragmentation of various economic and ethnical classes living in the city. The present plan would only tend to push people, especially those belonging to the economically weaker sections, farther away from the city. Such a situation has already been explored by the movie ‘la haine’, which portrays the struggles of the underprivileged sections of the society as they dreamt of escaping the horrid ghettos where they lived. The incessant expansion of the city and its rapid confluence into the global economy, unmindful of its impact on the residents, had driven people into the suburbs. The main objective of the new model for Paris it to achieve economic gain and development through the establishment of specific regions specializing in academic, research or economic endeavors in areas adjoining the stations of the Paris super metro. This means that people living in underprivileged ghettos would travel along the circular route outside Paris to reach the industrial zones, becoming even more marginalized from the glitz and superiority of inner Paris. Such situations can lead to a downfall of social identity as people no longer have a sense of ownership or belongingness to the city. They slowly begin to turn into physical masses that travel every single day to their workplace using the super metro that runs along the outskirts. Over time, with the gradual fall in the number of visits into the city, their association with Paris and the notion of being a Parisian degrades to such an extent that the individual can no longer associate with this social group. Conclusion The preceding sections provide brief insights into the present trend of globalization and its impact on personal lives and social identities. The findings shed light on the fact that the human mind, as a result of rapid industrialization and urbanization, is becoming increasingly disconnected from reality. In fact, people do not just become disconnected with their own self, but also with others. While most of our daily actions and thoughts are becoming highly repetitive and occur without much thinking, today’s high-speed infrastructure such as the super metro has rapidly dethroned the individual from his ‘self’ and ‘place’. The only association that people have today is managed entirely through machines. Consider the ticket vending machine as an example. Commuters purchase tickets at these vending machines, leaving a fragment of their presence for a given instant in time with the machine. The machine remains idle until another body activates it. Thus, within the social space of the train station, the only association among individuals across the dimension of time is provided by gadgets like the vending machine that are the only sources of developing a visual relationship between the faceless beings of the ‘network society’. References 1. Auge (1995), Non-places: introduction to anthropology of supermodernity. London: Verso. 2. Castells (1999), The Network Society. New York: John Wiley. 3. Economist (2009), Wider still and Wider. Retrieved from URL: http://www.economist.com/node/15019896 4. Foucault (1986), The other spaces. Chicago: McGraw Hill. 5. Latour (2005), Reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network-theory. Oxford University Press. 6. Sassen (2001), The global city: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton University Press. Read More