Lecture V

The Role of Communications for

Globalization and Cosmopolitansim

Johan Lindell, Ph. D Student

Johan.lindell@kau.se
Media and Communication Studies
Karlstad University
 Info
 Take-home exam:
Posted tomorrow night on Kurstorget
Deadline is 12.00 AM, Wednesday, 17th of Feburary
Hand-in – do not mail.
 Wednesday:
Starts 10.15
Jochen Hoffman will visit
Division into 8 groups for presentations
Important information on the individual essays

”Kommunikation och Globala Medier” – students. Jakob Svensson

will visit 11.45 on Wednesday to inform you on your essays and the
course evaluation
 Monday 15/2 Open Lecture. Guest lecturer from communication
agency. All MKV students invited.
 Lecture outline

1.) Technological determinism

2.) Globalization and Communication

3.) The Expressions of Globalization

1.) Technological Determinism
 Technological Determinism:

 A philosophical standpoint emphasizing the impact of

technology upon societies

 Technology determine societies (social structures and

cultural values)

 E.g. global communication infrastructure -> notions of

humanity united
Raises questions on what role technology plays in
shaping society and culture

How does a technology impact upon society?

What drives history – human agency vs. technology

Common myths/discourses on technological impact on

societies:
 The technological deterministic
discourse1.
The printing press
(Gutenberg, 15th century)
->

- Emergence of the
’imagined community
- Formation of nation-states
- Democratization of
religion -> reformation
- Emphasis on vernacular
 The technological deterministic
discourse 2.
Computer mediated communcation
(cmc) ->

- Re-invention of direct democracy

(’e-participation’)

- Revolutions in education

- Completely new ways of thinking

- Knowledge-society

- No social classes
Control. History.

What makes history progress?

Man or Machine?

Human agency vs. technology

 ’Middle-ways’
 Smith, M. R & Marx, L (1994), MacKenzie, D & Wajcman, J (1999):
- Common discourses : ”the automobile created suburbia”, ”the printing press led to
the reformation”.
- Before and after – perspective is fallacious.
- ’Hard’- vs. ’soft’ determinism

 Innis, H (1950, 1951):

- Communication media (technology) as resources to help/promote human agency that
in turn ’bounces back’ as societal effect.

 Castells, M (1996)
- ”technology does not determine society. Nor does society script the course of
technological change. Technology is society”
- Role of the state

 Mosco, V (2006).
- New technologies enter society, myths of great change/improvement are created
around these new technologies. The same political economy dynamics remain.
2. Globalization and Communication
 Defining Globalization
The uprooting of human activities – political, cultural,
economic, social

or:
interconnectedness -> interdependencies of many
different parts in the world.

From a communication studies perspective:

Why globalization? – because it is possible to
communicate on a global scale

”Only in the past couple of centuries, as every human

community has gradually been drawn into a single
web of trade and a global network of information,
have we come to a point where each of us can
realistically imagine contacting any other of our six
billion conspecifics and sending that person
something worth having: a radio, an antibiotic, a
good idea.”

(Appiah, 2006: x)
 Tracing the History of the
Globalization of Communication
 Thompson, J. (1995). Media and Modernity – ch. 5 ’The
Globalization of Communication’

Main points:

- Today communication is increasingly global

- This promotes a ’reordering’ of time and space

- This in turn, promotes global interconnections interdependencies

= globalization.

- Globalization is a progress, not an end state. Started mainly

with three processes during the 19th century:
 Tracing the History of the
Globalization of Communication
1.) 1830’s. The telegraph – electric communication via transatlantic underwater
cables. No more messengers.
1843 – Washington and Baltimore connected
1865 – Britain and India connected
1870s – Europe linked to large parts of the world
1924 – King George V sends a message to himself that circulated the globe
in 80 seconds

2.) 19th century. Emergence of global news networks. Significant in three ways
1.) News over large territories
2.) Global in scope
3.) Reached big audiences

3.) Electro-magnetic waves. The emergence of organziations with the mission to

dissiminate radio frequencies.
 Different globalization[s]
– The dimensions of globaliation
 Cultural: ’Global images’, global audiences, value-spreading, ’neo-
imperialism’/’media imperialism’. World culture.

 Social: Global social relations, mobility, tourism, sense global of

community.

 Political: Supra-national organizations: UN, WTO etc. Supra-national

governance: ’world-police’, Obama phenomenon, regionalization: EU.
Cosmopolitansim

 Economic: Common discourse. Trade links, instant money transaction -

global business. Global exploitation of labour.

------------

Common thread: they all depend on global communication infrastructure.

 Conceptualizing globalization

 Appadurai, A. (1996). ’Scapes’ that capture the globalization of

all human activity: ethnoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes,
technospaces etc.

 Castells, M. (1996). In globalization – new logic of space: from

’space of place’ to ’space of flows’

’Flows’ (= purposeful, repetivite, programmable sequences of

exchange and interaction between physically disjointed
positions)
Flows are ”expressions of processes dominating our economic,
political and symbolic life.” (p. 442).
How do we notice globalization in
everyday life?
Break.
 3.) Expressions of Globalization

 How is the organization of our world different now (in the

midst of the process of globalization) compared to
’before’?
’Expression 1’: The Rise of Global
Cities
Mainly located and considered within the economy-
dimension of globalization

According to Castells’ ’trilogy’, in globalization cities have

become increasinlgy important nodes for all human
activity.

Globalization demands infrastructural nodes

If cities have turned into cultural, social, economic, and
political centers….is the rural rendered dysfunctional?
’Expression 2’ - Cosmopolitanism
 Cosmopolitanism is:
 Political cosmopolitanism: Supra-national governance,
the lessening power of the nation and the increasing power
of supra-national power. E.g. The United Nations. The
world as one nation, world citizenship. (e.g Kant, 1795,
Habermas, 1996)

 Socio-cultural cosmopolitanism: A global awareness.

Openess towards diveristy and multi-culturalism. Life-
style. Travelling.
”A willingness to engage with the Other” (Hannerz, 1990;
Rantanen, 2005)
 ’Mediated Cosmopolitanism’

On the one hand:

We can access virtual spaces (internet forums) and engage

with ’Others’ on anonymous basis – collective efforts and
common goals on a global scale.

’Pop-cosmopolitanism’ (Jenkins, 2005) – ’Softer’

cosmopolitanism e.g. fan-communities. Watching anime
(alternative cultural experience) -> learn about Japanese
culture
 ’Mediated Cosmopolitanism’

…on the other hand:

What do we actually do online? Trolling, flaming -> irrationality

and inhospitality on online public spaces.
Same 10 websites over and over again. Not ”engaging with the
Other”.

(Tomlinson, 2001): Technologies of the hearth: new technologies

are merely new ways in which we communicate with the same
people

(Bauman, 2001): Compassion is still local, not global – we can see

but cannot/will not act
 What do you think?
Does media promote cosmopolitanism?

- Do we engage with ’the Other’ through

media?

- Do we better understand other cultures

through media?
Thank you!
 References and Reading tips
Appiah, A. (2005). Cosmopolitansim – Ethics in a World of Strangers. Penguin Books
Appadurai, A. (1995). Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. University of
Minnesota Press
Bauman, Zygmunt. (2001). ‘Whatever Happened to Compassion?’ in Bentley, Tom & Stedman
Jones, Daniel (ed) The Moral Universe. Demos
Castells, M. (1996). The Rise of the Network Society. Wiley-Blackwell
Castells, M. (2001). The Internet Galaxy – Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society.
University of Oxford Press
Habermas, J. (1996). The Postnational Constellation. Polity Press
Innis, H. (1950). Empire and Communications. University of Toronto Press
Innis, H. (1951). The Bias of Communication. University of Toronto Press
Kant, I. (1795). Perpetual Peace
MacKenzie, D & Wajcman, J (ed). (1999). The Social Shaping of Technology. Open University Press
Mosco, V. (2006). The Digital Sublime – Myth, Power and Cyberspace. MIT Press
Rantanen, T. (2005). The Media and Globalization. SAGE Publications
Sassen, S. (2001). The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo. Princeton University Press
Smith, M. R & Marx, L. (1994). Does Technology Drive History?: The Dilemma of Technological
Determinism. MIT Press
Thompson, J. (1995). Media and Modernity – A Social Theory of the Media. Stanford University Press
Tomlinson, John. (2001). Instant access: Some cultural implications of ‘globalising’
technologies. University of Copenhagen