Thesis and Research Data Repository Leeds Beckett University
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Visualising a Foucauldian Society: Panopticism, IT, Self-Surveillance and the Soul
No full textBeginning with a short description of Jeremy Bentham’s “Panopticon”, this piece shall attempt to construct a brief vision of a disciplinary society resonating power over individual autonomy, whilst appearing as a democratic state of freedom.</p
A Diary of Change: Globalisation in Europe
No full textThis critical reflection consists of six diary extracts from the summer of 2013, kept whilst the author travelled for a month. Real events, real places, real people with a pinch of sociological thinking….</p
Food, Glorious Food....Dried Pasta and Custard
No full textBased upon the authors experience of volunteering at a Food Bank, this critical examination highlights the practices and values of The Food Bank as a contemporary vital institution. The need for emergency food is escalating, with a 70% rise in food parcels over the last two years (MKFoodBank,2013). The global issue of hunger is localised in the rationale of UK Food Banks and a social analysis of this charity is important, as exhibiting patterns of social inequalities is one way in which we can recognise our society’s excluded and notions of a new poor (Crompton, 1996, cited in Elliott, 2002).</p
Green Is the New Black
No full text“Sustainability” is the chic, nouveau movement of the moment that seemingly everybody wants to be a part of. With attitudes towards the environment slowly changing due to its new found fashionable status, nowadays the only accessory to be seen with is the mother‐nature saving bicycle. But to what extent do we really understand the importance of this new vision of “sustainable living”? Is society really embracing the evidence science has produced or is this merely just the latest “trend” that individuals want to be seen to be a part of?</p
Passion Is a Job Requirement: Affective Labour in Postindustrial Society
No full textThis paper examines the change in the nature and composition of work in late capitalism, captured in the concepts of “Post‐Industrialism” and the “Post‐Fordist” production model. Key to these concepts is that late capitalism has demonstrated a tendency toward more flexible and decentralised modes of capital accumulation, with more complex global chains of production, and more flexible and less secure wage labour (Harvey, 1990; Kumar, 1995). It outlines the kind of flexibilisation and desecuritisation of the workforce is a key component of neoliberal post‐industrial capitalism (Harvey, 2005) with value placed in "immaterial labour”, or labour that does not produce tangible commodities.</p
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air
No full textIn this critical reflection I will create a dystopian vision of the future, examining the waste economy that the Western world has created, fueled by Capitalist principles that led to mass consumerism. We stripped the world bare in our search for happiness in material goods. This piece looks at the effects of our greed.</p
Editorial
No full textWelcome to our second edition of Critical Reflections from the module Contemporary Society and Social Futures! We are very pleased to see a second edition ‐ with a bigger number of contributions yet! ‐ being published from our students who have produced some very engaging and critical work during their last year at Leeds Metropolitan University.</p
The Nation in The Hunger Games: Fact or Fiction?
No full textThroughout both the Hunger Games books and films, Suzanne Collins has depicted a future dystopian world full of poverty, inequality and segregation. The story depicts a 16 year old girl who is forced to fight to the death in an arena full of other young district members aged between 12 and 18. The Hunger Games are an annual event which is mass‐televised to both the Capitol; who provide the funding, and also to the individual districts; as an attempt to punish the communities for a previous uprising. Although the world presented sounds ruthless and wholly divergent to modern day, there are many similarities between the two, with the depiction of poverty and capitalism being significant in the comparison. Within the story, the land is separated into enclosed districts which differ in terms of economic wealth, with the wealthier areas being closer to the Capitol, and the destitute areas which are high in unemployment and lacking resources, further away. This representation of the segregation of class in society is prevalent in the UK in 2013, with poverty‐stricken areas lacking in health care, education, social capital, employment and other basic necessities that are readily available in affluent areas.</p
“What”s on your mind?”: A Critical Reflection of Facebook
No full textThis critical reflection will explore Facebook and its relationship to contemporary society in relation to themes of technology, network and surveillance society (Castells, 2010; Lyon, 1994). It will also compare the virtual community of Facebook to Foucault’s disciplinary society and how it can lead to the discipline of the self (1979, cited in Barker, 1998). The increased use and popularity of social media sites like Facebook and their influence on society could lead to a future in which the importance of privacy is forgotten and constant updating and broadcasting of the self is the norm.</p
Social Media, Contemporary Identities and Self-Surveillance
No full textSocial networking has taken its position at the forefront of communication within contemporary society. In 2012, social networking giants Facebook announced that they had reached a milestone of over a billion users a month (BBC News, 2012). That is a billion people who disclose their details to the rest of the online community. Many users make additional details available to the general public; those with a more relaxed approach to privacy settings allow their photos, videos and personal movements to be visible to anyone who wishes to have a look at their profile. This critical reflection highlights that the development of mass communication allows those who embrace it (and to some extent, even those who do not) to form a structural identity for themselves from which they can then project to a globally connected society.</p