Anthony Giddens Theory
Anthony Giddens is a British political sociologist and is known for his theory of Structuration as well as his view of Modern Societies. He has written some 34 books over the years. He has been an advisor to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He is concerned about the political consequences of globalization. Giddens “characterizes as the juggernaut of modernity or the runaway world” (Allan, 1951). He wants us to take a look at how a person’s interactions and behaviors are patterned as we age. He also wants to know how people in society can get more involved in the politics of life. For a person to answer these questions according to Giddens, one should figure out the essence of society. In this reflection we will …show more content…
The modern society that we live in has been changing. Modernity changes things that go on in one’s social life and it can change our experiences that happen inside our own world. A person lives out their personal activities in life, and must change as the transitions in modern society changes. The modern institutions work alongside a transformation that is going on in a person’s everyday life. Giddens says that as a person reviews their identity on a day-to-day basis, the self then becomes what he calls a reflexive project. This reviewing of one’s life becomes a reflexive project of one’s self. He is trying to show how self is a form of control or mastery which equals the global position of modern institutions which would work in the direction of our future and its colonizing. The reflexive project could create issues that tend to question its orientation. “The reflexive project of the self involves constant evaluation and reevaluation” (Allan, 1951). When a person puts all this together they can see it could create a new political agenda later on in a person’s life. The nature of existence is the concern as it relates to the self. According to Giddens, “The consequences of modernity, he argues that high or late modernity is a post traditional order characterized by a developed institutional reflexivity” (Giddens, …show more content…
Where-as in modern society a person’s social relations are not like that as much. A person does not have to exist in the local context of life situations any longer. A person has unlimited access to interact with others. The internet system comes to my mind as I write this, because Facebook and other services are provided for people to communicate. Friendships can be long range and long distances apart. These social relations as it relates to the internet are then disembedded mechanisms which are everywhere in modern society. This disembedding encourages ownership in the real world which has a relational value to so many people. These social relations can cause a person to detach from what can be called traditional bonds. I think for a person to really understand or even get an idea about the contemporary society that we live in, a person would have to come up with a new sociological theory that is big enough to understand the complexity of it all. Giddens makes some good points as he covers the ideas of institutions and modernity in a global setting. We are living in uncertain times and each person changes daily as well as the decisions they make. The article in this book, (Runaway Modernity) can be beneficial to readers who want to look into the future of a global perspective. I would challenge him to strengthen his arguments with more
Anthony Giddens is a British political sociologist and is known for his theory of Structuration as well as his view of Modern Societies. He has written some 34 books over the years. He has been an advisor to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He is concerned about the political consequences of globalization. Giddens “characterizes as the juggernaut of modernity or the runaway world” (Allan, 1951). He wants us to take a look at how a person’s interactions and behaviors are patterned as we age. He also wants to know how people in society can get more involved in the politics of life. For a person to answer these questions according to Giddens, one should figure out the essence of society. In this reflection we will …show more content…
The modern society that we live in has been changing. Modernity changes things that go on in one’s social life and it can change our experiences that happen inside our own world. A person lives out their personal activities in life, and must change as the transitions in modern society changes. The modern institutions work alongside a transformation that is going on in a person’s everyday life. Giddens says that as a person reviews their identity on a day-to-day basis, the self then becomes what he calls a reflexive project. This reviewing of one’s life becomes a reflexive project of one’s self. He is trying to show how self is a form of control or mastery which equals the global position of modern institutions which would work in the direction of our future and its colonizing. The reflexive project could create issues that tend to question its orientation. “The reflexive project of the self involves constant evaluation and reevaluation” (Allan, 1951). When a person puts all this together they can see it could create a new political agenda later on in a person’s life. The nature of existence is the concern as it relates to the self. According to Giddens, “The consequences of modernity, he argues that high or late modernity is a post traditional order characterized by a developed institutional reflexivity” (Giddens, …show more content…
Where-as in modern society a person’s social relations are not like that as much. A person does not have to exist in the local context of life situations any longer. A person has unlimited access to interact with others. The internet system comes to my mind as I write this, because Facebook and other services are provided for people to communicate. Friendships can be long range and long distances apart. These social relations as it relates to the internet are then disembedded mechanisms which are everywhere in modern society. This disembedding encourages ownership in the real world which has a relational value to so many people. These social relations can cause a person to detach from what can be called traditional bonds. I think for a person to really understand or even get an idea about the contemporary society that we live in, a person would have to come up with a new sociological theory that is big enough to understand the complexity of it all. Giddens makes some good points as he covers the ideas of institutions and modernity in a global setting. We are living in uncertain times and each person changes daily as well as the decisions they make. The article in this book, (Runaway Modernity) can be beneficial to readers who want to look into the future of a global perspective. I would challenge him to strengthen his arguments with more