Society as a whole is so obscure that there is no single idea or theory that could explain the true nature of the world we live in. The differing approaches within sociology attempt to provide an explanation for human behaviour and how social structures in society operate (Fulcher and Scott, 2011). However, each of these sociological perspectives have different beliefs and can often come into conflict with one another. For example, Marxism and functionalism are both modernist theories relating to a structural view of society. They both attempted to form generalisations by looking at society with in a large scale view i.e. the macro approach (Webb, 2009). On the other hand, they can be challenged by many other contemporary sociological theories
…show more content…
However, he believes that consumption is the reason for capitalism rather than production. Society has become so obsessed with consumerism that we are no longer connected to reality. “Men of wealth are no longer surrounded by other human beings, as they have been in the past, but by objects” (Baudrillard and Mourrain, 2002, p.32), we surround ourselves with objects hoping to achieve happiness and reach higher social class. From surrounding ourselves with these objects we become object-like, “as the wolf-child becomes wolf by living among them” (Baudrillard and Mourrain, 2002, p.32). Therefore, if we the consumers stopped buying products resulting from cheap labour, the poor would not be exploited. Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra is influenced by Marx’s theory of alienation where the subject and object is split. Baudrillard argues that reality is lost in a contemporary world and what we experience is a hyper-reality, meaning that we accept over-exaggerated versions of reality (Allan, 2013). The notion of simulacrum can be applied to contemporary media and consumerism in the society we live in today. We have lost touch with the underlying reality of the products we buy as capital defines our status and identity. Thus we continue to become detached from the material reality of the labourer, who becomes increasingly invisible to consumers ushered towards retail markets or the even more impersonal world of internet shopping. The reality has become that consumers don’t really care whether their half price clothes were made by young children working in slavery conditions in third world
However, he believes that consumption is the reason for capitalism rather than production. Society has become so obsessed with consumerism that we are no longer connected to reality. “Men of wealth are no longer surrounded by other human beings, as they have been in the past, but by objects” (Baudrillard and Mourrain, 2002, p.32), we surround ourselves with objects hoping to achieve happiness and reach higher social class. From surrounding ourselves with these objects we become object-like, “as the wolf-child becomes wolf by living among them” (Baudrillard and Mourrain, 2002, p.32). Therefore, if we the consumers stopped buying products resulting from cheap labour, the poor would not be exploited. Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra is influenced by Marx’s theory of alienation where the subject and object is split. Baudrillard argues that reality is lost in a contemporary world and what we experience is a hyper-reality, meaning that we accept over-exaggerated versions of reality (Allan, 2013). The notion of simulacrum can be applied to contemporary media and consumerism in the society we live in today. We have lost touch with the underlying reality of the products we buy as capital defines our status and identity. Thus we continue to become detached from the material reality of the labourer, who becomes increasingly invisible to consumers ushered towards retail markets or the even more impersonal world of internet shopping. The reality has become that consumers don’t really care whether their half price clothes were made by young children working in slavery conditions in third world