Australia and postmodernity
Not offered in 1995
8 points * 3 hours per week * First semester * Clayton
This subject will juxtapose new developments in the field of social theory with current issues and debates in Australian politics and society. The aim is to encourage students to look more critically at the kind of `realities' in which they are located. The subject explores the nature and significance of the economic and cultural changes. It does so in the context of concepts and theories drawn from literature dealing with post-industrialism, late capitalism, postmodernity and the information society. Reference is made to a variety of theorists, including Michel Foucault, Alain Touraine, Raymond Williams, Jean-François Leytard, Daniel Bell, Fredric Jameson and Jean Beaudrillard, but all are utilised with a view to making better sense of the direction of social and cultural change within contemporary Australia.
Assessment
Written: 3000 words * Examinations: 3 hours * 60% of this assessment weighting will fall to that piece of work which receives the higher mark
Prescribed texts
Harvey D The condition of postmodernity Basil Blackwell, 1989
Lyon D The information society Polity, 1988