Imaginary worlds , also imaginary landscapes ( English imaginary landscapes ) - the theory put forward by the American sociologist and philosopher of Indian origin, Arjun Appadurai . The theory of imaginary worlds (imaginary landscapes English. Imaginary landscapes) was formulated in the early 1990s based on the theory of Benedict Anderson's imaginary community .
Overview
The theory of "imaginary worlds" refers to the third generation of globalization. Appadurai views globalization as a deterritorial loss of the attachment of social processes to physical space. According to him, during the course of globalization, a “global cultural stream” is formed that can be divided into five symbolic-cultural spaces (in English, the suffix “scape” means “landscape” or “landscape”, but in the theory of Appadurai this suffix allows us to indicate flexibility and non-linearity ):
- Ethnoscapes ( Engl. Ethnoscapes ) - by this space Appadurai means people who make up worlds that are not tied to a particular territory: tourists, immigrants, refugees, migrant workers and other moving groups and individuals.
- Media space ( Eng. Mediascapes ) - this concept refers to the ability to produce and disseminate information through newspapers, magazines, television channels, film studios, and above all advertising. Many audiences around the world perceive the media as a complex and interconnected complex of print, advertising, news, which help to construct "imaginary worlds."
- Technospace ( Eng. Technoscapes ) - by this, the concept of Appadurai means the global configuration of technologies and the very fact that these technologies are an integral part of the worlds.
- Financial space ( Finascapes ) - in the opinion of the author, this space cannot be ignored as global capital, which is now even more mysterious, quick and unpredictable, unlike: currency markets, national stock exchanges and commodity speculations that move virtual money across borders in no time.
- Ideospace ( Engl. Ideoscapes ) - this space is formed by a stream of images, primarily political and dealing with the ideology of the state or opposition movements, claiming to seize state power or part thereof.
Context
According to Appadurai, the dynamics of global cultural systems are set in motion by the relationships between ethno-, media-, techno-, ideo- and financial spaces. The relationship of these spaces is extremely dependent on the specific context. These spaces are the "foundation" of "imaginary worlds" in which people interact, and this interaction is in the nature of exchanges. In the theoretical model of Appadurai, the initial opposition “local - global” is replaced by the opposition “territorial - deterritorialized”, and globality and locality act as two components of globalization.
Literature
- in Russian
- Gramsci A. Selected Works. T.1-3. M., 1957-1959
- in other languages
- Anderson, B. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London, Verso. 1983.
- Appadurai A. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. - Minneapolis, 1996
- Hirschman, AO Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University Press , 1970.
- Hobsbawm, E., Ranger, T. The invention of Tradition. New York, Columbia University Press , 1983.