How can Appadurai' theory be applied?

While Appadurai work has influenced other theorists is seemed vital to understand how his theory on globalisation relates to the media today. As a group we discussed this concept and explored an interview with Arjen Mulder in 2002, where Appadurai relates his theory to the modern world today.

Within the interview Mulder questions Appadurai on call centres in Bombay. It seems Bombay is the primarily place for building and developing call centres as it is far more cost effective compared to other countries. It has also been noticed that within the call centres employees often adopt American accents when speaking on the telephone as it has been proved to be preferred to that of an Indian accent, suggesting the impact of the ‘scapes’ and globalisation. Appadurai suggests that this is a way of India to gain ‘global membership’, in which new ‘imagined communities’ are set up, those in India and of America.

Appadurai continues, using an example of Domino Pizza employees in Bombay as an example of globalisation and ‘Ideoscapes’. The company expects its employees to adopt a ‘retail social drama’ through the ideologies of the Domino Company, helping form a ‘global unified image’ (Appadurai 2002). However Appadurai suggests in what seems ‘out-of-body globalised performances’ (Appadurai 2002)it is important to remember this is still a small fragment in that person’s life along with other ‘partial identities’, therefore it is not considered strange or ‘surreal’ (Appadurai 2001).

Overall, it seems Appadurai’ theory can be applied to many aspects in today’s media and contributes largely to understanding our culture and flows in-between.

Word count: 263

References:

·         Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization.

·         The right to participate in the work of the imagination, interviewed by Arjen Mulder 2002: http://www.arjunappadurai.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/transurbanism.pdf

The influence of Appadurai' work

As well as inevitably having been inspired by other theorist in cultural and media studies, Appadurai’ innovative and original theory is now also highly regarded and has influenced many other theorists in cultural and media studies.

Noted in ‘Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy’ it is clear Benedict Anderson has significantly contributed to Appadurai’ work in the ‘imagined worlds’ and vice versa.  Anderson suggests a theory of ‘print capitalism’ where by the power of mass communications and technologies have created a ‘paradox’ where the ‘imagined’ world overtakes reality. It seems through these communications people are ‘free of the need for face-to-face communication’ (Appadurai. A 1990 p.28). It suggests a media explosion enabling ‘Mediascapes’ and ‘Technoscapes’ that can spread globally.

While Appadurai’ work is fundamental other theorists such as Kenway and Fahey in their paper ‘Getting emotional about ‘brain mobility’’ have expanded on his idea’s suggesting that emotion is a key concept missing from his proposal. While Appadurai’ theory can be applied globally, nationally and to the human body (Kenway. J and Fahey. J 2009 global flows of emotions), emotions are significant as ‘they impact on the attitudes of people, the relationship between cultures and the behaviours of nations’ (Moisi 2009).

Kenway and Fahey suggest the creation of ‘Emoscapes’, in which emotion is also seen as global cultural flow between different cultures and places. Therefore suggesting that emotion is not just the physical feelings of an individual but can be created and flow in ‘relation to particular historical, political, social and cultural landscapes’ (Kenway. J and Fahey. J 2009 global flows of emotions). However Kenway and Fahey acknowledge Appadurai for his recent works in which he refers to ‘global geographies of anger’ (Appadurai 2006).

Word count: 285

References:

·         Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization.

·         Kenway, J. and Fahey, J. 2011. Emotion, Space and Society.
In Getting emotional about "Brain Mobility" Journal [Online] 3. Available at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755458610000393

Modernity at large- Appadurai' theory on 'Scapes'

Following my earlier posts, Appadurai’ major breakthrough was developing different landscapes or ‘scapes’ representing different global cultural flows (Appadurai. A 1990). He states how the development of the media and new ‘technologies have loosened the coherence of the Northern ideology’ (Robinson. A 2011) creating new fundamental combinations which form the ‘social imaginary’ or similarly Benedict Anderson’s ‘imagined worlds’.

When is regards to ‘Ethnoscapes’, ‘Technoscapes’, and ‘Financescapes’ Appadurai highlights the importance of how each one is irregular and is ‘subject to its own constraints and incentives’ (Appadurai. A 1990 p.35).By ‘Ethnoscapes’ Appadurai refers to those people in constant motion such as migrants, refugees, guest workers or even tourists who ‘affect the politics of (and between) nations to a hitherto unprecedented degree’ (Appadurai. A 1990 p.33). It is therefore difficult for these people to generate permanent ‘imaginaries’ even if they wanted to as they constantly move around.

While ‘Financescapes’ is the rise of global capital and exchanges, ‘Technoscapes’ refer to the development and spread of technology through different national boundaries. Whereas technologies were once orchestrated through political agenda and large scale economies, it is instead operated through new political and financial possibilities. For example Appadurai uses the example of a steel complex in Libya which will consider the welfare from many other countries providing new ‘combinations of technological configurations’ (Appadurai. A 1990 p.34).

Related is Appadurai theory of ‘Mediascapes’ and ‘Ideoscapes’. ‘Mediascapes’ refers to the rise in media production and distribution e.g. Newspapers, Television, Radio and Film. These forms of media provide the ‘narrative’ to which different communities live their lives and form ‘imagined worlds’ as reality and fiction become indistinct from one another.

By ‘Ideoscapes’ Appadurai refers to the ideologies of states and similarly to ‘Mediascapes’ it also uses images. ‘Ideoscapes’ often contain elements of the Enlightenment and key phrases such as democracy, freedom and rights. However Appadurai stresses the importance of the ‘disjunctures’ between the ‘scapes’, stating they are’ non-isomorphic’ (Appadurai. A 1996), and therefore ‘destabilise each other’ (Robinson. A 2011).

Word count: 331

References:

·         Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization.

·         AN A-Z of theory Arjun Appadurai: http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/new-in-ceasefire/in-theory-appadurai

An introduction to Arjun Appadurai

Examining the key works from anthropologist Arjun Appadurai this blog will aim to research some of his key ideas as well as his influence and contributions to the field of media studies. 

Born and educated in Bombay Appadurai then migrated over to America where he studied and held professorial chairs and both Yale university and the university of Chicago. This results in much of Appadurai’ work being heavily focused on American culture as well as that of southern Asia, allowing a broader perspective. Throughout his career Appadurai has achieved many fellowships and scholarships for his contribution to media studies including a fellowship at the ‘centre for advanced study in the Behavioural sciences’ in California.

Now as an American professor of anthropology Appadurai’ work is mainly focused on the theory of globalisation and the ‘imaginary’ (Appadurai. A 1996 p.3). As a group we researched his book ‘Modernity at large’ particularly concentrating  on his essay ‘Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy’ were Appadurai’ focuses on ‘the out-of-joint nature of many of the relations among different global flows today’ (Robinson. A 2011). Unlike previous theories Appadurai suggests a more ‘disorganised’ global cultural economy than that addressed before, suggesting it is one of ‘complexity and irregularity’ (Kaya. I 2000). Therefore, Appadurai derived five different landscapes or ‘scapes’ (Appadurai. A 1990 p.33) which represent different global cultural flows. It is these ‘scapes’ that help construct the ‘imagined’ world or ‘imagined communities’ in which people and social groups live within. It is these ‘dimensions of global cultural flows’ (Appadurai 1990 p.33) that I will later explore in depth.

Word count: 262

References:

·         Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization.

·         AN A-Z of theory Arjun Appadurai: http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/new-in-ceasefire/in-theory-appadurai

·         Kaya, I. 2000. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. The Fountain. 2000. http://www.fountainmagazine.com/article.php?ARTICLEID=195