Appadurai’ idea of the ‘imaginary’ was particularly hard to understand yet very insightful. Later found to have developed from Benedict Andersons theory on the ‘imagined worlds’ this allowed a greater understanding into Appadurai idea’, and was helpful when researching his theory on the five main ‘Scapes’ later on (Appadurai 1996).
Having never originally heard of Appadurai’ work, I scheduled meetings with my peer group which allowed us to develop together key ideas and themes we wanted to explore. We also directed our blogs to cover certain topics such as Appadurai’ influences and how his theories can be applied with society today. It was agreed that the main text would be focused on ‘Modernity at large’, particularly ‘Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy’. This allowed us to explore Appadurai’ key concept of the five different landscapes or ‘Scapes’ across different ‘global cultural flows’
As a group a facebook group was created which allowed me to still communicate with my peers even when I was unable to make the scheduled meetings. This allowed us to post links on research found such as Appadurai’ own blog and interviews which allowed a greater insight into his work. This was particularly useful as although relevant is was difficult to find examples of how Appadurai work can be applied to today’s society.
In conclusion while I found working in a group difficult to begin with, it was only through group collaboration that I was able to keep my research new, relevant and focused. I found that group work can be insightful and can help push your academic ability to a much higher level.
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References:
· Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at Large. Cultural Dimensions of Globalization.
