E-scape (e-book) (used book) | Daniel Grace | bookbook.eu

Description

'E-scape' is a pun with purpose! With an extensive literature review, this book examines: 1. the need to 'escape' from reification and state-centric approaches within political sociology; 2. the important role of 'e' technologies and mediascapes to the understanding of contemporary cultural politics; and, 3. the schematic use of Appadurai's (1996) dynamic 'scapes' approach which highlights disjunctures and "global cultural flows". This book outlines disciplinary disjunctures (e.g. the much-debated "postmodernist" turn in political sociology), material disjunctures (e.g. social, technological, and economic inequalities), and conceptual disjunctures (e.g. varied discursive conceptions of "civil society", "surveillance", "power" and "democracy" in political sociology). The "postmodern turn" or "cultural turn" within contemporary political sociology is explored. The concept of 'scapes' allows for a useful theoretical tool to explore both structure and disjuncture while furthering an understanding of flows, texts, and institutions. This book reviews a broad sampling of literature in political sociology and provides an innovative exegetical account upon which future research may build.