DIVIDING THE FUTURE

Information, technology, essays

Today

Our divided information society

Immortality, for some

Essay writing

Course review and essay questions

To what extent are technological advances in medical technology likely to increase social divisions in Britain?

Contemporary Western societies are increasingly based upon the creation and manipulation of digital information

Digital, information-based, economies require highly skilled workers, educated in the development and use of information communication technology

Access to this technology and its benefits are unequally divided

Our digital society

Did your school actively encourage students to

do ‘STEM’ subjects?

Digital exclusion is strongly related to social exclusion, both in terms of economic and employment prospects, but community connections

12% of men in Britain and 17% of women in Britain have never used the internet

Source: ONS, Internet Access Quarterly Update, 2012 Q3

Social exclusion in a digital age

Digital exclusion is a significant concern for governments as it disconnects citizens from the information economy

Consequently governments have focused on developing digital infrastructure and increasing ‘digital literacy’

Unequal access to technology is evident in other areas of society

Digital concerns

Medical developments

New technological developments in medicine have had a significant impact on health and life expectancy, although life expectancy is falling for some

Whilst these developments represent progress for humanity as a whole, they are unevenly accessible

With the increasing expense of new medical treatments, health becomes privatised and those relying on the state are left behind

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/09/what-happens-when-we-all-live-to-100/379338/

Selection of the fittest

Eugenics is a philosophy advocating for the selection/removal of certain genes to improve humanity that has been particularly controversial because of the use of sterilisation upon those with socially undesirable traits

However, improved technology has allowed for more subtle selection of desirable genes, such that it is becoming possible to have ‘a designer’ baby

Rapid advances are being made in medical technology such that futurists argue that functional immortality is becoming a possibility, for some…

Would you like to change the genetic

traits of your possible future children?

Immortality

There are some suggestions that some of humanity could be functionally immortal by 2045

These developments are all privately funded and accessible only to those who have paid

If the richest can live forever, what about the rest of us?

We are already finding social pressures from our ageing population

Life extensions

The most striking research around immorality focuses around ‘miraculous’ developments

More practically, developments in medical technology may lead to significant extensions in human life expectancy and wellness

This can be anything from new joints to new organs and curing diseases

The post-human body

It is possible that medical technology will develop to the point that our bodies are no longer ‘human’ in the way we currently understand them

This creates the possibility that those with access to this technology will become almost literally a new species from the rest

Do you want to live forever?

Write down all the concerns you have about the essays

Basics

Due January 6th at 3pm

Submit one copy to the Gaskell building, one on BBL

2,000 words, +/- 10% (reference list not included)

Grade: C

Student: 01015673

Whilst this essay demonstrates some knowledge of the field, it is largely descriptive and thus the discussion is quite superficial. The essay is reasonably well structured, but it is difficult to identify a main argument and there is little critical analysis of the evidence used to support the ideas being presented. In addition the writing is not particularly academic.

What I’m looking for…

Make a clear argument in response to the essay question

Engage with the main academic debates identified in the lecture, but go beyond the lecture notes

Use authoritative supporting evidence to support your ideas

Ultimately, academic writing is about expressing an informed and authoritative opinion objectively and concisely

Academic writing is what you think,

but it isn’t simply your opinion

Your opinion becomes an academic argument because it is defended with evidence and analysis

Taking a Stand

Your argument is previewed at the beginning of your work: the thesis statement

Thesis statements contain your justified response to the assignment question

Thesis statements contain a claim, a justification and are often supplemented by a qualifying statement.

Thesis statements

Asserting your Position

Context

Preview

Thesis Statement

Hook the reader and tell them what they need to know about the debate

Tell the reader your process for responding the question

Tell them what you will be arguing

Evidence

To convince the reader and to move our position from opinion to argument we need to incorporate evidence into our work

Here it is vital to go beyond describing this evidence into critically analysing it, particularly if it contrasts with your main point

The way you discuss this evidence is vital for making your writing more critical

Indirect quotations (Paraphrasing) • Demonstrates your understanding of

broad concepts or theories

• Distils points and saves word count

• Allows synthesis of various sources

“Direct quotations”

• “Adds authority by identifying key moments in the debate” (Taylor, 2010, p.12)

• Lends energy and ‘punch’ to a claim

• Should be integrated with your own sentences and ideas.

Only directly quote when you couldn’t have said it better yourself.

Using evidence: The common errors

‘Working class mothers smoke much more than others.’

‘Working class mothers smoke much more than others. “Low income people are often stressed, which leads to an increased desire to smoke” (Daily Mail, 2014). As a

consequence we can see that poorer mothers take less care of their health.’

‘According to the NHS (1991), working-class mothers are 25.2% more likely to smoke than other mothers.’

Some neo-conservative thinkers (see Murray, 1984; Ford, 1999 and Smith,

2014) have come to associate unemployment and poverty with the term

‘underclass’. The underclass is a subgroup of disadvantaged people who

voluntarily do not engage with employment and rely on the benefit system,

producing what Murray (1987) identifies as a ‘culture of dependency’. This

apparent dependency culture produces an ingrained sense of ‘worklessness’

and intergenerational reliance upon state benefits. Whilst recent statistics

(ONS, 2014) identify the presence of intergenerational unemployment, finding

that the children of unemployed fathers were twice as likely to be unemployed

at age 24, this link does not necessarily support the dependency culture thesis.

Instead…

Evidence check list

Does it support the point you are making? (If I ask ‘really?’, you can point to the reference)

It is authoritative? (It might relate to your point, but can I trust it)

Is it recent? (does it still apply to contemporary circumstances)

Summary

Academic writing is always what you think, but is defended with other scholars’ research

State your argument and defend this argument with a logical structure

Ensure that your writing is supported by authoritative and clearly integrated evidence

Go beyond description (So what?) and drive your

reader around your research

Module review

Social differences are an essential element of the human experience – they are what makes us unique

By categorising these differences, however, we can see clear divides within society whereby those with certain differences suffer substantial disadvantage and *perhaps* injustice

Despite the regular reproduction of these divides, society generally manages to remain cohesive and ordered

Unemployment and welfare

Social class is at the core of sociological explanations of social stratification

Social class is regarded as a structure that produces social patterns and influences human behaviour

However, there is considerable debate around class, primarily – Is class determined by economic structures or is it culturally constructed?

Unemployment and agency

Under the conservative cultural conception of social class, unemployment and poverty are caused by a ‘dependency culture’ and poor choices

By contrast, structural sociological theories like Marxism insist on the social influences on unemployment

These understandings drive social and political responses to unemployment, particularly in regards to welfare

Agency is our ‘capability to act otherwise’ and can be ‘reproductive’ or ‘transformative’

Critically discuss the structural influences on unemployment in

Britain. To what extent does individual agency play a role in

these patterns?

Elitism and equality

Elitism occurs when a small minority has a disproportionate influence over the majority of the population

Elitism can occur through economic inequality, but is often maintained by cultural and social capital, as well as the cultural practices that favour the existing elite

Equality and egalitarianism are appealing ideas, but the mechanisms for achieving them can often undermine the original aims

Critically evaluate the impact of social class on admissions

to Oxbridge universities.

Gender discrimination

Women are clearly disadvantaged in public life, but the explanations for this disadvantage are varied

Are our bodies naturally different, which leads to different social roles and outcomes?

Is gender socially constructed, in which case, are social institutions and structures gendered towards men, or is a case of direct discrimination?

Critically evaluate the causes of the ‘gender pay gap’ in

contemporary Britain

Race and ethnicity

We rejected the idea that race was a fixed biological difference, despite popular conceptions to the contrary

Nonetheless, if it is not biological, why are there such clear social divisions between ethnicities?

These divides are not simply a struggle between two groups: there are very different outcomes for different ethnicities

Ethnicity, as a cultural construct, cannot be separated from institutional and structural factors, particularly social class, the economy and immigration/nationalism

Critically evaluate the impact of ethnicity and social class upon the 2011 English riots.

Health, illness and society

Despite overall health quality rising, divisions in health outcomes for different groups are rising

How we socially construct health has a significant affect on our biological health

There are substantial differences between ethnicities and across social classes

Health is often considered highly gendered issue, although men fare worst on most measures

Critically discuss the structural influences on health

outcomes in Britain. To what extent does individual agency play a role in these patterns?

Immigration and exclusion

Both London and the UK have experienced substantial migration after WWII, which has produced significant unrest

Immigrants, particularly those who don’t seem to be like ‘us’, are positioned as a threat to our sense of ‘us’ and our way of life

Despite attempts to avoid segregation and integrate migrants, governments have recently turned away from multi-culturalism because ‘extremists’ don’t accept ‘our values

Critically evaluate the impact of migration upon community

identification in contemporary London.

To what extent has migration affected conceptions of social class in

contemporary Britain?

Ideology

Ideology is the socially constructed ‘common sense’ through which we view the world

One of the primary means through which power is maintained is by having the common sense ideology of the elite be the common sense of the masses

Ideology, and our identities, are also secured by the identification of something they are not – often through the exclusion of the immigrant or outsider

Using examples from contemporary Britain, critically discuss the role of ideology in

maintaining elite privilege.

Religion as community

Communities provide a strong point of identification for many people

This identification can help to increase social solidarity within society or it can produce social segregation between communities

Religious communities are social differences that often leads to enduring and passionate social divisions

Social protest

Resistance, a form of transformative agency, is part of everyday life, but some forms are more powerful than others

Both democracy and capitalism allow for resistance and conflict within certain boundaries, but democratic participation appears to be becoming increasingly ineffective

As a response, direct action is becoming more prevalent, particularly through social media

Using the case studies discussed in the module, critically examine

the relationship between communication technology and

social protest.

To what extent are technological advances in medical technology likely to increase social divisions

in Britain?

Finally

Please complete the course evaluation

I’ll be away from December 20th to December 27th , but will happily reply to your queries after that

My office hours are now by appointment only

Thanks!