Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editor's preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Modernity, the market and human identity
- 2 Consumerism and personal identity
- 3 The work ethic
- 4 Globalization
- 5 The response of the churches
- 6 Concluding reflections
- Notes
- Select bibliography
- Index of names and subjects
- Index of biblical references
4 - Globalization
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- General editor's preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Modernity, the market and human identity
- 2 Consumerism and personal identity
- 3 The work ethic
- 4 Globalization
- 5 The response of the churches
- 6 Concluding reflections
- Notes
- Select bibliography
- Index of names and subjects
- Index of biblical references
Summary
This chapter considers the preceding two chapters, on consumption and the work ethic in the context of globalization. Habermas provides the conceptual analysis for examining the impact of capitalism and the world economic system on modernity. That is why he is considered first in this book. Nevertheless, he is not intrinsically concerned with globalization and particularity, especially not in his writings up to the mid 1980s when globalization was not a central political and philosophical concept. Instead, he concentrates on human beings as consumers, workers, political citizens and participants in the market. Hence this book progressed through a consideration of consumption and work. It is now time to examine how globalization has affected all of these concepts. The argument will be that it has done so profoundly. Human identity is increasingly constructed as consumer, worker and participator in the market, including the health-care and educational market. That is the argument so far. However, if globalization also affects our culture by its pattern both of consumption and of its impact on local culture, then human identity will be reshaped again. If the twentieth century has seen in the West the gradual dominance of the activities of consumption and work, in the context of the market, then what we now appear to be evolving into is a global society where consumption, culture and work are reshaped yet again.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Market Economy and Christian Ethics , pp. 200 - 221Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999