The horizontal society / Lawrence M. Friedman.

By:

Friedman, Lawrence M. (Lawrence Meir), 1930- [author.]

Material type: Text

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

0585363293
9780585363295
9780300147209
0300147201
9780300075458
0300075456

Subject(s): Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Horizontal society.DDC classification:

306/.09/04 21

LOC classification:

HM131 .F736 1999eb

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

The way we live now -- A revolution of rights -- A wealth of nations -- Big fish and little fish : Nation against nation -- Insiders and outsiders -- Citizens and strangers : Legal and social definitions -- Immigration and its discontents -- Beyond ethnicity -- Some concluding remarks.

Summary: This book argues that modern technology has radically and irretrievably altered our sense of identity and hence our social, political, and legal life. In traditional societies, relationships and identities were strongly vertical: there was a clear line of authority from top to bottom, and identity was fixed by one's birth or social position. But in modern society, identity and authority have become much more horizontal: people feel freer to choose who they are and to form relationships on a plane of equality. The author examines how modern life centers on human identity seen in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, and how this new way of defining oneself affects politics, social structure, and the law. He claims that our horizontal society is the product of the mass media -- in particular, television -- which break down the isolation of traditional life and allow individuals to connect with like-minded others across barriers of space and time. As horizontal groups blossom, loyalties and allegiances to smaller groups fragment what seemed to be the unity of the larger nation. In addition, the media's ability to spread a global mass culture causes a breakdown of cultural isolation that leads to more immigration and heavy pressure on the laws and institutions of citizenship and immigration.

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Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Materials specified	Status	Date due	Barcode
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-298) and index.

This book argues that modern technology has radically and irretrievably altered our sense of identity and hence our social, political, and legal life. In traditional societies, relationships and identities were strongly vertical: there was a clear line of authority from top to bottom, and identity was fixed by one's birth or social position. But in modern society, identity and authority have become much more horizontal: people feel freer to choose who they are and to form relationships on a plane of equality. The author examines how modern life centers on human identity seen in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, and religion, and how this new way of defining oneself affects politics, social structure, and the law. He claims that our horizontal society is the product of the mass media -- in particular, television -- which break down the isolation of traditional life and allow individuals to connect with like-minded others across barriers of space and time. As horizontal groups blossom, loyalties and allegiances to smaller groups fragment what seemed to be the unity of the larger nation. In addition, the media's ability to spread a global mass culture causes a breakdown of cultural isolation that leads to more immigration and heavy pressure on the laws and institutions of citizenship and immigration.