 What do you know about Postmodernism?
And postmodernity? Globalization?
 How are they inter-related? How are they related to postcolonialism?

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Definitions and Connections
From Modernity to Postmodernity –
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Fordism to post-Fordism
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Post-Industrial Society
Disorganized capitalism
Service industry and Consumer Society
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Globalization: Economic Issues ;
Taiwan
as an example

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Controversial:
 What is the ‘post’ here? What is modernism?
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Variously defined as a period, a mode of thinking, and a style?
Some declare it ‘passé.’ postmodernity and postmodern conditions — postindustrialism, multinational/ global capitalism and overall commodification
Postmodernism –culture in music, literature, architecture, popular culture and politics
Features ： Depthlessness 無深度, pastiche 拼貼、 metafictional (self-reflexive 後設)、 ambiguity 模擬兩可、 questioning meta-narrative 質疑大敘述／真理、 eclectic
折衷、 boundary-crossing 跨界 、 pluralistic 多元, etc.

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Similarity --
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De-centering, Questioning Master Narratives and other
Authorities multiplicity in language and culture  parody, ambiguity and contamination.
Contradictions --
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History: e.g. Foucault -- The death of History   Re-
Writing histories ( To be colonized is to be ‘removed from history’ Albert Memmi ）
Subjectivity: pastiche 拼貼、 contingent 臨時性   constructing subjectivities
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Aestheticized politics vs. counter discourse for social change
Global capitalism vs. 最後的據點（ the only true counterdiscourse, truly "past the last post." ）

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Definition: the product of processes through which goods, services, capital, people, information, and ideas flow across borders and lead to greater integration of economies and societies.
Cultural globalization –caused by the spreading of
English language, media culture, telecommunication, migrating people, colonialism, international capitalism and international organizations.
Economic globalization – also caused by organization such as World Bank, free trade unions -
-such as 北美貿易協定 NAFTA, 關稅暨貿易總協定 ( Ｇ
ＡＴＴ )and 世界貿易組織 ( ＷＴＯ ) –which support open and expanded market. ( Clips : revolutions in the 90’s)

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1.
2.
3.
(chap 5 pp. 99-101)
Keynesianism (State economy)
Fordism –
Standardization (largescale production of standardized good)
Rational Organization -assembly line; full employment and centralized management
 scientific management; industrial prosperity
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Post-Fordism (101)
(rigidity of Fordism in investment, labor organization and in social welfare).
Flexible , variable production
(e.g. cell phone faceplate)
Just-in-Time stock management
Sub-contracting to horizontally related ‘independent’ companies.(e.g. Nike/ 寶成是紡
織業。 )
Reorganization of labor (pp.
102) ( clip : debate and interconnections)

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Stresses the role of social and cultural relations in stablizing the advanced capitalist economies.
While diversification of companies and internationalization happens, labourers and consumers are still regulated and conditioned:
1.
2.
intensification of labour
Emphasis on lifestyle in consumer culture.

 (textbook chap 5 104)
 A shift from industrial manufacturing to service industry
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A shift of emphasis from production to consumption
Capital – information or knowledge the dominance of 1) 電腦新貴 or PMC --
Professorial-managerial class; 2) service workers

 (106-107)
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Concentration and centralization fo industrial, banking and commerical capital;
 Flexible forms of work organization
 (the rest skipped)

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(pp. 108 –
Overall commodification – the lines between high arts and popular culture get blurred;
 Economy of Signs: signs replacing use values.
 Lifestyle: Communal values (external validation) replaced by personal lifestyles (assemblage of goods, clothes, practices, experiences, appearance, etc.)
 Against the above argument: consumers rearticulation of the social (110)

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Increasing discrepancy between the rich and the poor plutocracy (government by the wealthy few) –”The
Commanding Heights”
National sovereignty questioned, the farmers suffer.
 Instability in employment (e.g. The newly poor in
Taiwan)
 exploitation of third-world laborers (e.g. Nike, Disney, clip)
 The need to meet the trends.

 台灣雖是全球化的參與者，但究竟是「全球化」
的主導力量？抑或只是「被全球化」所整合？
如果把全球化當成一個 供應鍊條(chain) 來看，
殘酷的事實是，目前 台灣多數公司都稱不上是
全球品牌的企業，只能在供應鍊的上游和中游
找到自己的位置 。但這不必然說明小國就是被
全球化，畢竟，芬蘭那麼小，也出了一個
NOKIA ；荷蘭也不大，卻早就有一個飛利浦。
(中國時報,財經產業 920205 )  競合 (Coopetition); production of parts to that of brands

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Globalization defined http://progressiveliving.org/globalization_defined.htm
COMMANDING HEIGHTS The Battle for the World
Economy Daniel Yergin http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/ (traces the battle between State economy and market economy to two economists: John Maynard Keynes and
Friedrich von Hayek )
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Related Clips: 1) Globalization and terrorism; 2) economic revolutions in 1990’s;
3) Fall of Communism: China’s Opening their market;
4) Mexico case (interconnection of politics and economy);
5) flows
6) capitalism; 7) the poor (e.g. snake kids)
8) For and against economic globalization