School of Social and Political Sciences - Theses
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ItemLove in the Luhmannian world: differentiation and dissonance in the semantics of modern intimacy( 2014)One of the most profitable insights to emerge from the numerous debates which surrounded the decline of modernization theory was the understanding that the various social trends associated with the notion of “modernity” need not converge. In response to a concern that the generalized process concepts which had hitherto governed our understanding of modern society (such as “rationalization,” “individualization,” or “secularization”) painted a unilinear, monological picture of social change insensitive not only to regional differences, but to points of tension and dissonance within specific societies themselves, more pluralistic accounts of modernity attempted to highlight that the institutional characteristics, functional imperatives, and symbolic structures of modern societies may prove incompatible with each other, or may at the very least exist in states of disharmony. Despite this insistence, the sociological study of romantic love has largely continued to operate with a conception of society that minimizes the importance of divergent or conflictual trends. Intimate relations, considered by many to be dependent factors within accounts of social change, are often analyzed in light of broader social patterns without due consideration of the ways in which their own internal logic may contradict this attribution. Acknowledging this deficiency, this thesis seeks to build on the insights of differentiation theory by focusing on the ways in which romantic love may both consolidate and contradict the dominant semantic forms and organizational structures of modern society. In line with the theoretical apparatus of Niklas Luhmann, it seeks to present modern love as a self-referential set of social semantics, to analyze the status of intimate systems within contemporary society, and to explore the ways in which an empirical account of romantic relations may be enhanced by the insights of sociological systems theory. In so doing, it argues that love is a phenomenon which demands a multifaceted, pluralistic, and in many ways paradoxical understanding of modernity itself.
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ItemConsuming trust: herbal food and drink and its place in contemporary China( 2011)Deeply grounded in the traditional notions of health and medicine, herbal food and drink have been used in China for centuries. Being part of its ‘traditional’ approach to well-being, however, the consumption of herbal food and drink is increasing in contemporary Chinese society and further reflects various meanings and perceptions relating to individual's engagement with modernity and their places in the rapidly changing social and cultural context. This thesis investigates the meanings of herbal food and drink in contemporary China and the extent to which it is reinvigorated by, and reflective of, the rapidly changing circumstances that the country finds itself in. By drawing on results of fieldwork in China across ten cities/ regions, the thesis identifies and relates consumption patterns in association with herbal food and drink with meanings attached to modernity, well-being, and both collective and individual Chinese identity. The findings of the research revealed a recurrent reference by people to ‘trust’, ‘intimacy’, and ‘natural’, which are not only grounded in the particular Chinese cultural imagination in relation to food, but, more importantly also indicative of how people’s perception on the contemporary cultural and social context and their place within it. To this end, the argument presented in this thesis is that the symbiotic relationship between ‘trust’, ‘intimacy’ and herbal food and drink is a resource for people to cope with anxieties brought on by rapid change in contemporary Chinese society because of the inherent links people make between herbal food and drink and notions of stability, tradition and their ‘unique’ Chinese identity. Given that there has been a series of food scandals in the past decade, coinciding with China’s policy of opening up to economic development, that a ‘moral panic’ over food safety emerged , it is not surprising that perceived risks of health are connected to much broader and significant concerns relating to the modern condition. Moreover, continual reference to the well-being of the body, ‘trust’, ‘intimacy’, and the ‘naturalness’ of herbal food and drink have been excessively employed as a kind of coping strategy for the anxieties that contemporary life poses for people as they navigate rapid change by drawing on the familiar and trusted symbols of balance and well being that are traditionally associated with Chinese food. That is, the call for well-being and a ‘balance’ of body is symbolic of a call for a similar kind of balance in life in a rapidly changing society and embeds with political economy implication. To reiterate, the linkage between knowledge and practice of herbal food and drink with ‘traditional’ Chinese culture is extensive, and, at the individual level, demonstrates a lived-experience associated with a particular way of being, identity and family belonging. Further, the prosperity of the herbal industry is indeed built on exploiting such close associations with intimacy, trust and continuity. As such, the interplays among tradition and modernity, collective and individual identities, and the patterns of herbal food and drink are enormous. This study on herbal food and drink can contribute to a better appreciation of how consumption serves as a linkage between agency and structure, between that in the hands of people to navigate, challenge or reject such as what they consume as opposed to that which lies beyond their influence.