Johan Lindell | Cosmopolitanism in a Mediatized World | World | Cosmopolitanism in a Mediatized Lindell Johan Cosmopolitanism in a Mediatized World In many ways the contemporary media landscape invites us to experience a belonging to many places at the same time, mourn the victims of faraway Cosmopolitanism in tragedies, expose ourselves to foreign cultures and engage in political issues in places far from our local context of living. In other words, we are invited to become citizens of the world - cosmopolitans. But are we? And if so, how is such a Mediatized World cosmopolitanism expressed in a given society, under what social conditions, and in relation to what media practices? 2014:23 The Social Stratification of Global Orientations Contemporary social theory depicts a global, or cosmopolitan mode of orienting in the world as paradigmatic for social life in global modernity. To date, little is known about the structural realities of such orientations. By means of a national survey deployed in Sweden, this study seeks to tease out the conditions under Johan Lindell which cosmopolitan outlooks and practices become manifest in society. Findings suggest that the distribution of various cosmopolitan dispositions in society complies with logics of social stratification. Being “connected” and simply living in a potentially global media landscape does not nullify this pattern. Media are both gateways of connectivity and tools for maintaining sedentary lifestyles. ISBN 978-91-7063-554-0 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences ISSN 1403-8099 Media and Communication Studies DISSERTATION | Karlstad University Studies | 2014:23 DISSERTATION | Karlstad University Studies | 2014:23 Cosmopolitanism in a Mediatized World The Social Stratification of Global Orientations Johan Lindell DISSERTATION | Karlstad University Studies | 2014:23 Cosmopolitanism in a Mediatized World - The Social Stratification of Global Orientations Johan Lindell DISSERTATION urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-31782 Karlstad University Studies | 2014:23 ISSN 1403-8099 ISBN 978-91-7063-554-0 © The author Distribution: Karlstad University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Department of Geography, Media and Communication SE-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden +46 54 700 10 00 Print: Universitetstryckeriet, Karlstad 2014 WWW.KAU.SE ABSTRACT The contemporary media landscape invites us to experience a belonging to various distant places, mourn the victims of faraway disasters, expose ourselves to foreign cultures and engage in political issues in places far from our local context of living. In other words, we are invited to become citizens of the world – cosmopolitans. But are we? And if so, how is such cosmopolitanism expressed in a given society, under what social conditions, and in relation to what media practices? Contemporary social theory depicts a global or cosmopolitan mode of orienting in the world as paradigmatic of social life in global modernity. To date, little is known about the structural realities of such orientations. Against this backdrop, the aim of the present study is to understand the potentially “cosmopolitan” character of peoples’ outlooks and practices, and the societal conditions in which they can be identified. On the one hand, the aim of the study is to contribute to the largely theoretical accounts of the “cosmopolitan” character of social life in present times, and on the other, to understand the specific role of various media practices in the process generally described as “cosmopolitanization”. Results yielded by a national survey deployed in Sweden (n = 1 025) show that the distribution of various cosmopolitan dispositions abides by logics of social stratification. In tandem with previous research, cosmopolitanism – when studied “from below” – has a tendency to emerge in more privileged spheres of society. Being “connected” and simply living in a potentially global media landscape does not nullify this pattern. Contrary to significant parts of popular and scholarly conviction, the media is no uniform, all-encompassing environment operating as a force of cosmopolitanization across all social strata. The results of this study point towards a “mediatized cosmopolitanism” that is impossible to disentangle from social context and the power dynamics pertaining to that context. Key words: cosmopolitan disposition, mediated cosmopolitanism, mediatized cosmopolitanism, cosmopolitanization, media practice, survey research, media sociology. ABSTRACT (SVENSKA) Det samtida medielandskapet tillåter oss att känna tillhörigheter till en mängd olika platser, sörja offer för katastrofer i fjärran länder, exponera oss för främmande kulturella uttryck och engagera oss i politiska frågor rörande platser långt bortom vårt lokala sammanhang. Vi tycks med andra ord bli inbjuda att bli världsmedborgare – kosmopoliter. Men är vi det? Hur uttrycks i sådana fall kosmopolitismen i ett givet samhälle - under vilka förhållanden och i relation till vilka mediepraktiker? Samtida samhällsvetenskaplig teori framställer ett globalt-, eller kosmopolitiskt förhållningsssätt som paradigmatiskt för det sociala livet i den globala moderniteten. Dock finns inte tillräckligt underlag för att förstå den strukturella verkligheten kring sådana förhållningssätt. Mot den bakgrunden är syftet med föreliggande studie att förstå den potentiellt sett ”kosmopolitiska” karaktären på människors förhållningssätt och praktiker och de förhållanden i vilka sådana orienteringar kommer till uttryck. Således är syftet å ena sidan att bidra empiriskt till teoretiska beskrivningar av vår kosmopolitiska samtid. Å andra sidan söker studien också förstå den specifika rollen av olika mediepraktiker i relation till den process som beskrivits som ”kosmopolitaniseringen”. Resultat från en nationell enkätundersökning i Sverige (n = 1 025) visar på en social stratifiering av kosmopolitiska orienteringar. I linje med tidigare forskning påvisar föreliggande studie att kosmopolitism studerad “underifrån” har en tendens att framförallt komma till uttryck i mer priviligierade samhällssfärer. Att vara “sammanlänkad” och helt enkelt leva i ett potentiellt sett globalt medielandskap motverkar inte den tendensen. I motsats till både populära och akademiska utsagor utgör inte medierna en unison och allomfattande miljö som sätter igång en process av kosmopolitanisering i alla samhällets skikt. Studiens resultat pekar istället mot en ”medialiserad kosmopolitism” som är omöjlig att förstå utan att ta hänsyn till sitt sociala sammanhang och de maktförhållanden som råder i det sammanhanget. Nyckelord: kosmopolitisk disposition, medierad kosmopolitism, medialiserad kosmopolitism, kosmopolitanisering, mediepraktiker, enkätundersökning, mediesociologi. 2 Till Hanna 3 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................ 13 Introduction: Media and the Expansion of our “Little Worlds” ......................... 13 The Scope of the Study ................................................................................................. 13 Contributions of the Study ........................................................................................... 24 Outline ........................................................................................................................ 26 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................ 29 From Provocation, to Perpetual Peace, to “Actually Existing”: Cosmopolitanism as Disposition .............................................................................. 29 From Perpetual Provocation to Perpetual Peace ............................................................ 29 Towards an “Actually Existing” Cosmopolitanism ...................................................... 37 The Manifestations of Cosmopolitan Dispositions ......................................................... 40 Cosmopolitan Dispositions in Different Spheres of Society ............................................. 47 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................ 51 Mapping the Field of Media and Cosmopolitanism .............................................. 51 Peripheral but Potent ................................................................................................... 51 Media and Cosmopolitanism – Contemporary Questions .............................................. 55 Empirically Informed Answers ..................................................................................... 62 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 67 CHAPTER 4 ................................................................................................................ 69 Theorizing the Relationship Between Media and Cosmopolitanism: Three Paradigms ..................................................................................................................... 69 Networks of Universalization ...................................................................................... 69 Critical Media Studies – Logics of De-cosmopolitanization in Media Production and Consumption ............................................................................................................... 75 Globalized Life-Worlds – Media and the Blurring Boundaries of the Social World ...... 81 Summary ....................................................................................................................