2. Speaking.

Discuss the problems of nationalism and racism and various points of view on the matter.

3. Writing.

Essay:

• Ethnocentrism in the modern world.

• The policy of dubious standards.

• The implied motives of racism. Can we speak about racism in Russia?

• Nationalism and nationhood: what is bad and what is good.

4. Project work.

Using informational internet sites find and render the information about current political events. Be ready to present it in the class.

5. Vocabulary:

tribe, attachment, adherence to, to take for granted, development, to emerge, span, nobles, to embrace, allegiance, commerce, to encompass, crucial, legitimacy, to intent, to deprive of, to disrupt, marginal figures, to jolt, de­viant, rural, externally, proponents, dehumanization, to stem, to linger, unrest, reluctance, resentment, a refugee, immutable, implication, divisiveness, to transcend, hierarch , to uphold, settlement, labor shortage, social fabric, advancement, quantification, attitude of convenience, to solidify, to transmit, offspring.

Unit 2

Globalization and informational society.

1. Reading and translating.

   • What is informational society?

   • Do you agree with the statement, that we get not the information, but the informational product? How do you understand it?

Read the text below, translate it and learn the new words:

Text 1

Informational society

A socially-inclusive information society will not come about by itself, nor can it be brought about solely by the efforts of information workers. How do we develop and share a vision of such a society? How do we identify and overcome the barriers to the fulfillment of that vision? The information society implies potential changes in the ways in which people share information, send and receive messages, learn, gossip and interact. Network technologies such as the internet and mobile telephones are affecting the ecology of relationships. Transactions with authorities are becoming faster and more direct. Organizations are becoming ‘flatter’ and find it easier to work in partnership, more easily setting up virtual teams for particular projects. The potential for change can be bewildering and our understanding is subject to hype and extravagant claims. The risks of exclusion from these developments, at the local level, among specific social groups, and between nations, seem threatening. But the potential to exploit information and communication technologies, to reduce inequalities and enhance the quality of life seems beyond question. This seminar explores the nature of social exclusion and seeks to develop an understanding of the contribution of information and communication in promoting the conditions of inclusion. It will examine the relationship of information and communication to participative democracy; and considers both the role and skills of citizens, and the issues for policy. Topics covered include: Understanding exclusion, promoting inclusion civil society, social cohesion and diversity. Information, communication and community neighborhoods: communication and ‘place’ among communities of interest. Citizenship in the information society, information and democratic participation skills for the information society: ‘information capability’ policy for the information society: government strategies. The information society and global forces. The seminar has been designed to ensure active participation and involvement, and participants will be invited to share their own experience at several points in the program. Participant profile. The seminar is intended to attract people who can help bring about change, at local, regional or national level. It is designed to be of benefit to anyone involved in communication within a context of social inclusion. These could include practitioners, local government officers who are planning services, policy officials, information managers, and media representatives, members of self-help groups and researchers.

(From: “Information, communication and participative democracy”, Cardiff, 26–31 January 2004)

Information age spurs economic globalization.

The advent of innovative computer and communications technology toward the end of the 20th century ushered in a new era dominated by information rather than industry. Just as land, labor, and machinery had been the capital of an industrial age, information became a new form of capital in modern business. During the 1970s and 1980s, a number of new telecommunications advances came into existence, including modern communications satellites. Telephone companies, cable television stations, and other media outlets began using these satellites to transmit data around the world. By the late 1990s, integrated digital networks were being developed to create a global voice, data, text, and video system. At the same t ime, large computer networks, such as the Internet, permitted modems—devices that transmit data through phone lines—to link individual computers to other computers throughout the world. In 1993, Internet usage exploded when commercial providers were first allowed to sell Internet connections to individuals. These technological advances helped catalyze the growth of the global economy at the end of the 20th century, when international financial networks moved trillions of dollars around the world daily. With the advent of globalization, a nation's economy became more connected with and dependent on those in other countries around the world. For example, when several Asian countries faced economic turmoil in the late 1990s, the economic impact was felt in Western nations at the corporate and individual levels.

(From: Britannica Student Encyclopedia 2004 Children's Edition. 1994-2003 )

The concept of interdependence.

I nterdependence is a fuzzy term used in a variety of conflicting ways like other political words such as nationalism or imperialism. Statesmen and analysts have different motives when they use political words. The statesman wants as many people marching behind his or her banner as possible. Political leaders blur meanings and try to create a connotation of a common good: "We are all in the same boat together, therefore we must cooperate, therefore follow me." The analyst, on the other hand, makes distinctions to understand the world better. She distinguishes questions of good and bad from more and less. The analyst may point out the boat we are all in may be heading for one person's port but not another's, or that one person is doing all the rowing while another steers or has a free ride. In other words, interdependence can be used both ideologically as well as analytically, and we should be aware of such different usage. As a political verb, interdependence is conjugated "I depend; you depend; we de­pend; they rule."

As an analytical word, interdependence refers to situations in which actors or events in different parts of a system affect each other. Simply put, interde­pendence means mutual dependence. Such a situation is neither good nor had in itself, and there can be more or less of it. In personal relations, interdepen­dence is summed up by the marriage vow in which each partner is interde­pendent with another "for richer, for poorer, for better, or for worse.' And interdependence among nations sometimes means richer, sometimes poorer, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. In the eighteenth century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau pointed out that along with interdependence comes friction and conflict. His "solution" was isolation and separation. But this is seldom possible in the modern world. When countries try isolation, like Albania or Myanmar (formerly Burma), it comes at enormous economic cost. It is not easy for nations to divorce the rest of the world.

Exercises:

1. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and phrases: A socially-inclusive information society, to share a vision, to overcome the barriers, to imply potential changes, network technologies, the ecology of relationships, setting up virtual teams, to exploit information and communication technologies, to reduce inequalities, enhance the quality of life, promoting the conditions of inclusion, participative democracy, understanding exclusion, communications technology, to transmit data around the world, through phone lines, to face economic turmoil, blur meaning.

2. Give English equivalents to the following words and phrases

разделять точку зрения, преодолевать препятствия, подразумевать потенциальные изменения, сократить неравенство, гражданское общество, предавать информацию, использование Интернета, экология отношений, на местном уровне, уменьшать неравенство, гражданское общество, инновационные технологии, пользователи, стать зависимым от, взаимозависимость.

3. Using a dictionary, find out the derivatives of the words:

to depend, to distinguish, to include, equal, globe, to connect.

4. Make up sentences with the above-mentioned words:

5. Define the main notions you’ve come across in the text in bold type.

6. Do you agree with the underlined statements?

7. Ask problem questions.

8. Summarize the information you have just read.

9. Discussion Advantages and disadvantages of the modern informational society.

Text 2

Globalization and Socio-Cultural Crisis in Russia