1. Giddens, modernity and self-identity
How people form their sense of self
Later we will relate these with media
Key themes of Giddens:
Fusion of individual action and social forces in one theoretical approach--structuration
The impact of late modernity
Consequent democratization of everything from big corporations to intimate relationships

2. Structuration:
Social life is more than random individual acts, but it is not determined by social forces
Not only a mass of micro activity, but cannot be studied only by looking at macro level either
Human gaency and social structure are in a relationship with each other
İt is the repetition of individual acts that reporduce social structures
People’s everyday actions create, reinforce and reproduce expectations
These expectations of other people make up social forces and social structures
“faith” in the coherence of everyday life—a kind of routine trust---media??

3. Modernity and the self:
Modernity is post-traditional (free of traditions)
İn traditional societies social order is based on traditions, beliefs—provide people with clearly defined roles
In post-traditional societies we have to work out our roles ourselves—media??

4. What are the features of late modernity?
Self is no something we are born with, it is not fixed
We all chose a lifestyle
Relationships are increasingly like “pure relationships” of equals, where everything has to be negotaiated and there are no external reasons for being together
We accept that all knowledge is provisional and may be proved wrong
We need trust in everyday life and relationships
We accept risks and choose possible future actions by anticipating outcomes. Media adds to our awareness of risk

5. Reflexive project of the self:
Self is made; self identity becomes a reflexive project.
That is we continously work on our self and reflect on.
We create, maintain and revise a set of narratives—the story of who we are and how we came to be where we are now
Understanding of our own biography in the light of other stories we see in everyday life (movies, soaps, news, commercials)

6. Giddens links narrative of the self with the rise of romantic love
“romantic love introduced the idea of narrative into an individual’s life”
Biography of the self has taken on a new life of its own with the range of narratives suggested by popular media (movies and soap operas)

7. With modernity sexual development and sexual satisfaction became part of the reflexive project of the self
Sexual orientation is a more important concern for us than the the other person^s taste in music or literature
Because it is so much heightened in popular media

8. Consumerism and identity:
Modernity opens up the project of self under conditions strongly influenced by commodity capitalism
Project of the self is redirected by the corporate world into set of shopping opprtunities
The stuff we can buy to express ourselves has an impact on the project of self
Self is also a struggle against commodified influences
Consumerism is one of the ways in which we develop and project a lifestyle
We select a lifestyle among many

9. Lifestyle—readymade templates for a narrative of self.
Lifestyle is more like a genre
Lifestyle choices give our personal narratives an identifiable shape linking us to communities who are like us.—visible expression of a certain narrative of self
An identity fitted into a lifestyle is not free floating---lifestyle sectors (work, home, relationships) media???

10. The body and the self
Body is the outer expression of our self to be improved and worked upon
Media???
Transformation of intimacy
İn the post-traditional society relationships are entered into for the mutual satisfaction of emoyional needs unlike for economic and symbolic convenience
Relationships are consciously constructed, analyzed or broken up
Always oriented towards mutual satisfaction

11. Story structures
Another influence of media might be found not in the content of the stories but in the promotion of coherent stories
“The form is what matters rather than the content; in these stories one gains a sense of reflexive control over life circumstances, a feeling of a coherent narrative which is reassuring balance to difficulties in sustaining the narrative of the self in actual social situations”
Mythology examples,
Equipment for living

12. İndividuals do use story frames in their understanding of their own lives.
All possible ways of living are played out in the stories that are told in a culture, and we learn from the stories of greed, lust, hate, love and develop our own narrative of self in relation to these templates
Popular media provides us with many such narratives everyday in the form of drama, soap operas video games
Such narratives give people the chance to think about what constitutes a good life or a desirable identity