Our times can appear confusing and complex for the individual. Reality has rarely been perceived in so many ways as it is today. This observation comes from Bo Isenberg, a researcher and lecturer in cultural sociology and social psychology.
In a short time, our society has gone from having few and fixed norms to many and often contradictory ones. This can be confusing for young people, who are receptive as they want to do the right thing and fit in.
Hasn’t the world always been confusing for people?
“Not like it is today. In previous centuries, time stood still to a greater extent. For example, the perception of reality among people in the 1400s was not very different from that of people in the 1300s or 1500s. Society was kept together because people lived in a similar way in extended families, on farms and in parishes. The differences were mainly between the various classes, which were closely tied together and interdependent. The turning point came with the advent of modernity – industrialisation, secularisation and the individualisation of people. It could perhaps be said that the individual is modernity’s most important invention.”
But hasn’t globalisation, digitalisation and social media created more common references and meeting places than previously? Shouldn’t that result in our views on life and society becoming increasingly similar?
“Yes, but paradoxically phenomena like globalisation and digitalisation also make society more complex and fragmented. More communication does not automatically lead to similar views. In addition, the rules of the game change faster today. This occurs not least in working life, which constantly sets new requirements for expertise and adaptation. We interact with more and more people, more different kinds of people, for increasingly short periods and quite often simultaneously and via mobile phones. The accelerated rate of change in society means that it’s more difficult for people to predict what will happen in the future.”
Who are the winners and losers from this trend?
“If you are financially secure, have good social capital, a good education and a stable family life – mobility can be fantastic. It opens up the world. But, what for some represents opportunities and flexibility means for others uncertainty and vulnerability. Mobility and vulnerability go hand in hand. Within sociology, we talk about the current trend of growing precariarisation, i.e. that an increasing number of people have fragile life conditions. The experience of powerlessness is increasing.”
“There are many surveys showing that young people in particular – those who carry the changes forward – are suffering as a result of the rapid changes and complexity. We are seeing an increased need for psychiatric care and a rise in medicalisation. Young people are to live up to different requirements and realise themselves. It’s difficult for them.”
How does this affect the common norms – the ‘unwritten rules’ – that exist in society?
“In a short time, we have gone from having few and fixed norms to many and often contradictory ones, which are also rapidly changing. This can be confusing for young people, who are receptive as they want to do the right thing and fit in. For example, in Sweden we are seeing the sound questioning of gender norms in parallel with the emergence of a kind on new patriarchal life in which women are subject to men.”
“Nowadays, we often call norms into question by using concepts such as norm critique and norm creativity. Norms should always be called into question, but norms also provide certainty and security. The teens, by definition, mean a sound questioning of things, but if criticism of norms leads to normlessness, or ‘anything goes’, we are in trouble. There is a risk that strong powers push through their own particular norms.”
By Kristina Lindgärde - published on 14 February 2019
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