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08/08/2010

The community versus the individual 鈥� How do we get past individual greed and what鈥檚 the viable alternative?

Eminent sociologist Amitai Etzioni, says if our modern consumer society is the problem, then the answer is a 鈥榗ommunitarian鈥� approach. But can this really work?

Getting beyond the individual is also what Nigerian novelist Teju Cole explores. In his case it鈥檚 not people around him, it鈥檚 communing with the past inhabitants of cities.

And from individual to common ownership in music: should songs belong to everyone? German musicologist Dr Daniel M眉llensiefen dissects musical plagiarism.

Illustration by Graeme Davis.

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55 minutes

Last on

Sun 8 Aug 2010 08:05GMT
麻豆社 World Service Online

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Chapters

  • Amitai Etzioni

    Sociological insights from Professor Amitai Etzioni.

    Duration: 17:20

  • SIXTY SECOND IDEA TO CHANGE THE WORLD

    A controlled mating season for humans.

    Duration: 05:37

  • Teju Cole

    Communing with the spirits of the past in today鈥檚 modern cities.

    Duration: 13:37

  • Dr Daniel M眉llensiefen

    Using old melodies to create new songs.

    Duration: 12:11

Broadcast

  • Sun 8 Aug 2010 08:05GMT
    麻豆社 World Service Online

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  • The Forum

    The programme that explains the present by exploring the past