Stephen's Blog

Post Structuralism

Michel Foucault’s theory applies to our modern day society so well it is almost uncanny – One of the key arguments involves policing and control – individuals can be essentially conditioned to “police” themselves through systematic and often subtle reinforcement periods (i.e., posts about risks of legal troubles should an individual pirate content off the internet can creep its way into someone’s head and eventually discourage them from doing such acts, in reality their chance of an arrest is no higher now than before, but they choose to avoid it as assurance.) The nature of these “posts” or recommendations can often be deceiving – as the BBC video pointed out, subtle reinforcements here and there, and all it takes is a little time before an individual becomes conditioned without knowing it. Be it a post causing distress, or a post making someone very angry or happy at something, social media can almost certainly be used – and it probably is – as a tool for control, or at the minimum a device for imposing external influence on the masses. Yes, the individual is making their decisions, but to what degree? 

Post Modernism

Postmodernism has meaning for Judith Butler personally. Judith Butler, in contrast, applies the skepticism of postmodernism to our own bodies and sexuality. She has had a significant impact in challenging the fundamental tenet of feminism, which holds that sex differences between men and women are biologically based. Instead, she places a strong emphasis on gender performance, mirroring postmodernist ideas. She contends that rather than being determined by the biology of our own bodies, our sense of gender identity is created and maintained by this performance. In order to comprehend sexuality and sexual preferences, Butler uses parallel thinking. For example in today’s world Butler emphasizes walking and speaking in ways that consolidate an impression of being a male or female. Thus according to postmodernism, the value of the performance (or presentation, to use Butler’s word) has superseded that of the reality being shown. Nothing, according to some, is more tangible and real than our own bodies. Butler, however, argues that our experience of gender is not based on the physiology of our bodies. In today’s culture, it affects our gender identity through influencing how we present gender in every contact, every day.

Comparison and Conclusion

Both of these theories relate to each other when analyzing the ‘truth’. To Foucault, the absolute truth claimed by the state is not actually the truth but a tool to gain and exercise power over other people. His denial of the objective truth directly talks to Judith Butler’s beliefs. She believes truth varies person to person which indicates Foucault’s theory of the non-existent truth. Because if postmodernism is all about personal beliefs then every individual is making up their own truths. For instance, she believes people are not born with a gender, they create it for themselves. But for people who believe in absolute truths unlike Butler would argue that people have certain genders from the moment they are born. In this way the intriguing question arises ‘Who’s truth is absolute truth and why?’. Micheal Foucault had also raised the same question while analyzing the truth. 

In summary, both argues and reacts to the notion that society should operate under a defined set of systemic standards, while post structuralism approaches it much more academically with theories such as panopticism and distribution of knowledge, post modernism would expresses these ideas in the form of art. Be it visual or auditory, since it concerns a lot more with the way we view the world, a lot of it through media.

Module 5&6:

Goffman and the performed self;

Interview with Peter. L. Berger.

Symbolic interaction studies the relationships between people in society. Goffman created dramaturgy, in which he divided the self into two parts, the front and the back. Goffman focuses more on and explores “the actual, physical copresence of individuals–the interaction order–shapes the organization of the self.” Goffman’s theory can help us understand the true feelings of others in contemporary society. For example, when parents have problems in educating their children, perhaps parents should take some measures to let the children step down from the “stage” when they get along with their parents and return to the backstage. Understand the problem and participate in the children’s perspective.

Phenomenology is a philosophy that deals with lived experiences that an individual has and not specifically a sociological subject. It dives into how experiences and objects hold different meanings and values based on the subjective view of an individual. This is highlighted in the “Interview with Peter L. Berger on The Social Construction of Reality” where the author of the book “The Social Construction of Reality” argues in it the importance of knowledge of all forms in sociology famously stating “if the sociology of knowledge s to live up to its title, it should concern itself with everything that passes for knowledge in society” and expanding on this by saying “the consciousness of a philosopher is no more interesting to that of the consciousness of a taxi driver”. These connections can help us appreciate others’ perspectives and understand that our views on subjects and objects are subjective, especially when looking at different classes, cultures, etc.

Both theories focus on individual level, subjective understanding of the world, and how it shapes their perception and behavior. One creates meaning; the other tries to comprehend it. The two theories differ in the level & nature of their study – symbolic interactionism focuses on micro level, person to person interactions whereas phenomenology is concerned with the individual itself – reaching as deep as studying perceived reality vs. objective reality. In short, phenomenology is much more abstract compared to interactionism. 

Despite their differences, they can be incorporated/applied together into studies where context is lacking – for example, when studying a particular culture, symbolic interactionism is used when communications are observed – through which we may extract certain symbols, slangs, gestures and such; and when we are interviewing members of said culture we may utilize phenomenology to gather their perception of such slangs, gestures, as well as how they perceive “outsiders”.  We can take individual responses and make comparisons with others’ responses to “arrive” at a meaning.

To conclude, although interactionism is a much more physically involved theory involving multiple individuals whereas phenomenology is much more philosophical and abstract in nature, they both study individual perception and action, and can often be used together in studies.

Chosen Medias from Module 2,3,4:

Interview with Robert. K Merton; 

Social Capital Theory;

Radical thinkers: Max Horkheimer’s Critique of Instrumental Reason.

Stephen Cao: Robert K Merton & modern day anomie:

Robert K. Merton expanded upon the concept of anomie, which is a state of social  instability caused by one, or a combination of: social change, social uncertainty, or a lack of shared norms and values. Originally composed by Emile Durkheim in “suicide”, Merton’s addition to anomie describes a society in which common goals are hard or impossible to achieve, which results in an increase in deviant behaviors. Current examples of anomie in Canada include: Rising costs of necessities means people have to work harder than usual while some cannot even secure a job, effectively preventing them from achieving their life goals for an uncertain period of time. This may be linked to the rise in deviance as crime rates have sky-rocketed since covid, and violent crimes continue to increase (e.g. TTC attacks, Recent bus attack which killed two young children).

Xinlei Wang: Social Capital Theory:

On the other hand, James S. Coleman’s Social Capital theory highlights the connections between social networks and their impact on individual and collective outcomes. According to Coleman, social capital is generated through trust, shared values, and norms of reciprocity among individuals and groups. In Canada, this theory can help us understand the role of social capital in shaping access to resources and opportunities. Also, the theory of social capital can help us understand some of the political consequences. For example, voter turnout and citizen participation are very important for formulating policies that support social equality and promote inclusive growth when understanding the role of social capital formation results.

Arina Hossain: The connection between the two theories:

Robert. K Merton’s expansion on Anomie and the social capital theory shares an appealing relationship. This relationship also helps us understand the reason behind the increasing rate of deviant behaviors in today’s contemporary social world. Merton’s theory helps us realize that in a state of anomie, a group of people is usually blocked from the societal means for structural reasons. For instance, people who are born in poverty cannot get access to higher education for financial instability. But as social beings like their other social capital networks, they would still want to achieve societal goals. Being financially stable is a societal goal in our recent social contemporary world. As the poverty-stricken people cannot achieve social goals in a normal way due to poverty, they achieve those through deviant behaviors. They are also maximizing the reward from accessing the resources through social capital. According to James Coleman, a social actor is a ‘rational, purposive agent motivated by maximizing rewards’. So, it can be said that they are well socialized and within the topology of social capital. These people utilize their social capital connections in a deviant way instead of socially acceptable way. An example to mention here would be the incident that occurred on January 23, 2023 in TTC. A man grabbed a woman’s purse at Broadview station during a violent robbery. The suspect fled with the item. Thus, this important issue can be well understood through Robert K. Metron’s and James Coleman’s viewpoints. 

Mckayla Styles: Robert K. Merton Functional View on Society 

Robert K. Merton, a well-known thinker in the latter part of the twentieth century, adopted a functional view of society. Merton is renowned for his “middle-ranged theorizing,” which refers to ideas that make factual and precise assertions about society. Merton looked at social institutions to investigate if and how they benefited society rather than presuming that they are integrated to satisfy functional imperatives. Societal institutions are components that keep society functioning. Since they make society work, they are seen as being significant. For instance, as a social institution, the education system serves the purpose of educating the younger generations and preparing them for the workforce. But Merton also believes that the time spent in school creates the opportunity for youth gangs to form and the participation in deviant acts. 

Dragos Voica: Radical thinkers: Max Horkheimer’s Critique of Instrumental Reason:

The multimedia “Radical thinkers” directly applies Max Horkheimer’s  worries of the individual to an open-air market in London. The video equates Horkheimer’s fears of the decline of individuality to the history of “Camden Locks”. A place once thought to be a counter culture (individuality). However as time passed, the market became more tailored to the mainstream thus losing its original identity in the masses. This expresses Horkheimer’s fear of the new mass culture adding more strain to individuality. Real life examples can be seen in punk/alternative rock bands that become very popular and sell out or change the messages in their songs to better fit the culture they were countering. This concept connects with the other two theories as they focus on the relationship between the individual and the collective. Modern day anomie looks to explain the rise in deviance caused by social change/lack of common values and social capital seeks to highlight the connections between people. These come together in Horkheimer’s fear of the individual losing himself to the collective.

There is a difference between travelling for work and travelling for tourism. This difference lies within the desire behind this drive to travel – One is serious business, the other is a fun time. Sometimes, elements of the two are mixed in but at the end of the day, if you’re having a good time, who cares? Unless, you’re “on the other side”.

Articles about orphanages reminded me of the vietnam war or any war for that matter – When you’re soaked enough in one-sided information, you become blind to reality. Sometimes you’re fighting for a solution to a non-existent problem; Sometimes, intervention is a bad deal.

Although many see volunteering as a good deed, and that donations will hopefully help those in dire need, what they don’t realize is that in reality, they’re helping a business. A business modelled off moral support and profits form it. Examples are vast, aside from orphanages, the most simple (and unfortunately popular) form of such schemes is crowdfunding donations.

Just like orphanage businesses, these pages get donations from people in the name of charity, claiming that all of the money collected goes to those affected. The issue is, such webpages takes minutes to setup, requires virtually no backing whatsoever, and are accessible to everyone. How would you know, out of a thousand crowdfundings to help arctic foxes, which one is real and which ones aren’t?

Nothing is wrong with wanting to help. The problem is helping blindly, contributing without validating can be just as damaging. After some major scams, crowdfunding pages have begin improving their validating system, but for foreign governments, it is up to them whether to take action on these supposed institutions. Moral of the story is, anything can be turned for profit. Afterall, money makes the world go around. What we, as citizens of the world should do, is make sure that these money come from clean efforts. An extremely challenging task, but definitely worth trying.

Covid and Globalization

This post is inspired, and adds to the Faiola article.

Ever since covid struck, the world has never been the same. Some countries opened up, others remained in lockdown, and some adopted a mixed approach to a certain effectiveness. However, all of them, at some point during this everlasting ordeal, had imposed travel restrictions.

It doesn’t matter how easy virtual communications are, travel will always be the most valued form of relaying and receiving information. I was in China during the first 2 years of covid from 2020 to 2022. And during these times, despite intense restrictions and quarantines, I saw representatives from the UK, Canada, and other parts of the world attending business conferences in person. Although much less common during covid, it shows just how dependent countries have become on each other when it comes to trade and development, even when faced with a surge of nationalism. And this brings up an important topic –

If it weren’t for the ease of travel, covid would not have spread this quick; If countries did not care about what others’ are doing, we wouldn’t need to travel this much. Effectively speaking, travel enhancements, a product of globalization as much as a driving force of it, caused it to slow to a halt. Is it causing itself to de-globalize? Is globalization an inevitable, but also unstable force? These are questions we would usually ask ourselves. But at the same time, without scientists and doctors and the WHO, could it have been worse? That would be a topic for another blog.

Either way, the pandemic has been very effective at cutting down globalization especially in the form of travel. Here is a photo I took while waiting for a flight to hong kong. It was taken in the summer of 2022, in what was usually the busiest airport in my home province.

Even coming back to Canada, the airports felt, wrong. It was almost liminal. Spaces usually filled with people, sound of chatter, footsteps, gone. Dim lights filled empty hallways. A grim reminder of what a globalized pandemic is capable of.