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.