A newborn only knows of two things, his/her mother and what they need to survive which is breastmilk. During this time, the infant is not aware of other humans, therefore, having an egoistic mind of only thinking for themselves and not others. Eventually, the baby does come to realization that he/she has a dad and siblings who the see often, making them realize that they are not alone in this world.
As time progresses, the societal environment we live in changes in countless ways that leads to hopeful progression in social conflicts that humans face every day. Understanding self, culture and society would involve focusing on both material conditions and ideological conditions from the past, present and the future. Material conditions focuses on the “production, exchange and the organization of society” or the environment that we are currently living in, while ideological conditions focuses on “ideas and thoughts that are prevalent in society” or the social values of groups and individuals who are living in society. Both of these conditions show a different perspective of society that contributes to understanding it as a whole. In order to understand our social situation, analyzing material conditions in society through the eyes of Rifkin and Hooks and analyzing ideological conditions through the eyes of Roszak and Anderson will provide a clear passage to where our society is headed towards.
Jeremy Rifkin discusses the change that technology has made in production and the organization of society in his articles. He explains our current material condition in depth and informs the reader about the changes that have happened in society from the past to present. He starts off by saying that “Global unemployment has now reached its highest level since the great depression of the 1930s”, which directly gives the reader of our current situation compared to the past (Rifkin, 1995, p.217). It is clear that employment is at a stack in society as of today which leads the reader to become curious as to why this might be. He goes on to talk about “intelligent machines” who are replacing beings in the workplace, leaving humans to be unemployed (Rifkin, pg. 220). Technology plays a huge factor in unemployment as more and more machines are being developed which are more efficient, cost effective compared to the work of a human being. One example that Rifkin provides us with is the Union Carbide company, where they “re-engineered its production, administration and distribution systems to trim excess fat and save $575 million in costs by 1995” (Rifkin, pg. 221). Rifkin means by this is it shows that companies are moving quickly to make changes to their systems, in order save money, ultimately giving them a higher profit margin, which is what all companies in a capitalistic market aim for. It is quite easy to replace human workers when their “work has been measured by the market value of their labour”, resulting in more technological machines replacing humans (Rifkin, pg. 219). Another reason technology is becoming a fast-growing investment in the labour market is so companies can keep their competitive advantage in the global market by ensuring speed of delivery and quality control in third world countries (Rifkin, pg. 229). Rifkin brings a different view to the unemployment crisis that is currently a major issue in our society by mentioning that unemployment can be a great social change. It is clear he believes that the change in the global markets and a workerless economy can either be a positive change or a negative changed which is all based on how civilians react to this change. Civilians can either dwell on not having a job or prepare to find an alternative to formal work in the market (Rifkin, pg. 238). Focusing on the social economy rather than the market economy is what will great a greater good for the human spirit, which is ultimately what Rifkin believes in.
Bell Hooks discusses material feminism in her article, giving the definition for feminism as “feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (Hooks, 2000, pg. 279). Hooks continues to talk about the misunderstanding of feminism in the modern media, where society thinks that white and privileged women are committed to gender equality, which Hooks believes is not feminism at all. She brings a new perspective into the discussion on modern feminism where mass media sees gender equality as the main feminism focus rather than abortion, rape laws and domestic violence, which is ultimately the main goal of the movement. She goes onto talk about the “Christian” culture of domestic household work primarily belonging to women, where they are expected to watch over the children, clean and cook for their husband, which still has not changed, though many women are in the workforce, challenging the glass ceiling every day (Hooks, pg. 280). Hooks stated that females could be sexist and without the power of women bonding together, the feminist focus on society would not be reached. Women’s liberation was not wanting what men had but bringing an end to patriarchy and sexism in our society. Hooks strongly believes that women need to change fundamental laws and beliefs in society in order to properly advocate for feminism. An example given in her text about the issue of abortion explains that a woman cannot be anti-abortion and claim to be a feminist. She states a strong point that power gained through the exploitation and oppression of other women is in fact not power or feminism at all. This includes women who buy products from famous brands, where these brands pay women in developing countries less than a cent to make their products. The alternative that she suggests is to restart the whole movement of feminism and start with the main goals of this issue that will impact the women living in the present and future. She says that “We can share the simple yet powerful message that feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression” (Hooks, pg. 282). This applies to all women in all countries where sexist oppression is stopping women from reaching their full potential. Women need to come together, focusing on materialistic feminism, rather than gender equality, in order to achieve the revolutionary goals that first started the feminism movement, which is what Hooks strongly believes would change our present-day society for the better.
Theodore Roszak discusses the alienation that many feel in our society following the post industrialist and political change. Roszak begins by talking about the major movements in society involve major energies exchanges between citizens, which make a bold statement in politics. He then goes onto define the difference between “culture” and “reality” saying that “Culture is the embodiment of a people’s shared reality, as expressed in word, image, myth, music, philosophy, science, moral style. Reality marks out the boundaries of what might be called the collective mindscape, the limits of sane experience” (Roszak, pg. xxiv). What he means by this is that culture is a societal connection where humans are in touch with their spiritual and subjective experiences, but reality changes this and makes humans become alienated from this special connection. This connection opens us to different ideas and thoughts which can help a human out of a depressive state which are effects of feeling alone or alienated. Roszak connects the bridge between the thought of organic food from the environment directly to the organic and pure thoughts that we have within our minds. He says that “Intolerance for the organic begins with the body, but it spreads from there to the environment at large. The body is nature’s nearest home; it is us as we take part in the self-regulating process of form and growth that sustain the universe” (Roszak, pg.98). What Roszak is trying to say here is that by taking care of our self in the most pure and natural way possible, you can find meaning in myths rather than on political platforms and the industrial revolution. He creates an argument asking the reader why only objective truths are seen as the truth, and not subjective truths. By subjective truth he means political platforms, laws and what society as a whole believes the system should be like. The truths and beliefs that come with the feeling of the “soul”, free will and the feeling of emotion is just as important as the scientific based facts and evidence given to society when it comes to important social problems such as racism and global warming. This is ultimately what Roszak wants the reader to do, start questioning the objective based facts and start being in touch with the subjective truths, which is a clear ideological condition in our society.
Karen Anderson discusses the sociological imagination and perspective in-depth in her reading. She talks about the social construction of reality stating that reality is shaped through the society we live in, therefore reality will always be changing and challenged. The concept “construction of reality” applies to all social human beings, while the “social imagination” is set to only an individual and how he/she interacts with the in the environment they are in (Anderson, 2012, pg. 6). She also talks about objective and subjective reality, where objective reality is unlimited to the amount of people who understand it, while subjective reality is limited to an individual, like previously mentioned with Roszak. Anderson provides the reader with an example of individualism in the Western world, stating that it is not natural and desirable in human affairs. The independence that comes with having an individualistic mindset changes the way beliefs are seen and evaluated as mentioned in the text (Anderson, pg. 11). This is a common ideological condition that is very prevalent in our society which results in different beliefs in every individual rather than a collective belief. This also adds to neuroticism within an individual, resulting in more jealousy, anger, loneliness and stress preventing them from living a healthy and happy life. What constitutes reality is not just based on the environment we are in, but also the experience we face on the daily with other individuals and social structures. Anderson explains to the reader why this happens, and she uses two different propositions, society is a human product and habitualization is the groundwork for institutionalization. She talks about how social institutions have channeled and controlled certain behaviours in humans and she gives the example of a school institution. The school environment is a complex system where lectures are seen as a person of authority who have the right to kick students out if they are being disruptive.
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