SumBlog 12: Samuel Huntington and The Clash of Civilizations

  This week in class we talked about Samuel Huntington and the article he published about the clash of civilizations. In addition to this we talked about the critics of Huntington's proposal, mainly Edward Said's criticism because he was the most vocal about his opinions. According to Huntington, the clash of civilizations happens when groups of countries with similar cultural values have conflicts. Rather than thinking of these conflicts as happening because of nation-state divisions, Huntington says that the differences in cultures are to blame. He brings religion into the mix by saying that it is the most prominent factor in these conflicts between civilizations, and it is mainly between the Western civilization and the Islamic civilization. In class we talked about some reasons for this, and we discovered the conflicts are primarily between these two civilizations because the religions of these areas (Christianity and Islam) are just so similar in their core attributes that they will undoubtedly clash. Basically when people identify themselves based on their religion and their culture, they are bound to clash with other groups of people who have a different religion or culture. There are a few civilizations in this world that can in no way be grouped together because they are so vastly different, so they end up almost competing with each other and are often involved in conflicts.
  On the opposing side there is Edward Said who published an article directly negating what Huntington was saying. Said explained that Huntington was completely overgeneralizing the different groups of people and also conveying himself as a racist by giving certain groups these attributes that they are constantly in conflict because of their religion. I can see how the clash of civilizations would make sense in extreme and radical situations, but I agree with Said that it is a major overgeneralization. We even discussed the proof available for this in class by looking at how Catholicism is vastly different in France and Ireland, two countries included in Huntington's "Western Civilization."
  For me, I agree with Said's criticism of the clash of civilizations over Huntington's support of it. There are so many examples today even that don't uphold what Huntington was saying because there are a large number of conflicts that aren't between different civilizations, or there are conflicts within what is deemed a civilization. If these areas are grouped together because of common culture and practices, I think Africa needs to be looked at again. When we looked at the world map that showed where the different civilizations are, Africa was only two colors, and that's mostly due to the fact that the Sahara desert covered the area that was a different color from the rest. I would say that Africa needs to have more than just one generalized civilization because the people that live there are so vastly different and are constantly in conflict with each other. We learned about why Africa is split up in this way in a geography class I took two semesters ago, so when we discussed the civilizations Huntington proposed, I couldn't help but think of the conflicts in Africa. When the Europeans discovered that there were valuable resources in Africa's interior, they were quick to raid those resources and then colonize the continent. When they did this, however, there were obviously already people living there who belonged to varying ethnic groups, and when the borders between countries were drawn by the Europeans they split up ethnic groups between countries and then also put different ethnic groups together into one country and expected them to be able to cooperate with each other. This led to many conflicts between groups because each group wanted to have control over the other, leading to the creation of minority and majority groups which continue to fight with each other to this day. That is why I don't agree with Huntington's model; Africa is not just one civilization.
  The map on the top shows the Ethnolinguistic Groups within Africa with the country borders superimposed over these group boundaries. As you can see, the country borders intersect between many of the groups and then countries are formed that contain many different groups. The bottom picture shows where various conflicts occur, and if you compare the two maps, you can see that the areas where conflicts occur are areas with many different Ethnolinguistic groups within one country.

SumBlog 11: Peter Berger and the aspects of Social Construction of Reality

  This week in class we continued to talk about Sociologists who focus on phenomenology, which means that these Sociologists think that phenomenons happen in a society and they need to be explained, which is in opposition to the previous Sociologist we learned about who thought society acted as a machine. One concept we talked about was Peter Berger's social construction of reality and the cycle that happens within it, and this cycle basically enhances certain social constructions, which can be positive or negative. The cycle begins with Externalization, which is where your attitude about something or your way of thinking begins impacting the people around you. This then escalates to Habituation, which is when an action that is taken for granted or thought of unconsciously becomes routine. Finally this leads to Institutionalization, which is when there is an impact on larger social institutions and when the action is being taught or socialized. The concept of the social construction of reality is most definitely present in our society today, along with the three aspects of it. This is proven because in class we discussed many different examples and applications of the components to the social construction of reality, including a Seinfeld clip, racism, and examples we came up with in our group activity. I think that gender is a good example and is applicable to each of the aspects of the social construction of reality.
  I would say that gender is one of the most prominent social constructions of reality because gender itself is socially constructed. We can say that we are male or female because society puts those labels on us and we are expected to act in certain ways because of these labels. For Externalization, we perpetuate certain ideas about gender to others, meaning that we use personal pronouns such as he or she and we wear clothes that reflect our gender. People can see these things and they are affected by them. For example, if a person would come into this world not knowing what gender is, they would learn very quickly just be watching how people act and listening to the things they say. When people become so accustomed to knowing what gender is and acting in certain ways to reflect their gender, Externalization turns into Habituation. We fall into routines of dressing in either 'male' or 'female' clothes and we do it unconsciously. When we pass people on the street we don't have to actively think about what their gender is, we just know, and if we were to go up to someone and talk to them, we would instinctively call them 'he' or 'she'. Eventually these routines will become so customary that they will become Institutionalized in our society. We learn about gender in school, mostly in our health education classes. There are distinctions made between male and female, and these distinctions are taught to us a an early age. Also, the governments in many states have stepped in regarding gender, especially when it comes to same sex marriage. Gender roles are clearly defined by the government, and a marriage can legally be between a man and a woman. Seeing as society forms the basis for gender identification, marriage is also socially constructed, but that is a whole other topic. Anyways, our society has formed what gender is and what it means to be male or female, and it was formed through those three steps.

These pictures represent an example within my gender example. When we are born, our parents are presented with pink clothes if they're having a girl and blue clothes if they're having a boy. This is the moment when Externalization begins because when we are dressed in those pink or blue clothes, our gender's are on display for everyone to see, which alters people's perception of us. Then we become Habituated to seeing these pink and blue colors that we don't even think twice about buying gender specific clothes for a baby shower.

SumBlog 10: Clifford Geertz and Symbolism

  This past week in class we discussed the theories of both Talcott Parsons and Clifford Geertz, and I found their work and contributions to society very interesting. I decided to focus on the symbolism activity we were given as class ended, which is relatable to Geertz and his definition of culture. Geertz said that culture is made up of symbols, which can be physical or non-physical things, and in his work on thick descriptions he gives winking and sheep raiding as examples, sort of. There are so many symbols around us every day that we don't even notice them anymore. Every morning when I drive to school I pass a large farm that has an American Flag flying in its' front yard and when I see it I can't help but think of symbolism and the importance it has in our lives as Americans. You may only see it quickly when passing by or you may have one outside your home to look at anytime you want. Either way, the combination of red, white and blue is unmistakable against a backdrop of America, and it stands for so many things in our society today.
  The American Flag is a symbol of freedom; it reminds us of the fighting that took place and the lives that were lost to gain our freedom from the British, and the lives that are continuously lost in today's battles. It is a symbol of liberty; when we look to the Flag, we think of our freedom of speech and the other basic rights lain out for us in the Bill of Rights, and that in a nutshell is our liberty. The Flag is a symbol of justice; when we are wronged in some way, we are able to get justice on the offending party thanks to our criminal justice system. The American Flag is held as sacred by almost all Americans because it is something we can look at to give us hope for the future. No matter how many devastating things take place in this country, such as the attacks on September 11th or the Boston Marathon bombing, that Flag will always be there connecting each and every one of us and holding us together as a country so that we can remain strong and keep our defenses up.
  The symbolism that surrounds the American Flag is enduring because the new generations are continually being taught what it means and why it's important. When I was growing up, we said The Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school, which really instilled the importance of it in me. I was only in 3rd grade when the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center buildings, but I still remember it like it was yesterday, and the thing I remember most strongly is the fact that there were American Flags everywhere you went. During that difficult time, the Flag basically meant "Hey, sure you destroyed important buildings and took many lives in an act of terrorism, but we are not just gonna sit by and watch, we are gonna defend our country and take down whoever is responsible for this tragedy." The Flag unites so many people around the country that even if we aren't physically next to each other, we can look at the flag and know that there are other people who believe strongly in the freedom that the Flag represents.
  However, the American Flag doesn't always have positive symbolism, which shows that there are benefits and risks when it comes to symbols. The burning of the Flag is what comes to my mind, and even though it is protected in the Bill of Rights, it is regarded as disrespectful and often leads to public outrage when not done ceremoniously. The Flag may be burned as a symbol against the United States or in protest to something being done here. Overall, symbols can be risky because they can convey negative aspects, such as the Star of David being accompanied with a picture of a Jewish person during The Holocaust, giving the Star of David a negative connotation.

  These are probably two of the most iconic photos involving the American Flag, the first at Iwo Jima on February 23, 1945 and the second at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. The flags were raised in these places during difficult times to show symbolism and support of our country.

SumBlog 9: Erving Goffman's Stigma

   During our discussion of Erving Goffman this week, we filled out a worksheet describing a time when we were stigmatized, and I really enjoyed that activity because I had a perfect example in mind. Before we get to that, however, it is important to explain what a stigma is. From what I understood from our discussion and the readings, stigmas are external forces that can prevent people from presenting themselves in certain ways. Basically, a person can try to act in certain ways depending on the situation or the position they are in, but other people have these ideas in their minds about that person or that position and those ideas can stop him or her from conveying what they want to convey. The fact that some groups of people are stigmatized, such as criminals or minorities, disappoints me because sometimes they can't get past those stigmas and it begins to affect the way they lead their lives. I would for sure say that stigmas are still present in today's society. Everywhere you look you see some sort of stigma being applied to a person or a group of people, and I honestly don't think we will ever be free of these stigmas.
   For my personal example of being stigmatized, I thought of my experiences at my job, which is working at a grocery store. There have been many instances in the recent past where I have been stigmatized as being unknowledgeable because I am young. For instance, a customer may come up to the checkouts with a question about a product or about something in our ad, and instead of asking me, someone who has been working there for 5 1/2 years and is a customer service representative, they will ask an older employee who has only been there for less than a year. Then when that employee can't answer the question, they will direct the customer to me anyways. When this happens, I just feel like I am being judged because of my age, because the only reason that the customer asked the other employee is simply because they are much older than me and therefore are apparently much more knowledgeable, and sure in some cases that may be true, but not in all. There have been many times when I have been burdened by this stigma, and I'm sure there will be more incidences in the future, and the only solution I can think of is simply to wait it out and deal with it until I am older. Overall, the concept of stigmas will be present in our society for a long time yet, so the groups who are stigmatized will have to overcome them in order to present themselves the way they would like.

When I was researching stigmas, I came across a lot of information about a movement to end the stigma against HIV, and I really liked this quote I found by Nelson Mandela. Even though I had never heard of this movement, it seems that it would be very important and critical to stop these stigmas against people living with HIV/AIDS because in some cases they are being denied treatment and healthcare because people are afraid of even getting close to these patients.

SumBlog 8: W.E.B. Du Bois' Veil

   In this week's discussions, we talked about W.E.B. Du Bois' contributions to sociology, such as how people of color are criminalized more often and are considered to be a lower class. We also talked about Du Bois' ideas of the veil and of double consciousness. The concept of the veil was interesting to me because it can really be attributed to anyone, even people not belonging to the minority race. The veil is basically a virtual shield of sorts that makes you see the world around you differently. In Du Bois' case, he meant that African Americans wear this veil, especially when they are younger, because they don't know any better and don't realize that their "minority" race is being discriminated against. They basically think that inequality is normal and just the way things are. It isn't until the veil is removed that people see what society is really like, and sometimes they want to continue to hide behind the veil because it is a place of solace where the concept of inequality is unknown. I would say that the veil is definitely still prominent today because there are constantly children born into the "minority" groups who have no idea that their race is sometimes discriminated against and who won't realize it until their veil is removed. An example today in the U.S. that I can think of is the Hmong population in the Wausau area. It's not uncommon to hear derogatory names aimed towards this group, and they are often times separated, sometimes unintentionally, from other groups, whether it's in schools or neighborhoods. The people who have a veil may not be able to see or understand this separation.
   Another example of the veil is prevalent in the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Amir, a Pashtun boy living in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, Afghanistan is the focus of the story, along with his childhood friend Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. Hassan, however, is a Hazara, which is the inferior race in that area of Afghanistan. Amir is the character who is wearing the veil, because for awhile while him and Hassan are growing up, Amir doesn't realize that Hassan is discriminated against because of his lineage and heritage. Amir does eventually have his veil lifted, but then he sort of hides behind it and pretends that he doesn't understand. This is evident when Amir witnesses Hassan being raped by Assef, a bully who thinks he is better than everyone of the lower race. Amir could have intervened, but he didn't, and he is so overwhelmed by his guilt that he makes it look like Hassan stole from him so that his dad would make Hassan and his father leave. Amir then pretty much pushes Hassan and the raping incident out of his head, putting his veil back on once more.

This page from the graphic novel version of The Kite Runner has text in a different language, but the pictures convey the scene where Amir watches Hassan being raped very well because this is pretty much exactly how I pictured this scene in my head. The two panels on the top right show Amir hiding behind a wall, looking into the alley where Assef and his two friends are attacking Hassan.

SumBlog 7: Anna Julia Cooper and Genocide

   When most people hear the word genocide, they think of the Holocaust because it is the most widely known and most often used example. My mind however goes to the Rwandan Genocide, which is far less known. Anna Julia Cooper's ideas on how society deals with minority groups are very applicable today, and when we learned about the genocide aspect, I was intrigued to learn more. Genocide is a way to "deal with" minority groups because it is basically elimination of the group. They are different in some aspect from the majority group, so this majority group eradicates them through savage means. Genocide is obviously the worst way to handle minorities, but it still happens more frequently than we would hope. We didn't talk about any specific examples of genocide in class, so I was interested in doing some more research.

   The Rwandan Genocide happened almost 20 years ago now, though that seems kind of hard to believe because I only first learned of it four years ago when I read a memoir written by a survivor. The reason why it is a lesser known example of genocide is that it was sort of ignored by developed areas such as the U.S. and the United Nations because those countries didn't want to get involved and they didn't want to take sides. The genocide grew out of a conflict between the majority Hutus, who were in control of the government, and the minority Tutsis. Within the nearly 100 days of fighting, it is estimated that between five hundred thousand and one million people were brutally murdered, which was about 70% of the Tutsi population. The book I read, Left To Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza, was very detailed and in-depth regarding exactly what those people experienced. Immaculée was able to survive for 91 days by hiding in 3-foot by 4-foot room with seven other women. I don't think I need to go into anymore detail on how extreme this situation was.

   Genocide in any form is a tragedy, but Anna Julia Cooper was accurate in saying it's a way to deal with minority groups, just not a positive way. Some of her other ideas such as assimilation and pluralism would be much better choices and would result in much less conflict. It always surprises me how much these theories are still relevant today because they were written so long ago. I'm always worried that one day on the news we will hear of another mass genocide happening somewhere in the world, and I just hope this time the countries who are able to help will actually step up and give aid before it's too late. 

   This YouTube video is a good concise overview of the Rwandan Genocide, though some of the images are very revealing and grotesque. 

SumBlog 6: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Androcentrism

The class discussion this week about Charlotte Perkins Gilman and her ideas about the androcentric culture was very engaging for me because I have some strong feelings about that issue myself, so I could relate very well to what we were learning and talking about. 

Androcentric culture is the idea that the world, and the culture and history of the world, tends to be viewed through the male perspective, and this is done unknowingly or unintentionally a lot of the time. Basically what I got from it is that when you look out at society, a lot of what you see is centered around the male, related to the male or dominated by the male. Even today people have this idea in their mind that women can or should only do certain things, and the rest should be left to the men. This fact disappoints me a lot because I feel that women can do almost everything in the "male" category without a problem.

In class, quite a few examples of Androcentrism were brought up, including superheroes being predominantly male, athletics and sports events being geared more towards men, and that politics in the U.S. are dominated by men, mostly because women are disregarded and deemed too emotional to handle political positions. Another one I liked was the video game example. I play a few different online games, and even though I am a woman, I still assume for some reason that the person I'm playing against or in a group with is a male because when you think of video games, you relate them to men only most of the time. 

When I was going over the material again before writing this SumBlog, I thought of another example of Androcentrism. I went through my movie collection, picked out a handful of movies, and looked up who directed the movie. Almost all of the directors were male, which I guess really didn't surprise me that much because a lot of the big name directors we hear about, such as Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock and Clint Eastwood, are obviously men. I googled "famous directors" and was linked to list of the 50 greatest directors, all of which are men. I just thought that was an interesting fact because it's not like only men are watching these movies, women watch them too, so you would think that women would be more involved in the creation of the movie. Male direction often leads to a male-domniated main cast as well, or even if there is a female main role, a man is almost always attached to her in some way. Take The Hunger Games trilogy for example. Sure, Katniss is the main character, but she has two guys to support her role. I guess I would just like to see a main female role where there isn't a male in almost every scene as well.

I thought this comic was kinda funny and very fitting for my movie example. It just adds to the fact that movies are often male dominated, and when women do have roles, they are minor.