The nouveau rich

In today’s globalized society where information of all types is more readily accessed as before there are instances when even bits of “elite”-level education (albeit a watered-down version) and “culture” (modes of living) can trickle down to the lower classes. For example, in talking with an expert in the field an observation was made that the nouveau rich that is being created by the illicit drug trade appear to be picking up on certain cultural practices followed by the elites. These actions being copied by the recently working-class individuals stand out of place mainly because such actions are exaggerated. It has been suggested by many that it is as if these new rich do not know how to be rich.
For instance, there was the sudden construction of “narco mansiones” (drug trade mansions) that sprung up down the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez valley where money was no obstacle. The owners went over the top in trying to give the impression to others that they were now a part of an elite class and in their attempt the appearance of the homes took on an eccentric air. The difference in the way these individuals were raised (in some cases with limited life-chances, limited education in quantity and quality, and thus with cultural capital unlike the old rich) became manifest in the way they lived their lives. In a world of imitation not their own. What is your take on this? Are these nouveau rich on their way to restructuring and reconceptualizing what it means to be and to live rich?

What kind of relationships do you have?

A. Giddens discusses the concept of “pure relationships”. He defines these types of relationships as any relationship an individual has “purely for the sake of the relationship” (Allan, 2008, p.406). This could be the relationship you have with your best friend. On the other hand he also discusses “traditional relationships” in which the intentions of the relationship are based on a social purpose. Giddens provides arranged marriages as a type of traditional relationship. Think about all the types of relationships individuals have in society. What are some examples of pure and traditional relationships you have or have had in your life experiences? It may help to think of relationships you have based on trust, would these be social (traditional) or personal (pure) relationships?

Gidden's on expert knowledge

Gidden's theory outlines how modernity sets us up for a perpetual march towards progress. One of the reasons that it is "perpetual" or unending is because modernity has allowed us to stretch time and distance in new, almost limitless ways. This time and space distanciation has resulted in the break up of tight-knit primary groups, a changing nature of friendship/relationships, and the division of spaces into nation-states or organizational territories among other effects...

Disembedding mechanisms are central to this process of time-space distanciation. I am particularly interested in the notion of expert systems and believe that it is relevant to the transformation of America's land grant colleges. In 1862, Morill Land Grant Act was signed. The intention of the policy was to encourage (through incentives) the collaboration of U.S. faculty with local farmers to improve sound economic practices and viability for small farming communities, and thus, to have these small communities contribute to the larger national economy. Wendell Berry writes about how the land grant colleges have evolved to the point that local knowledge and local savvy is no longer appreciated or even sought. Many Land grant colleges do not work in an egalitarian partnership with their local communities, and they often introduce methods/machinery/practices that are foreign to or even intimidating to small farmers and ranchers. If we use Gidden's framework, we can begin to see how the "modern" university links together the 4 institutions of globalization. Do you find this situation problematic or is this simply progress - with both its manifest and latent functions revealed?

Popular Culture in Today's Society Destroys Market Morality

White dominated society tends to look down upon Blacks as a social class because they are inaccurately perceived (stereotypically) as inferior, lazy, un-educated, unintelligent, etc. In reality, people are products of their “total life’s experience, and Blacks are experiencing “Market Saturation Syndrome.” a heinous condition that features the pursuit of “fleeting hedonistic pleasure and ‘quick & sleazy’ monetary gain… ” as the primary goals of the young Black America. This market ‘saturation’ is comprised of the all the “societal texts” that all young developing and impressionable earthlings mentally ingest through whatever media they are exposed to in today‘s popular culture. This is persistently eroding market morality causing Black nihilism, whereby Blacks experience the pervasive feelings of hopelessness & meaninglessness that living as a black person in America feels like. The problem is exaggerated for Blacks because of the nature of their socially oppressive heritage. Society has profited hugely from the historical exploitation of Blacks, and this has caused the disintegration of formerly strong Black civic, religious, and family institutions. Thus society has an obligation to use the portion of the “historical” wealth stolen from Blacks through slavery, Jim Crow, and other oppressive mechanisms in order to provide social programs and/or somehow repay the remnant ancestors of slavery, Jim Crow, & all other racial prejudice.
Do you think that Blacks should be paid for the dollar value of the labor and interest that accrues from their ancestor’s participation in the American tobacco, sugar, and cotton industries?

Forms of domination

Collins wrote about the nature of the matrix of domination, in that many forms of domination and oppression exist, and that individuals often fit into the matrix in places that both cause their oppression and at the same time allow them to oppress others. In fact, most individuals in the world will find themselves oppressed in some way, while also having the ability to oppress others. In this, some of the most oppressed individuals in the world can also oppress others, as in when a poor migrant worker beats their child.

Where do you sit in the matrix of domination? Can you list some ways in which you oppress others, and ways in which you are oppressed?

Alternative to Feminist Theory?

Dorothy Smith proposes that in order to understand a woman's society one must part away from the traditional male driven society. In order to understand how a woman doesn't really ever leave her role as a woman one must take the standpoint of a woman. This I find a little difficult to do because of my biology. I am unable to understand a woman's point and suffering because I am a man. However, as a minority in this country I am able to understand a little of the harships encountered by minorities. Instead of taking the standpoint theory to understand feminism, is there an alternative to this so that society can be undrestood and studied completely without having to take on someone else's role? If not, do you think that my standpoint as a minority can help me understand a woman's harship?

The things people do

Think of the last time you read a magazine article or a self-help book. Dorothy Smith discussed the idea of texts as the way society controls individuals, for example "magazine articles and books" (Allen, 2008, p. 486). Where you influenced by what you read? How did you react to it? Do you think you will question what you read from now on?