Sociology: UNITS 3-4

Repression in SM

Repression in SM

>When authorities control or destroy the movement

>ex: NSW police sought a court order to stop a BLM protest in Sydney for fear of violating COVID laws in 2020

what qualifies as a social movement?

SMs must be a collection of individuals who have organised to promote OR resist some form of cultural change; SMs take collective action and must not be an individual- but a large group (ex. BLM movement with 15-26 million people)

4 types of social movements

alternative, redemptive, reformative, revolutionary

Alternative SM

-target particular subgroups

-encourage individuals to alter specific behaviour

-ex: People Against Texting and Driving PATD

-minor change

Redemptive SM

-seek total transformation in individual people

-wishing to help 'redeem' or completely remake their lives

-ex: Jehovas Witness's sending door-to-door missionaries to promote their church

Reformative SM

-limited social change to parts of society

-work within existing political systems to promote moderate change

-ex: climate change, animal rights SMs

Revolutionary SM

-advocate the radical reorganization of society

-complete overhaul of society and its structures

-ex: Russian revolution which shifted the autocratic rule of the Tsar to a soviet form of government, bringing the 304-year old Romanov rule to an end

theories that explain the origin of SMs are...

...Theory of Relative Deprivation & New Social Movements (Mario Diani)

Theory of Relative Deprivation

>Originally formally outlined by Walter Runciman and developed by Samuel A. Stouffer

>Social movements that evolve as a result of deprivation, which is created when individuals compare themselves to others in society

>Alexis De Toqueville suggested that people rebel in line with improving socioeconomic conditions, as their expectations improve along with them

>Toqueville also asserts that SMs arise amongst people who feel unjust in particular economic conditions

>Ex: Australian Marriage Equality Movement began as a result of same-sex couples comparing themselves to other Australian couples who have the right to marry; they also felt further deprived because same-sex couples overseas, such as in the US had already been granted the right to marry

>RDT are typically formally organised, comprised of mostly disadvantaged people, and emphasise political change to stop deprivation

>Occurs when the rate of improvement doesn't match expectations that people feel deprived (hence relative in the sense that it needs to be at a point in time)

>People decide how 'deprived' they are in comparison to others

coalescence

'popular stage'

> Leadership emerges, game plans for success worked out

>mass demonstrations usually occur at this stage to show power

>'discontent become[s] focalised and collective' Blumer (1950)

>ex: PETA mass demonstrations & protests

4 ways a movement can decline (Miller 1999)

repression, co-optation, success or establishment with mainstream, failure;

-decline is when a SM comes to an end

ex: Australian Marriage Equality movement came to an 'end' after the Marriage Equality Act was passed and same sex marriage was legalised

>In rare cases an SM will succeed, which is when it has accomplished its goals and has no reason to continue (Ex. AME movement)

Failure in SM

>When a SM ends primarily due to organisational failures like poor leadership/loss of interest/inadequate financial resources

The opposition

Those who oppose the SM from achieving its goals; most typically the Government, politicians or law enforcement (as their seen as people who have to take action in society)

New Social Movements (Diani 1992)

>asserts that people join SMs because their motivated by quality of life issues rather than economic concerns

>primarily post 1960s (post industrialisation), as sociologists couldn't understand some movements & RDT did not fully explain their origins

>Diani contends that NSMs are informal networks of interactions between activist groups & organisations, they also have a collective sense of identity, and have an opposition to/or conflict with mainstream politics

ex: PETA is an NSM because its members are not motivated by economic concerns but a quality of life issue

>NSMs are not class based, usually not formally organised, emphasise behavioural changes to address injustice & typically formed b/c members of society want to improve social and physical conditions

stages of SMs

emergence, coalescence, bureaucratisation, decline

emergence

response to 'widespread discontent'

>SM comes into being

>no large collective action has been taken yet

>'little to no organisation' Herbert Blumer (1950)

>ex: Ingrid Newkirk founded PETA, a small group of discontented people raising awareness for animal rights

bureaucratisation

>movement has had some success, awareness is spread

>SM can no longer rely on demonstrations to achieve its goals as members may become disinterested

>movement becomes so large that paid staff is required

>'It is common for a social movement to become bureaucratic as it develops in order to establish itself as a political force' -Blumer

>ex: PETA has a senior vice president for cruelty investigation

Co-optation in SM

>The SM is unable to achieve its objectives because the leadership is influenced by external factors such as offers of money/prestige/power

Mainstream in SM

>When a movement has become established as an organisation and their goals/ideologies become accepted by society, therefore negating the need for a movement

ex. the Greens (party) is fundamentally an environmental party that initially began to protest the construction of the Franklin Dam in the 1980s. In a modern sense it's a large political party that is now mainstream and accepted by Australians as a legitimate party with policies and is well established within state and federal parliaments

Max Weber Theory of Power

Defines power as 'the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others'

>those individuals/groups in society who have adequate power are seen as possessing equality, whereas those denied power and seen as experiencing inequality

>the more power and SM has the more likely it is to succeed

>power can be legitimate (legal) or illegitimate (illegal)

Raising awareness in SMs

SMs raise awareness by educating the public, such as in campaigns on issues (via social media or petitions) and then subsequently generating a following by raising awareness, in an effort to change

ex: #ClimateChangeAustralia, 47,000 signatures on athe petition presented by 8 Torres Strait Islanders who wanted to take the Australian Government to court for climate change inaction; the petition caught the attention of the UN Human Rights Committee and made history

Direct Action in SMs

SMs using their power directly to achieve social change, including violent or non-violent action

ex: 300,000 young people attending rallies nation wide for the Schools Strike

Banning SM

When the Government shuts down movements via the law

ex: Climate change protestors reprimanded in South Australia and sanctioned with fines and potential imprisonment

Methods used by Opposition

>Banning SM

>Repression

>Publicity

Repression (by opposition)

When the Gov uses force to end direct methods of SM, such as arresting protestors

ex: Police in Brisbane arrested 3 activists because they obstructed traffic (ABC 2023)

Race

an ascribed status where people are categorised by physical features

• ethnocentric

• not inclusive of cultural characteristics (language, heritage)

Ethnicity

Preferred method of classification

• inclusive of learn characteristics

• eliminates the prejudice of ‘race’

• culturally relative

Ethnocentrism

(W.G. Sumner 1906)

• the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture

biased as it makes one culture look superior to the other (ex. early settlers categorised Indigenous peoples as subhuman and looked down on their culture through social darwinism)

Cultural Relativism

The belief that all cultural practices and beliefs should be understood and judged within their own cultural context, rather than applying universal standards

• subverts stereotypes

• e.g. a person from an east asian ethnicity eating with chopsticks instead of viewing this as ‘strange’ a person may try to understand this as a cultural practice and the norm for someone else, attempting to understand it within the context of its culture

The Relationship between Ethnocentrism and the Sociological Imagination

When individuals only view their own culture as superior and fail to consider the impact of social forces on their lives, they lack the sociological imagination.

• For instance, someone believing their cultural practices are the only correct ones

• the ethnocentric approach to the SI is more likely to judge and form stereotypes which prevents healing and understanding (ex. Eurocentric examinations of Indigenous culture may deem it barbaric or uncivilised which perpetuates prejudices and can create more stereotypes)

The Relationship between Cultural Relativism and the Sociological Imagination

One may examine cultural practices through the lens of cultural relativism.

• For instance, instead of judging a foreign tradition as strange or wrong, sociologists would seek to understand it within its cultural context.

• This approach encourages a broader understanding of diverse cultural norms and values, promoting empathy and reducing ethnocentrism.

• Avoids bias & stereotyping (ex. a culturally relative examination of Indigenous culture would seek to understand it within context and would not render practices as uncivilised, but promote empathy instead for instance, it would not render the practice of wearing possum skin cloaks as animal cruelty, but a clever and resourceful way for people of the Kulin nation to keep warm)

Culture

Refers to the entire way of life for a group or society. Including learned ideas, rules, customs, beliefs

• shared by members of a collective

Material Culture

tangible objects, resources, artefacts, passed on via generations

• e.g. cave paintings of Bunjil the Eagle in the Grampians National park

• e.g. possum skin cloak in the Kulin nation

Non-Material culture

intangible creations, ideas/values in society

• e.g. languages, stories, symbols

• the dreamtime story of Bunjil the eagle who is believed to the spiritual leader of Victoria’s Kulin nations and emphasises Indigenous beliefs like respecting the land

Sociological Imagination

(C Wright Mills 1959)

links private issues to public problems

• free from bias

• Mills asserts that society is the central cause of problems and poverty, not individual public failings

• e.g. homelessness is not an individual failing but rather, what in society has led this person to be homeless? (ex. wealth inequality)

Public Misconception #1: Australia was land that belonged to no-one prior to European arrival

‘nobody’s land’ myth supported by social Darwinist thinking that asserts Australia was not occupied prior to European arrival

• historic evidence suggests Indigenous Australians occupied the land 40,000-60,000 years before the British (The Guardian)

• the principle of terra nullius was part of law, giving the Europeans legal standing & rights over the first peoples

• the high court finally abrogated the principle in favour of Mabo in 1992 through the Native Title Act (1992)

• the governments move to do so can also be viewed as an act of reconciliation

Public Misconception #2: Australian Indigenous people share one culture

the view that all Indigenous Australians share a singular culture, originally shaped by the colonialist view

• In reality there are over 200 Indigenous Nations throughout Australia (ex. Kulin Nation in South Victoria, Gunai Nation in Gippsland)

• There are over 250 languages spoken by Indigenous people

• Each nation has unique customs and beliefs (ex. Bunjil the Eagle)

Public Misconception #3: Australian Indigenous people mainly live in arid areas of Australia

a myth shaped by media and tourism that asserts Indigenous Australians all reside in the outback and remote areas of the country

• In reality, 14% of Indigenous Australians reside in remote areas

• 80% of Indigenous Australians live in urban areas

The ‘Other’

the ‘non-ethnic’ group in society

• ‘othering’ is when this group is made to feel as if they do not belong and are inferior

• e.g. Asma Fehmi (2015, Sydney Morning Herald) was ‘othered’ when she and her family were attacked by a group of racist men

• ethnocentric is the thought, othering is the action

Ethnic Hybridity (S. Hall 1932)

used to describe people of multiple ethnic identities (e.g. Lebanese Australian) who have a different set of cultural experiences in the home/local communities and at school/work (e.g. Bacchar Houli)

Ethnic Diversity

cultural diversity in societies in terms of demographic makeup

• e.g. Australia vs Saudi Arabia

Australia’s main language & Saudi Arabia’s main language

AUS: 72% of people speak English as a first language

SA: Arabic is the official language, spoken by 80% of people

Australia’s largest Ethnic Groups & Saudi Arabia’s largest Ethnic Groups

AUS: 25.9% English, 25.4% Australian

SA: 90% Arab, 10% Afro-Asian

Australia’s largest faith group & Saudi Arabia’s largest faith group

AUS: 23.1% protestant

SA: 85-90% muslim

Australia’s political outlook on diversity

“We’re in danger of being swamped by Asians” -Hanson, 1996

Saudi Arabia’s political outlook on diversity

“Diversity is a demand of co-existence” -King Solomon

The Australian Sociological Association (TASA)

Provides ethical guidelines in regards to research, teaching, distribution of results and publishing.

Voluntary Participation

Refers to the willingness of participants to be involved in research and their awareness of their unconditional withdrawal rights.

Informed Consent

The formal agreement of an individual to participate in a research study, commonly through signing a consent form. This occurs after the person has been informed of what participation involves and how the research will be conducted

Privacy

Refers to the use of methods in order to protect the identity of the participant, such as not disclosing the name of the person involved

Multiculturalism

all different ethnic groups in society are presented with equal rights and opportunities, the right of individuals to obtain culture

• also references Government policy

• e.g. the Whitlam government ending the ‘White Australia’ policy in 1973

• the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 which makes racial discrimination unlawful e.g. Rugema v Gadsten Pty Ltd & Derkes

Rugema v Gadsten Pty Ltd & Derkes

Mr Rugema claimed that his supervisor, Stephan Derkes, made 'monkey' gestures at him and other racist actions and comments which resulted in psychological trauma.

• The Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission found his employer in violation of the RDA 1975

• Rugema was awarded $55,000 in damages

• Rugema’s rights as an employee was upheld by the RDA

“I have always been a great supporter of multiculturalism and…

…an advocate of its many benefits.” Former Premier Jeff Kennet (Herald Sun, 2014)

Barriers

factors preventing ethnicities from enjoying a sense of belonging in Australia

Enablers

factors promoting ethnicities to enjoy a sense of belonging, allowing them to feel like they belong in society and Australia is accepting of them

Inclusion

being fully accepted and participating in society

• e.g. through education or employment

• refers to the extent of participation within society for ethnic groups rather than their feelings

factors that impact barriers and enablers

• customs and traditions (e.g. material/non-material culture)

• societal attitudes (make them feel accepted or rejected)

• media (narratives pushed in the media can perpetuate and enforce misconceptions or shape attitudes, the media is a very powerful tool in modern society)

• political factors (e.g. parliamentarians can initiate bills that can target ethnicities such as terrorism laws, migration laws etc, politicians can also make comments that harm or promote belonging for ethnicities like Pauline Hanson telling a senator to ‘pi** off back to Pakistan)

Cultural Suppression of Indigenous Australians

the domination of culture through deliberate policy, economic or technical superiority

• an early example was the frontier wars in 1788, many instances of violent altercations between settlers have been detailed in history with colonisers trying to ‘wipe out’ the Indigenous population

Protection & Segregation Policy

the British colonial mindset equated Indigenous people to subhuman & primitive - the ‘missing link’ between human and animal

• the introduction of missionaries and separation policies aimed to ‘smooth out the dying pillow’ of a ‘dying race’

• the Aboriginal protection Act 1869 granted extensive powers which were rooted in Eurocentric and racist thinking

• Aboriginal Protection Boards were created to ‘Christianise and civilise’ Aboriginals, with the express purpose of removing children from a ‘bad environment’ and eradicate any influence of their own culture/heritage by placing them with ‘white families’

“Between 1910 and 1970, the removal of Aboriginal children was at its peak…

…between 10&30% were forcibly removed from their families and communities.” (Bringing Them Home Report)

“Out of 250 languages…

…only 60% are alive.” (Creative Spirits)

Assimilation Policy (1940s-1960s)

‘fixing’ Australia’s Aboriginal problem

• the policy aimed to ‘breed out’ the ‘problem’ and to ‘assimilate’ them into wider Australian society

• “all persons of Aboriginal blood or mixed blood in Australia will live like White Australians do.” -Halsuck 1951

• all Indigenous Australians were forbidden from speaking their own language, contacting their families and not allowed to practice their culture

• it aimed to gradually dissipate and supress cultural identity

• some could obtain rights and freedoms on the condition that they adhered to British cultural expectations

• the policy actively made an effort not to recognise Indigenous culture or acknowledge that Indigenous Australians had lived in Australia long before colonisation

Reconciliation

Acknowledging injustice in a society and making changes to improve equity

• redressing wrongs and restoring harmony and justice

• helping all Australians move forward with a better understanding of the past and how it affects the lives of Indigenous Australians as the first peoples

Practical Reconciliation

provision of services to address inequalities experienced by Indigenous Australians

• e.g. Closing the Gap policy

Closing the Gap (CTG)

Aims to reduce Indigenous inequality and disadvantage by 2030

• emphasises the need to work in partnership with Indigenous Australians

• has 16 targets relating to health care, education, employment, safety, incarceration etc

• some targets are currently off-track including employment and school attendance

Success of CTG

3.7% of Indigenous Australians are enrolled in school in 2021 (ABS)

Indigenous people aged 20-24 in Victoria have completed Year 12 or equivalent, which is 60.8% up from 41.8% in 2011 (ABS)

CTG: Awareness & Views

• easily accessible via a website, also has campaigns and TV ads

• National CTG day in March which gains attention through TV broadcasts, social media and radio etc

• #CloseTheGap #CloseTheGapDay

• through learning about disadvantage experienced by Indigenous peoples, broader society learns about the past

• Oxfam reports over 250,000 Australians participated in awareness raising events on CTG day

Symbolic Reconiliation

reconciliation achieved through gestures and actions

• centralises the relationship between Indigenous and Non Indigenous Australians

• e.g. Kevin Rudd’s 2008 apology

Kevin Rudd’s Apology Speech

National apology to the stolen generations on behalf of the Government

• a recommendation of the 1997 ‘Bringing Them Home Report’

• monumental step forward in reconciliation

“We say sorry…we apologise for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from…

…their families, communities and country” Kevin Rudd 2008 Speech

Kevin Rudd’s Apology: Awareness & Views

• the speech was delivered publicly, with heavy media coverage

• it was recorded and transcripts are readily available on the web, one of the many YouTube videos of the speech has amassed over 300K views

• the speech is even embedded into the VCE Sociology curriculum

• evokes sympathy from those who listened and brought many to tears

• widely applauded by Non-Indigenous and Indigenous people

• though profound in symbolism, the speech has not actually translated into many positive improvements and outcomes for Indigenous people regarding social/medical/educational/economic outcomes

Ethnocentric Historical Representations of AIC

The Advertiser Adelaide 1932

• “the Aboriginal more intelligent then supposed”

disrespectful and dehumanising, suggesting Indigenous peoples were inferior to White settlers

Ethnocentric Contemporary Representations of AIC

Survival Island 3D Game

• created December 2015, available on Itunes & GooglePlay

• the game encouraged violence and disrespect, encouraging players to ‘bludgeon’ Indigenous Australians

• gave rewards to players for killing them

• released with no prior consultation to Indigenous Australians

Culturally Relative Historical Representations of AIC

Archie Roach ‘Took the children away’ song 1990

• referenced the Stolen Generation

• Archie Roach was regarded as giving a voice to the stories of many Aboriginal people and offering comfort and healing in his words and music

Culturally Relative Contemporary Representations of AIC

Journalist Waleed Ali on the ‘Project’ television show, called for an Indigenous Australian elder to replace King Charles

• Ali suggested he would opt for an Indigenous replacement of the Monarch

• “one of the greatest things about some Indigenous Australians ceremonies is the welcome to the country”

• understanding and encouraging of cultural practice

Community

A group of people who share social relationships through being geographically close to each other and/or being in regular contact; and through having similarities such as mutual interests and/or shared ideology

Ferdinand Tonnies Theory (1935)

There are 2 distinct social groups

• One distinct social group is a community, or a group of people that share common ties because of traditions, beliefs, or goals

• The other is modern, selfish an interest based (Gesselschaft)

• Tonnies asserts this divergence is a result of the industrial revolution

Gemeinschaft

• conventional community

• closely tired by kinship

• homogenous

• intimate and personal

• rural life

• earliest forms of community

• strong, supportive ties and familial ties to provide unity

• geographically limited, requires independence from society

Gesellschaft

• modern interest based community

• informal and impersonal

• more ‘selfish’ because people come together by choice, for specific reasons

• not following of traditional norms

• public

• ‘artificial construction’ -Tonnies

• less supportive

ICT

Machinery used to store and distribute information, software (e.g. social media), hardware (e.g. laptops)

Online Community

Can be used to describe any collection of people who communicate online and use the internet to seek social support

• communities that already exist but have online aspects

• benefits: enhanced sociability in the local community

Virtual Community

Social networks created through the use of ICT

• e.g. Second Life launched 2003, designed to allow members to interact via online avatars

• millions of members worldwide

Manuel Castell (2002)

Asserts that communities use technologies such as social media to supplement and enrich connections; arguing that those active in their groups can use the internet to maintain and expand social activities

• However, Castell asserts that communities formed exclusively online lacked strong social relationships and had weak social ties

• ICT has provided a platform for hate groups like Storm Front =, following a campaign by a lawyers committee for Civil Rights, Web.com pulled the largest Neo-Nazi hate site from the web (The Guardian 2017)

Sociocultural Factors (SCF)

refer to the social and cultural forces within society

• includes roles and relationships between people

• cultural factors relate more to the accepted ways of life for people

• SCF are always changing in response to various influences e.g. technology, political/economic changes, shift in attitude, emergence of ideas

Cultural Change

multiculturalism has changed society to be more inclusive

• also impacts the nature of communities, now new forms of community exist as a result of multiculturalism

• it was the passing of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 that allowed multicultural communities to exist as it made racial discrimination unlawful

• e.g.. Auburn Footy Giants Team

• Amna Karra Hassan starting the first women’s AFL club in Sydney 2011 (ABC 2018)

Social Change

changing values and norms in societies had led to the development of new forms of community or changes to existing communities

• (e.g. women’s communities, Auburn Giants)

Negative Impacts of Sociocultural Change

Some communities have different values struggle to fit in

• e.g. Hizb Ut Tahir is a Sunni Muslim Organisation, that has been around since 1953

• some claim that HuT is a ‘like a terrorist group’ and a ‘menace’ to society (Sydney Morning Herald 2015)

Experiences of Community

German Sociologist Niklas Luhmann described the relationship between inclusion & exclusion like two sides of the same coin

Inclusion

relates to how community members are made to feel as part of the group

• occurs when a group of person is integrated and helped to feel that they belong

• providing them with security and identity

Exclusion

relates to how people can be isolated & alienated from a community

• can lead to conflict/violence between different communities

Economic Changes

Refers to alterations/transformations to the financial structure of the community which affect their ability to afford activities and functions

• gain/loss of funding

Political Change

Changes in Government policy, grants, permits etc

• Following rules or regulations

• COVID guidelines during the pandemic which prohibited social gatherings

Geographical Characteristics

Proximity - nearness of place

Accessibility - ability & opportunity to reach desired goods & services

• determines equal access (e.g. wheelchair ramps)

• built features: construction/modification of physical buildings or space on land (e.g. community centres, masjids)