Week 10 Quiz

Pierre Bordieu, Tara Yosso, Frankfurt School of Critical Theory (Jurgen Habermas, Herbert Marcuse)

topics of analysis in the agency-structure debate (Bourdieu)

objective structures combined with subjectivity and interaction

practice (Bourdieu)

• practice is not simply action or behavior

• practice is action guided by social structure and culture

• practice is a continual, dialectical process between agency and structure

• practices are manifested through habitus

habitus (Bourdieu)

an embodied system of tastes, dispositions, ideas, and cultural capital

• structured structure and structuring structure

• internalized social structure and the means by which social structure is created

structured structure (Bourdieu)

built by social conditions and past experiences

structuring structure (Bourdieu)

moving thing that is reproduced when enacted

In what way is habitus internalized society? (Bourdieu)

habitus is the way in which society “gets inside” us

social classes reflect important differences and social distinctions

elements of social distinction (Bourdieu)

predictors of social class: different social classes have different structures of taste, desire, and cultural disposition

influenced by social social conditions —> become part of one’s habitus —> influence one’s choices

• fashion/clothing

• food

• drinks

• furniture

• homes

• jewelry

• cars

• reading material

• entertainment media

• levels of education

• motivations, aspirations, and goals

• where one shops

How are social distinctions created and reproduced (Bourdieu)?

through forms of capital (economic, cultural, social, symbolic)

economic capital (Bourdieu)

money, property

foundation for other forms of capital

social capital (Bourdieu)

the number and type of people that one knows (one’s network)

• connections stabilize when we interact with people like us

cultural capital (Bourdieu)

tastes in food, drink, fashion, furniture, reading material, etc.

education is foundational (educational certificates)

• tied to consumption

• primary basis for habitus

symbolic capital (Bourdieu)

the amount of status or prestige a person has acquired

• primary basis for symbolic violence

What is the relationship between habitus and field (Bourdieu)?

• each habitus is created and exists within a field

• field is a collection of individual habitus

• fields condition the habitus; habitus creates the field

field (Bourdieu)

a network of interrelated positions and habitus that have interests

• site of struggle

• where interests conflict

• in a competitive exchange of resources and capitals

• like a marketplace of groups

compete with one another and have competitive divisions among themselves

How is field related to forms of capital? (Bourdieu)

fields are networks of interrelated positions, which are forms of capital grouped together, and habitus

examples of fields (Bourdieu)

• politics

• science

• art

• economics

• education

• academics

• family

positions within fields (Bourdieu)

groups express their habitus but also try to make their habitus dominant within the field

the habitus or interest that is dominant within the field achieves a great deal of symbolic capital and gains the ability commit symbolic violence

symbolic violence (Bourdieu)

a form of subtle violence in which language and other symbols are used in order to define the world

• imposed on people

• form of unnoticed oppression

• accepted and reproduced by those who are dominated

examples of symbolic violence

• types of education and degrees (a bachelors degree in sociology from CSUN does not have the same value as one from Harvard)

• translations of economic capital into symbolic capital to create distinctions

• conspicuous consumption

theory of community cultural wealth (Yosso)

critiques Bourdieu’s theory to recognize the unique assets possessed by marginalized communities, challenging traditional deficit-based and privileged perspectives.

Bourdieu’s theory is elitist, valuing forms of capital that come from the upper classes.

offers theory that celebrates richness and resilience of minoritized communities

six forms of cultural capital (aspirational, linguistic, familial, social, navigational, resistant)

aspirational capital (Yosso)

the unwavering hope and dreams for a better future, even in the face of systemic barriers. reflects the ability to maintain aspirations despite challenges.

• advancement in the name of change

linguistic capital (Yosso)

the intellectual and social skills attained through communication experiences in more than one language and/or style. (storytelling, art, etc.)

familial capital (Yosso)

the cultural knowledges nurtured among family that carry a sense of community history, memory, and cultural intuition. emphasizes importance of kinship and extended family bonds.

• cultural history and ancestral knowledge

social capital (Yosso)

networks of people and community resources that provide instrumental and emotional support to navigate through society’s institutions

navigational capital (Yosso)

the skills and abilities to maneuver through social institutions that were not created with communities of color in mind. includes the ability to thrive in different social spaces.

resistant capital (Yosso)

the knowledge and skills fostered through oppositional behavior that challenges inequality. grounded in the legacy of resistance to subordination.

goals/outcomes of Yosso’s community cultural wealth

• acknowledges diverse forms of capital

• shifts the focus from what marginalized communities lack to cultural knowledge, skills, and abilities

• encourages educators, policymakers to recognize and build upon cultural assets, creating more inclusive social spaces and practices

• challenges traditional interpretations of cultural capital and advocating for a more inclusive understanding of the strengths inherent in communities of color

critical theory (Frankfurt School)

capitalist systems have absorbed conflict by selling conflict as a lifestyle through the colonization of experience (internal)

culture industry

consumption of information that distracts us from things that really matter

• suspended engagement

world-systems theory

the communist conflicts have not occurred because capitalism has expanded in scale through geographic colonization; the capitalist market is now a global market.

critical theory looks at which two important problems contained within Marxist conflict theory?

1. lack of class consciousness among working class in capitalist societies

2. importance of culture as a source of domination in capitalist societies

fetishism of commodities (Marx & Lukacs)

we assign magical significance to things we buy

• created to manipulate us into thinking products are more valuable than they are

reification (Lukacs)

a consequence of capitalist society, where social relations are obscured and commodified

• e.g., we forget a $100 bill is just paper

critical theory explores which parts of Marx’s claim?

• the class which has the means of material production controls the means of mental production

• we detach the ruling class’ ideas from the ruling class itself and attribute them to independent existence

  • social construction of reality, reification

why is there a disenchantment of the world (Weber)?

the rationalization of society is irrational and produces a separation between formal rationality and substantive rationality

formal rationality (Weber)

maximizing gains and minimizing losses

substantive rationality (Weber)

does the action address humanistic concerns? is it reasonable?

what has created domination by rationality?

• positivism and science

• technology and technocracy

• bureaucracies

• sociology

which two theorists does Herbert Marcuse draw inspiration from?

Karl Marx & Sigmund Freud

what must society do in order to establish control (Freud)?

society represses basic human needs

• society and freedom are in conflict

how does Marcuse integrate Freudian psychoanalysis with Marxist sociological criticism?

challenges the notion that societal progress necessitates the continual repression of individual desires

• Marx: societal repression = alienation

• Freud: societal repression = psychological repression

id (Freud)

unconscious innate needs

ego (Freud)

conscious, rational part of personality

superego (Freud)

social component of personality, the conscience

what two drives are people motivated by (Freud)?

1. thanatos: fear of death (survival drives)

2. eros: drive for pleasure (reproductive drives)

critique of surplus repression (Marcuse)

• distinction between basic repression and surplus repression

• most repression in contemporary society is surplus repression which is focused on maintaining systems of domination rather than addressing basic human needs

basic repression (Marcuse)

repression that is essential for any organized society

• must have some social order

surplus repression (Marcuse)

repression that upholds specific power structures beyond what is necessary for societal functioning

why has capitalism not been challenged according to critical theorists?

people have been kept in a state of false consciousness

how have individuals been unknowingly manipulated (Marcuse)?

1. the colonization of basic human drives

2. the confusion of real needs

repressive desublimation (Marcuse)

the process by which advanced industrial societies permit the open expression of desires and instincts

• not as a means of genuine liberation but as a subtle form of social control

• socially organized or culturally manufactured expression of desire

• tame expression by the existing system, not a challenge to the system

  • neutralizes potential force of opposition or critique

how does repressive desublimation ensure complacency (Marcuse)?

individuals remain complacent because desires are superficially satisfied while preventing deeper questioning of societal structures

how is repressive desublimation’s apparent expression of desire deceptive (Marcuse)?

• instead of leading to true freedom, it reinforces the status quo and existing power

• potentially subversive or critical human energies are channeled into acceptable and controlled outlets

• freedom is confined within existing systems of power

what is the effect of modern societies co-opting and commodifying desires (Marcuse)?

people are given the illusion of freedom while societies perpetuate social control

One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society (Marcuse)

critical analysis of advanced industrial societies, focusing on how they suppress individuality and critical thought through consumerism and technological rationality

• technological rationality is social control

• consumerism creates false needs

technological rationality is social control (Marcuse)

• technological advancements perpetuate existing power structures

• technology is a mode of domination, shaping individual’s perceptions and behaviors to align with the interests of those in power

consumerism creates false needs (Marcuse)

• advanced industrial societies create false needs through mass media and advertising

• individuals are driven to consume products and services that reinforce the existing system of production and consumption

• consumerism integrates individuals into the system, making them complicit in their own domination

why was Angela Davis (Marcuse’s student) on the FBI’s Most Wanted List?

Davis provided guns and corresponded with Jonathan Jackson (a Soledad Brother), who took a courtroom hostage and armed the Black defendants. The courtroom occupation resulted in a fatal shootout.

• Davis wanted for interstate flight, murder, and kidnapping