Reflection Three - Interpellation

Interpellation

Interpellation is the process by which individuals acquire their self-awareness as subjects, and the skills and characteristics necessary for their status in society (Guralnik, & Simeon, 2012).  

When we are born we are provided with our initial social placement by our parents and families.  The beliefs and values that our families hold are initially instilled in us as young individuals.  As we grow, individuals believe that they develop the skills and characteristics for becoming more independent, self-reliant and self-aware.  However, in this society we share the ideological belief that we are independent beings, yet in such moments we are exposed as defined and possessed by forces beyond us (Guralnik, & Simeon, 2012).  To this end, interpellation can be considered two-fold.  To elaborate on Guralnik and Simeon’s statement in their article Depersonalization: Standing in the Spaces, Between Recognition and Interpellation, we as a society do share the same ideological belief that we are independent individuals following our own ideas.  When we are exposed to the powers beyond our control we adhere to and are drawn in a conforming manner leaving us no longer the autonomous and self-governing person.  The higher powers of our society dictate our behaviour more than we even realize.   

We are defined, for example, by our work where only certain aspects of what we do allow us autonomy while we have to conform to the rules and regulation of the organization. In our every work life positions we are restricted by policies that govern forcing us to often do what we don’t believe in, therefore, acting in the manner of someone that does not represent us and our beliefs.

Media is another forum that contributes to shaping individuals.  Again, for the most part and for most people the belief is that we have our own style and make individual decisions regarding our appearance; how to dress and how to behave in certain situations.   In saying this we are constantly bombarded with incessant advertising of clothing, make up, hair products, skin products; the list goes on and on.  This media message portrays to individuals how that should look and think.  The reality is individuals are consciously or subconsciously sucked in.  

Althusser used the term interpellation as the way in which ideology takes hold of an individual. He stated that all ideology hails or interpellates concrete individuals as concrete subjects, by the functioning of the category of the subject (Althusser, 1970). The term hailing is seen as the recruiting of a subject into a dominant system .  To me this represents itself as a militant term ‘forcing” an individual to enrol in a governing environment. We witness this through our government and other authoritative figures and organizations that feel they have the power over the individual’s choices.  

In terms of psychology we can see how this authoritative voice meets the individual’s basic need for recognition and allows them their transformation into subjects. Althusser’s uses the example of how we feel when hailed by a policeman: “Hey you!” to which we immediately assume a guilty role and wonder what we have done wrong.  What is it in our society that makes us feel that we have something to answer to if we are confronted my a dominant figure such as a policeman or a Minster of government?   It stops us in our tracks with the belief that we have to immediately come to a halt and claim our wrong doing. Althusser mentions in his article Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses;

 I shall then suggest that ideology ‘acts’ or ‘functions’ in such a way that it ‘recruits’ subjects among the individuals (it recruits them all), or ‘transforms’ the individuals into subjects (it transforms them all) by that very precise operation which I have called interpellation or hailing, and which can be imagined along the lines of the most commonplace everyday police (or other) hailing: ‘Hey, you there!’ (Althusser, 1970).

 The term “recruit” that Althusser uses in his article can be used to define the ways which we are are sought out and enrolled in certain ideologies which results in our own interpellations. However, not everyone will be “recruited” or “hailed” into the same ideologies. People who deviate from certain social norms in society may not stop when an authoritative figure such as a police officer tells them to stop. Althusser makes the point in his article Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses that The existence of ideology and the hailing or interpellation of individuals as subjects are one and the same thing (Althusser, 1970). 

References

Althusser, Louis. “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses.” Lenin and Philosophy, and Other Essays. Trans. Ben Brewster. London: New Left Books, 1971. 127-188.

Guralnik, O. & Simeon, D. (2012). Depersonalization: Standing in the Spaces, Between Recognition and Interpellation, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 20:400–416, 2010. 

Marshall, G. (1998). Interpellation. A Dictionary of Sociology 1998. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com.

Reflection Two - Ideology & Politics

Ideology and Politics

Ideology is the ideas and way of thinking by an individual, group of people or social class.  “The mental frameworks - the languages, the concepts, categories, imageries of thought and systems of representation - which different classes and social groups deploy in order to make sense of, define, figure out and render intelligible the way society works” (Hall 1996: 26). A prevalent example of ideology in our society is the political system we live in. Our political system shows how competing ideologies shape and effect our lives. It is the ideologies of the governing parties that shape our laws and social welfare and is evident in everyday life from public schools to health care and social assistance. 

Political ideology is defined as a set of ideas shared by a large group of people that explains how a society should work. Typically a political ideology contains a form of government and an economic system. Forms of governments include; “democracies” which rely on elected officials to govern the people and promotes individualism and libertinism. On the other the end of the spectrum there is “authoritarianism” which relies on a highly centralised group of leaders who achieve their authority through repression and fear. A political ideology also considers the best economic system and normally flows from the ideas of the sitting government. Examples of a economic systems include “Capitalism” and “Economic Socialism”. Capitalism is based on the private ownership and the creation of goods and services for profit.^Mark In contrast, economic socialism is based on creation of goods and services for direct consumption. In other words everything that is created in the economy is created to directly satisfy economic demands and human needs (Kotz, 2006). These forms of government and economics systems are the basis for the political spectrum. If you listen to the media coverage on politics you hear terms like “left wing” and “right wing” these describe a persons political ideology; whether they are more socialist (left wing) or conservative (right wing). In Canada we take a centrist approach with mixtures of different ideologies rather then extreme positions on either end of the spectrum. This does not preclude the existence of these fringe groups they are just not the populous. 

Political ideologies dominate our society. Every aspect of our life is effected by it from health care to public education, infrastructure to social assistance, it impacts our lives daily. Our political ideologies help form the social framework of our society which is why it is useful to understand exactly what Ideology is.

References

Hall, S. (1996) 'The problem of ideology: Marxism without guarantees', in D. Morley and

K.H. Chen (eds), Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogues in Cultural Studies. London: Routledge. pp. 25-46. 

Kotz, David M. (2006). Socialism and capitalism: Are they qualitatively different socioeconomic systems?. Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute, Retrieved from http://people.umass.edu/dmkotz/Soc_and_Cap_Diff_Syst_06_12.pdf

Tormey, Simon. (2004). Anti-Capitalism. One World Publications, p. 10

Tango Panopticon

Tango Panopticon Video Surveillance  

"In cities around the world tangueros will again be dancing in unexpected public places under corporate and government video surveillance while marking the coming of spring and celebrating international workers day. This year we will be adding the exciting element of live streaming video from each international location".

Reflection One - The Sociological Imagination

The Sociological Imagination

  Private issues are impacted by public issues.  Charles Wright Mills, an American Sociologist, defined sociological imagination as "the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society (Crossman, A. 2012). 

  Mills believed that the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between ‘the personal troubles of milieu’ and the ‘public issues of social structure’ (Mills, 1959, p.8).  “The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society” (Mills, C. 1959,  p. 6).  

An example of social imagination is individual issue, a type of eating disorder known as Anorexia Nervosa, versus the public issue of media. Anorexia is a personal issue as it affects the individual alone. It is a psychological disorder which most often begins by an individual dieting to lose weight.  Over time control takes over and the desire to become thinner is secondary to concerns about control and the fears relating to one’s body.  Other behaviors such as excessive exercise, misuse of diet pills and laxatives, all in order to lose weight, often to the point of starvation, gives the individual as sense of control over her or his body. This cycle becomes an obsession and, in this way, is similar to an addiction (Dryden-Edwards, R., 2012). 
  As well as psychological factors, public issues contribute to Anorexia. Society plays a major role in how individuals view their body.  The emphasis on being “thin” is prevalent in our society, especially for women.  This is largely depicted through the media.  Through television shows, movies or fashion magazines actresses and models are perceived by society as having the perfect body. 

An individual’s private issue of body image can never be resolved until they realize that their issue expands beyond themselves to that of society. C. Wright Mills concludes that “we cannot solve societal conflicts, nor personal turmoil, until we have considered the institutions of society in relation to our own situations” (Mills, 1959, p.13).  

References

Crossman, A. (2012). An Overview of the Book by C. Wright Mills, Retrieved October 8, 2012 from http://sociology.about.com/od/Works/a/Sociological-Imagination.htm

Dryden-Edwards, R. (2012). Anorexia Nervosa, Retrieved October 11, 2012 from http://www.medicinenet.com/anorexia_nervosa/page2.htm#what_is_anorexia_nervosa

Mills, C. W.: 1959, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford University Press, London. The Sociological Imagination, pages 6, 8 and 13.