Race and social theory

Sociology

Sociological Theories: Questions of Identity

The Question of Cultural Identity

Stuart Hall's article is a discussion of the definitions of cultural and personal identity. According to the author, we are now moving from a historical period in which identity was primarily fixed and unchanging to a post-modern age in which identity is ever-fluid, changing almost moment by moment as individuals create the necessary "narratives of self" based on current circumstances. An individual's notions of self are formed not by pre-existent cultural, political, and biological imperatives as has been argued by many earlier theorists, but shifts in accordance with every relationship and interaction. A person can be many different "selves" during the course of a day. As in the case of Anita Hill, individuals who were apparently the same as Ms. Hill herself reacted to her predicament in many and varied ways, some reacting as women, some as Black women, some simply as African-Americans; members of her particular social class, etc. The point is that individuals are constantly reacting to an incredible variety of ever changing forces. Change is the one constant of post-modern life. As societies industrialized, and technology made possible rapid travel and near-instantaneous communication, old barriers between peoples and individuals collapsed. More and more the self-contained identity of the earliest theorists gave way to that of the individual at the mercy of external forces, as with Marx's "economic man" and the tightly-controlled, observed, and documented citizen of Foucault's virtual police state. Freud looked inward toward biology postulating an identity that forever struggled between the demands of the unconscious to measure up to the perceived expectations of others and of society. Nevertheless, the colonialism and its after effects produced a world that was remarkable fluid, with peoples of many cultures settling among others who saw them as alien or exotic. Globalization has transformed views on identity by making the idea of the nation seem old fashioned and potentially obsolete. The traditions, histories, and common goals that once characterized political nationhood now seem ready to disappear as a world of hyper-individuals struggle to find their among bewilderingly complex and constantly fluid possibilities. Though many continue to cling to localism, whether in the form of nativism or, in the case of immigrants, to the customs of their homelands, these too, appear ready to give way to the demands of the new post-modern global reality.

The Souls of Black Folk

In this essay W.E.B. Du Bois raises the plaintive cry of the Black race in America, a people born to be despised and denied. Born, as Du Bois says, with a veil over their faces, a caul that betokens the "second sight" that permits them to "see" freedom but which, in an ironic twist, never reveals to them the means to find it. The African-American first struggled toward a word, but finding his pursuit blocked by the Klan and the carpetbagger, turned to the ballot box. Freedom not being found there, he struggled up the mountain that is education and self-improvement. Challenged and denigrated at every step, he fights still to bring to his people the achievements that are second nature to Whites. He battles to make his voice heard only to discover that he is crying into emptiness. Misery and misfortune dog his every step, yet still he plods along in search of that elusive reality. True freedom does exist, but Black America has not yet found it.

From Redistribution to Recognition?

In this article by Nancy Fraser, the problem of social inequities is discussed in terms of the definitions that lead to potential solutions. Ms. Fraser spends a considerable amount of time examining the mechanics of race, gender, and sexuality. Rather than see society socialistically in terms of economics, the author singles out these purely cultural constructs as things to be deconstructed in order to achieve fair redistribution and recognition. These categories are identities that are formed primarily through the workings of Eurocentric attitudes, beliefs that themselves must be eliminated by concerted efforts at decentering and also revaluing other groups and sets of beliefs. Two primary approaches present themselves - one affirmative, the other transformative. According to the affirmative, programs are aimed at actively moving wealth to underprivileged groups, while those groups simultaneously preserve their differences. While effecting many worthy goals, this approach can generate resentment among formerly privileged groups. Much better is a transformative process that seeks to deconstruct prior realties. An example of this would be Queer Theory, which seeks to revalue homosexuality by decentering heterocentrism, and bringing to public recognition that sexual identities are fluid and ever-changing. On a racial level, similar programs would devalue thought patterns that accord value to judgments about race, and which construct differences based on race. Further inequities would at last be dissolved through the application of steeply progressive tax systems, and other such ideas that give value to jobs formerly devalued. A transformative approach heals society by working toward the inclusion of all by breaking down pre-existing barriers, and quickly eliminating those new ones which might temporarily arise.