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Sociology - Theories

Feminists and social theory

As Smith asserts in Knowing Society form within: a Women's Standpoint (1994), many sociological analyses of society have an innate bias in that they view society from a certain determinate position. (Smith 389) in other words, what Smith and others are suggesting is that the purely objective stance of sociological theory is a myth and there are in fact endemic and intrinsic biases within sociological theory that requires analysis and deconstruction. Smith refers particularly to the hegemony of the male viewpoint in sociological theory. She therefore suggests an "... alternative way of thinking Sociology" (Smith 389). However, Smith also make it clear that she is not interested in "junking" or dismissing the various theoretical stances but in suggesting a more realistic and inclusive way of interpreting the objective data that presents itself for sociological study. This refers in particular to the issue of the marginalization of women.

A factor that links Smith's views to other theorists and particularly writings on the female experience in society is her contention that society cannot be understood from the "outside," but that a true perception and understanding of situation of women in society can only be obtained for within the everyday perceptions of women in society. In this light, social context become an important aspect in sociological theory.

Smith's theoretical stance therefore makes an important contribution to the more subjectivist view of sociological theory. This refers to a relativistic and comparative approach to theory. Smith asserts as well that, "An alternative sociology must preserve in it the presence, concerns and experience of the sociologist as knower and discoverer" (Smth 389). She therefore emphasizes the importance of "direct experience" as a central focus to which theoretical perceptions should continually refer. (Smith 390) in this view, experience should not be seen in a simplistic or purely subjective sense but should be a means of rediscovering and in fact problematizing the social construction of reality. Smith therefore stresses a theoretical stance in sociology which takes into account different views and perceptions - particularly the feminist perspective. In this sense she objects to the notion of a "privileged" sociology which denies certain substructures to "speak" from their point-of-view. (Smith 390)

This view of sociology tends to concur with the views expressed by other write and feminist theorists. Virginia Woolf in her essay a room of one's own describes the situation of women in modern society and stresses the difficult position of women in relation to the demands of a largely patriarchic society. In this work she refers to the different perceptions of bias and prejudice that a women in society at the time experienced; for example, in her meeting on the path with the Beadle and the immediate distinction that is made between male and female social privilege. This can be related directly to the point made by Smith, that sociology should become more aware of direct experiences of this nature that have been 'marginalized' in the past.

The idea of emancipated culture that we find in conjunction to Woolf's work is one where the differences between the sexes will no longer be a factor that acts as an agent for discrimination. In fact Woolf was revolutionary for her time in her thinking. She realized that an emancipated culture where there would be equality for the sexes would also mean equality in terms of practical and material access to resources in the society. She was also aware that the present society had to large degree stifled and warped the real nature of human being, which she felt was psychologically androgynous. This meant that for a fully emancipated culture to become a reality, both man and women should be able to express there natures without discrimination of any kind - and this also meant that men should be able to express their inner feminine side.

In essence her work emphasizes the fact that the society in which she lived and experienced as a women had been dominated by the rules of patriarchy and that these rules were distorting both male and female identity. An emancipated culture would mean the full realization of the male and female identity within every person. Her work therefore strongly highlights the views put forward by Smith and others about the innate bias in society and towards women that resides in the objective disciplines.

Patricia Hill Collins is a theorist who also reveals the underlying prejudices within male-dominated society from a perspective that emphasizes both race and gender. Central to much of her work is the emphasis on the importance of knowledge in the Black woman's fight against the hegemony of race and gender oppression. Her work also deals with a central theme in Afrocentric feminist thought, which emphasizes that independence and the fight against oppression requires an understanding of the importance of knowledge. Knowledge therefore becomes an agent for social change.

In a similar vein to Woolf and in the light of Smith's call for a more subjective and experiential view of society, the work of Collins also asserts that from an experiential point-of-view the Black women is subjected to the 'male gaze' in a white patriarchal society. Her work therefore also deals with the meaning of gender as it is socially constructed and shaped by white male considerations.

Collins and Woolf open up the subjective experience of women in society and therefore also stress the need for a more insightful and relevant perception of social realities. These accord with the views put forward by Smith that society must move away from an "objective" theoretical position which is very often a reflection of a biased stance that privileges and favors certain positions and perspectives that obscure the social reality.

Frazer and the logic of redistribution and equality

The drive towards the logic of equality in politics and social theory is contrasted and even contradicted to a certain extent by the movement towards independence and cultural identity in the face of economic and cultural hegemonies in the word. These hegemonies also revolve around the issues of race, gender and cultural plurality.

Nancy Fraser in her article entitled, From Redistribution to Recognition? Dilemmas of Justice in a "Post -Socialist' Age (1995), states that the struggle for recognition and identity is becoming an intrinsic and paradigmatic form of political and social conflict in the contemporary environment. However, at the same time material inequalities are increasing in many regions of the world, including in the developed countries. This refers to the possible demise of the more traditional socialist imperative of the redistribution of wealth and resources.

Fraser goes on to state that in many areas of theoretical concern the new focus on cultural equality and identity is in contrast with the logic of material redistribution. On the one hand this movement towards the logic of identity reassesses the "blindness of a materialist paradigm" (Fraser 1). Fraser however feels that neither of these viewpoints or theoretical stances are adequate in themselves.

In her view, these stances have important aspects to contribute and she calls for a new mode of thinking in social and political theory that would allow for both these stances to exist and coalesce. This refers to a theoretical stance, "...which identifies and defends only those versions of the cultural politics of difference that can be coherently combined with the social politics of equality" (Fraser 1). In essence Fraser states that justice in the contemporary world is a combination of both recognition and redistribution. Her rationale is to theorize and develop strategies that would combine these two strands without undermining or undervaluing either. This would enable a theoretical and critical framework that "...is adequate to the demands of our age" (Fraser 2).

However, Fraser also notes the complexity of the problem of combining the perspectives of redistribution and equality. She therefore limits her analysis to certain pertinent questions; such as, under what circumstances can a politics of recognition help support a politics of redistribution? Fraser therefore intends to resolve this antimony between redistribution and cultural equality by analytically abstracting and delineating these issues from the " real world," in order to create various conceptual insights that can help to reveal and illuminate the central issues at stake.

Among the methods that Fraser uses to analyze this issue is the clear formulation of what she terms the redistribution - recognition dilemma and by identifying those aspects of social collectivity that are most vulnerable to this dilemma. In other words, she outlines in detail the differences and especially the theoretical antecedents that underlie the stances of redistribution and cultural inequality. Her analysis is aimed at showing not only these differences but also suggesting areas of mutual integration and dependence. Lastly, she suggests a political strategy that results from this analysis that would allow for the integration of both recognition claims and redistribution with the least possible amount of interference or ambiguity.

Frazer does not avoid the fact that a distinction between these two groups is a seemingly impossible task to achieve. In order to overcome this impasse she considers alternative modes or perceptions of the problematics of redistribution and recognition. (Frazer 8) to this end she develops the categories of "affirmation" and "transformation." In understanding Frazer's view it is imperative to bear in mind that older regimes of theory cannot achieve the synthesis that she is looking for and that new and more creative modes of political and social theory are necessary.

In essence what Fraser suggests is that in order to overcome this antimony between redistribution and recognition and to avoid the various reductive theories that have previously been put forward, she suggests a synthesis of various aspect of both critical theory as well as post -structural and deconstructive theory. In her view this would serve to overcome the false separation of these two central political and social elements.

In the final analysis Frazer's theory is based on a number of interrelated views. The first is that, " the redistribution - recognition dilemma is real" (Fraser 13). Secondly, Frazer notes that this dilemma can be "softened" by the search for perspectives and theoretical approaches that "...minimize conflicts between redistribution and recognition in cases where both must be pursued simultaneously" (Fraser 13). Importantly in this analysis is that various facets of the redistribution - recognition dilemma cut across and intersects with one another.

As a result and in conclusion, Fraser does not posit a vague or ephemeral solution to this problem but one which interrogates and attempts to find a theoretical locus that is based in pragmatic reality. In this regard she alludes to the combination of socialism and deconstruction as a theoretical basis to the central question of justice for all.

3. The politics of difference and multiculturalism and the Eurocentrism of social theory.

One of the central critiques of disciplines in the humanities that occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century was the critique of Eurocentrism. Simply stated, this refers to the process of European expansionism that the conquest of the world by countries like Great Britain and the subsequent colonialism that accompanied these events. As many theorists have pointed out, this was not only colonization of territory but also of identity and the mind.

The central concern and critique of Eurocentrism is that certain modes of thought and perceptions about reality, society, culture and identity were favored and promoted by the colonialists. In sociological terms this refers to the way that modern reality was constructed. This had the result that the question of multiculturalism and identity were ignored or subsumed under the hegemony of the dominant Eurocentric culture. This in turn led to modernist and postmodern deconstructions and interrogations of this cultural as well as social hegemony. This critique also extends to the various disciplines such as sociology and social theory, which were also interrogated and critiqued for their inherent Eurocentric biases - particularly in the area of cultural identity and difference.

These aspects resulted in a vigorous debate about the question of identity and especially cultural identity and to the use of phrases such as a 'crisis of identity' in the contemporary world; where the old social categories of identity were "breaking down" with the increase in interrogative deconstructions of previous hegemonies. (Modernity and its Futures)

This has also led to what is termed a fragmentation of identity in the post-modern world. This fragmentation also refers in a historic sense to the difference between the holistic and integrated concept of identity that was dominant during the period of the Enlightenment, and to the loss of centre in the postmodern subject. The "sociological subject " refers to the realization that Individual identity is not homogenous and static but is affected and in fact constructed or shaped by the dynamics of society and social change. (Modernity and its Futures) This in turn resulted in the concept of the fragmented subject and the notion of identity as shifting and changing in terms of context. As a result, in recent years one encounters the postmodern concept of identity as having no fixed centre of certainty. In the parlance of postmodernism, the subject is de-centered and identity becomes an amorphous quality.

This brief overview has obvious consequences for the understanding of concepts such as race and gender. Modern theoretical analysis can also be used to interrogate these terms and in the critique of hegemony; for example, in Marxist theory where the capitalist mode of thought is analyzed and society is seen in terms of production and the alienation of labor as well as its effects on individual identity..

The writing of W.E.B. Du Bois and his 1903 treatise the Souls of Black Folk, is an example of this modern quest for identity and the way that Eurocentric hegemony has created a need for a reassessment of Black or Negro identity. In this work the author explores the identity of the Black men or women. For example, he notes that, "The history of the American Negro is the history of strife - this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self" (Du Bois 324).

The above quotation is a telling viewpoint which refers essentially to the desire to establish a Black identity in the face of the hegemonic distortion and displacement that has occurred as a result of Eurocentric domination and the imposition of Eurocentric models of reality and culture. It is also significant that Du Bois notes that the Negro does not want to do away with his older and more traditional sense of identify. (Du Bois 324) in this regard he also refers to the way that Eurocentrism and colonialism overrode and subdued the cultural history and integrity of the Black civilizations. This is an important factor in the way that the Eurocentric and colonial cultures have denied the innate identity of the Black man and woman.

Related to the above discussion is the work of Stuart Hall. One of the central concerns of this theorist is the way that that culture and identity are determined and constructed via the media. In other words, he is concerned with the way that self and identity are 'produced' and to a great extent controlled by the media. This also brings to bear the critique of those who control and manipulate the media and also highlights the fight for multicultural identify in the face of uniformity in our modern societies.

Hall bases his work on what is fundamentally a Marxist theoretical approach and on the analysis and deconstruction of the hegemony that ideology and the media have in terms of the Eurocentric manipulation and control of identity. This also deals with the role of the media as upholding and generating a view of reality which supports the ruling class or dominant ideology.

4. Globalization

Globalization is a modern phenomenon that is generally described as a process whereby the boundaries between nation and countries in fact dissolve and which in effect connects and allows for the interaction between communities on a new and unique basis. While is it not the purpose of this section to outline the complexities globalization, reference to certain theoretical aspects of this term are important in order to answer the central question that is being asked. In this respect it is important to note that globalization allows for new modes of interaction and new "space-time combinations" (Hall, 619). This mean that in term of social theory this phenomenon is seen in the first instance by some theorists to challenges classical social theory and upset older theoretical models of how society is constructed and functions.

In terms of classical social theory therefore, the phenomenon of globalization present a number of challenges. One of the most obvious is that much of social theory is based on the view that societies are relatively isolated and integral to themselves. This view if challenged by according to many theorists with the advent of globalization theory.