The Self as a product of

Modern Society Among

other Constructions
 Sociology
 derives from the French word, sociologie,
 a hybrid coined in 1830 by French
philosopher Isidore Auguste Comte (1798-
1857),
 from the Latin: socius, meaning
"companion"; and the suffix -ology,
meaning "the study of",
 The English word, sociology, appeared in
1843
Sociology
 identity is socially formed
 from the norms, beliefs, and values come to
exist within the person to a degree where
these become natural and normal
 there is a reciprocal relationship between
the self and society
 self ifluence society through the actions of
individuals creating groups, organizations,
networks and institutions
 society influence the self through it's shared
language and meanings that enable a
person to take the role of other
Individual
 have various perceptions, feelings and
beleiefs about who we are and what we are
like
 How do we come to develop these?
 Do they change as they age?
Self

 arising and developing out of social

interaction
 these patterned interaction forms the basis
of (1) social structure
(2) Type of society: The traditional and the
Modern Society
Traditional Modern

People behave according to social

Individualism is dominant
rules and traditions

Family and the immediate env't

A person is somewhat “free” to live
(agents) provide supervision

Lifestyle is the same Everything is fast-paced

(3) Modernity
 Industrialism - the extensive use of material
power and machinery
 Capitalism - production system involving
competitive products and commodification of
labor power
 Institution of surveillance - center of power
resides among institutions. e.g. government
 Dynamism - having vigorous activity and
progress; everything is subject to change
Emile Durkheim
 one of the first thinkers in the Western
tradition,
 along with other 19th century thinkers such
as Friedrich Nietzsche, Charles Peirce, and
Karl Marx to reject the Cartesian model of
the self
 Simpler societies, he argued, are based on
mechanical solidarity,
 in which self-sufficient people are
connected to others by close personal ties
and traditions (e.g., family and religion).
 people have far fewer options in life.
 Modern societies, are based on organic solidarity,
 people are connected by their reliance on others in
the division of labor.
 Modernization, is based on:
 1. population growth and increasing pop. density
 2. “moral density” (the development of more
complex social interactions),
 3. increasing specialization in work (division of
labor).
 modern society is complex
 the work that individuals do is so
specialized, individuals can no longer be
self-sufficient and must rely on others to
survive.
 modern society may undermine the
traditional bonds of mechanical solidarity, it
replaces them with the bonds of organic
solidarity
Georg Simmel
Georg Simmel
(1858-1918)
 Born in Berlin
 from a wealthy family
 Popular in US, which is
where his work was of
great importance to the
birth of sociology
Concepts and Contributions
 Rejected “organic” theories of Comte and
Spencer
 Society is not an abstract creation
 Society is made of group interaction vs.
individual interaction
“Formal Sociology”
 Society as a process
 Society is real “patterns”
 Studied patterns that make these events
happen or as he coined it “forms”
 “Forms” - can be organizations, relationships,
rules that impact and govern the individuals of a
society
 In connection with “forms” he studied “contents”
 Contents - are considered to be the drives,
interests, purposes that drive individual behavior
 Social Geometry
 Simmel sought to understand the make-up and bond
within social relationships
 Dyad
 A relationship that involves two individuals
 Ex. Best friends, lovers, married couples

 A dyad represents the strongest bond

 No formal structure within the relationship
 Each experience by either individual impacts the
other
 The relationship ceases to exist if either member
departs
 Social Geometry cont.
 Triad
 A social group consisting of three equal members
 Indirect relationship that can both assist and hinder
reciprocity within the group
 The group can survive if one member drops out, thus
forming a new dyad
 The introduction of the third person, can help and hinder
the relationship of other group members
 This person can become a mediator, can use the group to
advance their own selfish agenda, and can use existing
conflict to divide the group and take it over
Social Geometry cont.
 Social network
 ties or connections that link you to a social group
 ex. connection with family, friends, classmates,
workmates, religious group
Social group: Rational/ Organic
organic rational

formed in traditional societies occur in modern societies

made up of people from different

little diversity
places

form based on shared self-interest;

theres is rootedness - sense of
person feels no meaningful
belonging
connection

imply less freedom and greater social

imply greater freedom
conformity
 The metropolis or city becomes the location
where the division of labour is the greatest
and where this individuality and individual
freedom is most expanded.
 For the individual this creates the "difficulty
of asserting his own personality within the
dimensions of metropolitan life."
 This sounds much like
 Marx's alienation,
 Durkheim's anomie, or
 Weber's rationalization,
 BUT, Simmel associates this with the city,
rather than with the society as a whole, as
do the other classical writers.
 Where Simmel differs from classic writers, is that
Simmel returns to the individual,
 analyzing how the individual deals with the
developments of modern society,
 how the individual personality is developed in these
circumstances.
 Simmel notes that one way individuals assert a
personality is to "be different," to adopt manners,
fashions, styles, "to appear concentrated and has a
striking characteristic.
 For Simmel, there is a dynamic or dialectical
tension between the individual and society --
 individuals are free and creative spirits, yet are
part of the socialization process.
 Simmel viewed modern society as freeing the
individual from historical and traditional bonds
and creating much greater individual freedom,
but with individuals also experiencing a great
sense of alienation within the culture of urban
life.
 “The deepest problems of modern life
derive from the claim of the individual
to preserve the autonomy and
individuality of his existence in the face
of overwhelming social forces, of
external culture, and of the technique
of life.”
Me and My Culture:
Anthropological perspective of
the self
Self
 comprised of psychological, biological and
cultural processes
 Le Doux - self has implicit (not available to the
consciousness) and explicit aspects (available
to the awarenes.
 the self is dynamic
 it is added to and subtracted from genetic
maturation, learning, forgetting, stress, ageing
and disease
Self
 as culturally shaped
individual
 traditional and cultural practices regulate,
express and transform the human psyche,
resulting less in the psychic unity for
humankind than in ethnic divergence in
mind, self, and emotion
 Individualistic  Collectivist
- self is separate, - essential connection
distinct with between individual
emphasis on internal and other people
attributes