Women in Society

We actually fit into the classroom, which is now SCC E 153. Discussed my dislike of text books and why. Critical race theory needs and deserves mor than a single page. Besides I can't fit the stories into a single paragraph. So the problem for me with texts that try to cover a whole area of the discipline is that too much is covered too perfunctorily. I prefer to have you cover less territory, and do so in greater depth. There is no way you can cover a whole field in the space and time of a college major. But by covering some topics in depth, and merely linking them conceptually to the broader field, I hope you'll acquire the skills and desire to read more broadly after graduation.

Importance of religion in subjective authenticity since Sept.11 last year. Our choice of Ruether's Sexism and God-Talk for Women and Society reflects our concern that religion has been caught up in political positioning and in problems with subjective authenticity itself. Subjective authenticity is a self-reflexive concept in which we realize that our identity has been shaped by the social world we live in as well as by our own needs and desires. Our religion is usually passed down to us through our primary socializing agents, usually our parents. Much of what we believe is at an out-of-awareness level. When we begin to question reflexively who we really are and what we believe, it's hard to move past all the embedded notions of received knowledge to discover our own authentic beliefs. One is told not to discuss religion and politics, for arguments ensue. Of course, they do. For our discussions rarely go deeply into the unstated assumptions of our received knowledge. Ideas we may or may not be able to support are embedded in ritual, in tradition, in practice, in awe, in fear, in our acceptance of received authority. The caution not to discuss these topics has the effect of shrouding them in silence. So, we must talk either talk about religion and politics, or accept the silencing by received hierarchy..

On explaining multicultural in either soc of law or women in society I referred to changing into lavendar shoes, with a cracked rib, because the shoes I had on clashed. We talked about the many phases of identity, and about how I wore makeup in law school. Will link this to subjective athenticity and postcolonial theory on the difficulty of discovering authentic identity. This also relates to the need for recognition in the sense that Pia Lara uses that term, i.e. recognition leads to awareness, awareness leads to an end to the silencing, to imagining different alternatives, and to finding one's authentic voice.

On Friday, August 30, 2002, one of you, Marlene, I think, wrote: jeanne's comments in blue.

Now on to academics, but in the true sense of learning. You make a person want to stay up till 2:00 am and try to still get more knowledge. How absolutely wonderful! Thank you. First, and forermost, it was wonderful to learn about the author, Maria Pia Lara. I am focusing tonight on the portion of her book where it seems to pull everything in life together. At page 154 she says: "Only when one accepts that the universality of the claim for recognition lies in seeking the acceptance of others can one finally integrate the issues of redistribution into a much more complex scheme, and create the moral textures - the different kinds of solidarity, for example, that relate to this broader cultural framework." I will not quote more; but will only say she does apply recognition to gender, to race, to the moral textures, stressing that we can NOT all be clumped into a ball. When our roots are acknowledged, and we are respected as unique human beings, only then can we share a respect for others on a central brain wave of brotherly love. Only then can we exist as a human race.

I added a little to the quote. Since not all of us will have the same book, it's a good idea to give a quote so that it can stand on its own, without the reader having to consult the text.

The redistributiion to which Pia Lara refers is the redistribution of wealth and power. Inequality of wealth and power result in dominance and exploitation of those excluded from wealth and power. It is that exclusion and exploitation of which Pia Lara speaks when she sites the need for recognition of harm suffered.

Sociology of Law

embeddedness and multiculturalism as we are using it in this class. We are also including the structural and cultural setting which results in both authentic and inauthentic identities or subjectivities. Discussed the fact that no one has any more a single identity. Intersections (Kimberly Crenshaw) important.

Laying on of alternatives, and what helping others really means. In religion, the ritual acceptance of a new member into the ministry often in cludes the laying on of hands, in the belief that this gesture is a means of passing on the spirituality of the religious leader, conceived as received from God, on to new members. This ritual has also been seen as a symbol of preserving the continuity of that spirituality throughout the ages, from God to new representatives on earth. This concept is embedded in our culture, the concept that you can pass on your own gifts to others. The helping professions epitomize that concept. We pass on our caring, our ability to sort out the social system, our ability to find solutions to those who are immobilized by the lack of such skills.

Our need to not get caught up in saving someone, and to look to our own lives, too. We have a tendency to believe that others have our alternatives. Not necessarily. Besides, giving love and support may be no more than a smile. It certainly isn't "why don't you leave your husband." but it might be raising self esteem by slowly providing positive feedback about carefully observed details.

On August 29, 2002, Brian Morris wrote: jeanne's comments in blue

hello, jeanne.Thanks a lot for clarifying to me your interpretation of what "embedding" meant. I really have a better understanding of what you discussed in class.

Brian, that's great. You got this to me while I could still recall what we talked about, so I could record this evidence of your learning. Just one thing wrong. You worded it beautifully, and you even said thank you. But you didn't put embedding into your own words. So I don't have a way to see if when you write it out, you've got it straight. Now, see, that's why when you were writing up the e-mail in Pat's office, I told you that you and Wesley should do it together. If you two had just talked over the definition of embedded, and then sent me the e-mail together, you could have both received credit for the response, and I'd probably have a response that gave me your combined definition with Wesley of embedded.

So an A+ for getting half the right idea of reminding me on e-mail of evidence we shared of your learning. But a C for embeddedness. To make that C an A, send me your explanation of embeddedness.

On explaining multicultural in either soc of law or women in society I referred to changing into lavendar shoes, with a cracked rib, because the shoes I had on clashed. We talked about the many phases of identity, and about how I wore makeup in law school. Will link this to subjective athenticity and postcolonial theory on the difficulty of discovering authentic identity. This also relates to the need for recognition in the sense that Pia Lara uses that term, i.e. recognition leads to awareness, awareness leads to an end to the silencing, to imagining different alternatives, and to finding one's authentic voice.

Good work. jeanne

On Thursday, August 29, Crystal Adams shared after class her perception of embeddedness as related to ideology.

See her comments on ideology at Lectures Notes from Tuesday, August 27, 2002. Crystal, I think I see where you were going with this. Were you saying that ideology is embedded in our belief systems, so that we act on it unawares?

On Friday, August 30, 2002, Latoya Lewis wrote: jeanne's comments in blue.

Hello Jeanne,

My name is LATOYA LEWIS. I am in your Sociology of Law class on tuesdays and thursdays from 2:30-3:45. Thanks for identifying yourself clearly, Latoya. That will help me set up my grading records.

In yesterday's session you explained what it means to be embedded. I'm not sure I got the concept, but I'll give it a try. Embedded seems to mean an unstated assumption. Not quite, but they're related. Embeddedness means that something is embedded or layered deeply into something else. For example in a garden flower roots are embedded. When something is culturally embedded, that means that it is layered into our normative expectations so deeply that we are no longer even aware of it. That's how it's related to unstated assumptions. Martha Minow says that our beliefs and values are based on unstated assumptions that we never question because we are no longer aware of them. We just assume them to be true. That's why she calls them unstated. We don't even consciously realize that we're making the assumption.

For example, in an academic setting, a teacher may assume that because a student recieved an A on his/her test that the information is understood- and percieve that as learning. However, as students we know that test can give some indication that we understand some things, but clearly, through student-to-student interaction, questions (some teachers forbid questions), through teachers allowing us to access the info that they have, and discussion is how we learn and retain what we learn. Good example, Latoya. The teachers are making an unstated assumption that the A on the test is a valid measure of your actual learning in that class. That's because grading is so embedded in our educational culture that we no longer are aware that we are operating on that assumption. Throughout our academic lives, we have been taught to listen and regurgitate the teachers' information verbatim. The unstated assumption, in this case, is that teachers assume because a student has A's that he has learned the information.Yes. That's right.

Is it safe to say that many students are embedded in this belief that teachers are the final authority because we've always been taught this way? Not quite. It's not the students who are embedded. We wouldn't want to plant them in a flower garden. It's the ideas that are embedded. So it would be safe to say that the belief that teachers are the final authority is embedded in our educational culture and that that unstated assumption and the unstated assumption that grades are really a valid measure all by themselves of what we have learned is what makes us all cling so to tests and grades.

If I haven't grasped this concept, I would be greatly appreciative if you could make this clear to me.
Thanks Jeanne.

I think you've grasped it pretty well. B for your definition. A for your example. And I'll change the B to an A when you indicated to me that the concept is now clarified for you. jeanne

On Friday, August 30, 2002, one of you, Marlene, I think, wrote: jeanne's comments in blue.

On to Sociology of Law: You asked us today to define embeddedness. You told us layers in our culture in which we assume things without stating them. The things we are quiet about, so that they don't get challenged. You spoke about the author Bakhtin who referred to sensitivity to the Other as an anthropological concern. I edited this last sentence slightly. We'll disscuss it more as we get to Bakhtin and feminism, and Bakhtin and Habermas. jeanne I tend to agree with him, as all of us are embedded, or brainwashed in a cultural convention, conviction, that seems to always hold us back, until otherwise educated through an immense hurt of some kind.An interesting juxtaposition of embedded and brainwashed. Some things are most certainly embedded in our culture, and so long as their embeddedness does not harm others through exclusion and/or exploitation, that remains one of the ways in which we deal with the complexity of today's world, by taking a lot for granted, on the grounds that we already know some things we no longer need to question. (Martha Minow's unstated assumptions that become harmful when the assumptions are no longer valid for those to whom they are being applied.) We are brainwashed when the embeddedness is maintained through the power of hierarchical authority which pays no regard to the harm the embedded beliefs or values have begun to cause to others. Notice that you've added an emotional and moral component to the factual component of embeddedness. Notice how complex embeddedness becomes when we view it from some perspectives, i.e. feminism and law.

I have wished to challenge many things in my time, and I have. Only I have, as you seem to sensed today, come out on the short end of the stick. Not for my own moral values, but what was my selling my soul for others, or for pure survival. Martha Minow, from what you said today has many good thoughts, I have not read her as yet, but she seems as naive as I when I was a young girl. Guess nothing is wrong with that. It is still my dream that all of humanity can get along, maybe, God, whether in the form of a white male, black woman, brown donkey will kick the ass out from under all of us one day to put some sense into us, to love one another. I think I've gone over my 25 words or less, so I will say, thank you for the stimulation of my brain, my power, and also the words, that were best for me today: "Let it go."

Yes, letting igo is hard. And I recall that you were speaking of the emotional and interpersonal costs of tyring very hard to make the world right for an Other. You and another young woman, whose name I didn't catch, were talking after class about the dangers and despair when we find that we cannot make the world right for an Other. Perhaps we could explain that by speaking of the difficulty of authenticating our own identity and keeping it separate in crises we take on. Again, theory can help by providing us with a means to gain distance from the interpersonal affect, by letting us move back a little to see the problem in a broader context in which we are neither controlling nor responsible. That is perhaps one of the most difficult things to learn for those who would make this a better world. In the process of transforming the dominant discourse and the situatedness that harms we must not lose our own authentic identities. I believe I spoke of the "laying on of alternatives" in this respect.

Reinterpreting Theory

On Tuesday, August 26, 2002:

Maria Pia Lara and recognition. Recognition from storytelling, from narratives.

The importance of names, of face-to-face recognition, the interdependence of interpersonal relationships. The identity I play affects the identity with which you respond. The importance of the story is in offering you an alernative way to imagine.

The importance of demanding recognition is to bring awareness - and so transform discourse. Talked about Pia Lara's sense of the importance of stories and her first? or second? chapter on autobiographies. In particular she speaks of Hannah Arendt's autobiography of a German Jewish woman who didn't go along with normative tradition, and in the process of telling the woman's story, Arendt achieves the telling of her own. Hannah Arendt was herself a German Jew, a highly educated philosopher, the lover of Heidegger (who later supported the Nazi regime), and she escaped to Spain in 1933 and then to America. Today her work is being reread and reinterpreted as an important source of some of feminist theory. Her relationship to Heidegger has remained intriguing over the years.

Spoke of Freire and the requirement of listening in good faith and of respect for the learner.

Liberation theology and Orinda's work in that area.

Spoke of domestic abuse in both law and theory. Spoke of the hidden assumption that the alternatives for a battered woman are the same as those for a woman not suffering domestic violence. Focussed on embeddedness in law class, on the laying on of alternatives and the effect of that on authenticating subjectivities.

Comments:

On Thursday, August 29, Rita Brown wrote: jeanne's comments in blue. Hello Ms. Esq. (Smile)

I have been exploring Dear Habermas. There is so-o-o-o much info. I now understand the challenge of keeping current with everything. But since I couldn't find the Module for Week 1 for Soc 595, I thought I'd peruse the site. I found several helpful things. I can relate to starting the thesis process (Berthena's experience). I also found some useful info about various theorists. But I was captivated by Carol Lloyd's piece as Michel Foucault's Love Slave.

Great, Rita. You did the right thing. Exploring the site is a good way to start. It'll be easier when I get the indexes all caught up. But you're right it's a big site. I liked Carol Lloyd's piece, Michel Foucault's Love Slave, too. It's in Salon, as I recall. You might want to browse through some issues of Salon.

The line, "I am a child of Theory" was eye opening for me. I thought to myself, "and who isn't?" Anyone my age or near about, has been influenced by some deep rooted theory that seeps into our way of thinking. It has been a subliminal process, but progressive nonetheless. Personally, I call it a Selah moment.

(Selah-a biblical term which means to stop and ponder) How do you pronounce it? I've never heard it.

Rita Brown, Sociologist in the Making. I like the position title. jeanne

On Thursday, August 29, after class, Carolyn had some questions: jeanne's comments in blue.

Because the media, politics, corporations are controlled by the economic and power spheres, how do we maintain authenticity? I think the way you put it, Carolyn, was that since our information is all bullshit, and that's OK as long as we know it's bullshit, how do we access real information? First of all, the technical term for what you're asking about is "dominant discourse." Dominant discourse is the language that tells us about what's going on in the world in terms of "what everyone knows is true, is happening, will happen, ec." Dominant discourse is normative. If you happen to be discussing September 11 in the grocery line, you pretty much know what others would say because that's what so many people say, we've come to expect that response or perspective. That is, our normative expectations tell us what dominant discourse has to say about a topic, and we often respond with negative affect when those expectations are violated. For example, tyr telling a group of strangers in the grocery store that America is partly responsible for what happened on September 11. That statement would be counter to dominant discourse and would arouse negative affect unless you happened to be in the midst of a crowd of progressives and left radicals.

So, Carolyn, calling it "bullshit" could elicit negative affect also. I think what led you to call it that is that you are aware, and as a sociologist in the making (Rita), you know that some of what is accepted as true in the dominant discourse has not in fact been verified. You also know that through ownership and control of the media rich and powerful people can slant the dominant discourse towards their own interests. So how do we avoid the distortions injected into dominant discourse by the economic and political spheres? (Habermas)

Did I get the question right? You also wanted to know what theoretical approach would explain the structural and organizational effect on dominant discourse, if I understood your question correctly. Jonathan Turner's The Structure of Sociological Theory (1998) might be a good source for grasping the organization component of social action. At p. 36, Turner discusses Talcott Parsons' "Informational Hierarchy of Control." That's a functional approach to the question. Jeffrey Alexander would be the neo-functionalist who would bring functional theory up to a reinterpretation to fit today. You'll find a chapter on the Neofunctionalism of Jeffrey Alexander at p. 43. Other modern theories take off from conflict theory as represented by Marx, Weber, Simmel, Dahrendorf. You'll find this perspective in Turner's Chapter 11: The Rise of Conflict Theorizing. Now, that's probably more than you ever wanted to know, Carolyn. Give me afew weeks, and I'll try to summarize the parts of theory you're really looking for; but let's be sure we're on the same page first.