A Justice Site
California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: March 16, 2001
Latest update: March 16, 2001
jeannecurran@habermas.org
- What Would the Different Theorists Say? by Lisa Stevens, Theory class.
What Would the Different Theorists Say?
On Friday March 16, 2001, Lisa Stevens wrote:
Dear jeanne:Well, I have been a little "gun" shy (did I say that?) about emailing you because I don't know what to write or at risk of sounding stupid.
jeanne's comment: You're not alone, Lisa. It's scary to jump right into an academic dialog. But come on in, we're friendly here.
After our conversation, I am going to take the plunge. By the way, WELCOME back!! Thank you.
I have been doing most of the reading and truly enjoyng the web links!!! At this time, what I am having trouble understanding is how do you apply a theory that we have learned to, for example, the Santana Shooting? What would Marx say? Weber? Durkheim would seem to blame someone else? Some other part let down the whole?? I feel that I am missing something...I feel like I have no original thoughts...at this point only able to repeat back what I have read, no practical use.
Could you help me? Does this even make sense? Yes, it makes a lot of sense.jeanne's comment: Did you notice that I keep saying "don't write comments to me until you have something to say?" That's how common that feeling is. Everyone has it, especially when you encounter new material. At first, you just try to understand it. Then you start to think about it.
You certainly do have original ideas. I would never have thought of Durkheim as blaming someone else. What an interesting perspective, and it gives me considerable information about how to respond to you. This is certainly the beginning of saying something original, and something that lets me begin to know you.
Have a wonderful weekend...peace to you...lisa stevens
On Friday, March 16, 2001, jeanne responded.
I think I can help, Lisa. You've given me a lot to work with. Obviously you've read pieces on Marx, Weber, and Durkheim. And your question is very specific: how do I do more than just repeat what I've read on the Santee School Shootings?
Let me give you a quick example with Marx. Marxist theory is based on injustice in the distribution of resources, particularly in the benefit of value added - that means that when a worker produces something, he/she adds value to the product. Marx deplores that workers are forced to cede that added value from their work to the owners in terms of "profits." Marx refers to this injustice as a "class" issue in the means of production, and Marx hypothesized that the working class would revolt against the "owner" class, re-establishing a more just distribution of resources and "profits" from that production.
Now that's a fairly simplistic statement of Marxism, but I often hear students confused by references to class and material production. For now, until you get some basic theories straight in your apperceptive mass stick with the basic concepts of the theory restated in your own words and plain English. There's plenty of time later to learn the fancy jargon of theory.
You asked your question beautifully: What would Marx say about this current social problem of school shootings? The name of this site, Dear Habermas, came from students asking precisely such questions: What would Habermas say about . . . . It's a good way to put the question. But you will need to remember that I can't really know what Habermas or Marx or Durkheim or Weber would say. But I have read a lot more than you've had a chance to read so far, and I can try to answer for them. As long as you will remember that this is my idea of what I think any one of them might have said, then you'll have taken that bias into account.
So here goes a Dear Marx answer. Marx's emphasis on class meant that he recognized the extent that "those that have" often exclude the Others "who have not." He believed that in that exclusion the "owners," or those in power, profit by the efforts and achievements of those "others" from whom the "in-group" withholds the profits or added value of their work.
Is there a group in the school shootings that seems to have power and that exludes "others?" I think so. The students are adamant about the extent to which the shooters and others experience exclusion, rejection, teasing and bullying. Now, the schools aren't about the means of production, but they are about how we train people to take over the roles of production. Some students are "cool," "competent," "leaders." Some are "punks," "jerks," "misfits," "klutzes."
Given this class-like division between "leaders," the mixed majority of "just students," and the "misfits," I can see that most of the school's resources and rewards go to kids that start out with the ability to do sports and academic work. There is little attention given to building the skills of those who need training in the prized skills, for "remedial" education, or even "basic skills building" is not glamorous and does not result in city-wide championships. There are few rewards and opportunities for the "misfits." So in some ways, the shooters are acting out the rebellion that Marx predicted. That seems to me to say that Marx would look at the school hierarchy of students and administrators and staff, and at the lack of good faith time spent on bringing the "misfits" into a whole school community that respected all. I think Marx would be in favor of Fox and Levin's suggestions that the school day needs to be longer so that it can include activities in which all can excel and gain rewards, and to provide a supervised place in which students can engage in learning activities of all sorts until there is someone there for them when they get home.
Oh, and I definitely think that Marx would attribute the problems of those kids who don't have stable homes to go to, to the classist nature of late capitalistm, in which their parents were exploited as workers or as unemployed.
Does this help, Lisa? I'll get to the other theorists soon.
love and peace, jeanne