GWS 140 Key Concepts Test
Capitalism
Capitalism is driven by the idea of resources under private ownership by a small minority of people. Capitalism advocates for a free market system, individual self-interest under the idea that competition brings out the best, and there is class conflict. The capitalist class often clashes with the working class as labor is sold for a wage/salary, which leads to inequality being accepted in order to make a profit from the exploitation of cheap labor and natural resources. Define: promotion of private ownership and wealth→ believes in competition and fuels class conflict→ resources under private ownership and owned by small group of wealthy Relevance to course: under capitalist society, wealth is held by small minority of people. Marx believed that total economic revolution would balance society→ further inequality is accepted as a natural quality of capitalism. In our class, important to see who is on top and who is being exploited for cheap labor (women of the global south) Example: America Free market: freedom because little coercion by other people (capitalist perspective); Voluntary exchange Private ownership and wealth Individual self-interest competition Relies upon the coercive market forces to compel capitalists to produce use-values as a byproduct of the pursuit of profit Responsibilization of citizen; motivate to be competitive in market In capitalist society today, we have become increasingly tolerant of inequalities and unequal access to public goods— for instance, unequal access to education, healthcare, and other resources; this tolerance, due to a competitive market, develops from isolation and self-absorption; people turn their concerns away from the common will and towards their private interest (deeply connected to neoliberal ideas and how every sphere of life becomes marketized and individuals become entrepreneurs/human capital)
Colonialism
Colonialism involves exploiting the resources of an invaded country, and using the colony for the benefit of the colonial ruler. It relays power structures of historical oppression and economic control through taking over a weaker nation's geographical territory, resources, economy, political structure, and cultural production. Universalism is an aspect of colonial domination. Define: 15th/ 16th century→ imperial political, social, and economic rule over non-western people. Included the exploration and conquest of indigenous societies Relevance to course: cultural and media imperialism by the US Example: justification for colonization of african nations Colonialism: emerged 15th/16th C's beginning with exploration and conquest of indigenous societies by European powers Involved development of racialized discourse, creating dichotomy of 'civilized' and 'primitive' Decimation of populations through violence, introduction to disease (accidental and purposeful) Justification of enslavement; Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Development of racial hierarchies
Culture
Culture is ordinary, not just elite culture. It encompasses high art, intellectualism, as well as everyday experiences. Culture is both material and symbolic it is a production. Rather than a matter of ontology, culture is not of being but of becoming. Culture is a production. Define: Raymond Williams→ culture is everything; collective understanding and tradition→ shared language, values, and norms Relevance to course: course explores how culture is produced. Hall looks at circuit of culture in where representation is one of the five institutions where culture is reproduced Culture is created through shared meanings With globalization and modern mass media circulations of meanings between cultures happening at a rate never seen previously High vs. low culture Culture is ordinary, not just elite culture (Williams)
Decolonialism
Decolonization is the overthrow of colonial rules, challenging their ideologies, by establishing political independence and self rule. It opposes cultural hegemony and seeks to uproot its impact in all spheres of society, such as politics and the media. Some of the first instances of decolonization come from political uprisings in South and Central America when Brazil and Mexico gained independence. Fanon further states that it is important for a person to decolonize themselves and change the way they see and experience power. Decolonialism Define: came from postcolonialism→ fight to reverse effects of colonialism and create an anti-racist culture where people are free to live without western influences Relevance to course: Fanon: decolonize the mind; Hall: transcoding meaning Decoloniality: post WWII, CRM, anti-Vietnam War, 2nd wave feminist movement, Cold War, and decolonization of developing countries (1960s-70s) Frantz Fanon, a prominent activist in the anti-colonial movement, recognizes the psychological impacts of colonialism and how it becomes internalized by the colonized; examines the difficulties of forming a black identity outside of white (Western) constructions Women in developing nations challenging Western dominated feminisms; challenging stereotypes of the Third World Woman Black feminism: to understand how gender inequality interacts with racism, homophobia, classism and colonization in a "matrix of domination." Patricia Hill-Collins, bell hooks, Angela Davis Combahee River Collective Statement Hooks and the "oppositional gaze": "there is power in looking" (247) Mass media as a system of knowledge and power reproducing white supremacy; negation of black representation Foucault: within relations of power there is the opportunity for resistance to these forces of power; confronting forces of structural racism and violence
Ideology
Define: values and beliefs that people use to make sense of the world→ spread through powerful institutions like family, education, govt, and media Relevance to course: Marx looks at ideology as an 'instrument of social reproduction" to create a false consciousness and sustain hegemonic values Example: elities shape ideology through institutional control→ ex. Scientists shape racialized ideology through scientific racism which created justification for racist ideology Marx Ideology produced through division of mental and manual labor Critique of capitalism's mode of production, and how the division between mental and manual labor coincides with the division between rulers and the ruled; the economically-dominant class will be the politically-dominant class and therefore the idea-dominant class Hegemony appears 'natural' Can also coincide with Foucault on discourse and Gramsci on hegemony Marx looks at ideology as an "instrument of social reproduction" → dominant ideology made by ruling class and spread to proletariat as way to uphold bourgeois power Ideology at the unconscious level; ideologies prevail in our current society, which is dependent on the distribution of power Ideology is a set of statements of beliefs which produce knowledge that serves a dominant class/group. It is based on distinctions between true statements about the world and false statements, and the belief that facts about the world help us decide between true and false statements. Most statements have ideological dimensions because our values shape our language. Ideology is often considered the science of the mind, studying the origin and development of ideas.
Essentialism
Essentialism is the concept that there is an identifiable essence for male and female. Gender and sex are both timeless and unchangeable. An individual is endowed with capacities of reason, consciousness and action whose center consists of an inner core that emerged when the subject was born. The core remains essentially the same throughout the individual's life. Essentialism: identity is biological and natural: fixed and transhistorical Essentialism (nature): human beings have an essence, male and female; gender and sex are timeless and unchangeable; we are biologically fixed
Gendered Norms
Gendered norms are social roles encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based on their actual or perceived sex or sexuality. Gendered norms are embedded in social structures, operating to restrict the rights, opportunities, and capabilities of women and girls. Society has a set of ideas on how men and women are supposed to dress, behave, and present themselves in society. Gender is used as a regulatory discourse to manage class. Define: belief that the members of a gender have universal characteristics→ essentializes gender Relevance to course: white femininity in Betty Friedan's "feminine mystique" Example: women stay at home, men work Gender itself is socially constructed Gender and sex are both cultural constructions (Butler): It is the cultural meanings given to masculinity and femininity (associated with sexual differences) that create gender norms. Women as the 'Other' to men (De Beauvoir): Western Knowledge: Mind-body dualism, women's sexual difference relegates them to their 'body' and men get claim to the 'mind.' De Beauvoir: one is not born a woman but becomes one
Hegemony
Hegemony is Within US culture, racist and sexist ideologies permeate the social structure to such a degree that they become hegemonic, namely seen as normal, natural, and inevitable. Hegemony is about winning consent by dominant social groups over other groups. Define: gramsci term→ describes the process of maintaining power through the struggle of seeking ideological consensus Relevance to course: related to Said, Foucault, de Beauvoir→ people in power creating 'objectivity' in order to maintain societal order Example: beauty pageants are hegemonic bc they reflect the dominant idea of beauty and femininity A practice of power used by leadership on the majority so that its dominance controls widespread influence and consent, making it seem natural and inevitable Civil society (culture operates within), consisting of schools, families, and unions, plays a role in coercion or what Gramsci calls "consent" through the circulation of ideas and institutions Marx's concepts of ideology and its place at the unconscious level, the ruling class dictates dominant discourses and ideologies; therefore, hegemony appears natural Edward Said used Foucault and Gramsci's theories of power to analyze knowledge produced by Western academic disciplines about non-western 'Others' Current hegemony of Western neoliberal capitalism in globalized world Hegemonic representations of whiteness/white beauty in mass media→ rooted in social institutions and elaborate neocolonial ideologies; connected to larger systems of racism and colorism (Hunter on Buying Racial Capital) Cultural hegemony is what creates this dichotomy between the West and the 'Other' Racialized discourse brings into being racial stereotypes of notions of inferiority, deviance, laziness, etc. and contributes to the structural violence of people of color Structural violence contributes to social oppression that is deeply hegemonic in nature and rooted in history and memory
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is defined as the interconnectedness of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group. It is regarded as creating overlapping and independent system of discrimination or disadvantage. Intersectionality is a co-constitution of racial hierarchy - racialization constituted by structures, social processes, and cultural representations. Intersectionality is cross-cutting forms of oppression, and we can't simply look at one form of oppression because all oppressions intersect with each other to shape experience.
Liberalism
Liberalism has roots in the writing of Locke and Smith. Classical liberalism looks to limit the role of government, as it stresses the importance of the individual in society. Progressive liberalism is a 19th century idea that accepted the concept that some people were not in a position to help themselves, and therefore the State had a duty to intervene in some areas. For example, the welfare state and the NHS are two examples of progressive liberalism. Liberal feminist goals include fair treatment, equal institutional access, and women's full integration into the public sphere. Define: Classical liberalism of 1800 is a class structure that values individualism, private property, and the free market. In a liberal democracy, there is valuation in an individual working to become wealthy and improve economic status Relevance to course: liberal feminism→ values individual power to create equality through legislation Example: liberal democracy can be seen in our country's phrasing "American exceptionalism" or "american dream" Liberalism Individualism New political economy when people are no longer bound to land (production and wealth no longer tied to land); individuals begin to be free to sell their labor for wage; series of revolutions (French Revolution) where class system was overthrown; individual liberty/new social mobility; individual no longer assigned privileges or rights according to birth (whether aristocrat, lower class, etc.) Centered on rights, minimizing government power; free from interference from individual pursuits (negative liberty) Classic Liberalism 1800, a class structure becomes established, valuing individual, private property, free market, freedom to become wealthy and improve one class and economic status - become middle and upper classes Separation of individuals allows large powers dominate us, while small concerns absorb our individual lives, leaving us apathetic towards our domination Liberal feminism: focus on individualism; lack of solidarity/intersectionality
Marxism
Marxism is the economic and political doctrine enunciated by Marx and Engels. Historically, Marxism analyzed capitalism as wasteful and destructive. They argued that society should be viewed in terms of class and believes that there is a positive side to human nature. Class struggle plays a central role in understanding society's development from oppression under capitalism to a socialist, and then ultimately classless society. Believes in a classless society Marxism Define: Belief in an economic system based on the distribution of wealth by the state. Marx criticized the ruling class, the bourgeoisie, who exploited labor of the proletariat. The proletariat makes very little and wealth is only held by the bourgeois Relevance to course: Marxist feminist Example: patriarchal bourgeoise Marxism Culture interpreted in relation to system of production The Dialectic Process Thesis (starting point/status quo) → antithesis (opposing group/ideas that doesn't support status quo; mechanism for change) → synthesis (progress through clash/revolution) Realm of production where sources of inequality are; exploitation of labor Every class that is dominant in history has to represent itself as it is good for all (i.e. capitalism benefits everyone) Division between mental and manual labor coincides with division between rulers and the ruled; economically dominated class will be politically dominated class and idea dominated class→ their ideas will try to mask their dominance Materialist approach Materialism→ organization of material life; production for our subsistence Historical materialist→ different epochs of organization The organization of material life conditions everything in life: family, politics, institutions, religion, international relations, etc. We do not have a constant "nature" because in each era values are defined by mode of production (similar to Foucault/discourse) In capitalism no one is free because driven by modes of production, even the capitalist is unfree because forced to compete or will be driven out History of class struggles: oppressor and oppressed Emergence of wage labor post-feudal era→ has not eliminated "class antagonisms" nor certain types of oppression, just "new conditions of oppression" Bourgeoisie and proletariat Proletariat as a commodity; "slaves of the bourgeois class" and "daily and hourly enslaved by the machine" (Communist Manifesto) Proletariat is the "revolutionary class" Capitalism dehumanizing because reduces everyone to a value of labor; "an appendage of the machine"
Modern Society
Modern societies are societies of constant, rapid, and permanent change compared to traditional societies which value the past and symbols which have existed for generations. They focus on anonymous relationships, contracts, innovation, progress, secularism, individualism, and private property.
Modernity
Modernity is not only defined as experiences of living with rapid, extensive, and continuous change but also as a highly reflexive form of live in which social practices are constantly examined and reformed. This leads into questioning the west and the rest discourse, how there is the perception that Europe is the original modernity but non-European societies actually develop different understandings of modernity because of different historical/civilizational backgrounds. Modernity: "Modernity by contrast is not only defined as experiences of living with rapid, extensive and continuous change but is a highly reflexive form of life 'in which social practices are constantly examined and reformed (Giddens, 37-38) Rationality, techno-scientific world view; progress (as opposed to tradition); secular (as opposed to religion) Historical era associated post-medieval phase of European and Western history Also associated with rejection of tradition, religion, and feudalism, relates to discourses after the Age of Enlightenment : rational, science, secular, individualism, technology, human intervention valued Characteristics and institutions : industrialization, urbanization, secularization, the development of the nation-state and its constituent institutions Modern technologies such as the newspaper, telegraph and other forms of mass media Modernization was associated with industrial capital Usually defined as a European movement, but argued that encounter with African cultures 1880s and 90s was crucial to development of modernism
Neoliberalism
Neo-liberalism, also known as new right conservatism, is the reduction of the state in favor of an increased emphasis on the individual and the free market. Neoliberal feminism is emerging in the United States, which has hollowed out the potential of liberal, mainstream feminism to underscore the constitutive contradictions of liberal democracy and thus further entrenching neoliberal rationality and imperialist logic. Neoliberal feminism is a discursive modality that is helping reproduce the USA as the bastion of progressive liberal democracy Neoliberalism Define: free-market laissez faire economics→ believe that economies regulate themselves. Led to privatization and deregulation that allowed for globalization of economy Relevance to course: post feminism media colluded with neoliberal ideas to form commodity feminist that is criticized by Mcrobbie and Gill→ they look at women as neoliberal subjects Economic rationality in every sphere of life Emerged in 1970s-80s following election of Reagan and Thatcher; new era of conservative politics in the West (following WWII, economic depression, Cold War, decolonization and social movements) Drawn on work from economists Friedrich von Hayek and Milton Friedman who argued free markets distribute society's resources in an optimal way Everything becomes commoditized i.e. health care is not a right but a commodity delivered within a market context Generating competitive markets on the justification of freedom; restricting organized labor; deregulation; privatization; judicial institutions classifying corporations as persons (Citizens' United); and rendering individuals as human capital (entrepreneurs) Places responsibility on the individual and ignores systematic inequalities In era of globalization: feminization' of labor, accompanied by a deterioration of working conditions - casualization, violation of international labor standards and low wages Postfeminism and relation to neoliberalism (Gill)
Orientalism
Orientalism is a term coined by Edward Said which creates a juxtaposition between the East (the Orient) and the West. Said states that the West created a dichotomy between the reality of the east and the romantic notion of the Orient. The middle east and asia are viewed with prejudice and racism, as backwards. They are viewed as unaware of their own history and culture, which is highly influenced by the political imperialism of Europe in the East which led to the West wiping out a lot of the East's culture. The discourse and visual imagery of the Orient is laced with notions of power and superiority which facilitates a colonizing mission on the part of the West. Anti-muslim racism and contemporary Islamophobia draws heavily upon the discursive regime where knowledge about the east is produced in situations of unequal relations of power.
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is an ideology, defined as a system of society or government where men largely hold the power and women are excluded. The patriarchy extends over numerous aspects of day to day life through political leadership, gendered power relations, and the subordination of women. The patriarchy is an oppressive system which creates masculine privilege and men directly benefit from the oppression of women. Beauty currency is an aspect of the patriarchal system. Define: a society in where men hold primary power in social and political spheres Relevance to course: related to de Beauvoir in where facts created by male institutions are viewed 'objectively' and uphold the dominance of men over the rest of the world Example: belief that women are more apt at staying at home created by neurosexist instiutions that help maintain patriarchal insituitions Our current social system where historically and in contemporary times male-dominated institutions pervade, holding power over social, economic, political, and cultural spheres Emphasis on female exclusion from these spheres Rose from a division of labor as women work in domestic sphere while men are breadwinners. Rise of capitalism monetized male work but not the work in the home, leaving work done by women undervalued. Values upheld in religious scripture Rule of the father- oedipus complex
Black Feminism
Postcolonial feminism (1980s): affiliated with black feminism; intersectional analysis structural and cultural racism, colonial and capitalist power relations shaping transnational gendered hierarchies focus on the experiences of Third World women in "developing countries;" critique of Third World women as homogenous entity Critique of western white global feminism and argues that by using the term "woman" as a universal group, women are then only defined by their gender and not by social class, race, ethnicity, or sexual preference Combahee River Collective Statement on black feminism: membership of 2 oppressed racial and sexual castes; cannot separate race from class from sexual oppression because often experienced simultaneously Black feminism wanted to make the interconnectedness of class, racial history, and gender relations visible. They aimed to challenge racism of white feminism, sexism of black men, and focus on the lived experiences of black women and women of color.
Post-Colonialism
Postcolonialism began after the publication of Orientalism. It encopasses the production of history, literature, philosophy, anthropology, and the arts. Postcolonialism aims to study the knowledge that has been produced by Eurocentric thinking and theoretical frames and destabilize this production. It deals with the effects of colonization on cultures and societies.Post colonialism is now used in wide and diverse ways to include the study and analysis of European territorial conquests, institutions of European colonialisms, discursive operations of empire, subject construction in colonial discourse, and the differing responses to colonial legacies in different nations and communities. Postcolonial movements were revolutionary mixtures of the indigenous and diasporic formations of intellectual and cultural resistance that produced new kinds of knowledge that flourished alongside anti-colonial political practice. Define: 1945-1970's→ inspired by civil rights movement and collapse of european imperialism. Criticism of colonialism and fight to incorporate colonized voices. Aim to discredit colonial ideologies Relevance to course: postcolonial feminism: 1980's analysis of on experiences of women in the global south→ colonial racism and it's effects on women→ women is not a universal category→ brings in transational ideals Example: Said Postcolonialism: emerged following anticolonial transnational third world movements; indigenous and diasporic formations of intellectual and cultural resistance that produced new kinds of knowledge (work of Fanon, Gandhi, Guevara, Mandela, etc.) Postcolonial critique challenges Western/Eurocentric dominated knowledge formations Effects of colonial history, language, bureaucracy/state, attitudes and how it still resonates in society today Edward Said: study on the dichotomy of the 'Occident' (West) and the 'Orient' (East) The formation of the 'Orient' is a product of a discursive regime; European construction of the stereotypical image of the 'Orient' highly romanticized Discourse and visual imagery of Orientalism is laced with notions of power and superiority, formulated initially to facilitate a colonizing mission on the part of the West and perpetuated through a wide variety of discourses and policies Cultural hegemony is what creates this dichotomy between the West and the 'Other' Essentializes the 'Orient' as naturally biologically inferior and culturally backward to justify European superiority
Postmodernity
Postmodernity is a historical term used to indicate the period after modernity, which ended in the 1960s-1970s. Postmodernity is linked to changes in capitalism, especially a focus on the shift to consumption from production. Postmodernity: difference and plurality, ambivalence and scepticism of universalist metanarratives; fragmented (as opposed to linear development) Reality is constructed; realities are subject to change Socially-conditioned nature of knowledge claims and value systems: products of particular political, historical, or cultural discourses and hierarchies Associated with poststructuralism (Foucault, Butler) Poststructuralism: rejection of the self-sufficiency of Structuralism and an interrogation of the binary oppositions that constitute those structures
Poststructuralism
Poststructuralism arose as a critique of socialism. It is socially constructed and argues how knowledge is produced within a social context of power relations. Rather than just one truth, there's multiple interpretations and truths attached to grand narratives of European modes of knowledge production. Define: 1960's attack from foucault criticized structuralism for it's rigidity and ahistoricism and the binary that they assigned to structure. Believed that in order to study object you have to study the object and the body of language used to describe it Relevance to course: Foucault→ related to his criticisms of Saussure. Takes on constructionist approach Poststructuralism: associated with mid-20th C philosophers and theorists and came to be known internationally in 1960s-70s; rejection of these binary oppositions; because history and culture condition the study of underlying structures, both are subject to biases and misinterpretations. A Post-structuralist approach argues that to understand an object (e.g., a text), it is necessary to study both the object itself and the systems of knowledge that produced the object Emphasize history and how cultural concepts have changed over time Connection to postmodernism: Foucault, Hegel, Butler, Nietzsche
Discourse
Power constitutes us through knowledge/discourse Foucault analyzes history of 17th and 18th C cultural and political institutions like insane asylum, prison system, and clinic Construction of norms on sanity/insanity, licit/illicit, healthy/sick (binaries, structuralism)→ later generations accept as natural In modern world disciplinary power is principle means by which governments and other coercive institutions control populations Panopticon: constant self-surveillance→ disciplinary power Through discourse reinforcing norms Power exercised through constructing a regime of truth (discursive regime) Biopower→ power that organizes life; difficult to see and not just the result of material life/modes of production; form of governmentality that deals with life and embedded in modern capitalism Human body as object of discipline and surveillance The population and the object of regulation, control, and welfare Institutionalization: assumptions and accidents become historicized into truths and knowledge is created; social constructions; coercive power Define: refers to body of knowledge that provide a way of talking about a particular topic→ production of knowledge through language Relevance to course: Foucault took a constructionist approach, as described by Hall. Believed that discourses produce meaning. Discourse is thus a system of representation Example: Said discusses how orientalism as a discourse informed western knowledge of the east Discourse has three aspects: knowledge production, cultural practice, and power relations. Discourse uses multiple interconnected texts to produce knowledge about a subject, using networks of meanings that are still changing. Discourse produces knowledge through language, and is impacted by language and thus enters into and influences all social practices. Discourse operates in relation to power and has real effects.
Queer Feminisms
Queer feminism is incorporated in the third wave of feminism. Queer activists contest definitive categories in relation to gender and sex in favor of shifting boundaries of identities. They are opposed to rigid sexual categories of lesbian and gay studies and identity politics. Queer activists highlight the history of suffering associated with the marginalization of norms related to sexual identities. Third wave feminism 1990s backlash against 2nd wave's essentialist definitions of femininity, that over-emphasize the experiences of upper middle-class white women Queer theories challenge gender norms and cisheteropatriarchy; poststructuralist interpretation of gender and sexuality (gender roles due to socialization)
Representation
Representation is production of meaning through language, often discussed as the way signs are used to construct meaning. Reproduction encompasses the correlation between three levels, the material, conceptual, and signifying practice to produce a set of interconnections which hold meaning. Foucault's approach to representation is a shift from language to discourse. Representation Define: representation connects meaning and language to culture→ How does it do this? Relevance to course: Hall looks at constructionist approach to understanding how representation connects meaning and language to culture Saussure: semiotic relationship→ language and signs produce meaning Foucault: meaning made through discourse Example: racialized regime of representation Constructionist approach: systems of representation do not reflect existing reality but rather organize, construct, and mediate our understanding of reality Semiotic approach: Saussure How language creates meaning through signs/symbols (linguistic, visual) Discursive approach: Foucault Effects and consequences of representation through construction of knowledge Meaning created through discourses/norms "It is we who fix the meaning so firmly that, after awhile, it comes to seem natural and inevitable. The meaning is constructed by the system of representation" (21)
Second Wave Feminism
Second wave feminists were committed to building a body of knowledge which specifically addresses the ways in which women have have been historically marginalized, both culturally and socially. It challenged male dominated institutions such as family, heteronormativity, religion, political parties, the military, media, universities, and trade unions. They were driven by grassroots actions, partially through the Women's Liberation Movement, and assumed that all women were united by similar experiences and shared identity. Second wave feminists demanded equal pay and working conditions, equal education, financial and legal independence, and free reproductive health care among other things, Challenged patriarchal standards and social constructions of femininity, beauty, and sex; and male-dominated institutions such as universities, occupations, unions, and politics. The movement pushed for bodily autonomy (i.e. contraception and abortion access) as well as addressing the different forms of power that perpetuate the shared marginalization of women in society Wolf: The Beauty Myth, discusses the developments in media and how advertisers used their power manipulate women into certain societal roles; beauty ideals change; consumerism and advertising coercive De Beauvior: The Second Sex, examines Othering of women; 'natural' knowledges of women's subordination (can relate to Foucault); segregation and cultural construction of women into gendering roles/identities Friedan: Feminine Mystique, describes beauty myth and social construction of femininity; ideal femininity surrounding domesticity, passivity, selflessness; problem among housewives
Signification
Signification encompasses Signifiers and signified. Signifier is the form which the sign takes and the signified is the concept it represents. The sign is the total meaning that results from associating the signifier with the signified.
Social Construction
Social construction is a symbolic interactionism theory of knowledge. Language, interaction, and communication are vital in constructing meaning. Gender is not the result of biology but rather gender formation is dependent on social and historical processes. We access and construct our social reality in cultural interactions and practices. Language does not mirror reality, it creates it in cultural practices of decoding representations. Historically, social construction was linked to sexual difference through colonial sciences. It led to racial difference and sexual difference maintaining white supremacy during the period of slavery. Oppositional binaries of nature and culture are used to justify oppression Social construction: identity is fluid and contingent on history. Culturally constructed categories of identity learned through socialization (nurture) Relevance to course: meaning used to be seen as ahistorical and essential. Now, Saussure and Foucault has demonstrated ways in which meaning is constructed through various forms of representation; consider Butler Example: gender is a social construct and so is race Constructivism (nurture/culture): gender and sex socially constructed and determined by culture and society; changes over time How is gender constructed? Gender rules and policing: rules for gendered performances through lifelong processes of socialization; we adjust to our gendered performances unconsciously and follow gender roles to avoid policing Butler De Beauvoir
Socialism
Socialism was developed as an alternative to liberalism and conservatism in the 19th century. Socialism advocates for state owned resource and a state planned system, with an emphasis on cooperation as the best way for people to coexist. Everyone works for wealth which is distributed equally to everyone, which is based upon a system of collective and common ownership. Rather than distributing wealth based on how much capital one holds, it would be distributed based on how much one contributes to society. Thus, socialism advocates for social equality, a distribution of wealth, and the abolition of exploitation. Believes in a stateless society Define: 18th-20th century-> economic system that works to address economic inequalities using marxist philosophies Relevance to course: again, apply marxism to feminism: Economic system addressing economic inequality and poverty In marxist theory, refers to a specific historical phase of economic development and its corresponding set of social relations that supersede capitalism in the schema of historical materialism Post-commodity economic system, meaning that production is carried out to directly satisfy human needs, or economic demands as opposed to being produced with a view to generating a profit Believe in collective wealth distribution: most socialists consider themselves Marxists Collective ownership; social equality; abolition of exploitation
Structuralism
Structuralism was originated by Saussure, a french linguist who championed the theoretical and intellectual movement in the 1950s-1960s which studied underlying structures of cultural products. He studied film texts, art forms, and photographs to understand the scientific and logical structure of cultural products. An underlying belief in structuralism is the concept of universalist generalization Define: believes elements of culture can be described by their relationship with overarching structures Relevance to course:Saussure is a structural linguist Example: language, according to saussure, is a structure that needs to be analyzed Structuralism: an intellectual movement in France in the 1950s and 1960s that studied the underlying structures in cultural products (such as texts) and used analytical concepts from linguistics, psychology, anthropology, and other fields to interpret those structures. It emphasized the logical and scientific nature of its results Binary oppositions arranged in hierarchy: Enlightenment/Romantic, male/female, speech/writing, rational/emotional, signifier/signified, symbolic/imaginary
Circuit of Culture Frame
The circuit of culture frame is the process that culture gathers meaning at five different moments. The moments are representation, identity, consumption, regulation, and production. Representation and identity tend to be the two visible aspects of the circuit of culture as they tend to be the visible presentation and representation Representation is what the thing means, and to whom/what relationships it contains. It asks how and from whom it takes them on and how and to whom it gives them off Identity discusses who all the agents involved with producing, consuming, and regulating the thing are -- be they individuals, groups, and/or non-human entities -- and how they got to be that way The not visible aspects of the culture are the labor/work, and encompass regulation, production, and consumption Regulation is the formal and informal rules that affect and are affected by the thing, how they are (are not) enforced, and the formal and informal authorities that make and enforce them. Production is the making of the thing -- inventing it, fabricating it, reproducing it, distributing it, marketing it -- and paying for all this lab/work and the people who do it Consumption is buying the thing, using the thing, becoming part of the thing, and/or making the thing part of you -- and paying for all of this In order to understand a cultural site, text, practice, or even to understand how an object works you have to look at it from as many angles and contexts as possible. The circuit of culture breaks down culture into five essential elements and emphasizes that we need to understand how the elements relate to, co-construct, and are a part of all of the others to understand how it would work in culture.
Link between Matrix of Domination and Intersectionality
The matrix of domination refers to how these intersecting oppressions are actually organized. The matrix of domination and intersectionality both help define and bring a deeper understanding to power relations. The first way is through understanding how each axis of oppression is reinforced in the structural domain of power in major institutions such as the economy and government. The second is how axes of oppression are reinforced through disciplinary domain of power. The next is the hegemonic domain of power, and analyzing how axes of oppression are enforced through ideologies and discourse. The fourth is how each axis of oppression id reinforced through day to day actions of individuals, through interpersonal domain of power. The last is resistance within each domain of power, and how such activism can challenge inequality and bring about social justice.
Matrix of Domination
There are four spheres of the matrix of domination. The first is structural domain, which consists of social structures such as law, polity, religion and the economy. The second is culture: the language we use, images we respond to, values, we hold, ideas we entertain through the production of knowledge that is taught to us. The third is individual and personal. The fourth is institutional and organizational.
