Identity and Agency
Molly Burke , Rutgers University, Spring 2005
Assignment 1
In "Behind the Official Story," James C. Scott describes the influence of power differentials between people on their social interactions: for strategic reasons, consciously and sometimes unconsciously, people base their demeanor, the content of their speech, and their actions on whether or not they are subordinate to, equal to, or dominant over the people or person whom they are addressing. How does Scott's assertion that we act accordingly challenge the traditional understanding that everyone has just one true self?
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Assignment 2
In Paper 1, you thought about ways that social hierarchy requires people to perform certain roles, to assume certain identities. Using Susan Faludi's "The Naked Citadel," you can now make some speculations about the role that gender plays in this process. The Citadel provides an extreme example of a hierarchal structure that is maintained by a cycle of violence and strict attention to hidden and public transcripts. Why is it so important that the upper class cadets demonstrate such a traditional concept of masculinity? In what way could we say that gender is part of hidden and/or public transcripts?
Questions to get you started: What generally characterizes the hidden and public transcripts at the Citadel? How do those transcripts uphold the pattern of domination there? How is the relationship between the all-male cadets gendered? What alternative views of masculinity are revealed in Faludi's essay? Are gender roles at the Citadel at all representative of those in the rest of the country?
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Assignment 3
In our first two papers, we examined factors affecting human behavior. We thought about James C. Scott's assertion that our actions and speech are significantly influenced (if not determined) by the power differentials in our social interactions. We also analyzed Susan Faludi's observation of the linkage between masculinity and domination at The Citadel. In "The Power of Context," Malcolm Gladwell suggests that the environment surrounding people plays even more of an important role in determining their behavior than their own psychological profiles. In what ways do Scott and Faludi confirm, complicate, or contradict this theory? How much freedom of choice do individuals have when outside factors play such a strong role in determining a person's options?
Questions to get you started:
What is the Power of Context? Does Gladwell's theory imply that humans "are freer than previously thought or that their behavior is more fully determined than previously thought possible?" (Gladwell 301). Would Scott and Faludi agree with Gladwell's assertion that character is less significant than previously thought?
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Assignment 4
Malcolm Gladwell demonstrates, in "The Power of Context," how powerful institutions, such as the government, can exert social control over people by making small but significant changes in their environment. In Eric Schlosser's analysis of global capitalism in "Global Realization," he likewise examines the ways that multinational corporations gain popularity across the globe. Is this the same kind of social control that Gladwell describes? What happens when people are influenced not for the benefit of society but for the benefit of a private corporation? How much agency do people have in the context of the global market? Develop a project that states your opinion on the role of the consumer in global capitalism.
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Assignment 5
In "Global Realization," Eric Schlosser examines the phenomenon of globalization, paying particular attention to the McDonald's corporation, while in "Playing God in the Garden," Michael Pollan contemplates the latest trend in agriculture, the development of foods genetically engineered by biotech companies. Skeptical of the growing influence of multinational corporations, both authors address the ways that these corporations influence everything from our culture to the very nature of the planet. Are these authors suggesting that this progression is inevitable? Can we criticize the effects of globalization without acknowledging its advantages? Can we celebrate the advantages of globalization without acknowledging its detrimental effects? Develop a project in which you assess proper response of the general public to this increasing influence of corporations on our world. Remember to address the complexity of the issue-we should not make simple, unrealistic suggestions. What larger conditions would have to be changed in order to implement the kind of changes you suggest?
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