dagblog - Comments for "Stuff I Want to Learn: Sociology Edition"

Ha, I actually have a similar

Maria — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 08:34:28 +0000

In reply to Stuff I Want to Learn: Sociology Edition

Ha, I actually have a similar observation - http://bonvoyagemaria.blogspot.com/search?q=hair+salon! I'm not a sociologist / anthropologist either, but maybe we just choose jobs based on our personality? On the other hand, there's no denying that our personality gets affected by the job we are at. Or is it just a vicious cycle? And then what happens to your personality in a bad job market...

Well, my favorite sociologist

Doctor Cleveland — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:01:16 +0000

In reply to It's not that I don't agree

Well, my favorite sociologist on questions of culture and class formation is Pierre Bourdieu. Distinction is a masterpiece; it uses French data and examples, but you can use it to extrapolate.

It's not that I don't agree

Orlando — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 02:56:42 +0000

In reply to I'm going to go with Quinn

It's not that I don't agree with Quinn and everybody else who is arguing that mass media and a sort of "empire" culture are responsible for the dissemination of western culture (music, clothing, etc.). However, it goes both ways. The music, food, and even clothing in the United States over the past thirty years has been greatly influenced by other cultures. It's happening faster than it did before and it's easier. But, again, there are underlying archetypes: politician, soldier, intellectual, student, common woman/man that precede radio, television, and the internet. Maybe the cultural bleed is making it easier to spot the similarities, but there is evidence that they have always been there.

I'm going to go with Quinn

Doctor Cleveland — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:54:22 +0000

In reply to Stuff I Want to Learn: Sociology Edition

I'm going to go with Quinn and go with empire/colonial influence for the win.

Everywhere you go, people in industrialized societies have been, and continue to be, influenced by Western norms. Being industrialized and modern has been synonymous with becoming Westernized. This is why political and business leaders in Africa and Asia often wear European-style business suits.

Why are the college kids like that? Because the kids who set the norm in Indonesia, the ones you imitate in order to be cool, are the kids who've studied in America or Europe.

'Cause I'd say ignoring

quinn esq — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:22:16 +0000

In reply to Exactly--for a multitude of

'Cause I'd say ignoring empire is what turns us all into dummies. Do you have any sense of how hard the American Entertainment industry works to shove their product into other nations, AA? Or the absolutely ferocious negotiations on their behalf during trade talks? Any sense of how US cultural products fare, depending on the local laws? Sure people work and shape what they can, and sure there are aspects that cut across all cultures. But if you're force-fed American TV or films or music - and yes, I DO mean force-fed, because to think this is all just a world of fabulous "free choice" is to completely erase entire industries and the history of their development - then, SURPRISE! People tend to adopt what they're force-fed.

So maybe take a look at the nation most thoroughly absorbed and indoctrinated into American culture (us.) Ever wondered why Canadian music, to take just one example, went from absolutely nothing at all in, say 1970, to producing and exporting far beyond its small population? As in Celine Dion and Shania Twain and Sarah McLachlan and Alanis Morissette and Avril Lavigne and Justin Bieber and kd lang and even Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene and Michael Buble and Nickelback and Feist and Metric amongst dozens of others?

Yeah. Canadian content laws. We forced Canadian artists back onto the radio after 1970. I think the % is now at 30% or somesuch. With even that tiny share (30% of a small population) guaranteed, local artists could develop, and then make the transition into the US and then worldwide. But FIRST, we had to figure out a way to break into the machine.

"As though they can't pick and choose and refuse what they don't like?"

Wow. Big on fairy tales, are we AA?

Exactly--for a multitude of

artappraiser — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 20:22:43 +0000

In reply to I think mass media's pop

Exactly--for a multitude of examples ad nauseun, see Joseph Campbell for instance. Injokes are made about Campbell carrying it too far, however there are enough solid examples to prove you don't need an empire. Actually, blaming it all on empire treats some cultures like dummies, as if they can't pick and chose, adopt or alter what is simpatico, refuse what they don't like, and alter new input to fit their own culture.

Works in mysterious ways,

Steve — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 20:18:39 +0000

In reply to Ummmmmm, I know people wanted

Works in mysterious ways, though. I discovered Cake in the summer of '97 when I saw the video for The Distance in an Indonesian hotel room - when I got back to San Francisco (aka The Empire), no one (including Deadman and Genghis, two very hip fellows) had heard of them.

That said, during thi we had a rule that wherever you were, whatever you were doing, if you heard someone playing "Mmm Bop," you had to immediately call someone and hold your phone up to the speaker. Many, many company cell phone minutes were wasted on this game, as Mmm Bop battled various Spice Girls tunes in a summerlong battle for supremacy. Many meetings with PT Telkom executives were also interrupted for important calls, as well.

I think mass media's pop

EmmaZahn — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:30:30 +0000

In reply to I get asked if I've met

I think mass media's pop culture is more pervasive than you may think but there also appears to be genetic bottleneck ~50,000 years ago that could explain cross-culture primeval archetypes. For example, there are several different cultural myths about stealing fire from other beings.

The writers of the HBO

artappraiser — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:41:00 +0000

In reply to Angkots FTW! (I assume that's

The writers of the HBO miniseries "John Adams" did a riff on exactly what you are talking about, as regards the minibuses of Adams' day. I thought it an incredibly memorable scene, it sticks in my mind (evidenced by your comment making me think of it!) And apparently others did too, because I just found out that it's available on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8JHDinpGIw

It's not long and I recommend a watch.

(A side note explanation of some shots one sees in there for those not up on the related history: when he resided in the White House, it was unfinished, and slaves were still at work building it. The film represented him and his wife being appalled at that, but not able to do anything about it. Also, the White House was in the middle of nowhere back then, on a messy muddy lot with no urban amenities, all undeveloped.)

Yes, I do mean angkots! I'm

Orlando — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:42:37 +0000

In reply to Angkots FTW! (I assume that's

Yes, I do mean angkots! I'm forever bruised from climbing in and out of the Alice-in-Wonderland doors and cutting the corners too closely. They are not made for a 5'7" frame! But they do get me where I'm going quickly and cheaply!