This is a blog I just posted on the new group blog http://toentertainathought.com/. To Entertain a Thought is all about discussion, interaction, and making positive contributions to a thought process. Check it out, get a Wordpress account, and join us for fun and interesting everything! This is my first post over there, mostly an intro to who I am and my perspective on doing things social and researchy. Enjoy.
Greetings Wordpressers! Nick Gibson here, to say hello and whatnot.
The topic of this introductory entry is basically what makes me
tick...like a clock with a nice clear set of directions, here we go.
My
love affair with sociology began in my undergrad program at Cal State
San Bernardino, and was buffered by my master's work at Cal State
Fullerton and three years of Ph.D.-level work at the University of
Hawaii at Manoa. That sociology applies to all facets of life is
intrinsic to an explanation of what sociology is; yet without a concrete
example of how the application of sociology works, the waters of
thought can be murky. My first, and most direct example of 'anything is
fair game in sociology' came when my undergrad mentor introduced me to
the study of conspiracy theories. It wasn't just about what the theory
was; we dug into how theories are transmitted, what people did about
belief in conspiracy theories, and the effects conspiracy theories have
on micro and macro-level relationships. A professor of mine from UH
Manoa said once (Nandita Sharma who kicks ass professionally): at its most simple, sociology is the study of
relationships in all forms, places, and spaces. Relationships between
people, relationships between people and institutions, relationships
between institutions themselves, and how people socially exist and
create the social experience within institutions, and about narratives
and definitions. So, with an eye toward an analysis of relationships, I
have managed to explore a whole lot of social phenomena, including 9/11
conspiracy theories. And boy, is it fun.
Sociology can also be
exhausting. By exhausting, I mean that it is very difficult to turn the
sociology off. Or, as a friend of mine now holding an assistant prof
position at Pacific U in Oregon puts it, it is practically impossible to
'put the sociology back in the bag'. Even while watching comedy, I see
and hear things that trigger a sociological cringe and discussion in my
head. But it's much more wonderful than not, and I'm grateful. Here's
why: there is an important message that I learned, and it is that as a
relatively very socially privileged straight, white, cis-gendered male, I
have always been able to, and still can, ignore the effects of a
privileged social position without much thought. To be perpetually tuned
in, is to attempt to mirror the social locations of people without the
same kinds of identifiable social indicators. To be always aware, is to
attempt to pay attention to the presumptions and assumptions that most
of us, at least those of us who grew up in the United States, share. I
have been taught, indoctrinated, trained, pick-your-forcible-learning verb, to believe and act upon narratives about other people at a
basic, fundamental, and usually unconscious level. Those unconscious
lessons become real-world experiences, typically to the detriment of
people without social privilege. And that, dear readers, pisses me off.
Yeah,
I get angry about social privilege. Mostly because I didn't earn it,
yet benefit from it almost all the time. As an undergrad instructor at
UH Manoa and Hawaii Pacific University, I explained this to my students
in every course I led. We are taught through media programming (movies,
TV shows, music, news shows), political discourse, our social networks,
and our legal system, to believe things about our fellow human beings
that simply are not true. To me, this is scary. Most folks react in
defense, yet given enough time, most folks also seem to eventually get
'it'. That 'it' is what is most important here. That 'it' is the thing
that makes all the socialization and social training we experience
understandable. That 'it', is the realization that we learn everything
we know, and if everything we know about the world isn't always true,
the fault doesn't necessarily lie with one person and their belief
system. The term 'fault' isn't necessarily the most accurate term to
describe what this means. Tim Wise
discusses this interplay of blame, fault, guilt, and responsibility
quite nicely. Guilt is something we should feel, as people aiming to
treat others well, when we do something that harms another.
Responsibility is something we decide to take because of the kind of
people we try to be. What does this mean? This means that if we are
attempting to add goodness to the world, we must explore the experience
of becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. We must willingly
engage in discussion about those things that involve feeling vulnerable,
allowing for growth and self-reflection. We must take some risks, to
feel positive change and shift our world toward a more just future.
I
self-reflect on a constant basis, as many folks do without putting the
same term to the behavior. I teach my students to self-reflect. I catch
myself thinking things that piss me off, and work to shift what that
means about what I have been taught against my will. My gender, assigned
to me and taught to me without my active knowledge, provides me with
social comfort. I must pay attention to that if I am to live what I
believe. My race, assigned to and placed upon me without my active
knowledge, affords me generous comfort. I must recognize the experiences
shaded by race (all of my experiences, as far as I can tell), and talk
about what that means. My sexuality, taught to me as the standard and
'normal', provides me a very comfortable social existence. If I do not
work to build a more just and equitable world in my relatively tiny
existence, I am not taking responsibility, and I am not living my
beliefs. It is these three huge concepts that I work to make obvious to
others. They inform why I do what I do, and why I aim to accomplish more
as time passes.
Let's entertain some thoughts, and make our world
what we wish it to be. I wish for an equitable, just, thoughtful, and
welcoming society. Even though I experience mostly the best that people
have to offer, I want better for everyone. Myself included.
That's it for now. Go like our Facebook page, and follow the To Entertain a Thought blog on Wordpress, and join us in entertaining some thoughts.
