3 | Post-Modern View of the Self
Module 2: Topic 1
In postmodern societies, our self-identity
How we are shaped by the
continuously changes due to the
environmental context we live in:
demands of a multitude of social
1 | Self as Product of Modern Society contexts, new information technologies,
and globalization. It means the self is a
According to Gerry Lanuza, narrative; a text written and rewritten
modernization offers us endless and that we can freely choose what
opportunities to delocalize ourselves or identity we want to have for
detach ourselves from the limitations self-cultivation.
posted by the society before (racism,
discrimination, etc.). Modern society has (E.g. Global migration produces
given us the freedom to choose our own multicultural identities due to pluralized
identity. selves.)
4 | Self as Artistic Creation
The self is viewed as an active,
strategizing agent that negotiates for the
definition of oneself. Artistic creation of
oneself means giving one's life a form
and meaning that does not simply
follow established norms. Whether
one is an artist or not, art is found in
2 | Self as a Necessary Fiction
everyone's life expressed in their
Friedrich Nietzsche was not a personal and non-conforming style of
sociologist but another philosopher, but living.
he also had an inclination to a
5 | Self Creation and Collective
sociological perspective. He viewed the
Identity
self as the sum of an individual's
actions, thoughts, and feelings (a Self creation is also influenced by our
representation) that we project to other collective identity. Collective identity
people. Moreover, he believed that refers to one's way of defining
everyone needs some necessary himself/herself in relation to others and
fiction in life to keep us from the chaos the outside world, i.e., identities that
of changing world. This refers to our are socially influenced (Ashmore,
firmly held beliefs or opinions about Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004).
what feelings and behaviors mean at a
given time. These may be right or
wrong, but nonetheless vital to unify
oneself.
6 | Self Creation and Struggle for Theory of Social Self
Cultural Identity
The social conception of the self entails
Pluralized selves and collective identity that individual selves are the products
greatly contribute to one's sense of self. of social interaction and not the logical
But sometimes, one's cultural identity or biological preconditions of that
could also fuel some issues concerning interaction.
one's sense of personal identity and
feelings of belongingness. Development of the Self
(E.g. Lorna went to Canada to continue There are three activities through which
her studies. She expressed how much the self is developed:
she enjoys learning new things but there
are times when she still feels like she 1. Language
can't fully connect with the people
around her.) 2. Play
Sociologists study human societies
3. Game
and all the processes involved in their
interaction that contribute to their Language
development by examining the
dynamics of its components such as Language allows individuals to take on
communities, institutions, populations, the “role of the other” and allows people
age groups, and races (Form & Faris, to respond to his or her own gestures in
2020). Now let us discuss some of the terms of the symbolized attitudes of
sociological viewpoints presented by others.
different sociologists that try to uncover
how we are influenced by our Play
environment.
During play, individuals take on the
Sociological Self roles of other people and pretend to be
those other people in order to express
George Herbert Mead and the Social the expectations of significant others.
Self
Game
George Herbert Mead is well-known for
his theory of the social self, which is In the game, the individual is required to
based on the central argument that the internalize the roles of all others who are
self is a social emergent. involved with him or her in the game and
must comprehend the rules of the game.
Mead: the “I” and the “Me” Module 2: Topic 2 Anthropological Self
● I – the spontaneous, driving force Anthropology is the study of people
that fosters all that is novel, throughout the world, their evolutionary
unpredictable, and unorganized history, and how they behave, adapt to
in the self. different environments, communicate,
and socialize with one another. This lens
● Me – the objective self; the image provides valuable insights into
of self seen when one takes the understanding oneself by examining the
role of the other. diversity of human societies, past and
present, and exploring how individuals
How Mead Matters to Us Today and communities navigate their
existence. To effectively do this,
We think of ourselves as individuals, to anthropologists have employed the
be sure, but we are only able to do so concept of generation to understand
by virtue of being a part of a larger the dynamics of social change over
social community. time, analyze how individuals structure
and perceive intergenerational
Self in Families relationships within familial settings,
explore broader principles of social
Sociologists focus on the different
organization that go beyond the family
institutions and powers play in the
unit, and discern variations among
society, the most prominent is the
members within a society (Lamb, 2015).
family.
In 2008, Mark Mccrindle, a social
Influence of Family researcher and demographer, first
coined the term Generation Alpha to
The kind of family that we are born in,
describe the current generation arising.
the resources available to us, and the
Mccrindle and his colleagues conducted
kind of development that we will have
an in-depth study about Gen Alpha and
will affect us as we go through life.
compared and contrasted their social
Role of the Family markers, iconic technologies, attitudes
toward careers, and more (Mccrindle,
● Family serves as basis of 2021). Below is a visual illustration
person’s progress. summarizing the results.
● One is who he is because of his
family for the most part
MICROSYSTEM: refers to everything
that has direct contact with you (family,
friends, school, work, etc.) in your
immediate environment and how they
individually affect you.
E.g. Hyacinth loves to go out in the
afternoon to play with her neighbors.
Smallest and most immediate
environment in which the child lives.
MESOSYSTEM: refers to the interaction
Figure 2.1 The generations defined of your microsystem with each other
(Mccrindle, 2021) (family and school, family and friends,
etc.)
This is just one of the many things that
we can learn from studying how E.g. Your parents expressed that they
paradigm shift shape our society and are not comfortable with your current
thus lead to our evolution. Our circle of friends. This may result to you
environment highly contribute to our hating your parents or you distancing
change and development as individuals. from your friends.
Culture can be defined as the part of Encompasses the interaction of the
the environment shaped by the different microsystems which the
everyday practices of humans. developing child finds himself in.
Moreover, it refers to the customary
EXOSYSTEM: covers all the people,
beliefs, social forms, and material traits
institution, organization that has no
of a racial, religious, or social group. It
contact with you but still affect you (work
draws the line that distinguishes a group
of your parents, social media, the
of people from another (Oyserman,
implemented rules in your community,
2017).
etc.)
Urie Bronfenbrenner an American
E.g. Everyone of us (teachers, learners,
psychologist proposed the ecological
parents) got affected when De La Salle
systems theory which explains the
Lipa decided to offer borderfree
importance of studying a person in the
education. We have no direct contact
context of multiple environments
with the Br. President, but his decision
(Bronfenbrenner, 1979). It tells us that
has caused a great change in our lives.
as an individual, we are influenced by
(1) our personal interaction with people Pertains to the linkages that may exist
around us and (2) the interactions of between two or more settings, one of
different factors around us. which may not contain the developing
child but affects him indirectly this lesson encourages us to stretch our
nonetheless. definition of this characteristic. Apart
from its usage, let us top it with cultural
MACROSYSTEM: is when exosystem
sensitivity as we unravel the vast
works in a wider scope, it is influenced
diversity of culture.
by one's cultural attitudes, beliefs and
values. Embodiment
E.g. Since Philippines is such a
Is often defined as “how culture gets
family-oriented nation, the restrictions
under the skin.”
brought by the pandemic aggravated the
(Anderson-Fye 2012, 16)
situation. We really had difficulty at first
because we are so used to family
Embodiment and Experience
gatherings and celebrations.
“If embodiment is an existential
The largest and most distant collection
condition in which the body is the
of people and places to the child that
subjective source or inter-subjective
still exercises significant influence on
ground of experience, then studies
the child.
under the rubric of embodiment are not
CHRONOSYSTEM: refers to how we about the body per se. Instead they are
are impacted differently in different about culture and experience insofar as
periods of our life (time). these can be understood from the
standpoint of bodily being-in-the-world.”
E.g. It is more challenging to be (Csordas 1999)
separated with our parents when we
were younger (grade school) compared Culture – Clifford Geertz
to when we are adults and have our own
jobs. Culture is “a historically transmitted
pattern of meanings embodied in
Adds the useful dimension of time, symbols, a system of inherited
which demonstrates the influence of conceptions expressed in symbolic
both change and constancy in the child’s forms by means of which men
environment. communicate, perpetuate, and develop
their knowledge about and their
Clifford Geertz offered another way of attitudes toward life.”
looking at culture by focusing on the role (Geertz 1973)
of "thought of symbols" in society.
When someone is described as
cultured, it means that the person has
good manners, is well educated, and
knows many things about arts. However,
Culture as Public
Geertz believes that culture is not
something that occurs in the heads of
humans. “Culture is public, because of
its meaning.”
(Geertz 1973)
He utilized thick description, which is
an anthropological method of explaining
with as much detail as possible the
reason behind human actions.
Cultural Insight
“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts
and in the soul of its people.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Self – Marcel Mauss
Every self has two faces:
MOI
a person’s sense of who he is
PERSONNE
social concepts of what it means to be
who he is
Tabula Rasa – John Locke
The implication is that at birth all
individuals are basically the same in
their potential for character development
and that their adult personalities are
exclusively the products of their
postnatal experiences, which differ from
culture to culture.