Friday, January 15, 2010
Effect of Socialisation on Collective Action
Since our birth, the feeling of ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ is instilled in us. First initiation into this happens in family where common identity with certain groups is ingrained in us, based on caste, religion etc, highlighting our differences from others. This continues at school where differentiation on basis of ranks, popularity, choice of music etc, leads to groups. These groups compete with each other to prove their worth over others. While this may lead to stronger collective action of these sub-groups against others, it eludes the concept of larger ‘WE’, hampering action at a larger collective level.
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4 comments:
This is definitely true. What here we forget is that this "sub-group" collective action ultimately ruins us as unless and until everyone, irrespective of man made identities, is benefited any collective action would prove to be unsuccessful in the long run. For instance, many landowners in the naxalite affected regions of Gaya district in Bihar have been forced to sell their vast tracts of land for pittance and migrate to cities to save themselves from the wrath of naxals. Because these land owners benefitted at the cost of poor people.
I definitely agree to it as the differentiation so formed not only hampers the collective action in the initial stages but also develops an inferiority complex which further weakens the participation of the people of the lower cadre and thus making effective collective action unachievable in the later stage.
"WE" starts from I, when some individuals bond together it creates a smaller "WE"(sub groups). Now let suppose if there would not be lots of smaller "WE"(sub groups) in the society and only a big "WE" exist. According your view it would be a perfect situation for a perfect collective action .But here a problem arises which is absence of differences, differences lead for refining actions which will become more beneficial for overall society. So in my view, these sub groups can help for emergence of a big "WE" and lays foundation of larger collective action.
I don’t deny it, differences catalyse collective action. If there was no anti-thesis to an existing thesis, it couldn’t synthesise into a new social order. But here I mean that our identification with a narrower identity group hampers broader collective action. Like region or religion tends to divide masses, preventing them from coming together to raise voice against injustice being perpetrated on the group as a whole, across these barriers. A classic case is how the Britishers ruled over India and suppressed a collective struggle for freedom for almost 200 years by suppressing our national identity with the regional one.
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