REPORTING (Na Naman?
) YAWA MAN DIAY KO
SLIDE 29
Individualism
- In other words, individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, or ideology that
emphasizes the moral worth of the individual.
- Such belief usually implies that freedom of thought and action for each person is the
most important quality of a society, rather than shared effort and responsibility.
- So, this is more like giving primacy to the interests of the individual, rather than the
interests of the community.
SLIDE 30
Individualism
BULLET 1: With this, social contract theory can also be seen as a form of political individualism.
Because according to this theory, individuals in the society give up some of their natural rights in
order to form a government that will protect their remaining rights and maintain order in the
society.
BULLET 2: However, such belief runs the risk of falling into the categories of libertarian and
anarchist implications.
- Henry David Thoreau, in particular, wrote in his book, Civil Disobedience, the view that a
person must sacrifice or marginalize her values out of loyalty to the government.
Furthermore, he argues that if an individual supports the government in any way—even
by simply respecting its authority as a government—then that person is tolerant of the
injustices caused by the government.
- Benjamin Tucker, on the other hand, described himself as an anarchist. He emphasizes
the concept of “Liberty”. For him, liberty denies the authority of anybody’s god to bind
those who do not accept it through persuasion and natura selection. Liberty denies the
authority of anybody’s State to bind those who do not lend voluntary allegiance to it.
Liberty denies the authority of anybody’s public opinion, social custom, consensus of the
competent, and any other concept that step between the individual and his free option in
all things.
BULLET 3: Possessive individualism is a theory of human nature that views human beings as
free agents who own themselves and have the ability to exchange their services, products,
property, and labor, in markets to be traded. With this, the individual precedes society and owes
nothing to it.
This is why economic individualism was also established, placing an emphasis to the right of
private property, the freedom to acquire, use, and dispose of property however the individual
may choose. As such individualism became the basis of those who revered laissez-faire
capitalism.
SLIDE 31
Other Views on Individualism
So, these implications are drawn from the traditional and usual doctrine of individualism which
highlights the ideas of self-interest. This time, it leans more towards what is positive.
ROW 1: So, from a doctrine of individual greed, individualism is viewed as a philosophy of
individual self-development.
ROW 2: This ‘new individualism’, according to scholars, comprises of four core dimensions:
1. A relentless emphasis on self-reinvention
2. An endless hunger for instant change
3. A fascination with social acceleration, speed, and dynamism
4. A preoccupation with short-termism and episodicity
SLIDE 32
Individualism as a Methodological Device
- Individualism is not only of importance as a normative principle, it has also been widely
used as a methodological device.
- Basically, this holds that a proper explanation of a social regularity or phenomenon is
grounded in individual motivations and behavior (which can be best observed on the
patterns of individualism).\
- The drawback of this is that it is both asocial and ahistorical.
SLIDE 33
The Individual and Community
Why the fuck would this slide need even more explanation? Duh.
SLIDE 34
On Individualism: Herbert Hoover
This is a view that clearly implies how one should embrace freedom. Herbert Hoover, in one of
his speeches, particularly defined rugged individualism as “the spirit of America, a realm where
government kept out of the commercial and private affairs of citizens”. With this, Hoover was
remembered for maintaining an approach of minimal government interference.
SLIDE 35
On Individualism: Smiles
- Samuel Smile’s self-help is an ethos of personal responsibility.
- ‘Energy accomplishes more than genius’. – Smiles explains that it is not eminent talent
that is required to ensure success in any pursuit, so much as purpose—not merely the
power to achieve, but the will to labor energetically and perseveringly.
SLIDE 36
On Individualism: New Right Thinking
- In another view towards individualism, which is Darwinism of Herbert Spencer, he
argues that individualism had a biological basis in the form of a struggle for survival
among all individuals. Those fitted by nature to survive should succeed; the weak and
the lazy should go to the wall.
- From this perspective, the solution is to bring about a shift from social responsibility to
individual responsibility, encouraging people to ‘stand on their own two feet’.
SLIDE 37
On Anti-Individualism
It views self-help and individual responsibility as threats to social solidarity as it can often lead to
skepticism when it comes to consensus, collaboration, and cooperation, most especially
towards cooperation with the government.
SLIDE 38
Community
This can imply that the self is always constituted through the community. Community, also
fosters a sense of cooperation and togetherness, which is a concept that totally contradicts the
idea of individualism.
SLIDE 39
Criticisms Against Individualism
- Individualism is destructive to the social fabric, because as an early French critic saw it,
individualism “destroys the very idea of obedience and of duty, thereby destroying both
power and law”.
- Also, some studies often show individualism as the probable cause of increasing social
isolation, decreasing trust in institutions, rising rates of suicides and drug overdoses. In
this sense, it is not only destructive towards the society, but it is also psychologically
unhealthy and alienating.
SLIDE 40
The Gemeinschaft (Community) and Gesellschaft (Association)
- By community, individuals are bound together by common norms and shared beliefs.
- By association, self-interest is the only justification for membership.
- The equilibrium in Gemeinschaft is achieved through morals, conformism, and social
control while Gesellschaft keeps its equilibrium through police, laws, tribunals, and
prisons.
- Rules in Gemeinschaft are implicit, while Gesellschaft has explicit rules (written rules)
SLIDE 41
Emile Durkheim
- Anomie can be roughly translated as normlessness. So, in his argument, Durkheim
emphasized that normlessness, or the breakdown of community, keeps people from
functioning. He believed that anomie, or normlessness, could result in feelings of despair
and worthlessness for individuals.
SLIDE 42
Community Over the Individual
- This goal, distinctive to fascism, was expressed in the Nazi slogan “Strength through
Unity”.
- Now, there is nothing wrong with unity, but the means of achieving is where the idea of it
could go wrong.
- So, what happened in Nazi Germany to achieve such unity was totalitarian terror: from a
police state employing repression, to persecution and widespread brutality.
SLIDE 43
The Individual in Politics
FIRST APPROACH: Majority leaders like Mao Zedong, Nelson Mandela, Winston Churchill, and
F.D. Roosevelt which can lead to a ‘leader principle’. Or in Nietzsche’s idea, a ‘superman’, who
is often portrayed as a creature who overcomes all obstacles to achieve its goals. In essence, it
is a symbol of strength.
- This is why leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler are always described to supremely
gifted individuals, all-powerful, and all-knowing.
Therefore, this approach views politics exclusively in terms of leadership and personality and
ignores other factors that help shape political developments.
SECOND APPROACH: This amounted to a belief in economic-determinism: in which political,
legal, intellectual, and cultural life were thought to be determined by the ‘economic mode of
production”.
Now, if all individuals are neither the masters of history nor puppets controlled by it, then a
balance must exist between personal and impersonal factors.
SLIDE 44
Personal and Impersonal Factors
1. When we talk about the relationship between the individuals and their cultural
inheritance, this simply means that a person, or a leader in this matter, was immediately
born with wisdom and knowledge. Therefore, some of the traits that made them as great
leaders are inherited.
- After all, not all political leaders are major or original thinkers. Margaret Thatcher did not
invent Thatcherism (ADAM SMITH), Ronald Reagan was not also responsible for
Reaganism (DAVID RICARDO). This is what the economist Keynes referred to as
“academic scribblers.
- Meaning, scribblers feed on the idea of others. They are influenced, and they inherit.
2. With this, the power wielded by presidents, prime ministers, and other leading figures
stems primarily from the office they hold rather than their personality. Max Weber thus
proclaimed that in modern industrial societies, legal-rational authority had largely
displaced charismatic and traditional forms of authority.
3. This emphasizes ‘social essence’. Meaning, politics is made up by individuals who are
clearly part of the historical process and are capable of shaping the events according to
their own dreams and inclinations.
SLIDE 45
Society
SLIDE 46
Society
- There is also the rapidly expanding web of connections such as the spread of tourism
and economic life, the transnational cultural and intellectual exchange that has created
the idea of an emerging ‘world society’
- This relates most to what we refer to as the state system – a distinctive way of
organizing political life on Earth.
- One thing is for sure, the society involves mutual awareness and at least some measure
of cooperation.
- Nevertheless, this cooperation does not have to be necessarily reinforced by a common
identity or a sense of loyalty.
- In short, there is a distinction between a society and a community. Cooperation in the
society is mostly realized because of the interests of the people. This is different from the
stronger notion of community, which requires a measure of affinity or social solidarity, or
an identification with the community.
SLIDE 47
Collectivism
Collectivism has been accorded to such a broad range of meanings.
ALL CONCEPTS: Basically, in these three definitions of collectivism, it emphasizes the
superiority of the collective (a self-governing and freely-formed community or association) over
the individual or the state.
- In state collectivism, there is this idea that people should prioritize the good of the
society over the welfare of the individual.
- Now, collectivist anarchism, in particular, can be best understood as a form of stateless
socialism. It is closely linked to socialism as it promotes an optimistic view of human
nature and advocates common ownership.
- By calling for the abolition of the state and the introduction of common ownership,
collectivist anarchism seeks to liberate the rational, altruistic, and cooperative features of
human nature.
- As such, this relates to the third definition, which is socialism. But, by calling for the
abolition of the state and the introduction of common ownership, it represents an
extreme form of socialist collectivism.
SLIDE 48
Two Main Points on Collectivism
- But the usual definition of collectivism emphasizes the capacity of human beings for
collective action, stressing their willingness and ability to pursue goals by working
together rather than striving for personal self-interest.
- That is why we have these two main points on collectivism.
In Conclusion: Collectivism is an antithesis of individualism. And since collectivism is linked to
the state, the latter is often viewed in the similar sense.
- The state is often seen as the agency through which collective action is organized, in
which case, it represents the collective interests of society rather than those of any
individual.
- This is why New Right Theorists, in particular, tend to portray state intervention in its
various forms as evidence of collectivism.
- Now, this is why collectivism is the polar opposite or even the contention of
individualism. As the state represents sovereign, compulsory, and coercive authority, it is
always the enemy of individual liberty.
- Where the state commands, individual initiative and freedom of choice are constrained.
SLIDE 49
Theories of Society: Individualist Conception
- Thatcher prefers to think in terms of the acts of individuals and families as the real
sinews of society rather than of society as an abstract concept. Her approach to society
reflects her fundamental belief in personal responsibility and choice. According to her, to
leave things to society is to run away from the real decisions, practical responsibility, and
effective action.
- Yes, the state is there to ensure that there is order, but individuals should, as far as
possible, be able to pursue their own interests in their own way.
Basically, this individualist conception, can be described or related to an ‘atomistic theory of
society’, implying that society is nothing more than a collection of individual units or atoms.
(Relate to Adam Smith’s invisible hand)
SLIDE 50
Theories of Society: Organic Analogy
On body politic: is a polity—such as a city, realm, or state—considered metaphorically as a
body. Historically, the sovereign is typically portrayed as the body’s head.
- This organic analogy compares the different parts of a society to the organs of a living
organism. The organism is able to live, reproduce, and function through the organized
system of its several parts and organs.
- Like a biological organism, a society is able to maintain its essential processes through
the way that the different parts interact.
- Institutions such as religion, kinship, and the economy are the organs and the individuals
are the cells in this social organism.
As it is usually applied, the metaphor implies hierarchical leadership and a division of labor, and
it carries a strong autocratic or monarchial connotation. Which is why this is the preferred view
of society by the conservatives and fascists, particularly those who support corporatism.
SLIDE 51
Role of Conflict
1. The pluralist society draws the attention to conflict between various groups and interests
in society. however, pluralists do not see such conflict as fundamental because, in the
final analysis, they believe that an open and competitive political system is capable of
ensuring social balance and of preventing a descent into unrest and violence.
2. Elite theories of society, on the other hand, highlight the concentration of power in the
hands of a small minority, and so underline the existence of conflict between the ‘elite’
and the masses’
3. Marx believed that the roots of social conflict lie in the existence of private property,
leading to fundamental and irreconcilable class conflict. Quite simply, those who produce
wealth in any society, the workers are systematically exploited and oppressed by the
property owners. Marx argued that workers are not paid in accordance with their
contribution to the productive process, their ‘surplus value’ being expropriated.
SLIDE 52
Social Cleavages
The question here is whether social cleavages are permanent or removable.
- For some, they are fundamental and permanent divisions, rooted in either human nature
or in the organic structure of society.
- Others, by contrast, argue that these cleavages are temporary and removable.
Thus, these divisions can be thought of as healthy and desirable, or as evidence of social
injustice and oppression.
SLIDE 53
Social Cleavages and Identity Politics
Just explain social cleavage in relation to identity politics (Kay gikapoy na ko, giatay).
SLIDE 54
Class as the Fundamentals of Social Cleavages
Duh. This is pretty self-explanatory, move on. Beach.
SLIDE 55
Racial Ethnic Cleavages
So, this racial and ethnic cleavages can become political cleavages once they get politicized as
such. For instance, the difference in opportunities between black persons and the white people
in America because of “White Privilege”.
Others claim that America’s criminal justice system is racially biased. In a recent Pew Research
Center Survey, around nine-in-ten black adults (87%) said blacks are generally treated less
fairly by the criminal justice system than whites.
: Black Lives Matter as a political and social movement.
SLIDE 56
Religion as a Social Cleavage
This secularization thesis refers to the belief that as society’s progress, particularly through
modernization and rationalization, religion loses its authority in social life and governance.
Decades passed and there is a trend of religious survivalism. Religious revivalism is a term
applied to mass movements which are based upon intrense religious upheaval. This seeks to
restore the commitment and attachment to religion as observed in the past.
This was dramatically demonstrated by the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Other
manifestations of this trend also include the US-style Pentecostalism in Latin America, Africa,
and East Asia. Also, in India, Arya Samaj is one of the most important revivalist movements
which were based on Shudhi movement. It aimed at converting Hindus back to the fold who had
converted to other religions.
