Nayar: Subcultures

A culture is defined by a group sharing beliefs, morals, traditions, and practices.  Subcultures, defined by Nayar, marginalized or illicit groups that share a common ideology and cultural practices. Everyone is involved in a culture and subculture.  Many people are involved in a subculture within their own school or university.  An example, the society of the university would be a culture and a sports team within the university would be a subculture.

Subcultures can be formed with technology and the use of online media.  Certain subcultures use technology to enrich their culture, and others use it as a form of rebellion or hate.  People use online technologies to research, socialize, express their opinions, and for entertainment.  Within each of these examples are groups of subcultures linked to them.  For example, a subculture for socializing would be a social media platform like Facebook or Twitter.  An example for entertainment, a fan club or group of a television show.  One could also be part of a subculture with research or education.  Below is a video describing a new technology debuting and taking online gaming to a new level.  This would be another example of a subculture through PlayStation's new handheld online gamer (PS Vita).

The video above gives you an idea of a subculture under the use of technology. 

Online platforms offer people to use them for many different reasons and to be part of many subcultures.  An example of an online subculture would be a group called Anonymous.  Anonymous is a group that is currently fighting against the new SOPA (stop online piracy act) that is trying to be approved by government.  

No Need To Call

The phone has changed from being a piece of equipment that would ring every so often to a piece of technology that can receive everything imaginable (text messages, emails, facebook and twitter notifications).  In her book, "Alone Together", Turkle explores the notion of children and young adults using the telephone more for receiving messages rather than taking a phone call. 

Cell phones have evolved into something ordinarily used to make a phone call into something a teenager or anyone can multi-task on doing just about anything (text messaging while listening to their music or searching the web).  The phone call is becoming more obsolete every day.  Another thing is the voice mail, i know some people are just like me.. if i make a phone call and the person doesn't answer, i hang up and send them a text message to call me back or message back.  Text messaging is so much more convenient these days but it does has it's downsides.

Text messaging, emails, facebook and twitter notifications are very convenient but are very impersonal.  It lacks the actual tone of the voice speaking (sarcasm, serious, funny).  Text messages are a lot of the times misunderstood because of this reason. 

We have become so adaptive to text messaging because it is so convenient that if someone doesn't respond immediately or within 5 minutes we become paranoid that we did something wrong or wonder why the person isn't texting back.  Most the time the person is busy or just cant text back but there are those people that feel they are obligated to check their messages, even while driving (which we talked about in Dr. Pam Wilson's class).  They have even started coming out with new applications and technology for phones that let you recognize or see if the person you texted read it or not.  This cuts down on the anticipation but also brings into effect controversy with relationships that you have. Maybe someone did read the message but was in a conference or meeting with someone and couldn't text back.  The person who sent the text gets irate or curious in why the person didn't text back because they know that they read it, but why! This brings relationships with friends or whoever you may be texting controversy and arguments.

It feels like we're always connected to someone with our phones.  We are always 'on call'.  Which sometimes it is good to just get away and leave your phone somewhere you cant see it.  Or go somewhere there is no cell phone service.  I went to a small trip this past fall where there was no cell phone service and it was weird, but very relaxing.  It makes me wonder if people were satisfied more with their relationships in life with just having a pager or no phone or having these new technologies for phones today....

Always On

We are literally 'Always On'.  We now have the ability to access the internet, while talking on the phone, after sending a text message to someone you just e-mailed.  There are all these options we can use today that 10 years ago had to be done seperately and not on the same machine that fits in the palm of your hand.  New technologies form every year and we consistantly adapt and change to these new forms of communication and technologies. 

Sherry Turkle's chapter 8 in her book, "Alone Together" is very interesting in how we are always connected to the internet and social outputs.  In the past decade, these newfound technologies of smartphones and wireless connection has broughten us to a new state of life.

In my life, i am lucky to have a smartphone as well in the iPhone.  I have the ability to do everything i need in a timely manner on my phone.  It has everything from text messaging to having apps to checking the weather and anything in between. 

Turkle brought up a great point about e-mails in the chapter.  She talked about how anyone under 25 years old, e-mail has become an old form of use and technology.  I believe this is correct in some circumstances.  E-mail, in my eyes, has become something of the past and continues to do.  With new forms of communication on social media outputs and on smartphones, e-mailing has become something one has to check but doesnt want to. 

Being a college student, obviously i have to check my email for school and my personal email.  However, if i didnt have those email accounts on my phone i would be lost.  I wouldnt check my email as much if i had to log on my computer and check everyday because i just would forget or wouldnt want to.  Having in on my smartphone is a great convenience for me. 

Turkle also brought up the point of distractions and multitasking in the chapter.  I believe that the generation growing up with these forms of technologies grasp the ability to multitask and conduct new ways to communicate.  However, there are forms of distractions with these new forms of technologies.  She said she interviewed children in the 1980's about their lives with technology.  Their distractions while doing homework consisted of Super Mario and music playing in the background.  Now, students are faced with numerous distractions, especially with school, in Facebook, Twitter, texting, email, eBay, shopping on line, and surfing the web in class.  Going through school, i can agree that these distractions sometimes get a hold of students and myself while in the classroom setting.  Now, some people might even function better when they are able to multitask with these forms of technology rather than sitting and drifting off in a lecture.  They might actually get more out of it by not being bored. This could be wrong, but a good thought to think about.

However one might take it, new forms of technologies are being made all the time and we have to adapt to these or we might get left behind.  These days, people adapt so quickly to these forms that it will be something of the past before we know it.

Digital Culture and Social Media

Our ways of communicating have transformed drastically coming from house phones to being able to have 'FaceTime' with people across the world.  'FaceTime' meaning being able to talk to someone while being able to see their face through video all on your cell phone.  Perhaps the most important thing about these technologies and forms of communication is changing, we must be able to change and adapt to these new forms or we will be left behind in the previous era of technology that is more than likely to diminish. 

As the technology of our new media products change and transform, so do our relationships and how we use those forms of media.  Digital media is so easily transferable anywhere one wants to send it.  Our communication patterns and abilities have completely changed from 20, 10, even 3 years ago.  It is forever changing and if we don't want to be left behind we must adapt and be able to learn to use these new forms of 'new media'. 

Some of the ways digital culture appear in my life is definitely through school and research.  With so many classes in college, i must do research in order to gain more knowledge about the topic we are discussing or the paper i am writing.  In today's media world and new technologies, i am able to research through computers and data bases to find the answers or knowledge quickly rather than the traditional way of the library research.  Other uses of technology include: Televisions (HDTV), DVD (now transforming into Blu-Ray), CD (which everything is now available on my iPhone).  As you can see transformations in technology are continually changing.  A few years ago the flat screen television came out, then it was HDTV, and now they have came out with a 3D TV.  And not too long ago was the VHS player which evolved into the DVD player which movies could suddenly play on discs, now movies are evolving into what we call Blu-Rays (high definition movie players and discs that allow us to see a higher quality picture).  And of course, the Internet.  The Internet is the ultimate network that allows everyday people to research and communicate. 

In Glen Creeber and Royston Martin's Introduction and first chapter of their book, they compare 'old media' to modernism and 'New Media' to postmodernism.  Modernism being associated with the early phase of the industrial revolution and postmodernism being dealt with the changes along the way after the industrial revolution.  The context of modernism gives us a theoretical insight into the way in which the media was understood and the ideological impulses which influenced critical theories.  Roland Barthes famously used structuralism and semiotics to analyze mass culture.  He stated that even though structuralism helped further legitimate the study of mass culture and the media, his conclusions still suggested that the audiences were powerless to resist its hidden meanings.  Meaning that all the things the media was doing during the era of the industrial revolution, the people had no idea what forms the media and mass culture would evolve into.

We are still in the postmodernism era with digital culture and social media.  Everything tends to be recreated and transformed but made better.  Competitors in the business world takes the idea of someone else's product and essentially tries to recreate it and make it look better and the next new thing.  These new found forms of  digital culture and social media have sparked more competition throughout the business wold.

Chapter 3 and 8: Economic and Political systems

Chapter 3 introduces the concept of mode of livelihood which is the dominant pattern in a culture of making a living in culture. So what are five major modes of livelihood and their characteristics?

Foraging is defined as a mode of livelihood based on resources that are available in nature through gathering, fishing, hunting, or scavenging.  To me, these foragers are hunters; however, not trophy hunters but hunters that have to do so in order to survive and be able to eat.  These would be people living in deserts, tropical rain forests, and people living in the lifestyle of limited resources.  Today, there are hunters all over the world that do eat the meat that they kill but also do it for the love of the hunt and the trophy.  Foragers are different from hunters as we know it.  Foragers are forced to hunt and scavenge for food and other resources.

Horticulture is defined as a mode of livelihood based on cultivating domesticated plants in garden with the use of hand tools.  This is still practiced throughout the world and i don't see it going away anytime soon.  The is a popular part of horticulture that grows flowers and other plants that people use as decorations in and around there house as well as gifts. 

Pastoralism is defined as a mode of livelihood based on domesticated animal herds and the use of their products.  This is very alive throughout the world.  We see it everyday while living in the South.  Most of us pass a pasture with cattle or some sort of animal livestock when we travel anywhere.  This mode of livelihood provides millions with food to eat.

Agriculture is defined as a mode of livelihood that involves growing crops on permanent plots with the use of plowing, irrigation, and fertilizer.  Or otherwise known as farming.  This is a ritual and mode of livelihood that isn't disappearing.  Farmers provide millions of people food to eat as well as themselves.  Not to mention, farmers provide the grocery stores we shop at with their produce so it is an essential part of our everyday lives. 

Industrialism is the mode of livelihood in which goods and services are produced though mass employment in business and commercial operations and though the creation, manipulation, management, and transfer of information via electronic media.  This is perhaps the most recent and most relative to our studies today.  In our capitalistic world, most goods are produced not to meet basic needs but to satisfy consumer demands for nonessential goods.

Chapter 8 focuses on political and legal anthropology.  Political anthropology addresses the area of human behavior and thought related to power.  Legal anthropology addresses issues of social order and conflict resolution cross-culturally.

Power is the ability to bring about results, often though the possession or use of forceful means.  This closely relates to authority and influence.  Those who have political, social, and economic power have more leverage in our society. 

A band is the form of political organization associated with foraging groups, involves flexible membership and no formal leaders.  Like a pack of wolves. 

Tribes are a more formal type of political organization.  Typically associated with horticulture and pastoralism.  Tribes are composed of several bands, each with a similar language and lifestyle.  Tribal groups may be connected through a clan structure, in which most people claim descent from a common ancestor although they may be unable to trace the exact relationship.  Kinship is the primary basis of membership.  Most tribes are found in the Middle East, South Asia, the Pacific, and Africa.  I feel the most thought about tribesmen are those of Native Americans.  Some of us are descendants of Native Americans and they are more relative to us because we have studied them, they were the original tribe of our nation. 

Chiefdoms are forms of political organizations that include permanently allied tribes and villages under one chief.  Chiefdoms have large populations and are more centralized and complex.  Hereditary systems of social ranking and economic stratification are central features of chiefdoms. 

A state is a centralized political unit encompassing many communities.  The state is now a form of political organization in which all people live. 

Chapter 6 and 7: Kinship and Social Groups

What is kinship? Kinship is defined as a sense of being related to another person or persons.  Cultures provide guidelines about who are kin folk and the expected behavior of those people. 

Kinship is linked with modes of livelihood and reproduction.  Nineteenth century anthropologists found that kinship was the most important organizing principle in nonindustrial, nonstate cultures.  How couldn't it? The kinship group performs the functions of ensuring the continuity of the group by arranging marriages; maintaining social order by setting moral rules and punishing offenders; and providing for the basic needs of members by regulating production, consumption, and distribution.  I am glad for myself that i am not apart of a kinship group where marriages are arranged and the harshness of social order lacks. 

Western cultures emphasize as primary 'blood' relations, or relations through a biological mother and father.  'Blood' is not a universal basis for kinship, however.  Even in some cultures with a 'blood'-based understanding of kinship, variations exist in defining who is a 'blood' relative and who is not.  Miller gives an example in the textbook saying in some cultures male offsprings are considered one of 'blood', and female offspring are not. 

Kinship to me is 'blood' related and are the people in my family culture.  Those immediate family members stretching toward cousins are all considered in my kinship 'circle' so to say.  However, as we discussed earlier in the semester.  Even though some of these people are kin, how many of them i see as part of my cultural identity?  I believe that my cultural roots and identity was shaped my those kin-folk (besides friends and school) that were around me the most and were mostly involved in family activities and get togethers rather than those i saw once every year or so. 

In some cultures, a form of sharing is a second important basis for kinship.  Sharing one's child with someone else through either informal or formal processes is a cultural universal.  Sharing-based kinship is created through the transfer of food, including breast feeding.  In some cultures, children breastfed by the same woman are considered kin and cannot marry.  As an outsider to these rituals, i find it hard to believe that i could adapt and believe those things.  Growing up how i did, i couldn't imagine sharing a child with someone else and having the mother of a child let someone else breastfeed them and share everything with them.  It seems very out of the ordinary coming from an outsider.  Now, for these people that perform these rituals, it is everyday life and completely normal because it is embed again, in their cultural roots. 

A good topic and relative to us today in the U.S. is fostering or adoption, since it has become popular in today's society.  Are these people (kids and foster parents or adopted parents) considered kin?  I believe that they are considered kin.  Even though they are not biologically linked, the kids are raised and nurtured by these parents and the kids are instilled by the parent's beliefs and thoughts to form their cultural identity.

Another major basis for forming close interpersonal relationships is through marriage.  Anthropologists recognize that some concept of marriage exists in all cultures, though it may take different forms and serve different functions.  Forms of marriage change variously across the world in different cultures from monogamy (two people) to polygamy (multiple spouses). 

In chapter 7, in focuses on social groups and social stratification.  A social group is defined as a cluster of people beyond the domestic unit who are usually related on a basis other than kinship, although kinship relationships may exist between people in the group.  This to me would be my friends, teammates, fellow students, professors, and other people i know but are not kin to.  Members of all social groups have a sense of rights and responsibilities in relation to the group. 

What does it mean to be a friend?  Friendship is defined in the book as close social ties between at least two people in which the ties are informal, are voluntary, and involve personal, face-to-face interaction.  So, according to this-- those friends that you have on facebook that you never seen person to person and have only interacted with them online, they are not considered your friend.  That is something to think about and argue, if they are your friend on facebook and you talk to them online but never have person to person, are they your friend.  According to this theory of friendship, they're not. 

Social stratification was also discussed in the chapter which consists of hierarchical relationships between and among different groups, usually on the basis of some culturally defined concept of status.  An example i think of when it comes to Social stratification is in the business world.  Possibly the CEO of a business and their employees.  The CEO is known and respected but probably not someone you go have a drink with. 

Immigration

After watching the film in class, Little Alien, it made me think what would I do if I was in their situation...  Illegal immigrants is a highly associated topic in today's news all around the world.  We hear about it more around the U.S. with the border of Mexico and Arizona as well as local immigration laws in our state of Georgia.  However, immigration happens all over the world as people try to flee from their countries in which they live in poverty and do not have a chance to grow or be free.  They have a dream of living in a place of freedom and living their life being able to grow, work, and just live without having the fear of getting killed. 

There are huge arguments about the issue of illegal immigrants and how they should or should not be able to travel and live in another country.  There are laws abandoning it and also highly enforced border regulations, such as the ones we saw in the movie where there were literally 5 or 6 different traps and fences set up to disallow crossing the border (not to mention the video cameras watching some of the borders, even being able to see at night from long distances). 

The Center for Immigration Studies in 2008 tallied the total of illegal immigrants in the United States to be around 11 million people which was 12.7 million in 2007.  According to their studies, the top three highest immigrated states are California, Texas, and Florida. 


Back to the film, the harshness that these immigrants went through is absolutely crazy.  Some of their testimonies of getting beaten and injured before sending them back was very brutal.  As well as some of their tactics to try and get to other countries.. Some of the immigrants would ride hundreds of miles under tractor trailers where spare tires are kept in order to reach it to somewhere where they dreamed to live freely and start another life.

The question that should be asked is if it were you, would you do the same?  If you lived in poverty and had no hopes of growing and being able to work and provide for yourself, would you try to go somewhere else to start a better life?  Being born in the U.S. and growing up in Georgia, i haven't had to try to immigrate somewhere and try and start a better life.  However, if i was in some of the places these people were in the movie i believe i would try and start a better life somewhere.  Who is to tell me i cant live somewhere in which i want to grow and live freely without harsh governments and wars on the streets everyday. 

The only argument that could seem to be legit is that of tax dollars.  That is a highly mentioned argument dealing with illegal immigrants today in the U.S.  If governments would consider having start up programs for these immigrants to become legal and get a job so they could pay taxes before forced out, then it would be better. 

What would you do if you were in their situation....