Social Change in the Contemporary Society - Essay Example

Social Change and Contemporary Society The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the ideals of social change set forth by Stuart Hall and Raymond Williams. Both Hall and Williams contributed to today’s concepts of social change, immensely. The works and ideas of both of these individuals will be discussed in this paper. Both Hall and Williams also dealt with communication and language as they related to society. This aspect of their impact on social change will also be addressed. Both Raymond Williams and Stuart Hall based their thinking and ideology on Marxism. Marxism essentially encompasses the beliefs that capitalism is a negative force which exploits workers in order to yield a profit for employers and individuals in positions of economic and political power. Marxism also views class systems as a set of systems which defines individuals based on their different relations of production. An example of this would be individuals that work in factories would be classed separately from individuals who work in television or radio. Marxism also deals with the history of social classes as well as social class systems of present times. It can be said that ultimately, Marxism frowns upon capitalism and class systems as they negatively categorize a majority of a population and add to social segregation and oppression. From this can come biases within the press from people in power as well as social exclusion to less powerful or wealthy individuals. Raymond Williams was an academic writer as well as a novelist. He wrote many non-fiction books dealing with social and cultural issues from a Marxist perspective. The non-fiction pieces written by Williams detailed fundamental ideas for social and political change as well as social communications. These works included Culture and Society, Politics and Letters and The Long Revolution. Some of his novels included Border Country and People of the Black Mountains. Williams maintained an overall anti capitalist outlook and redefined the idea of “left wing” in the UK, along with others such as Stuart Hall. Williams also felt that culture was an extremely important concept which “tended natural growth” and maintained a necessary diversity within a society. Williams was what is known as a democratic socialist and was also considered “left wing”. Individuals who are considered to be Marxists can also be called autonomists. The idea of “left wing” as applied to British society by Hall and Williams, was a form of American “left wing” politics. American “left wing” politics simply served as a template for left wing ideology in other countries. Williams attempted to examine literature as a social process from the perspective of a social theorist. This outlook extended to all forms of media such as television, theater, music and the press. In one of his works entitled Culture and Society, he attempted to reevaluate literary tradition from multiple angles. Williams’ work focused a great deal and quite specifically on media and communications within media. Williams also coined the term “cultural materialism”, “ a culture must finally be interpreted in relation to its underlying system of production”(Edwards, 1999). Cultural materialism is a theory which emphasizes the study of sociocultural systems within a larger materialist framework or larger socio-infra-structure. Williams attempted to define culture in and of itself as well as a part of a larger social organism or framework. What Williams attempted to do with his theory of cultural materialism was to refine or boil down Marxist ideas and principles so that they could be more easily applied within present day society. Williams felt that changes in politics would act as a direct force on the cultures within a society. Certainly, these changes which he promoted were anti-capitalism and social reconstruction. Williams also felt that the output of information by the media (television, books, radio) was largely in favor of the rich and powerful and did not cater at all to the working class portion of the population. Williams also spoke in his works about alternative ways of living and challenged others to do so as well. His ideas of social reform, liberalism and communication have influenced many fields of study today including anthropology and sociology. A lot of the work and writings that Williams did laid the groundwork for thinkers like Stuart Hall. Williams and Hall actually did work together at times on specific projects such as the New Left Wing. Williams was very influential among his piers and proved himself an important spokesman in the arenas of communication, multiculturalism and sociology. It is because of him that many areas of communications are more geared towards the listeners’ or audiences’ perception of the information. Though Williams hoped for changes in politics and culture, his outlook on those changes taking place was often not hopeful. He did not see necessary advancements taking place within the labor party or Union movement, but he felt that both required a reform. Specifically, he felt that workers were taken advantage of and exploited by employers and those in power. Williams’ contributions to modern social change were multiple and varied. In one of Williams’ books Resources of Hope, he deals directly with deeply imbedded social processes of culture. In most of Williams’ work, he addressed ideology as it pertained to culture, but particularly in this specific work. Williams had a great deal to offer to the world of Sociology due to his educational background and post-war experiences. Williams did not simply write within multiple literary genres, but also made countless television appearances throughout the 1960’s. He was highly influential within his peir group and remains so today after his death. Stuart Hall particularly has acquired some of Williams’ same ideologies and beliefs as they both are academics with the same goals in mind. Both embrace socialism through a Marxist perspective, and both have greatly impacted multicultural studies and sociology as they are known today. During the late 60’s and early 70’s, Williams worked for the BBC on a television program called The Listener. This allowed hi to speak a great deal on his views about influential television and media. His contributions as a whole to the world of media and communications are countless and almost entirely focused an a social need for better media understanding and communication. His feelings about press and media biases are shared today by Stuart Hall. Hall continues to lecture and write about these communication needs and problems within mass media. One of the main aspects of sociology focused on by Williams was that of communication. Williams was not only concerned with how thoughts, ideas and attitudes were conveyed by literature, the media and so forth but also how those thoughts and ideas were interpreted by the individuals on the receiving end of the information. The input and output of different types of information was of particular interest to Williams such as the actual processes of transmission and reception of information. Williams saw modern institutions as a way for information and ideas to be transmitted and used but also abused. This is where the idea of anti-capitalism comes into play within Williams’ work. He saw the media as catering entirely to those with power and money, whether wholly interpreted by society as such or not. Williams acknowledged the importance of institutions as their potential for conveying ideas and attitudes was so great, but he also felt that all too often this power was used improperly for profit by those in power. Williams also felt that communication systems could be improved through specific organization, or by categorizing. According to him, communication could be specifically categorized into four compartments; paternal, democratic, authoritarian and commercial. It was observed by Williams that the British communication forms of paternal and commercial were at odds but ultimately, it was the commercial which was dominant. Williams was an activist and was highly focused with regard to certain aspects of human liberation. He felt that the future should be heading in a direction of “media literacy” and that was a goal that he himself worked towards. This was a main contribution of Williams, as he acted from a point of leadership towards social change. Williams also developed ideas for education reform which included liberal arts such as writing speeches, types of creative expressions and a myriad of contemporary arts. These were all considered active means of communication while television, radio and the press were described by Williams as “almost an act of God than of humans”. This was essentially bringing light to the impersonal nature of modern media and placed emphasis on the need for people to better comprehend methods of communication, “We can conceive a cultural organization in which there could be genuine freedom and variety, protected alike from the bureaucrat and the speculator. Actual work would be in the hands of those who in any case have to do it, and the society as a whole would take on the responsibility of maintaining this freedom, since the freedom of individual contribution is in fact a general interest. At the same time, we would have broken out of the social situation in which it is taken for granted that the arts and learning are minority interests, and that the ordinary use of general communications is to get power or profit from the combinations of peoples needs and their inexperience. We would be using our means of communication for their most general human purposes” (Communications 1976 pp. 178 -179). Ultimately, Williams felt that by understanding how society worked, one could go on to positively make changes within it. Williams endured a lot of criticism and accusations charging that he was an idealist and somewhat naïve. Regardless of these criticisms, Williams stands out as a key figure in the arena of social change and culture. Culture is defined as the best of the past present and future, combined as a process. This is how Williams saw culture and tried to convey this idea in his work. Williams saw the lack of attention to gender relations and the complexities experienced in society’s attempt or lack thereof, to acknowledge cultural diversity. Like Williams, Stuart Hall is also a cultural theorist and even worked with Williams on the New Left Review, which fundamentally dealt with left wing politics, culture and communication issues. Hall is a sociologist and is known for great contributions to the area of cultural theory and sociology. He is a Rhodes scholar and focused on social issues such as hegemony and cultural studies. In his work, Hall approaches things by looking forward from a structuralist and culturalist enterprises observing the best elements in both. Hall has focused not only in the area of culture but also into subcultures. Hall has contributed greatly to the world of debate, communication studies and is considered to be one of Britain’s leading cultural theorists. He has written numerous influential articles such as Situating Marx, Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse and Evaluations and Departures. Other works written by Hall include The Hard Road to Renewal, Questions to Cultural Identity, Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices and Resistance Through Rituals. In on of Hall’s essays entitled Cosmopolitan Promises, Multicultural Realities; Hall pinpoints cities as the hub of multicultural diversity at their best. However, he also discusses how cities can create division among different cultures, even through they should be a cultural melting pot. Hal even goes so far as to discuss how globalization and environmental issues are being addressed in major metropolitans as well as how they should be addressed. The multi faceted nature of his work discusses all factors acting upon any given society or society as a whole. Hall also focuses on the suffering endured by homeless individuals as he sees homelessness as a major problem affecting all metropolitan developments. In addition, Hall sees major metropolitan arenas as being detrimentally divided causing a residual lack of growth within those areas due to social exclusions and segregations. (Hall, 2003). Hall’s work takes a mostly post-Gamscian perspective. He views use of language as working inside of specific frameworks such as power, politics, institutions and economics. In Hall’s Gramscian theory, it can be said that there is a cultural production of consent instead of coercion. His view also places individuals as producers as well as consumers of culture, simultaneously. Hall is mainly responsible for what is known as the reception theory. The reception theory describes an interaction on the part of a given audience. The reception theory negates the concept of a passive audience and implies that audiences will exchange between opposition and approval. The audiences being referred to can be book readers, movie goers, play goers and so on. This type of perception is similar to Williams’ idea of media literacy. Williams wanted to see individuals properly understanding and exchanging information, as an audience member or otherwise. Hall essentially viewed the meaning of information to exist between the author and the reader or between the producer and the audience member. This ultimately gives more depth to any information exchange and is referred to by Hall as the “margin of understanding”. These information exchange concepts were created by Hall in his book entitled Encoding and Decoding of Media Discourse. Hall’s view that the press is motivated by profit is not dissimilar from the views of Williams. Hall developed an equation known as the “rising crime rate equation” which pays specific attention to possible manipulations in reported figures in order to enhance policing of certain areas. This ultimately translates to economic and political benefits. Hall tends to argue that the media formulates reality instead of repeating facts. Both Hall and Williams are known for their view of the media as a means to uphold the ideologies of the ruling class. Certainly, it can be said that both felt as though the media is severely biased. Hall particularly studied how people interpret or make sense of information provided to them. Similarly, Williams looked at communication exchanges between the media and the audience. Both of the ideologies are similar in that they challenge the public to question the integrity of the information provided to them both by examining the information itself and how it is conveyed. Hall took a theoretical look at how audiences view information in the context of the background of individuals. For example, an individual originating from a position of power and money may view information they are receiving a bit differently than someone of little financial means and poor social standing. Hall labeled dominant ideology within media text as preferred reading”. What this implies is that if information being projected by radio, television and literature is geared toward the ruling class, it will be favored particularly by members of that class. Hall is regarded as a highly respected individual and one that embraces a multi-cultural society. He is also a key figure in what is known as the revival of the British Political Left of the 1960’s and 1970’s. Williams also played a large role in this political time period. Both Williams and Hall are known for their Marxist theories. Both Hall and Williams are founding editors of the New Left Review, as before mentioned. This literary journal focused a great deal on issues of political identity and immigration. It was founded in 1960 and was a merger of the Left Review, The New Reasoner and the Universities. The term “left” refers to certain radical political ideology such as communism, liberalism and the idea of reform. Originally, Hall was the editor. He served as such for about two years. The journal was essentially based on Marxism and featured articles on many countries as well as global economics. Both Raymond Williams and Stuart Hall have contributed a great deal to social reform and cultural ideals. Raymond Williams died in 1988, but left a legacy of Marxist influence in many areas of culture, media, communications and politics. He had links to feminist groups as well as environmental and peace organizations. He theorized that there would eventually be many forms of socialism. Stuart Hall made, and is still making important contributions to social reform. He has taken important looks at how language is used within different types of media, much like Williams who saw communication as an important social catalyst, “representation is the production of meaning through language”(Hall, 1997, pp.16). Hall also regards capitalism as a threat, much the way Williams did. Both Hall and Williams are integral figures in cultural and social outlooks within the United Kingdom. References: Eldridge, John. (2000) Beyond 2000: Remembering Raymond Williams, retrieved May 5, 2008 from website at: http://www.fifth-estate-online.co.uk/comment/beyond2000.html Edwards, Phil. (1999) Culture is Ordinary: Raymond Williams and Cultural Materialism retrieved May 5, 2008 from website at:http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/amroth/scritti/williams.htm Hall, Stuart. (1981) Notes on Deconstructing the Popular, People’s History and Socialist Theory, Routledge, London Hall, Stuart, (2003) Cosmopolitan Promises, Multicultural Realities, Divided Cities: The Oxford Amnesty Lectures, 2003, Oxford University Press, London Hall, Stuart. (1973) Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse, University of Birmingham, London Hall, Stuart. (1997) Representation: Cultural Representation Signifying Practices, Sage Publications, London Williams, Raymond. (1989) Resources of Hope: Culture, Democracy, Socialism, Verso Publishing, London Williams, Raymond. (1958, 1983) Culture and Society, Columbia University Press, New York Williams, Raymond. (1976) Communications Read More