Power Elite Model - Essay Example

?Mankiller: A Chief and her People Power elite model When power is concentrated in the hands of a few people in a society, they form the power elite group. Bulk of the national wealth is concentrated in the hands of this group. In the United States, there are three groups of people who comprise the power elite model. The first group includes the President of U.S. along with his major cabinet members and close advisers. The second group includes owner of large business houses and their directors. The third and final group includes the high ranking military officers. Even though power and wealth is concentrated amongst these people, they are not the kind who believe in participating in conspiracies in order manipulate the society to serve their personal interests and gains. They are mostly people who respect human liberties and adhere to the constitution (“The Power Elite”). The author Wilma Mankiller was born in the year 1945 at Mankiller Flats near Rocky Mountain Oklahoma. Her mother was a white woman while her father was a member of Cherokee tribe. Her great great grandfather was a high ranking officer in the Cherokee military, but by the time Wilma was born the family was steeped in poverty even having no electricity or indoor plumbing. After she was born, her family shifted to San Francisco, and it was during this phase that she experienced the trials and tribulation of her tribe. The shifting to another city happened due to a program executed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]. The goal of the program was to sever the native people from their society and culture. In San Francisco, as a woman, Mankiller received a different treatment from her native land. In 1969, she began to participate in movements fighting for the rights of Native Americans. She became member of power elite group in her tribe when she became the tribe’s first woman principal chief in 1985 (Mankiller, 287-290). I am originally from China, and in my country I have seen similar power elite model. Power and money are concentrated in the hands of the political leaders of my country. They form the ultra rich circle along with their relative, and they refuse to balance the economic structure by giving up what they have. In the three decades of economic growth in China, it is only the elite circle who has prospered, and not the small private companies, therefore power structure is not balanced (“China’s elite has a finger in every pie”). Although my father is a businessman, we are not rich enough to enjoy the life of the ultra rich. Total institutions Total institution is a place where people are isolated the rest of society for a set period of time while the institution regulates and control all activities. It is a place where similar interests people stay together for a common purpose. For instance, in a boarding school, students from different states or countries stay together for a specific period, i.e. course period, in order to complete their education. After Wilma Mankiller’s family shifted to San Francisco in California, she experienced the trials of her family as well as community at large because of their insistent poverty level. It was like a cultural shock for her family being amidst the riches of the city like neon lights, television and elevators. She witnessed the struggles of her family in the city of riches and observed the economic disparity. She returned to her hometown, Oklahama in the mid-1970s in order to join the Native Americans in their movement for their rights. Therefore, San Francisco was like a brief stay for her away from her town, but the experience stayed with her. I have studied in a boarding school for many years starting from primary school to high school. The feeling of isolation from own community, and the struggles to adapt to a new environment, rules and policies is something I also have experienced for many years. From clinical perspective, the impact of boarding schools can be significant on children. Due to the difficulties faced by children while adapting themselves in a new environment, also not getting required support from teachers and peers, they often grow up by suppressing their emotions and become secretive adults. Since, boarding schools are usually expensive, a sense of aloofness stays with the students even after they leave the schools (“For clinical practitioners”). I went through similar kind of problem in my post boarding days. I find it difficult to cultivate and maintain intimate relationships, and for years this has been an emotional problem for me. Like most boarding school students, I have developed education and skills but I lack the dedication to further adapt or change in the journey of my life. Multiculturalism Multiculturalism is a concept in political philosophy that explains the norms applied in cultural and religious diversity. In such groups, the minority members are given equal status only by recognizing their distinct social, cultural and lingual status. For instance, some religious groups are exempted from generally applicable laws, or people with language constraints getting language accommodations in schools (“Multiculturalism”). Wilma Mankiller and her family felt the constraints of her community culture and language after her family shifted to San Francisco. In the school where she studied, there were attempts to cut her and her community members from their native land and culture as well as language. Their hair was cut short and they were not even allowed to speak in their native language. Most of the times, there was effort to stop them from visiting their family and social circle. It was a profound kind of multiculturalism that she faced in school in San Francisco. This experience stayed with her for life, when she fought for the rights of the North Americans after shifting back to her hometown, Oklahama. I study in University of Indiana, and my first language has been Mandarin. Chinese students in USA often face the difficulties of adapting to a different cultural and lingual environment. Major difficulties arise while interacting with the American students, and while participating in class discussions since they are conducted in English. However, an important crisis that takes place among the Chinese students in USA is that they find it difficult to absorb the Western or American values while also preserving their Oriental or Chinese values. Often these Chinese students experience “an internal tug of war – a conflict between consciousness of Chinese culture identity and the strong aspiration toward American political and economic systems” (Yuan, 153). My personal experience says that such problems are not from lack of ability to establish intercultural communication. Rather, I was pressed between the cultural values with which I have grown up with and the unfamiliar American values. It is a similar crisis that has been faced by Wilma Mankiller and her family after they shifted to San Francisco. However, unlike her I was not forced to break ties with my own culture, family and values. It is simply a question of adapting to a new environment while holding on to my inherent cultural and social values. Social Identity Social identity is a sense of self that is built up over time as a person participates in social life and identities with a community of others with whom there is a feeling of similarity and common purpose. People feel a sense of pride and self-esteem as communities and groups give them a sense of social identity. Wilma Mankiller was born in Oklahama and belongs to Cherokee tribe. The tribe’s cultural and social values are instilled strongly in her personality, and therefore even after staying for a few years in San Francisco, she and her family found it difficult to adjust to the elite circle of the city. In later years, she returned to her hometown in order to help the North Americans to fight for their rights. Wilma has always been proud of her roots and she never felt the inclination to let go of her values to adapt to a richer and wealthier society. In 1985, at the age of 40, she was elected her tribe’s first woman principal chief, a position she held for three consecutive terms. In 1992, she was chosen by the then U.S. President Bill Clinton to represent North American nations at a national economic summit in Little Rock, Arkansas (Mankiller, 291). When I first came to America to study in the University of Indiana, I was apprehensive regarding how I would adapt to the new social, cultural and lingual environment, a similar kind of feeling that Wilma Mankiller’s family felt when they shifted to San Francisco from Oklahama. Although American study courses are expensive, I did not face financial constraints since my father is a businessman back in China. I have observed that for the Americans, the general consensus is that their country and their language is superior to others, and so international students especially those students coming from Far East like China must adapt to their values and cultures. Those international students who lack the ability or show unwillingness to fit into the dominant culture are considered as suffering from identity deficiency. Like most Chinese international students, I also faced the difficulty in adapting to America’s dominant culture. The major problem that I have faced like most Chinese students in America is learning a new language like English, as this required deep rooted transformation and increases our vulnerability. Personal Identity Personal identity is a sense of separateness established over time as the person pursues his/her own goals that differ from those of the community. Wilma Mankiller and her family suffered from identity crisis in the new city San Francisco, as they found it difficult to adapt to the new economic and social status. The difficulty deepened as they were forced to sever ties with their community. However, Wilma maintained her self-esteem and dignity in latey years when she returned to her hometown to become associated with the movements of the North Americans. Her goals and ambition was to improve the government, and enhance the health care facilities for the North Americans. She also pursued to improve the education system for her people. She has seen members of her community including her father’s family suffering from severe health problems like diabetes and arthritis. Lack of health facilities was a major problem for them (Mankiller). Since I study in America, I feel a sense of separateness. This is more because I am from Far East, a region which has absolute contrasting social, economic and cultural values from America. Since I find it difficult to interact with the native students, I find social life lacking and this become distressing during free time. Lack of separateness also comes from being in economically upward society. I have observed a natural attitude of derision among the American students towards the Asians and this adds to our woes. Unlike Wilma Mankiller, I will not shift my base to China since I intend to take up employment in America after completing my studies in the Indiana University. Situated Identity Situated identity is the sense of self-tied to roles we play in specific, immediate social situation. Since Wilma Mankiller always felt a close kinship with the North Americans even though her family shifted to San Francisco shortly after her birth, she felt tied to her role as female chief of her Cherokee tribe. She fought entire life for the rights of North Americans to the extent that Bill Clinton selected her to represent North American nations at a national economic summit in Little Rock, Arkansas. After I started my education in America, I gradually developed a situated identity, i.e. kinship with fellow students since we all have similar goals in life. However, the strain of leaving behind my native culture and language has been a strain for me like Wilma Mankiller and her family faced after shifting to a new city. Conclusion It is not easy to adjust to a totally different social and cultural environment. This is a major crisis that occurs in the lives of international students, mainly the Asian students studying in U.K. and U.SA. The difficulty deepens because of the superiority attitude of the native American students. However, it is the struggle to stay true to one’s own cultural values that makes international students suffer from social identity crisis. References 1. “China’s elite has a finger in every pie” Deutsche Welle, November 8, 2012, December 4, 2013 from: http://www.dw.de/chinas-elite-has-a-finger-in-every-pie/a-16365690 2. “For clinical practitioners” Boarding concern, 2013, December 4, 2013 from: http://www.boardingconcern.org.uk/index.php?pageid=18 3. Mankiller, Wilma and Michael Wallis. Mankiller: A Chief and her People. New York: St, 1993 4. “Multiculturalism” Stanford, September 24, 2010, December 4, 2013 from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/multiculturalism/ 5. “The Power Elite” Univ. of Delaware, n.d. December 4, 2013 from: http://www.udel.edu/htr/American/Texts/power.html 6. Yuan, Wenli, “Academic and Cultural Experiences of Chinese Students at an American University”, Intercultural Communication Studies, XX.1 (2011) 141-157 Read More