Cultivating Sociological Imagination - Essay Example

cultivating sociological imagination by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date Cultivating sociological imagination It is quite obvious that living in society should be regarded as one of most crucial prerequisites for the development of the inner potential of a person. Indeed, if it had not been for this particular environment, a considerable number of abilities which are largely thought to be characteristic to human beings would not have evolved. Nevertheless, it must be noted that just like people evolved, the societies that their formed evolved as well. So, nowadays one might point out that social environments around the world often include people who come from different cultural backgrounds. As a result, the government has to react to this accordingly, implementing various cultural policies. This paper will argue that a contemporary society is witnessing a new form of cultural politics in global societies. To begin with, one should point out that when it comes to analyzing politics that is implemented by the government with regard to diverse culture within the social environment, the first concept that comes to mind is multiculturalism. Indeed, this is an innovative approach towards structure of social life which puts emphasis on the need to make sure that every culture within the society is given equal respect that is not discriminated against in any way (Parekh, 2000, 176). In addition to that, multiculturalism, as it can easily be understood from its very name, does not allow one single culture to become dominant on the social platform. It is quite obvious that this contradicts with the approach towards organizing the society which was implemented in the previous times. Another point that should be noted as far as new form of cultural politics is concerned is the concept of inclusion of every culture in the social life. Indeed, it often happens that a culture which is represented by a minority gradually becomes marginalized and its contribution towards the society in general is insignificant. There is no doubt that this might be viewed as a form of oppression. Multiculturalism argues that this can be dealt with if the above mentioned kind of cultures is included in the social life regardless of the number of people who represent it. What is more important is that this culture might be different from others that are already present. A suitable example may be found in Canada where together with culture that are largely affected by English and French heritage, the culture of the aboriginal people is included. As one can easily see, the very goal of every new cultural politics is focused on the desire to avoid any conflict within social environment by granting every culture within it a sufficient amount of room to live a full live. Indeed, the kind of cultural politics in question was designed to easy the tensions between different groups of the population and allow them to facilitate a mutually beneficial dialogue which will later contribute to the stability of the social environment. In other words, while societies of the past viewed social ruptures as manifestation of crisis that is inevitable to a certain point, the new cultural politics allows the government to cope with it by structuring the environment in a non conflict way. What is particularly important is that such approach towards securing the stability of the social life is not an agenda of some kind a civil movement but a policy that is implemented by the government itself. In order words, this desire to ensure peace in the society and avoid conflict within is supported by the most powerful actor on this platform. That is why there is no wonder that if the efforts are put it in the correct manner and the majority of the population actively participates in this process, new cultural politics might succeed in make communities around the world more stable and prosperous. The point that will be discussed within this paper is what truly makes the cultural politics new and what differs them from their counterparts. To begin with, one should note that modern communities around the world put a great emphasis on appreciation of diversity of their population. Indeed, nowadays this can be seen virtually on every level of social life, beginning from neighborhood where people who come from different cultural background are able to live together, continuing with respecting diversity in the workplace and finally celebrating diversity with the help of festivals and other similar events. It would not be a mistake to suggest that the recent times can be primarily characterized by a vision that is shared by the public, according to which people who come from a different cultural background are not seen as aliens, but rather an important contribution to the social life. If one analyzes the causes of the above mentioned shift, one will be able to see that the idea which government the social discourse of the previous time is being abandoned by the local communities. Indeed, nowadays the concept of a nation state seems to be an outdated one. Thus, according to it a state should be created by one particular nation which is granted an exceptional position within the social environment. As one can easily see, this approach is incompatible with new cultural politics which makes sure that none of the nations which comprise the society enjoys a more powerful status than others. Another interesting indication of the fact that new cultural politics is truly novel lies in the fact that it is being developed each year. Indeed, the governments which are on the edge of implementing this kind of cultural politics carefully analyze the results and make necessary adjustments. In other words, while the humanity might have worked out a suitable idea to organize the social environment, the implementation of it is still not perfect and needs to be revised from time to time. That is why the social life of global communities can not be seen as fully stabilized, but there is surely a stead trend on the way to it. Moreover, it must be noted to new cultural politics also reflect the new kind of thinking that was developed by the global communities in general. Indeed, as it has been noted before, one can not object to the fact that in the course of thousand of years, the mankind evolved in sociological terms. Indeed, the comparison of the modern society to the primitive one shows an extreme gap between organization of social life. Nevertheless, a comparison with societies that could be observed several decades ago will also show a considerable number of differences. One can hardly argue that such cultural policies as multiculturalism can be traced in the previous time. That is why it would not be an exaggeration to point out that new cultural politics might be seen as characteristic feature of the modern global communities. Finally, the analysis of the issue should also include discussion of it from a different perspective, namely the environment where the above mentioned concepts are being implemented. Thus, the idea of a global community emerged relatively recently. Indeed, at first the world was united with the help of the advancements of transportation and nowadays it is united by information technology as well. In other words these are the two irreplaceable conditions which ensure the world wide migration of people and exchange of ideas without any borders. If one continues this idea, one will be able to see that new cultural politics that are implemented in global communities might be seen as the most effective way to ensure their proper functioning; so, to a certain extent they represent the logical step forward. Moreover, one might also utilize a different perspective with regard to the issue in question, pointing out that new cultural politics appear to be effective not only on the global level, but also on the level of individual states that later were able to set a good example for the world and become role models for other countries. Indeed, if one tries to find convincing examples of the way a society might unite people who come from different cultural background in prosper at the same time, one is likely to turn to the case of Canada or Great Britain. In spite of the fact that there were some setbacks on the way of cultural integration, the above mentioned countries truly carry the spirit of appreciation of diversity. Having examined all the evidence, one is able to come to the following conclusion: the statement which argues that the contemporary society is currently witnessing a new kind of cultural politics in global society accurately reflects the state of affairs that can be found at the present world. Indeed, communities around the world tend to engage elements of multiculturalism in the way they organize the social environment in order to make sure that every part of the population that comprises it is able to enjoy equal amount of respect and all the conflict that could have emerged to due lack of it are avoided. In addition to that, the concept in question also reflects the gradual shift from the old notion of nation state and articulates the new kind of thinking. References Parekh, B. (2000). Rethinking multiculturalism: Cultural diversity and political theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Read More