Altered State of Mind: A Journey with Theory
Allison Fry
When I began thinking about my distinction portfolio, what I have learned and where I have come during the past four years, I began with the concept that my intensive studies in sociology and anthropology have fundamentally altered and shaped the way I think and perceive the world. In thinking deeper about what I had learned that could change my outlook so profoundly, the greatest facet was inevitably theory. In the past four years I have learned not only what theory is and how to recognize it, but how to utilize it and make it work for me as I navigate the world both academically and practically. This portfolio of my past work illustrates the trajectory of my journey with theory. This journey begins with recognition of theory in freshman and sophomore years and culminates senior year with the ability to understand how other sociologists and anthropologists utilize theory in their own work and even my own first, novice attempt at theory construction. After following my academic interaction and growth with theory, I will explore how my studies have played out in my life, facilitating personal connections, vocational decisions, and a generally more inclusive perspective in the world.
I cannot help but cringe when I read papers from freshman year, but they represent a solid jumping-off point in the recognition of theory in the social world. The first entry in my portfolio comes from the final exam for the Social Movements class in which I apply the “four-part theoretical framework” to a case study from Brazil. I think this work represents where I began in my journey with theory. In this paper I do not really understand the concept of “theory” itself as a tool for analysis. Instead, I understand the “four-part theoretical framework” as just that, a framework. Without being able to articulate how I am changing my perspective, I go through each of the four parts and let the central concept of that part influence my thoughts on the case. For example, I recognized that resources and how they are used is the key component to Resource Mobilization Theory, even though I did not understand specifically what Resource Mobilization Theory entailed, so throughout the first part I focus on the resources that the MST used and where they came from. Four years later I still see theory as a framework, but I am now much more cognizant of how theory does work to shape thought and can be intentionally utilized as a tool of analysis. I think it is also important to note that in this essay the exam question told me which framework to apply to a certain situation and I know that I would not have been able to choose an effective theoretical base for analysis at this point.
It was sophomore year with Sociological Theory that I had exposure to the general concept of theory itself and how various schools of thought developed systematic theories that could then influence how I consciously think on an individual level. The second essay is from a blue book exam from Sociological Theory. This essay first outlines the characteristics of Symbolic Interaction, followed by an explanation of the influential thinkers within this school that we had discussed in class and their main contributions. Significantly, at the end of the essay I use each theory I had described to help me understand my own experience as a student, though very superficially. This part of the essay represents a departure from the Social Movements exam because I very consciously take theories and apply their intricacies to my own life, rather than simply let the general framework guide what I focus on. Further, the fact that I can turn these theories on myself indicates a level of critical and reflective thinking that the use of theory facilitated. Today I would go one step further and say that understanding Goffman’s theory of dramaturgical sociology can help me understand not only how I present myself, but also how others might read my presentation of self. For example, today I walked past two of my favorite professors conversing, I said this much and they laughed it off, probably thinking I was presenting myself on the “front stage” as a brown noser, and I can understand that this is most likely how they understood my comment because of my understanding of this theory, when in reality I was actually commenting on a truth from my “back stage” and not trying to play the dramaturgical role of “model student”. But for sophomore year, this blue book essay represents the next step in sophistication with use of theory and the ability to deliberately apply it to my own life.
The next step in the journey is illustrated by an essay in which I apply the theory of semiotics at a deeper level, and then evaluate the utility of that theory as a tool. I wrote this paper during my year abroad, in a class on the Sociology of Advertising at Lancaster University. In this paper I begin by outlining the theory of semiotics, explaining the concepts of signifier and signified and the existence of a social context in which the association occurs. I then use semiotics to critically analyze two advertisements from a British magazine. This analysis goes much deeper than the previous blue book example due to the difference in time and space for the assignments, but I would not have been able to write a paper such as this one without the foundation from the Sociological Theory experience. The essay on semiotics illustrates my ability to go beyond an initial grasp on theory and superficial application and use it as a tool for understanding the content of advertisements. I utilize semiotics to understand how the words, colors, facial expressions, and other symbols in the adverts are used to inherently communicate values to the reader. Most people do not see these symbols, it is only through using theory as a tool can I critically extract the individual symbols from the whole and understand the advertisers’ strategy. At the end of this essay I also take my analysis one step further in order to recognize the value of using semiotics to interpret advertisements, how it is useful but also how it falls short. I think this paper represents a grasp on the utility of theory in analysis, but I was still told which theory to use in my analysis and simply employed the skills of understanding, applying, and evaluating the theory.
Some might think that understanding, applying, and evaluating theory is the end of the journey, but I think the real challenge came when I had to choose a theory out of my “theory toolbox” to help me understand a situation, rather than having a professor tell me which theory would be useful in a specific situation. While at Lancaster University, I also took a class entitled “Living with Capitalism: Class, Distribution, and Recognition” in which I studied the work of Pierre Bourdieu and his theories on social class, which fascinated me more than any others I had encountered. First semester senior year, after returning to St. Olaf, I took Anthropological Theory and had the vague assignment of writing about theory in a work by Sherry Ortner. For this assignment I had to identify a theoretical framework that would help me analyze her work, and Ortner mentioned Bourdieu’s theories in her work without detailing how her own theory drew on his foundation, so I decided to employ a Bordieusian framework in order to understand how Ortner was able to overcome the challenges of the transparent nature of class in American society and her role as a native ethnographer. In this work I am able to go even further than simply applying a theory to a situation, but use Bourdieu’s theory to make Ortner’s analysis transparent so that I can see Ortner’s theory behind her ethnography. In using Bourdieu’s theory to critically examine her work, I see where his theory ends and where her own theory begins, giving me a better understanding of her theory construction.
The last step, then, is developing my own theory, which I attempted in the final exam for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender class interim of senior year. In this essay I attempt to understand whether homosexuality is biological or socially constructed, and in working through this information I construct my own theory about the intersection of the two. While I am not proficient at high-level theory development, this essay represents a deliberate attempt to develop these types of skills. But in recognizing what it is to develop a theory, I recognize that everyone does this in everyday life without realizing it, but I am conscious of this process. People always subconsciously develop frameworks for understanding the world around them, but sociologists consciously understand social structures at large and author profoundly illuminating theories that can be upheld in most situations and that others can use to understand the social world. These sociological theories incorporate society at large, rather than simply individual experiences while the anthropological theories give us tools to understand patterns of entire cultures. These theories are systematic and grounded in a methodology. I aspire to think critically on this scale and use grounded theory and ethnography to develop theories rather than drawing solely from my own experience and superficial descriptions.
At this point I have thoroughly outlined how my sociology/anthropology major has been of use to me in an academic setting, but the practical utility extends far beyond the classroom. I was fortunate to have three incredible study abroad experiences during my time at St. Olaf, which have been the perfect opportunities to put my sociological and anthropological skills to use. While in Costa Rica, I finally understood at a very personal level how sociology and anthropology had changed my outlook on the world even in practical everyday thought. I realized that it was my ability to systematically think through the differences that I experienced instead of being paralyzed by them. I also noticed that I was much more open-minded to the Costa Rican way of life than many of the other participants in my program, because I had a theoretical framework with which to make sense of how specifically their culture was different, why that may be, and then effectively deal with and critically think through my culture shock so that a wall did not form between myself and Costa Rica. I was able to “gather data” in a sense, and do my own ethnography using this data in a thick description to build a more systematic theory from experiences that proved helpful for me when my peers were at a loss, analyzing the variables and how the culture fit together, and through this use of theory, effectively work through my own ethnocentrism as well as the incredible variation in beliefs and practices in order to value their culture because it was different from my own. Because of this ability to get past my inhibitions, I was able to form much closer relationships with the local Costa Ricans than anyone else in my program. It was these relationships that added so much value to my experience and further led to my ability to immerse myself in the culture and adopt their cultural lens for a while. Now, a year after I have returned from Costa Rica and England, I notice that my own outlook on life is a rich amalgamation of aspects of each of the cultures I have come into contact with, making my perspective much broader and inclusive. I think this is another area that sociology and anthropology has facilitated critical thinking, giving me the ability to evaluate these cultures and draw on each to enrich my own life and point of view.
But my interaction with sociology and anthropology has also very concretely shaped my vocational direction in the future. During interim my sophomore year I took a class called Marketing Practices Across Cultures in Tanzania. This class was my first experience going to a different country with the goal of understanding their culture and way of life. During our four weeks there, we spent the entire time studying Tanzania, visiting businesses and basically doing what I understand now as ethnography. We then used the data we gathered to develop a marketing proposal for something that we noticed would be useful for them; my project was access to clean water. This experience was incredibly influential in helping me see how my sociology/anthropology major could compliment my management studies concentration to create a vocation perfect for me. I now realize that the basis of marketing is in fact anthropology, understanding the values and beliefs of a people, being able to get inside their way of life and understand what makes them who they are. Only through these skills can one effectively market goods or services. It is through this lens that I started looking for a job in marketing at the beginning of this year, and as I graduate I am going into marketing for Oppenheimer Funds, where I understand that the fundamentals of what I do is using sociological and anthropological theory to understand my target audience in order to identify with their needs and effectively communicate with them. Even the theoretical examples I mentioned earlier, including semiotics to analyze advertising and Goffman’s dramaturgical theory as a guide to reading behavior and understanding how certain behaviors might be read by others, apply specifically and practically to marketing. Therefore, these skills will be crucial in my career development as well.
But at this point I have to stop and think about why it is that I have had access to such opportunities: to learn so much at a wonderful institution by excellent professors and then be able to apply this intellectual capital in my travels all over the world and in jobs that place me well above the national and global average in income and prestige. Even in understanding why I have this ability to learn theory relates back to Bourdieu’s theories about the pre-structuring of opportunities in society. Plus, I realize that my habitus has always driven me to value scholarship, study hard, and be very ambitious. The most fascinating part of the theory of habitus, in my opinion, is its ability to orient an individual in relation to their future, so that horizons and aspirations are affected by their “feel for the game of life”. It is now I am able to take these theories and apply them to reflect on my own situations, specifically how I experience my place in the inequality and injustice that we have studied in Senior Seminar. Theories on Capitalism, such as Bourdieu’s, allow me a way to think through these inequalities, both the causes and lived experiences that reproduce the cycle every generation. I recognize my position within this system of institutionalized inequality and the limits that the systematic reproduction of opportunities produce, even on my own privileged position in the world. On the one hand my ability to think critically facilitates an understanding of the limitless possibilities, and at the same time it acknowledges that some possibilities are closed. We cannot, for example, disregard our habitus, so that I will always be driven to succeed while someone from other circumstances may not have that ambition or the same definition of success.
I acknowledge that I am initially overwhelmed, as a genuine reaction to these thoughts. Through this broadened outlook I have realized the truly limitless perspectives in the world and my mortal inability to comprehend every worldly perspective, and this realization is overwhelming. But I must point out that I also have the tools to effectively work through these situations in my own mind, comprehend various possibilities including others’ perspectives, identify and take into account my limits, and take the responsibility to work for change. I recognize that the possibilities for change are limitless, and because they are infinite, how can a truly inclusive and just decision be made about world issues such as poverty and violence? I am grateful that my sociology/anthropology major has permanently changed my outlook and analysis of the world and world issues so that I am able to even have this realization, and that I am now a more open-minded yet critical person. These are characteristics that I know I did not posses before my journey with theory, and that I now value as part of my core identity and who I strive to be.
