Elisabeth Vickers
Distinction Essay
When considering my distinction essay, I first thought about how I am distinctive. However, I realized that of greater importance is how my Sociology/Anthropology major makes the way I understand the world distinctive. In reflecting upon the toolbox that I will carry forward, three predominant themes arise. Firstly, my major has enabled me to see the connections between the micro-level and the macro-level of society. Secondly, I am constantly questioning ideologies, or that which we take for granted. Thirdly, I have a greater concern for the social problems facing our world today.
In reviewing my portfolio’s emphasis on the micro/macro integration, I can see evidence of my concern for understanding this connection from my first Sociology course to my current analysis of my legal internship. In my essay regarding The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I seek to draw connections between the micro-level experience of Lia Lee and her Hmong family in a Western hospital, and the macro-level societal emphasis on bureaucratic processes. At that point in my study of Sociology/Anthropology, I had not been introduced to the concept of the micro/macro integration. However, my essay is clearly an effort to understand larger patterns of society through investigating the experience of a Hmong family in an American hospital. I utilize evidence from The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down to illustrate the four principles of bureaucracy, namely, efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. While this analysis is not particularly complex, I believe that it illustrates my early engagement with the micro/macro integration. In addition, during my introductory Sociology course, I studied the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. I began to see the possibility of utilizing a macro-level analysis of factors contributing to inequality, poverty, and denial of human rights in order to change the lives of individuals throughout the world. As I declared my Sociology/Anthropology major during my first-year, I knew that understanding the connection between macro-level patterns and micro-level experiences would enable me to make a difference in my world.
The micro/macro integration became an important foundation for Hannah Griese’s and my Ethnographic Research Methods project, entitled “Dorm Drama: An Analysis of First Year Roommate Relationships at St. Olaf College.” While this project had a local focus on our college campus, we sought to draw broader conclusions based upon the experiences of our informants. We began our analysis by referring to C. Wright Mills’ theory regarding personal troubles and public issues. Mills states that,
Personal troubles are those problems that affect an individual and those immediately around him or her […] Public issues tend to be those that affect large numbers of people, perhaps society as a whole […] There are various relationships between personal troubles and public issues. For example, widespread personal troubles can become a public issue and a public issue can cause many personal troubles (Ritzer, 2004, p. 487).
In our report, we first discuss the personal troubles facing individuals we interviewed, and we organize these troubles into seven major categories leading to the dissolution of the roommate relationship. We conclude that these personal troubles, due to their prevalence on the college campus, have become public issues that indicate the possibility for institutional change. We offer suggestions on how to improve the Housing Preference Form, the Roommate Contract, and the roles of the Residence Life staff in addressing roommate conflicts. The utilization of Mills’ theoretical framework in this research project clearly illustrates my continued engagement with the micro/macro integration and its usefulness in framing my understanding of individual issues as reflective of societal patterns.
In my legal internship reflection paper, I utilize Mills’ framework to understand the connection between the problems facing the clients I have assisted and the larger societal concerns that they reflect. I utilize this model in analyzing the legal issues surrounding immigration, the interaction between clients and attorneys, and the legal matters surrounding the rights of homosexual individuals. The micro/macro integration will continue to guide my understanding as I pursue my legal career. I seek to have a career in developing and implementing human rights policies, and thus I will constantly reflect upon how the lives of individuals are impacted by larger societal patterns and the framework of international law.
My portfolio also reflects the theme of identifying and questioning ideologies, which has become the greatest tool I have learned by means of this major. While ideology has many different meanings across academic disciplines, I understand ideology to refer to the lens through which we view our world, including our biases, assumptions, and beliefs. In my essay regarding The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, I investigated my own ideology about Western biomedicine for the first time. While I did not utilize the language of ideology in this piece, I remember clearly being awestruck at the notion that the biomedical model was not respected and admired throughout the world. In my analysis, I investigated how the values of Western medicine clashed with the traditional values of the Hmong people. I also analyzed how the biomedical model was indicative of American trust and respect for bureaucratic institutions. I had simply never considered how Western medicine could be offensive or disrespectful to culturally diverse people. This realization was crucial in expanding my ability to analyze and question everything that I had taken for granted about my world.
My understanding of ideology and its importance as a “prior text” shaping our understanding of our world was greatly expanded during Anthropological Theory. Professor Williamson constantly challenged us to investigate our assumptions and how they shape our understanding of society, culture, and individuals. In my final essay for Professor Williamson’s class, I reflected upon several ideologies that I had investigated in his course. I wrote about the ideology of nationalism and its role in creating a shared sense of community amongst a society of strangers. I critiqued this ideology for its role in perpetuating domination and violence. I critiqued the ideology of human rights, and the manner in which they impose Western values of individual rights on other cultures. Furthermore, I investigated the ideologies of environmentalism and biomedicine. I concluded that “ideology can hide under the veil of rationality and scientific reasoning, informing medical, environmental, human rights, and nationalistic efforts under the pretext of neutrality and proven truth.” Deconstructing ideologies has continued to be a major tool that I have utilized in order to understand how our assumptions shape our society and impact the lives of individuals, thus integrating ideological critique and the micro/macro connection.
I have continued to critique and deconstruct ideologies throughout my study of Sociology/Anthropology. While Hannah and I did not directly address ideology in our Ethnographic Research Methods project, it is evident that ideologies are important components of roommate conflict. In our analysis of disagreements over personality and values, it is clear that roommates often disagree over their ideologies, or those things that they take for granted. For example, one interviewee’s ideology about respect for diversity led him to assume that those around him hold similarly inclusive beliefs and would be accepting of those around them. He was shocked when he discovered that his roommate was very homophobic. He thought that his roommate had “rude and ignorant views on those that were different from him” and was “wrong and backwards in his thinking.” This disagreement in those things that each roommate took for granted created tension and ultimately led to the dissolution of the roommate relationship. Furthermore, in my analysis of my internship experience, I examined the ideologies that surround the legal immigration system, client-attorney interactions, and adulthood in America. For example, I am critical of how legal definitions of adulthood are reflective of what we take for granted about adults, and thus our ideology of adulthood. I illustrate a realization that such assumptions are not “natural,” but are simply the result of the social construction of reality. I continue to reflect upon Goldenweiser’s description of how ideology works in people’s lives, as he states, people “accept their culture rather than make it; they live it rather than think it out.”
As I embark upon a career in human rights law, I will bring an anthropologically informed skepticism of the assumptions of the legal and human rights framework. While I wholeheartedly believe that a “human rights” framework can bring about greater good for the world’s people, I also realize the risk this framework has to impose Western values and assumptions about a “good life” on those who are culturally diverse. I will continue to understand that definitions of legal and illegal, and moral and immoral are the result of social constructions, and thus can be constructed in new ways. I will be constantly aware that the way society works today is not the way it must always work. Change is likely when we realize that our ideologies guide the way in which we understand the possible and impossible. This critical, questioning stance inspires me to work towards a human rights framework that is inclusive of the world’s cultures and will promote the optimal development of the world’s people.
In my study of sociology and anthropology, I have gained a greater interest in the well-being of the world’s people. As demonstrated in my portfolio, I have an interest in those within my college community, my local community, and the global community. I have become increasingly aware of the social problems facing many throughout the globe, and I believe that it is my responsibility as a student of Sociology/Anthropology to seek to create change. My understanding of the micro/macro integration and the ideologies which often constrain our ability to forge new ways of living in our world have inspired me to work to create a more just global society.
According to John Quincy Adams, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”1 I believe that my responsibility as a human rights advocate at the international level will be to inspire human beings to reach their fullest potential. However, inequality in our global society often inhibits individuals from dreaming, learning, doing, and becoming more. I believe that it is through the protection and promotion of human rights that all individuals will be granted the opportunity to reach their optimal individual development. I believe that law school will provide me with the ability to advocate for those in need with powerful analytical skills, logical arguments, and systematic legal research expertise.
My long-term goal is to obtain a leadership position at the United Nations, with UNICEF or the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. I would seek to influence both policy formation and implementation. My ideal role would include research and advocacy, which would promote my understanding of the complexity of international human rights and international development. Through a continual effort to remain critical and questioning of the ideological foundation of the human rights framework, I will seek to promote inclusive human rights. Through a multifaceted understanding of international issues, I could clearly articulate my arguments for modifications, expansions, or reductions in the efforts of the international human rights regime and in Millennium Development Goals.
According to the American Bar Association’s mission, the legal profession is always “delivering justice.”2 Through my leadership roles at the international level, I will fulfill the mission of my profession by promoting justice for individuals throughout the world. Additionally, my life’s mission will be fulfilled as I strive to encourage the betterment and equity of our global society by ensuring that all individuals and children have the right and opportunity to achieve their dreams.
