{"id":15459,"date":"2017-11-17T12:11:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T20:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=15459"},"modified":"2017-11-18T15:19:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-18T23:19:17","slug":"15459-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/15459-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfortunately no one can tell you what social theory is… you have to see it for yourself."},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Elliott in his book Contemporary Social Theories<\/em> covers the whole spectrum of sociological models for approaching life. Perhaps one way to explain Social Theories is to re-label it as \u201cworld views\u201d. It is the lens in which one sees the world, but then more than that it is the way in which one approaches the world as well. To illustrate further, Social Theory is the pair of glasses and the map for an individual.<\/p>\n

This abstractness is common of Elliott\u2019s writing as he also well-written in subjects such as concept of self-concept, Identities, Personal reinvention, individualism, Psychoanalytical theory, postmodernism, and even the social impact of plastic surgery. In other words, Elliott writes a lot about things that no one can agree on definitions for (which is very representative of postmodernism itself). Elliott through his track record of published works seems that his life\u2019s work is social commentary on social commentary<\/em>, whether it be current theories, past theories, or the circumstances that forced the transitions. Elliott will probably never run out of material since the numbers of Social Theories are only increasing in abundance.<\/p>\n

Before I dive into the frustrations with this book, I should clarify the relevance of this type of study at all. This topic is important because, as Elliott would say, Social Theories (and Psychoanalytics) are a powerful and dangerous tool because if understood it can be used to influence populations. In Social Theory Since Freud<\/em>, Elliot lists some who have \u201cdeployed psychoanalysis to politicize issues such as desire, sexuality, repression, and identity.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a> Additionally, Social theory is important because it helps the leader or educator understand the world in which they are speaking to. Ironically, though it is not very helpful for a leader to teach their casual students or laymen about such things. Talking to people about postmodernism (which we all are postmodern) is like talking to a fish about water. Instead this type of information should inform the lecturer and leader on how to communicate, not necessarily what to communicate. I love learning about Postmodernism and Elliott\u2019s chapter on the Philosopher Jean\u00a0Baudrillard (who\u2019s works even influenced the 1999 blockbuster The Matrix)[2]<\/sup><\/a> was especially engaging to me. The conversation about Postmodernism and how it is affecting our media and our mediums of information transfer is interesting on all levels for me.<\/p>\n

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However, I realize it\u2019s limitations in affecting the everyday lives of the students I teach. After all, the Matrix doesn\u2019t talk about Postmodernism, it just presents information in a postmodern way, which is partly why it resonated so well. (And that fact that it\u2019s stinking cool probably helped too.)<\/p>\n

A few problems that are evident and well documented about the concept and the field of Social theory is the realization of the limitations that are inherent in the word \u201ctheory.\u201d The reality that all of this (462 pages) of \u201cintroduction\u201d could actually turn out to be wrong. Meaning that all of this work from the original authors and commentators on the authors could just be wrong. With all the controversy surrounding each and everyone one of the theories, and the failure to agree on the definitions of what is what makes it painfully obvious that at least some, if not most are wrong. The social theory could explain the worldview or it could just be an academic\u2019s projection of connections that aren\u2019t actually there. Beautiful Mind anyone? Eduardo de La Funete in his review of a supplemental book by the author, Profiles in Contemporary Social Theory brings up by biggest concern, what sort of role is this type of textbook supposed to play in education?[3]<\/sup><\/a> I agree with La Funete. It’s unfortunate that this book on \u201cSocial Theory\u201d does not seem to have application for the vast majority of society.<\/p>\n

To continue to pile on the frustrations of the limitations of Social Theory, one just has to look at the newest project that Anthony Elliot is working on. Currently, Elliot is studying and writing about the \u201cRobotic Future\u201d that our world will inevitably enter into. Personally, I can\u2019t see any value in writing on this. Everyone has seen the Jetson\u2019s. We all know there are going to be robots in the future. What is gained by writing about it? It\u2019s about as \u201cIvory Tower\u201d as you can get.<\/p>\n

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The book boasts a review published on the author’s website that this book is \u201cdazzlingly accessible.\u201d This only could only have been written by an enamored academic, and not someone actually sitting through a class on it. It is abstract, vague and has difficulty in showing it\u2019s immediate application, despite each chapter ending with follow-up questions.<\/p>\n

But before I take too many shots at Elliot, I will digress. After all, if you aim for a king, you better aim to kill. And I recognize my inability, or anyone\u2019s inability to deconstruct a field of study which has been around since before Freud, (although only contemporary social theory since 1920). And Elliot is currently the King when it comes to Social Theory. His book\u2019s are the standards in which other academics will quote to give validity to their own hypotheses. My final conclusion would, despite my frustrations,\u00a0 be to leave respecting Elliot and this book as a great tool for reference as commentary on society.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> “Books,” Anthony Elliott, http:\/\/www.anthonyelliott.org\/books\/.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> “On Postmodernity,” Introduction to Jean Baudrillard, Module on Postmodernity, https:\/\/www.cla.purdue.edu\/english\/theory\/postmodernism\/modules\/baudrillardpostmodernity.html.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Eduardo De La Fuente,\u00a0Profiles in Contemporary Social Theory<\/em>, Journal of Sociology pg. 312-313.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Elliott in his book Contemporary Social Theories covers the whole spectrum of sociological models for approaching life. Perhaps one way to explain Social Theories is to re-label it as \u201cworld views\u201d. It is the lens in which one sees the world, but then more than that it is the way in which one approaches […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[744,238,1017],"class_list":["post-15459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-contemporary-social-theory","tag-elliott","tag-lgp8","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15459"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15476,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15459\/revisions\/15476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}