Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id WAA07974 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 18 Feb 2002 22:43:20 GMT X-Originating-IP: [62.31.25.208] User-Agent: Microsoft-Outlook-Express-Macintosh-Edition/5.02.2022 Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 22:35:35 +0000 Subject: Social Reproduction From: Steve Drew <srdrew_1@hotmail.com> To: Jom-emit <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Message-ID: <B8973144.153%srdrew_1@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 18 Feb 2002 22:37:34.0281 (UTC) FILETIME=[DBC16B90:01C1B8CC] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Hi Frankie
I don't know that everyone thinks social reproduction is collective.
I have been playing around with the idea, but I don't know where
everyone else on the list stands on this point. I suspect that just
as organisms exist at a single-cell and multi-cell level; just as
there are emergent properties, there has to be a word that recognizes
processes that function across/at all levels of complexity.
frankie
I don't know of a word but i do think that cultural reproduction is a two
way process between the individual and society. If cultural reproduction
were due just to individuals then all i can see i anarchy, and i don't mean
a political system, but chaos. Conversely, if society is the sole arbiter of
of cultural reproduction, then you could end up with a society that is
almost ossified and unable to react to a changing world. My tendency is to
think that there is a tension between the two extremes, and that given that
any society is not usually isolated from another, external features such as
trade, warfare etc provide the evolutionary enviroment for culture change.
The result for me is that there is an oscillation between the two poles.
An example might be (and Grant can correct me if i'm wrong) that of Japan,
which sealed its borders to the outside world, which it considered barbaric.
With the landing of the Americans in the 19th Century, and the realisation
that they had to change to survive, there was a top down change in Japan,
with rapid industrialisation and militarisation, though retaining many of
the old social structures, some of which remain to this day.
On the flip side, you have things like the Solidarity movement in Poland
which came from the bottom up, ie from individuals grouping together to
challenge the state.
If culture change were easily explained we would have now't ta talk a'bah't
(that old Yorkshire dialect)
Regards
Steve
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