Towards a Social Psychology of Community

A Social Representations Perspective…..Towards Empowerment

Have a brief look at this cartoon.

I would like you the audience to think about a few points whilst reading the cartoon, you may even like to briefly write a few points.

Key Concepts

What does it represent to you?

Where do you think/feel your beliefs about this cartoon evolve from?

For example :( school /history, or, personal experience, with an indigenous culture, or peoples’).

Who or what characters in this cartoon (if any) do you identify with why do you think this to be so?

Slide two

“Communities are lived” through the negotiation of

social representations, consequentially through co-

construction of community identities…. They may be

a source of empowerment.

Source: Back in Howarth 2001 pg 233

In sharing social representations we not only build

social knowledge and embed ourselves in the

communities significant to us (eg religion gender

generation and aboriginality).

Source: Back in Howarth 2001 pg 230

Social representations are: often apparent in action: and in turn influence our actions.We should ask ourselves:

“How far social representations constitute our realities or partial Realities??NOTE: THE DEBATE IS STILL ONGOING REGARDING THIS POINT

Slide two part two

If we acknowledge this to be the case in social representations we can and must consider …should we make public that is disseminate an indigenous psychology OR importantly …should each culture have its own social psychology …that reflects its own world view??

Slide three

There social representations

make possible the sharing of

symbols, histories, rituals and

aspirations possible.

Howarth 2001 Page 230

Here it is pertinent to raise two questions

Question one: Why do we use some representations over others?Question two: What do social representation ACTUALLY DO?

I shall now address this giving due consideration that there is a plethora of debate on these two positions.

ONE ARGUMENT is that we “select” social representations based on our own intra /extra histories these being founded in social knowledge belief systems or ideologies.There is a problem with this: the case that being that bodies of knowledge may be reified (that is objectified or sanitised) and only have limited LEGITIMACY.

In a nutshell our intra /extra personal histories and experiences may in fact reflect the objectified histories and may not in fact be legitimate.

An example relating to social representations and aboriginal cultures is how the dominant white culture up until the very recent has sanitised the colonisation of aboriginal lands ,culture .and its’ peoples.

We now must bring to light the processes of how we select some representations over others. One process apparent is power/control that is: the dominant ideologies in this case white Anglo-European culture holding power and subjugating/alienating a minority. To maintain control and dominance historically in an intra /extra

personal histories, and in saying this it is somewhat what some argue is the corner stone of colonisation .A social reality.

NOW TO a position as to what social representation actually do

Argument: One view postulated by Jodlet/moscovici as two what social representations actually do Is: social representations give rise to how we comprehend the worlds in which we live, in doing so we convert social representations into a social reality for others and ourselves.

This has two implications for indigenous aboriginal cultures and with reference to what I have just discussed regarding power dynamics. We need to be critical and ask is this a social construction? Or; is there freewill apparent, and what is the balance if it so be???Social construction Vis a vis freewill.

“THE DEBATE STILL IS ONGOING”

Slide four

Key Concepts

Dominant Paradigms

• Stigma• Social Distance

Slide five

Dominant Paradigms

• 1970s functionalism shift away

• Why?

• Positivist Approach

Slide six

Stigma

A social attribute which is discrediting

for an individual or grouping (eg race,

tribe).

Sources:Goffman 1964 cited in Abercrombie 1994 Penguin Dictionary of SociologyCrocker et al “Social Psychology” 2005 cited in Vaughan and Hogg

StigmaHere we should be mindful of the use of the dominant paradigms in language that is power in language selection to create legitimacy and illegitimacy in ideologies I shall clarify this briefly by stating the contemporary argument now views the racial tribal concept as stemming from a scientific positivist background I will articulate this further in the next sequence.In a nutshell however WE Must be considerate of the need for indigenous cultures self empowerment and in that their self determinations

Slide seven

Social Distance

A perceived feeling of separation or

social distance between social

groups.

Source: Abercrombie 1994 Penguin Dictionary of Sociology pp.385-86

Social distanceThe history of aboriginal cultures is quite distinct. Aboriginal peoples were disposed of there lands and consequentially their culture by Anglo- Europeans.Therefore colonialism as a construct in social representations is pivotal in understanding aboriginal empowerment in the form of aboriginal cultures developing and indeed Australians in total developing empowering social representations, this social distance was born it can be argued from the racist ideology and behaviour this social representations occur in group relationships of dominance and subjugation and are based on a difference in political power.

The simple concept of the black dog is a good example of what we mean

A boy is bitten by one black dog he then generalizes a social representation

that all black dogs are going to bite him simply by way of their colour and

states from a position of power I don’t like any black dogs and all black

dogs are bad.

Slide eight

This is a sociological construct and reflects the definition I used from moscovici and Jodlets view of social representations. The construct social life highlights the value of social representations as being Fluid and dynamic in their process and in what social representations actually aim to achieve. That is their outcome ;intra and extra personally .It highlights the, inter, and intra relational consequences of social distance: for example; racist ideologies and the dynamic construct of social representations to be ever:” evolving”: based on the capacity, to imagine a reality of others, their social realities: through a process of internal dialogue. This now leads to the question what now for aboriginality towards its, concepts of positive social representations formulating empowerment of this indigenous culture in a broader dominant Australian society.

Social Life

“Depends on our ability to imagine

ourselves in other social roles. Thus

taking on the role of the other,

based on our capacity for internal

conversation.”

Slide nine

2001 Census 410,003 Australians claimed aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islanders Origins a huge increase on the

1991 Total of 265,371. This wasn’t a population

explosion among aboriginal communities but a change

in the perception of aboriginal identity itself”

Source: “We can dream too – Germaine Greer”

http:/ / www.guardian.co.uk/ australia [online]Accessed 21st April 2007

Census: FACTS and Discussion point.

Statistically this is of significance: as we can observe from this data; but in relation to social representations the empowering nature of aboriginal identity can be postulated to be of relevance here .As Greer mentions this is simply not a racial (bloodline) “explosion” in aboriginal identity .More to the point it confirms that aboriginality itself is being empowered through social cultural and interpersonal representations of identity and the communities pertinent to these cultures.

Slide ten

“Whatever affects one directly affects one

indirectly. I can never be what I ought to

be until you are what you ought to be.

This is the interrelated structure of

reality” Martin Luther King J r

This above slide is a “leader” into cartoon slide and is a summing up of the concepts of intra and intra subjectivity/personal constructs.

Slide eleven

Here this slide is just a repeat of first cartoon Discussion regarding what people thought and wrote upon seeing the cartoon previously is what I’m aiming for, that is some audience participation and input .Using the cartoon as a medium of social representations, in aboriginal culture.

Such issues as the ideology of power, stigma and individualism would be tabled to the audience through such observations apparent in the cartoon as: body language, characterisations, verbal language.

Slide twelve

As for these photo slides see appendix one for lyrics to Paul Kelly’s song” “from little things big things grow “The song was to conclude my presentation ,and lyrics were to be handed out to each member of the audience.The photos correspond with aspects of the lyrics and music.

Purpose To highlight that media representation through popular music culture also reflect empowering representations of Australian aboriginal communities.Paul Kelly’s song illustrate s this with reference to wave hill stations aboriginal communities’

Slide thirteen

slide fourteen

Slide 15

References

Abercrombie. N. (ed). (1994). Penguin Dictionary of Sociology ,Penguin 3rd ed p 412

Greer. G.( 2004). "We can dream too" edited extract from white fellas jump up: the shortest way to Nationhood. to be published profile books http:/www.guardian.co.uk/Australia (online) accessed 21st April 2007

Howarth. S. (2001). Towards a Social Psychology of Community social representations perspective Journal for the theory of social issues ,31.p 223-238

Kelly. Paul .(1955-). Songs from the south (sound recording): Paul Kelly's greatest hits /Paul Kelly Australia :Mushroom Records. .Produced 1997.

National archives of Australia .wave hill "walkoff" http://www.naa.gov.au/publications (online) accessed 25 April 2007

Sargent M. (1994). The new sociology, Longman, Cheshire, Melbourne p.197-200.

Vaughan. G. and Hogg. A .(2004). Introduction to Social Psychology Pearson Prentice Hall 4th ed pp426-427

Weekend Australian 2000 8-9 April p.18