Keep Learning, Keep Reading
Sociological Meanderings Towards Collective Well-Being
Good morning everyone,
I hope this note finds you doing well. It’s that time of the semester when we think about how to carry what we’ve learned forward, outside of the classroom and into the world.
Many times throughout my career students have asked me why I’m so happy, or, put another way, they tell me that Sociology is depressing, and wonder how I keep my head up, so grounded in joy. I tell them this: Sociology gives me the tools for hope. Not for optimism, or an idea of some pie-in-they-sky, unrealistic utopia, but knowledge that real social change is always possible. Sociology allows me to see that the society that I live in, while organized in ways that produce significant inequities, is also open to change, and in fact, always in the midst of change, and that I have the ability to take part in these changes.
At the same time, the deep dive that Sociology provides into how things are the way they are–how & why, for example, the Western worldview of superiority/inferiority facilitates the climate crisis and environmental racism–gives me the knowledge that I need to really think through what the problems are and how I might want to go about making changes in my own life and pushing for change at the collective level. As James Baldwin wrote, “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” We must face and learn about the details of our society, as pleasant or unpleasant as some of those facets may be, in order to be able to tackle changing things towards greater equity. And, we must think critically about our own society, asking questions and exploring new and creative ways to organize for collective well-being.
But, too, there is beauty in the struggle. I think about the amazing artwork created by the farmworkers movement of the 1960–1970s, led by Delores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, or the rise of hip hop from the structural inequities of urban life in New York, or, simply, the joys we get from going on a walk amidst the trees on a stressful day. I just spent some time going through the Good News Board from this semester (I highly recommend you do the same!) — so much good news! Female firefighters challenging patriarchal gender ideas in Borneo, improvements in the health of coral reef as a result of volunteers de-seaweeding, LGBTQ rights successes in Hong Kong, Taylor Swift donating buckets of money, promising science on Alzheimer's and cancer, turning old plastic toys into books for children, wind turbines to power trains, rewilding rhinos, new National Parks and other protected lands in Mexico, and my friends, I could keep going on and on and on.
As a piece of empirical data, it is immense. There are hundreds of posts, illuminating the very real, powerful, and impactful things that are happening every day in the world. Yes, there is war and devastation and economic uncertainty and fear; the latter very effectively promulgated by mainstream news as James Lull talked about in Hegemony. For example, if we consistently feel like we don’t have enough money (which we don’t), but then the news is repeatedly telling us bad economic news, we miss the fact that inflation has gone down, that unemployment is low, and that overall, the economy is doing very well. Of course, this is the difference between personal troubles and public issues. We might feel one thing at the personal level, and assume it must also be the case at the public level, but that is not always so: you personally might be struggling financially while the economy is doing very well. But I digress…
While the news focuses on negative events, and the social media algorithms feed us outrage because it is profitable, we are left to our own devices to find what is good in the world. And let me tell you, there is so much good in the world. It is good that you want to learn things and think critically, for example, and I am so grateful for your participation in this course. I am so grateful for YOU, and that is, for me, a good thing in the world, this reciprocity of learning. And then again, there are the hundreds of posts on the Good News Board that remind us of this, too, that even if change feels slow, it is always happening, and we have the power to help direct that change, so long as we act out our values in the world, whether in large or small ways.
I’d like to leave you with 5 books I’d love you to consider reading after the semester is over, as a way to keep on thinking sociologically, but also, thinking about how you can make changes in your own life that help to fuel positive changes in society overall. So that you can work to challenge the Western worldview: not to topple it, or reject it entirely, but to incorporate other ideas, to create balance. To reject the binary logic that asks us to see nature as separate from the human experience, and instead explore the interconnections among humans and all other species. To reject the binaries of race and gender, or the socially constructed borders of nationality and ethnicity, and instead to explore the interconnections among all humans, of all places. To remember that behind every banana you eat, are people, trees, soil, air, and sun that made that banana possible; the people in Central America who do the labor of picking the bananas, the people who transport the bananas across land and water, the people who stock your grocery store, so many more people that I haven’t mentioned, but who help to keep us alive and fed every day, never mind the plants, and the photosynthesis, that are the basis of our food system, and thus, our sustenance, our lives. We are all interconnected. We are all better off individually when we are all (humans and non-humans alike) better off collectively, and thus, we must care for both (individual and collective), for all.
I’ve read each of these books this year and loved them all so very much. Each supplements the course very effectively, but also, beautifully and joyfully. They are not academic books, nor are the authors sociologists. Robin Wall Kimmerer is an indigenous scholar with a Ph.D. in Botany, but her book is really deep storytelling grounded in indigenous culture. Ross Gay and Maggie Smith are poets, and their books reflect that. Tricia Hersey and Rebecca Solnit are activists and writers; they write from a place of deep care. They all center on things that we can do at the micro level as well as the macro level. They are books about plants, and naps, and history, and friendship, and everything, really! For me, something I’ve been thinking about but haven’t done yet is starting a garden, but reading Inciting Joy by Ross Gay–a book of essays about skateboarding, football, family, poetry, and gardening–and then Braiding Sweetgrass, I’ve decided to officially start this Spring. I’ve already started planning what I will plant, and we’ve sketched out the space in our yard where we will build a raised-bed garden. I will also do some container gardening, highlighting that it’s possible to grow vegetables and herbs without a lot of space! I’m excited for this project, and to add something else to my life that allows me to live out my values. Just a few plants help so many people and species, not just me, so it’s a small change with a big impact!
Thank you for your time and attention and critical thinking. Do not hesitate to reach out to me if you want to continue to talk about the world, or about your career goals, or about life, or about gardening, good places to walk, or to share recipes, or to seek letters of recommendation. Even if you aren’t registered for a class I am teaching, we are always in an ongoing teaching and learning relationship, one that is reciprocal. My door is always open.
J-149
TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOURSELVES, OF EACH OTHER, OF THE WORLD.
Be well,
Dr. Monica
