Assignment
In the Introduction to Symbolic Interactionism (see above) we used the example of water bottles to consider how symbols may be confirmed or challenged in social interaction. This week, we are really focusing on the end of that introduction: “Now, we can see that this is rather inconsequential when talking about water bottles, but the overall concept is important. What happens when we are talking about issues of race, class, gender, sexuality and so on? That is, how do my ideas of groups of people (immigrants, African-Americans, women, gay people, transgender people etc.) get confirmed or challenged in social interaction?”
In “Salvaging Decency”, Kusenbach (ISL #32) presents a very interesting study of how mobile home residents manage the symbols or social stigma attached to their homes, their communities and their values.
In a complete 2-3 page reflection paper, do the following: (1) discuss three main ideas emerging from Kusenbach’s study about mobile home residents; (2) describe your neighborhood/community and any symbols or social stigma (“good” neighborhood, “bad” neighborhood, etc.”) attached to it, similar to what emerges in Kusenbach’s study; and, (3) discuss any ways in which you see yourself, or others around you, engaging in the “distancing”, “bordering” or “fencing” that Kusenbach describes. The task here is to reflect upon the ideas emerging in Kusenbach’s study in relationship to your own neighborhood/community. What racial, cultural, social, economic or political symbols or stigma are attached to your neighborhood/community?
As a reminder, when discussing assigned course material, the task is always to incorporate direct quotations. You will need to do that here for Kusenbach.