How to Be an Anti-Racist Ally

How to Be an Anti-Racist Ally Do you feel overwhelmed by the destructive power of racism, but unsure of what to do about it? The good news is, while the  scope of racism in the U.S. might be vast, progress is possible. Step-by-step and piece-by-piece, we can work to end racism, but to begin this work, we must truly understand what racism is. First, review how sociologists define racism, then consider ways that each of us can work to end it. What Is Racism? Sociologists see racism in the U.S. as systemic it is embedded in every aspect of our social system. This systemic racism is characterized by unjust enrichment of white people, unjust impoverishment of people of color, and an overall unjust distribution of resources across racial lines (money, safe spaces, education, political power, and food, for example). Systemic racism is made up of racist ideologies and attitudes, including subconscious and implicit ones that might even seem well-meaning. It is a system that grants privileges and benefits to whites at the expense of others. This system of social relations is perpetuated by racist worldviews from positions of power (in the police or news media, for example), and alienates people of color who are subordinated, oppressed, and marginalized by such forces. It is the unjust costs of racism born by people of color, like denial of education and employment, incarceration, mental and physical illness, and death. It is racist ideology that rationalizes and justifies racist oppression, like the media narratives that criminalize victims of police and vigilante violence, like Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Freddie Gray, as well as many others.​ To end racism, we must combat it everywhere it lives and thrives. We must confront it in ourselves, in our communities, and in our nation.  No one person can do it all or do it alone, but we can all do things to help, and in doing so, work collectively to end racism. This brief guide will help get you started. At the Individual Level These actions are mostly for white people, but not exclusively. Listen to, validate, and ally with people who report personal and systemic racism. Most people of color report that whites do not take claims of racism seriously. It’s time to stop defending the idea of a post-racial society, and recognize instead that we live in a racist one. Listen to and trust those who report racism, because anti-racism begins with basic respect for all people.Have hard conversations with yourself about the racism that lives within you. When you find yourself making an assumption about people, places, or things,  challenge yourself by asking whether you know the assumption to be true, or if it is something you have simply been taught to believe by a racist society. Consider facts and evidence, especially those found in academic books and articles about race and racism, rather than hearsay and â€Å"common sense.†Be mindful of the commonalities that humans share, and practice empathy. Do not fixate on difference, though it is important to be aware of it and the implications of it, particularly as regards power and privilege. Remember that if any kind of injustice is allowed to thrive in our society, all forms can. We owe it to each other to fight for an equal and just society for all. At the Community Level If you see something, say something. Step in when you see racism occurring, and disrupt it in a safe way. Have hard conversations with others when you hear or see racism, whether explicit or implicit. Challenge racist assumptions by asking about supporting  facts and evidence  (in general, they do not exist). Have conversations about what led you and/or others to have racist beliefs.Cross the racial divide (and others) by offering friendly greetings to people, regardless of race, gender, age, sexuality, ability, class, or housing status. Think about who you make eye contact with, nod to, or say â€Å"Hello† to while you are out in the world. If you notice a pattern of preference and exclusion, shake it up. Respectful, friendly, everyday communication is the essence of community.Learn about the racism that occurs where you live, and do something about it by participating in and supporting anti-racist community events, protests, rallies, and programs. For example, you could: Support voter registration and polling in neighborhoods where people of color live because they have historically been marginalized from the political process.Donate time and/or money to community organizations that serve youth of color.Mentor white kids on being anti-racist citizens who fight for justiceSupport post-prison programs, because the inflated incarceration rates of black and Latino people lead to their long-term economic and political  disenfranchisement.Support community organizations that serve those bearing the mental, physical, and economic costs of racism.Communicate with  your local and state government officials and institutions about how they can help end racism in the communities they represent. At the National Level Advocate for Affirmative Action practices in education and employment.  Countless studies have found that qualifications being equal, people of color are rejected for employment and admission to educational institutions far greater rates than white people. Affirmative Action initiatives help mediate this problem of racist exclusion.Vote for candidates who make ending racism  a priority; vote for candidates of color.  In todays federal government, people of color remain disturbingly underrepresented. For a racially just democracy to exist, we must achieve accurate representation, and the governing of  representatives must actually represent the experiences and concerns of our diverse  populace.Combat racism through national-level political channels.  For example, you could: Write senators and members of Congress to  demand an end to racist practices in law enforcement, the judiciary, education, and the media.Advocate for national legislation that would criminalize racist police practices and institute ways to monitor police behavior, like body cams or independent investigations.Join the movement for reparations  for  the descendants of African slaves and other historically oppressed populations within the U.S., because theft of land, labor, and denial of resources is the foundation of American racism, and it is on this foundation that contemporary inequalities thrive. Keep in mind that you dont have to do all of these things in your fight against  racism. Whats important is that we all do at least something.

What is the operating system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is the operating system - Essay Example While most of the computers in use are using one form of OS, which perform similar functions, the operating systems can be divided into various types of OS. These are batch operating systems, real time operating systems, single user operating systems, multi-user operating systems, and the distributed operating systems. A batch processing operating system involves interaction between the processor and the computer user that is limited (Haldar & Haldar). The interaction can also be non-existent during the period when the computer is being used. The programs, as well as the data that are required in processing are collected and bunched together in the form of a bunch and are executed at the same time. This operating system is ideal where similar data is being processed; large data amounts are being processed, and where similar processing is used in the execution of data. The batch processing operating system is capable of identifying periods during which the processor is not in use, during which time the batches can be processed. The processing is automatic, which means that any intervention by the computer user is not needed. The real time operating system is another example. This operating system is capable of processing input simultaneously, as well as fast enough to impact the following process or input (Haldar & Haldar 25). This operating system is normally utilized for the control of complex computer systems that need increased processing like industrial systems and machinery. Another form of an operating system is the single user operating system that, as suggested by its title, is designed for use by one user for them to use the computer at one time. The multi-tasking operating system is an OS with several applications, which can be loaded at the same time and utilized in memory (Haldar & Haldar 35). The processor is capable of handling only a single application at one time. However, it is capable of switching from one application to a new one

Genetic Engineering Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Genetic Engineering - Assignment Example Perhaps the first and most obvious reason that GMO food exhibits a clear and definitive concern to the human population is with regard to the unknown level of impact that GMO necessarily poses to human health. Shockingly, very little independent research has been performed on GMOs to determine the level of impact, if any, that they might have with regard to human health. Moreover, seed company agreements forbid the sale or use of any of their seeds for the process of independent research, all but stymieing any attempt that an independent researcher might make in order to draw a level of inference with regard to whether or not GMOs are harmful, beneficial or neutral. However, the fact that seed manufacturers are so particular about including the caveat that their products cannot be sold or utilised for independent research sheds a level of particular doubt in the mind of the reader with regard to the overall health concerns that use of GMO might present for any society’s food s upply. Moreover, another particular level of the unknown that exists with regard to the use of GMO in food is the fact that many of the GMO food sources currently in the market have been proven to have a built-in resistance to certain types of antibiotics. For instance, Amflora, a type of genetically modified potato, was recently tested by a European committee and found to have a gene specifically built-in to the potato that was predisposed to a type of antibiotic resistance. Although this particular type of genetically modified potato may have little or no effect upon the human being, the mere existence of an antibiotic resistant gene within genetically modified food is able to alert the reader that serious concerns about health may very well exist with regard to genetically modified food. Although genetically modified food is something that holds a great deal of promise it at the same time holds a great

Are woman in the Arab world oppressed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Are woman in the Arab world oppressed - Essay Example Souheila (2006) is of the firm opinion that Arab women are breaking down barriers to gain greater freedom. They should not be judged by the veil that they adorn. The veil is merely a requirement of the Islamic religion to hide the contours of the body so as not to attract the opposite sex. The west considers the veil as a symbol of religious cruelty or oppression. Our Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan once said, â€Å"I am afraid we are seeing that trend today in the tensions between East and West, with each side encumbered by stereotypes of what the other must be like. To hear some in the West, all Arab women are backward and oppressed†¦.† While woman in the Arab world are seen to be oppressed, they do enjoy political and social rights, and the media should be showing the other side of the Arab woman in our world today. The role of woman varies from one country to the other. In Kuwait women have participated in the country’s elections for the first time ever (Souheila). As far back as 1979 cabinet, the first female minister was appointed in Jordan. In the field of education, about 55% of the college graduates in Saudi Arabia are women while 57% of the university-age women in Tunisia are enrolled for college education. In Syria, women make 15% of lawyers and 13% of judges apart from 20% of university professors. Women hold 34% of all private sector businesses in Riyadh and 25.6% in Jeddah (Ahmed, n.d.). Four thousand Saudi business women hold bank accounts worth $11.5 billion and Saudi women also hold 20% public company shares. A Saudi woman has also been appointed head of an UN agency. According to the Jordanian Constitution, all Jordanians are equal before the law, have the right to assume public office and the right to work. The government of Jordan signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in December 1980, which was

Types And Characteristics Of WANs Information Technology Essay

Types And Characteristics Of WANs Information Technology Essay A Wan is a large area network that expands in a geographical area, such as a country or a continent. It is known also as a communication system that connects computer networks such as LANs (local area network) and MANs (metro area network). The connections go through local, national or international areas public or privately, using generally phones lines, referred to as POST, or employing PSTN (public switched telephone network) or fibre optics, creating the link between networks located in different facilities. A WAN differs from a LAN in several important ways. Most WANs (like the Internet) are not owned by any one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed ownership and management. WANs tend to use technology like ATM, Frame Relay and X.25 for connectivity over the longer distances. These networks contain a collection of machines to execute some programs which are called hosts. These are connected to networks that have communication through routers with each LAN and a WAN interface. Remote access is something vital for the companies and users because it allows you to have mobility and work through different areas. Also it gives the benefit to get better business out of your area. Basically a WAN generates new applications viable, and some of them can cause important effects in whole society. In order to give some idea of important uses, some of them they are already commented before, we can see emphasize: The access to remote programs. The access to remote data bases. Facilities of added value communication. The principal components are routers, switches and modems. Devices on the subscriber premises are called customer premises equipment (CPE). The subscriber owns the CPE or leases the CPE from the service provider. A copper or fibre cable connects the CPE to the service providers nearest exchange or central office. This cabling is often called the local loop, or last-mile. Then Devices that put data on the local loop are called data circuit-terminating equipment, or data communications equipment (DCE). The customer devices that pass the data to the DCE are called data terminal equipment (DTE). The DCE primarily provides an interface for the DTE into the communication link on the WAN cloud. Types and characteristics of WANs: The local area networks (LAN) are significantly different from the wide area network (WAN). The LANà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ sector is one of the fastest growths in the industry of the communications. The local area networks own the following characteristics. Generally, the channels are property of the user or company. The connections are lines (from 1 Mbps to 200 Mbps). The DTEs is connected to the network via channels of low speed (from 600 bits to 56 Kbits). The DTEs are near to each other, generally in a same building. A DCE can be used to exchange between different configurations, but they are not as frequently as in the WAN. The lines in LANs are better quality than the channels in the WAN, because to the differences between the local area networks and the wide network area, their topologies can take very different forms. The structure of the WAN tends to be more irregular, due to the necessity to connect many terminals, computers and switching centres. Circuit Switching: The circuit switching is a WAN switching method which establishes, maintains and ends dedicated physical circuit through a carrying network for each session of communication. The switching circuit, which is used widely in the networks of the telephone companies, operates of form similar to one circuit, which is widely used in telephone company networks, operates similar to a normal telephone call. ISDN is an example of a circuit-switched WAN technology. Connections circuit switched one site to another are triggered when necessary and generally require low bandwidth band. The circuit switched connections are used primarily to connect remote users and mobile users to the corporate LAN. Also it is used as backup lines to circuit higher speeds, such as Frame Relay and other dedicated lines. One advantage is it is highly reliable for its function. A disadvantage is all the time spends to set up the channel and also there is the single point failure which can cause a dis ruption in communications. Message Switching: a computer is in charge to accept connected traffic of networks to him. The computer examines the direction that appears in the head of the message towards the DTE that must receive it. This technology allows recording the information to take care of it later. The user can erase, store, route or answer the message of automatic form. Picture taken from technet.microsoft.com Packet Switching: In this type of network the data of the users are disturbed in smaller pieces. These fragments or packages, you are inserted within information of the protocol and cross the network like independent organizations. Connectionless and Connection-Oriented Services: they happen directly of the free situation to the way to transfer data. These networks do not offer confirmations, flow control and neither recovery of errors applicable to the entire network, although these functions if they exist for each particular connection. An example of this type of network is Internet. In connection-Oriented packets switched, the multiplexing concept exists in channels and ports are known as virtual circuit or channel. The user pretends to have a dedicated resource, when he shares with another one then what it happens is that they take care of bursts of traffic of different users. General routing issues Congestion is about too much presence of packages in a part of one subnet. In cases of extreme congestion, routers start to reject packages, decreasing the system performance. The reasons of congestion are many, some of them are: If in 4 lines, the information arrives to him at router and all needs the same line of exit, it exists competition. Insufficient amount of memory in routers. But if you add more memory, this just helps until certain point because the time to arrive at first from the queue can be so long. Slow processors in routers. The analyse process of the packages are expensive, so slow processors can cause congestion. In that way the congestion propagates to the others routersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ The flow control and the control of congestion are not the same: Flow control: is in charge of a fast emitter does not saturate to a slow receiver. Control of Congestion: its function is to try to avoid that the network is overloaded. The solutions for the problem of congestion can be divided in two classes: Open Loop: They try to solve the problem with a good design. They use algorithms to decide when to accept more packages, when to discard them, etc. But they do not use the actual situation of the network. Closed Loop: The solution in this case is based on the feedback of the line. Generally they have three parts: 1. The system is monitored to detect when and where it happens the congestion. 2. This information goes towards where actions can be taken. 3. The operation parameters of the system adjust to correct the problems. Several measures of the performance can be used to measure the congestion. The main measures used are: % of discarded packages, Queue length, Number of packages that makes timed out and/or relayed, the average delay of the packages. 3. Addressing and routing It is necessary that any machine or host have one address, in order to get the information to the network. In the case of Internet, this are called IP address, and to each machine of the Network is assigned one. An IP address is a 32 bit number represented as four octets. Each of these four octets is in the range between 0 to 255. Class A: 10.0.0.0 a 10.255.255.255 (8 bits red, 24 bits hosts) Class B: 172.16.0.0 a 172.31.255.255 (16 bits red, 16 bits hosts) Class C: 192.168.0.0 a 192.168.255.255 (24 bits red, 8 bits hosts) Class D addresses are used for multicasting Class E is for experimental purposes. PTO Switched Services

An Evaluation of the Work of Jan Svankmajer :: essays research papers

An Evaluation of the Work of Jan Svankmajer Jan Svankmajer is an animator like no other that I know of. Surrealist in style, his artistic work encompasses a broad range of mediums- film, sculpture, painting, graphic design, prose and poetry. His filmic work often involves a combination of animation, puppetry and live action- a challenging style for any filmmaker to use effectively. Svankmajer films are by trademark dark and macabre tales, told not for the sake of aesthetic or technique, but always to serve a very personal purpose, which I will talk about shortly. In this essay, I will deal mainly with the work that Svankmajer created as an animator. To put it in context, however, I will first give a rough overview of his background and the work for which he is best known. Svankmajer was born in Czechoslovakia in 1934. His parents were both artistically inclined; his father was a window dresser while his mother was a dressmaker. After studying puppet theatre for four years in Prague, Svankmajer began his career as a director, designer and puppeteer at the State Puppet Theatre in Liberec. During the Early 1960s he collaborated with several different theatre companies in Prague to stage a variety of plays. In 1964 his interests turned to filmmaking. In this medium he felt that more would be possible technically, and that his work would reach a wider audience. After creating various award-winning short films like The Last Trick, his work underwent a decisive transition from Mannerism to Surrealism in 1968. As a surrealist Svankmajer would create many highly acclaimed films involving animation and live action. Svankmajer’s work became surrounded by political controversy with the making of the film Antonio’s Diary (1972). The film was not intended to have political meaning, but the Czech authorities banned him from making films for seven years simply because it contained unauthorised footage depicting everyday Czech life. Dimensions of Dialogue (1982) became his best-known short, and won several international awards. Like Antonio’s Diary, however, it was banned in Czechoslovakia, and was also shown to the ideology commission of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party as an example of the kind of film that should not be made. Alice (1985-87), based on the book by Lewis Carol, was Svankmajer’s first feature film, and his first to reach an American audience. Since then he has made two more feature-length films: Faust (1993) and Conspirators of Pleasure (1996).

Erving Goffman Focuses on Form of Social Interaction

Examine the view that Erving Goffman’s work focuses on forms of social interaction but ignores social structure. Erving Goffman was born on the 11th June 1922 in Mannville, Canada. In 1939, Goffman enrolled at the University of Manitoba where he pursued an undergraduate degree in chemistry; however he then took an interest for sociology while working temporarily at the National Film Board in Ottawa.This was the motivation that he then needed to go on and enrol at the University of Toronto where he studied anthropology and sociology, then after graduating with a degree he began a masters in sociology at the University of Chicago, which was one of the centres’ of sociological research in the United States. In the decade from 1959-1969 Goffman published seven significant books, this was a remarkable achievement, and so has been considered as the most influential sociologist of the twentieth century. The focus of his work was the organisation of observable, everyday behavio ur, usually but not always among unacquainted in urban settings.He used a variety of qualitative methods; he then developed classifications of the different elements of social interaction. The assumption of this approach was that these classifications were heuristic, simplifying tools for sociological analysis that did not capture the complexity of lived experience. Goffman was heavily influenced by George Mead and Herbert Blumer in his theoretical framework, and went on to pioneer the study of face-to-face interaction, elaborate the â€Å"dramaturgical approach† to human interaction, and develop numerous concepts that would have massive influence.Goffman mainly concentrated on the detailed analysis of encounters and the norms governing these encounters, therefore the evaluation of face-to-face interactions, paying close attention to the small details of these interactions and discovering things that may seem insignificant yet actually are what structure behaviour and behavio ur norms. In doing so, Goffman investigated gestures, such as shaking hands or placing a hand on someone else’s shoulder and facial expressions during interactions. These types of gestures came to be known as ‘grammatical structures’ of social interactions.Social interactions create the world to be a predictable place and saw interactions as rituals, in the sense that ‘interaction order’ as Goffman called it is a social order, when we disrupt interaction we disrupt society. Goffman argued that our interactions give us a sense of our social belonging and our sense of inviolability of people. When discussing social interaction Goffman uses notions from the theatre in his analyses. The concept of social role originated in a theatrical setting. Roles are socially defined expectations that a person in a given status, or social position, follows.Goffman sees social life as though played out by actors on a stage, as how people act depends on the roles that they are playing at that time. Goffman then suggests that social life is divided into regions and back regions. The front regions are social occasions or encounters in which individuals act out formal roles; they are essentially, ‘on stage performances’. An example of this would be within the family between a husband and wife who may take care to conceal their quarrels from their children, preserving a front harmony, only to fight bitterly once the children are safely tucked up in bed.The back regions may resemble the backstage of the theatre, where people can relax and open up about their feelings and styles of behaviour they keep in check when on stage. Back regions permit ‘profanities, open sexual remarks, elaborate griping, use of dialect or substandard speech’. (Goffman, 1959). Thus, a waitress may be the soul of quiet courtesy when serving a customer, but become loud and aggressive once behind the swing doors of the kitchen. Goffman (1959) argued that performance teams routinely use backstage regions for such purposes.This approach by Goffman is usually described as ‘dramaturgical’; that is, it is an approach based on an analogy with the theatre, with its front and backstage regions. However, Goffman is not suggesting that the social world really is a stage, but that, using the dramaturgical analogy, we can study certain aspects of it and learn more about why people behave in ways they do. (Giddens: 268: 2009). In The Presentation of Everyday Life (1959), Goffman outlined a conceptual framework in which any occasion of face-to-face interaction can be interpreted as a theatrical performance.Expanding the ideas of Kenneth Burke, who pioneered a ‘dramatist’ approach. Burke identifies five elements that have to be taken account of in any discussion or analysis of social interaction. The first being act, which refers to what is done. Typical acts such as telling jokes, drinking a cup of coffee and so on are all interpreted, all symbolic displays communicating to the audience of what’s going on. Then the scene, it is the situation, the context, the setting and the props and it is what the actors relate to. The agent relates to the ndividual that carries out the action, they act but with an identity, with an image of self that is presented to the audience. Burke argues image of self is going to relate to the acts that have been carried out and the context in which the act is being carried out. He states that self’s are not things which are not fixed, they are something presented to the audience. Purpose, why do people do things? One reason being because they have motives, they are taken very seriously and are the reason for people’s behaviour. Purposes are not fixed; they depend on what is being carried out.Finally the last element which Burke discusses is agency which is the theoretical points, he claims that the whole lot is realised through language. From these el ements Goffman then went on to develop his own ‘dramaturgical’ investigations based on six themes: the performance, the team, the region, discrepant roles, communication out of the character and impression management. Nothing of Goffman’s dramaturgical world is quite what it seems. Rather, people are all portrayed as performers enacting rehearsed lines and roles in places that are carefully constructed in order to maximise the potential of deception.He then goes on to suggest that as performers people both ‘give’ and ‘give off’ impressions. It has been suggested that Goffman’s dramaturgical world is thus one of misdirection in which general suspicion is necessary; he developed an interest in espionage practices mainly because he recognised these as extensions of everyday behaviour. Goffman then went on to identify five moves in social interaction which are the ‘unwitting’, the ‘naive’, the ‘covering ’, the ‘uncovering’ and finally the ‘counter uncovering’ move (1959: 11-27).Each of these moves is designed either to achieve some advantage directly, or to reveal the strategies of other players. These moves are used in social worlds, or as Goffman called them, ‘situated activity systems’. Each is regulated by adopted norms known by system’s members. Rather than concentrating on the production of meanings, the definition of the situation and relevant symbols, as Bulmer advocated, Goffman proposed the study of ‘strategic interaction’ using the vocabulary outlined above.However, for reasons which are uncertain, neither Goffman nor anyone else developed this proposal, and the relationship between symbolic interactionism and strategic interaction has been largely ignored. For Goffman, the concern between the individual and society was through ritual. Goffman’s use of ritual was indebted to Durkheim; arguing that t he ‘self’ in modern society becomes a sacred object in the same way that the collective symbols of more primitive societies, operated in Durkheim’s â€Å"The Elementary Forms of Religious Life†.The ‘self’ as â€Å"sacred object must be treated with proper ritual care and in turn must be presented in a proper light to others† (1967:87). The rituals of modern social life that individuals perform for each to maintain, â€Å"civility and good will on the performer’s part† and acknowledge the â€Å"small patrimony of sacredness† possessed by the recipient are ‘stand ins’ for the power of supernatural entities described by Durkheim (Goffman, 1961:62).As Goffman put it, â€Å"Many gods have been done away with, but the individual himself stubbornly remains as a deity of considerable importance† (1967:95). In Asylums (1961), Goffman analysed the extreme backstages of society, such as the schizophrenic wa rds of mental hospitals. He proposed the concept of â€Å"total instituations† for places where all aspects of life are subject to all encompssing authority that allows no private backstages for the individuals.Goffman argued that patients engage in resistance through bizarre behaviour which is beyond insitutional controls. Thus, the official social processing of persons as deviant tends to promote further deviance. Mental illness, in Goffman’s view, is not a characteristic of the individual so much as a social enactment, a spiral of violations of the ritual properties of everyday life. Therefore Goffman drew upon his fieldwork to make a point that one becomes labeled as mentally ill because one persistently violates minor standards of ritual proriety.He claims that these mentally ill patients are deprieved of backstage privacy, props for situational self-presentation, and most of the other resources by which people under ordinary conditions are allowed to show their w ell demeaned selves and their ability to take part in the reciprocity of giving ritual deference to others. This research is familiar to that of Durkheim’s research on suicide, not so much to show why people kill themselves but to reveal the normal conditions that keep up social solidarity and give meaning to life. George Simmel was another major influence for Goffman.Goffman looked at the details of everyday life not simply as illustrations or data for theoretical abstractions, but to provide an accurate description of the social world. Simmel’s concept of â€Å"pure sociation† established the study of interaction as basic to sociological analysis. Goffman continued this tradition in his insistence that face-to-face interaction comprised an independent area of sociological analysis. â€Å"My concern over the years has been to promote acceptance of this face to face domainas an analytically viable one† (1983b:1).These methods that Gofman has used of incor porating the Simmelian micro level of interaction and the macro level analysis of Durkheimian ritual behaviour have been described as empirically electric, for example, in his book â€Å"Behaviour in Public Place†, Goffman noted that the data which he used came from different studies which he had carried, they included ones of a mental hospital, a study of a Shetland Island community and even some from manuals of etiquette which he had kept in a file of quotations that he found interesting. 1963:4). His approach was basically identifying the ways in which individuals in a variety of social contexts accomplished interaction. Thus, he paid attention to speech as well as silence. Goffman expected Frame Analysis (1974) to be his crowning achievement. In this book he stated that he was concerned with â€Å"the structure of experience individuals has at any moment of their lives† and made â€Å"no claim whatsoever to be talking about the core matters of sociology-social org anisation and social structure† (1974:13).However, this does not mean that Goffman or integrationists generally ignore society and social structures. Goffman’s position was that the nature of society and its structures or institutions is discovered in the behaviours of individuals. He suggested, â€Å"If persons have a universal human nature, they themselves are not to be looked to for an explanation of it. One must look rather to the fact societies everywhere, if they are to be societies, must mobilise their members as self-regulating participants in social encounters. Fundamentally what Goffman is saying is that society frames interaction, but interaction is not dependant on macrostructures. Furthermore, interaction can have a transformative impact on social structures. There is a key point in Goffman’s work, which is that he rejected the classical sociological opposition between the individual and social structure that still retains credibility in current soc iological theory. For Goffman, â€Å"individual and social structure are not competing entities; they are joint products of an interaction order sui generis† (Rawls 1987:138).As people in their daily life spend in the presence of others, people are then socially situated and so this social situatedness gives rise to â€Å"indicators, expressions or symptoms of social structures such as relationships, informed groups, age grades, gender, ethnic minorities, social classes and the like†, these ‘effects’ should be treated as â€Å"data in their own terms† (1983b:2). Furthermore, social structures are â€Å"dependent upon, and vulnerable to, what occurs in face-to-face encounters† (1983:246).Although social structures don’t determine displays such as rituals and ceremonies, they do however â€Å"help select from the available repertoire of them† (1983b:251). Thus, there is a sense of â€Å"loose coupling† that lies between tha t of interaction and social structure. An example which can be used to explain this is that of a small number of males, â€Å"such as junior executives who have to wait and hang on others’ words† in a manner similar to that of women involved in informal cross-sexed interaction (1983:252).What this observation allows Goffman to do is create a role category of subordination that â€Å"women and junior executives share† (1983b:252). It can be said that Goffman does not intentionally ignore social structure; he just does not provide any definition of it, other than to point out their constructed and framing nature. Frames can be seen as basic assumptions enabling people to understand what is going on in any encounter or situation and the interaction enabling the individual to respond appropriately.Frame Analysis is an investigation of what occurs when individuals ask themselves and others, â€Å"what is going on here? † (1974:153). Meaning that Goffman is not dealing with the structure of social life but with the structure of experience that individuals have at any moment of their social lives, when they believe they understand â€Å"what is going on†, they will â€Å"fit their actions to this understanding and ordinarily find that the on-going world supports this fitting† (1974:158). Goffman believes that everyday activities carried out by individuals are â€Å"framed† in different ways, although they are performed sequentially.In conclusion it can be said that Goffman’s work cannot be easily â€Å"placed† in any on theoretical tradition. His work was and remains a constant source of renewal in many different directions for sociological theory, which have been discussed throughout the duration on this essay. Goffman described his work as the promotion of the â€Å"face-to-face domain as an analytically viable one-a domain which might be titled†¦the interaction order- a domain whose preferred met hod of study is microanalysis† (1983b:2).However, Anthony Giddens (1984) pointed out that Goffman’s sociological analysis still needs to bridge the divide between the micro and macro, between face-to-face interactions and social structures. As his contribution to social theory consists in the idea of an interaction order sui generis this derives its order from constraints imposed by the needs of a presentational self rather than social structure. There are errors in the interpretation of Goffman’s work which have contributed to the misunderstanding of this contribution.Firstly, while the notion of presentational self has presumably been understood, it has nevertheless been re-embedded in the traditional dichotomy between agency and social structure. Consequently Goffman has been interpreted as documenting the struggle between the two; secondly, because of the attention Goffman gave to strategic action, it is assumed that Goffman considered this to be the basic fo rm of action.Thirdly, Goffman has been interpreted as focusing on the details of the interactional negotiation of social structure and fourthly, Goffman is thought to have ignored the important issues such as inequality and institutional constraint. Bibliography * Durkheim E. 1912. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. * Goffman E. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. * Goffman E. 1961. Asylums Harmondsworth: Penguin. * Goffman E. 1963. Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings * Goffman E. 1971. Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order Basic Books: New York. Goffman E. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience, Harper and Row, New York. * Goffman E. 1983b. ‘The Interaction Order’ American Sociological Review Vol. 48. * Goffman, Erving. 1967. Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior. Chicago: Aldine. * Giddens A. 1984. The Constitution of Society. Berkeley: University Of Califor na Press. * Giddens A. 2009. Sociology 6th Addition. * Rawls Warfield A. 1987. The Interaction Order Sui Generis: Goffman’s Contribution to Social Theory. Sociological Theory, Volume 5, Issue (Autumn,1987).