Book Introduction
Through employing the sociological imagination, Lauren Rodriguez, Bryan Thomas, Kristin Walters, and Jennifer Vidal examined pieces of literature that can help us understand the dynamics of power structures affecting the interplay of individuals and society.
Chapter 1
In Chapter 1, Lauren analyzes the novel Americanah from a sociological perspective, using a symbolic interactionist framework that also incorporates discussion of the impact racism has on a person’s interactions with others and their individual sense of self. Like other papers in this digital book, it chiefly centers around the notion of identity: Ifemelu, the protagonist of Americanah, serves as a case study illustrating the dangers of subtle, small-scale acts of racism and the toll they can take on a person’s efforts to cultivate their identity. Most notably, she is impacted by the sense of DuBoisian “double-consciousness,” the social construction of her identity as “Black” without acknowledgment of her unique background, and the hegemonic notion of “colorblindness,” all of which make her feel invisibilized by and alienated from society. These different forms of oppression, although less visible than others, work together to wield a significant blow to Ifemelu’s sense of identity. In the end, they prove so powerful that she decides to leave the United States and return to Nigeria, where she is not only happier but also able to be her true self.
Chapter 2
In Chapter Two, Bryan’s essay describes the long-term, caste-like effects that inequality can have on the development of young children born into socially disadvantaged conditions. He draws from various literary works such as Adichie’s Americanah and Gyasi’s Homegoing to depict specific inequitable scenes and feelings and supplements these scenes with theory from writers such as W.E.B. DuBois and Elijah Anderson to explain the inequality through a sociological lens. Ultimately, he employs long-term sociological data to prove the caste-like effects of childhood inequality through biological and quantitative measures.
He breaks his study into two groups of disadvantaged youth: children of color and low-income children. Racial inequality and socioeconomic inequality are two of the most common instances of American inequity, but they are also two of the most heritable. This condition of inheritance makes them conducive to study as caste-like continuations of inequality. Ultimately, Bryan argues that, beyond the unavoidable overlap between racial inequality and socioeconomic inequality, much of the racial inequality children experience derives from phenomena of mistreatment, misperception, and image, whereas the socioeconomic inequality of childhood is more resultant of a lack of resources or access. But regardless of the source of childhood inequality, the implications of these caste-like elements of American society place unjust burdens on underprivileged American children and restrict their futures and descendants as well.
Chapter 3
In Chapter 3, Kristin describes the relationship between society and marginalized groups of people, such as black women. She uses Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, to study the effects that society places on the characters in her story, Stella and Desiree. Kristin included sociological works from authors such as Patricia Hill Collins and Erving Goffman to bring the characters to life and show the lives of black women living in a society that does not hold them to expectations or normalities. Concepts such as presentation of self, code switching, and social/self identities within help distinction these effects. Overall, she claims that society is detrimental to black women self identity and lived experiences. Kristin ends the paper with answering the question, How do black women combat the effects society holds on their identity?
Chapter 4
In Chapter 4, Vidal examines the work of Christina Lamb in Our Bodies, Their Battlefields: War Through the Lives of Women utilizing concepts such as the sociological imagination, conflict theory, and power elite to understand how wartime sexual violence can be weaponized against women. Drawing from the work of Bowell & Spade to parallel fraternities and military environments, Vidal aims to highlight how male dominated institutions and social spaces sustain patriarchal norms that are conducive to a prevalence in rape culture and incidents of rape. Additionally, she also analyzes the resilience and healing journey through reframing the perspectives of affected women as survivors and not just victims. All in effort to answer the question of how miltarized masculinity, in its complicit nature to sexual violence as an weapon in the context of war, has become so widespread worldwide and brushed over through history and present-day.