Dorothy Smith argues that women in the sociology field live in what she calls a "bifurcated consciousness". According to Smith, bifurcated consciousness is not looking at the standpoint of the experiences of women and not using the experiences in the large scheme of things. Smith articulated her theory by saying that "circumscription of the directly experience cannot explore and explicate the relation organizing the everyday matrices of direct experience" (324). Moreover, she argues that if you do not have women's direct experience when talking about women and their every struggle, you cannot have the full understanding of what kind of experience they go through each and every day. Furthermore, direct experience of women is different then what is directly experienced because it is a contradiction to what is being the subject, thus leaving the subject to be in a constant state of "subordination". Smith's theory also relates to Dubois idea of the "double consciousness" because it is basically a "sense of always looking at oneself through the eyes of others" (324). In addition, without having a direct experience from women puts every woman into a constant state of looking for her identity and also a state of being powerless. However, the difference in Smith's and Du Bois's theory resides on identities and roles individuals should do within our society. For Du Bois, an African American woman has two identities in which she sees herself. The first identity is the color of her skin and the second is the national identity of all us being an American. Seeing past the first identity (the color of the skin) is the dilemma of race and the veil within our society because when other individuals see an African American woman, they first see the color of her skin and then she is seen and considered to be American. In Smith, it is not so much of identities but rather roles a women takes is important. More specifically, the roles a woman takes at home and at work. At home, a woman is expected to cook, clean, and bear and care for her children. While at work, a woman does "the clerical work, the word processing, the interviewing for the survey; they take messages handle the mail, make appointments, and care for patients" (321). In terms of power, the experiences of Du Bois and Smith have been left out of the discussion and they have been subordinated and silenced by the larger society. In other words, the actual people being affected by the decision are being left out of the discussion. For this, their experiences and understanding of power were never heard. As a result, they were silenced by those who imposed the power. In conclusion, what Smith and Du Bois means is that the bifurcated and double consciousness is used as a reference point for individual consciousness and to know who they are and to understand where they belong within a society. In addition, understanding individual experiences should lead us to not see through an individual but it should be a key point in understanding of power.
Recently in [4-18] Race, Gender, Difference I: Smith and Collins Category
With this reading Collins is talking about how white men control the western world and the views, traditions and epistemologies within that world. Ultimately she is talking about how since the white views are seen as supreme then those are the views and norms imposed on the rest of society. She also talks about how the results of this leads to black women's experiences, expressions, and thoughts distorted and subjected to the white man's thought, and how this leads to the black woman's constant struggle against the white interpretation of the world. She describes epistemology as something that constitutes an overarching theory of knowledge, says that it investigates the standards used to asses knowledge and why we believe what we believe to be true. (Pg328) She talks about how epistemology is different from paradigms and methodology and how it is important because it determines which questions merit investigation, which interpretive frameworks will be used to analyze findings, and to what use any ensuing knowledge will be put. She notes that there are two different types of epistemologies one that represents white elite male interests and another that represents and expresses black feminist concerns.(Pg328) Epistemologies show what and whose thought is important. Not only that but whose thought will we base our truth and knowledge off of. It speaks to when someone is reputable and they have status so one might trust them to give advice that is true, and then not only for them to give the advice but then for themselves to take it as fact. We see this when people of status (politicians, celebrities, parents, etc.) have a view or opinion about a certain thing many times people who look up to them or see their views as important they will conform to the way that person of status says things should be, or their views. Another example of this could be with going green and being conscious about our carbon footprint. This idea has been talked about for decades but when people who the society view as important and reputable started talking about it only then did it blow up and begin to be this big movement for the betterment for our planet. So in relation to this reading she is talking about how society and the white western people have placed value and trust in the white man's views and values, despite all information that may have proven them wrong or if anyone else had their own views is was subjugated and saw as inferior to theirs. With the black feminist thought this is a problem because their ideas and values are just as valid and shouldn't have to be judged against the white western view, it only is because of the bias and the type of white supremacy society America and the west are.
"The Conceptual Practices of Power" - Dorothy Smith
1. When Smith suggests that sociology has been "based on and built up within the male social universe," what does she mean? How might the incorporation of women's standpoints change sociological thought and the sociological field, according to Smith?
When Smith suggests that sociology is "based on and built up within the male social universe" she is claiming that sociology is laid out by the viewpoint of a male researcher and scholar not a woman. Also in that these viewpoints are developed without the consideration for the women's views. All the studies and research has been done by males in the past, leaving only room for their input. Even the development of education and religion has been done by men thus leaving no room for female input. This domination by male views has only left women alienated from their own society. They then have then taken a subordinate role in the development of sociology. When Smith said "Men have functioned as subjects in the mode of governing; women have been anchored in the local and particular phase of the bifurcated world (321), she saying that men are the only ones in power leaving the women oppressed and unable to change the situation.
With the incorporation of women's standpoints in the sociological field it would change it in that it would become more equal in that male and females have different views, needs and standpoints. By letting both heard it would satisfy the needs of both male and females. Also it would represent a larger population in taking into consideration both views instead of the previous male only. It then would appeal to a larger group without alienation of oneself to society.
2. Describe Smith's idea of the "bifurcated consciousness." Compare this to Dubois idea of "double consciousness"-- What are the similarities and differences in these concepts? What role does power play in both of these theorists' experiences?
Dorothy Smiths idea of bifurcated consciousness is the distinction between the world as we experience it and the world we come to know. According to Smith it's a way women can view the world through a male's perspective. It's spilt between objectified knowledge and a women's everyday experience. Then Dubois "Double consciousness" is how one see's he as he believes others see him. Both of these consciousness's take on two views. They also take a minorities perspective. Having two views like this often causes conflict in that you are always double checking yourself to make sure your right. The "bifurcated consciousness" views how subordinate individuals live with both the reality of actual experiences and the reality of social typifications. Whereas the "double consciousness" does not view the reality only what they believe is what they are viewing. Both of these again are shaped by the dominance in society and what that party experiences.
The current knowledge validation process, according to Hill Collins, is primarily dominated by White men and it reflects their interests. "This means that a scholar making claim typically must convince a scholarly community controlled by elite White avowedly heterosexual men holding U.S. citizenship that a given claim is justified" (329). It is very similar to Marx's "ruling class, ruling idea" theory. Only those claims of new knowledge that suit that do not challenge the current assumptions of the dominant group are legitimated. This group has typically rejected any of the Black feminist viewpoints and has portrayed African-American women as inferior. "Many scholars staunchly defend controlling images of U.S. Black women as mammies, matriarchs, and jezebels, and allow these commonsense beliefs to permeate their scholarship" (329). Scholars of the dominant group believe that what is already known is true and that any knowledge that contradicts it must be wrong. It is not necessarily the case that these scholars are purposely staying ignorant, but this has been the viewpoint of scholars for so long that it seems that anything to the contrary must be wrong. As more African-American women have received higher degrees, their presence in the field has become more prominent and pressure for new knowledge about African-American women increases. The dominant group "must find ways of keeping the outsiders out and at the same time have them acknowledge the legitimacy of the procedure" (330). They do this by allowing some members of the group in, those that they feel they can most easily control. These scholars will be given positions of authority, but will not challenge the dominant group's ruling ideas. "Those challenging the assumptions can be placed under surveillance and run the risk of being ostracized" (330). Those with the greatest freedom of intellectual thought are the artists, the "blues singers, poets, autobiographers, storytellers, and orators" (332). They do not have the same restrictions the scholars have. Scholars must meet the epistemological standards of many different groups before their new knowledge can be legitimized. Not only do they have to meet those of the dominant group, but also the existing knowledge of the African-American artists and the Black feminists. They must work within a framework that is not necessarily even the best way to discover knowledge in this specific field. Hill Collins argues that it is very difficult for African-American women as scholars because they must unite the culture of African American women and the mainstream social expectations of culture. The current body of knowledge makes these two cultures very different from each other, but in order to see the fullness of true American culture, they must be seen together and integrated.
When Smith suggests that sociology has been "based on and built up within the male social universe," what does she mean? How might the incorporation of women's standpoints change sociological thought and the sociological field, according to Smith?
Dorothy Smith points out that everything that we learn as far as sociology goes (and probably most other subjects) has been about men and by men. All famous, important sociologists up to her time were men whose studies focused on men. Smith writes, "The profession of sociology has been predicated on a universe grounded in men's experience and relationships and still largely appropriated by men as their 'territory'" (319). So sociology is essentially the study of the origin, development, organization, and functioning of the men in human society, done by the men of society. Smith says that the aim is not to demolish all knowledge already found, or to attach an addendum called "sociology of women"; she suggests a "reorganization of the relationship of sociologists to the object of our knowledge and of our problematic" (322). She believes that "unlocking" the oppression of women would in turn open up doors in the area of sociology for women. Women could bring a whole new perspective of the world to the area of sociology.
Describe Smith's idea of the "bifurcated consciousness." Compare this to DuBois' idea of "double consciousness"- What are the similarities and differences in these concepts? What role does power play in both of these theorists' experiences?
Both Smith and DuBois have a similar perspective in sociology. They are both parts of oppressed groups: Smith, a woman, and DuBois, a black man. Smith's bifurcated consciousness is the idea that we see the world one way, but we experience it differently. The world is created and intended to be experienced by men. Women, however, experience the world in a way that is different than how it is set up. Smith's and DuBois' theories differ in what the consciousness is about. Double consciousness is having two visions of yourself (as a black man in America); the way you see yourself, and the way society (mostly white) sees you. They are similar in the sense that both types of consciousness are felt by groups of people that are/have been oppressed. Also, for both theories, one side of the consciousness is society's view, or how the oppressors see things. Power is very key in these theorists' experiences. Had Smith and DuBois not been part of minorities and oppressed, neither would've had the same views that they have because they were oppressed.
"The Conceptual Practices of Power" - Dorothy Smith
1. When Smith suggests that sociology has been "based on and built up within the male social universe," what does she mean? How might the incorporation of women's standpoints change sociological thought and the sociological field, according to Smith?
When Smith says that sociology has been "based on and built up within the male social universe," she means that throughout the course of sociology, man's thoughts and theories have always ruled supreme in their conquest to explain why people are the way they are. Since sociology has been comprised of mostly men they share in their explanation of the social world. Since the 17th century sociologists have been trying to achieve a perfectly neutral perspective for the production of knowledge, to obtain this perfection, sociologists must leave their subjective observation, and see the world objectively. Though this is impossible because nothing is truly objective, knowledge is perceived through the subjective and by the observer's experiences and positions in life. This is where Smith takes her argument, since knowledge is inductively produced through these positions and experiences of mainly men, how is it possible to universally explain objectively without a woman's perspective on the matter. Men have tried to counter this problem by merely studying women and then incorporating women's actions into their theories, though this does not take into account the human experience of women. From this we see that all sociological thought has been socially constructed by males and forced onto women. This biased formulation of sociological theories oppresses women in general, and worse, cause female sociologists to exclude their own experiences and conform to the ideals of man. Smith's solution to this problem, "making our direct embodied experience of the everyday world the primary ground of our knowledge." she states that we should not dismiss all sociological thought that has occurred before, but that we should reorganize the thoughts of sociologists based on personal experience. She only calls on the acceptance of women's thoughts and to hold that though as important and to a higher regard. This can only benefit society she says, because it will incorporate all subjects of our society and allow for a more diverse and accurate ways of achieving object knowledge.
2. Describe Smith's idea of the "bifurcated consciousness." Compare this to Dubois idea of "double consciousness"-- What are the similarities and differences in these concepts? What role does power play in both of these theorists' experiences?
Smiths idea of bifurcated consciousness is the separation of our experiences in the world and how we perceive the world from those experiences. The similarities between these two consciousnesses is they both are distinctions from one mind to another. So for Smith women are oppressed because they see themselves through the eyes of men similar to Dubois whose black subjects also see themselves through the eyes of white populations. In both cases, women and blacks can not be themselves, they must appeal to their superior, causing them to stray from their inner selves. The difference between the two is that while bifurcated consciousness deals with both reality of experiences and reality of the world in which minorities are placed, double consciousness only focuses on the latter, this causes a loss of reality of the experiences of minorities.
1. When Smith suggests that sociology has been "based on and built up within the male social universe," what does she mean? How might the incorporation of women's standpoints change sociological thought and the sociological field, according to Smith?
When Smith suggests that sociology has been based on and built up within the male social universe she just simply means sociology is grounded in men because they have been studied and because many large influences in sociology are male so they are looking that the world from a male stand point. When men are the people conducting a study, even if it is performed on women, they are going to be looking at the situation and judging the situation from a male stand point. They will not be able to separate themselves from that fact that they are male and look at situation objectively, which is impossible, in many sociologists eyes, anyways. Women have always faced a struggle of being inferior to men and I think this is just another field of study in which someone see a male dominated arena. The incorporation of women's thoughts into the sociological field will certainly help bridge the gap between a male dominated society and females within it.
Epistemology according to Patricia Hill Collins is an overarching theory of knowledge. It looks at the standards that we use to assess what we know. It looks at why we believe what we believe to be true. By looking at epistemology sometimes various power relations or power structures can be seen. She uses the example of Sally Hemmings, a black woman who was owned by Thomas Jefferson and who claimed that her children were fathered by Jefferson. She and her descendants were not believed until DNA testing proved that her family was related to Thomas Jefferson. It shows the power dynamic of white over black, men over women. This has become ingrained into our culture. It is important to incorporate Black feminist thought into sociological knowledge so that we can start to change some of these ideas and power relations that are out of date and serve no purpose in the modern world. Epistemology also implies power relations because it delves into who we believe as a source of knowledge. People that we believe tend to have more power than people that we find to not be credible. An example of this is how people often look down on people who sell their bodies or prostitute themselves. And when these people get raped and then report the rape people are less likely to believe them because they believe that because of their status as a prostitute they are less than credible. There are usually two distinct epistemologies of US Black feminist thought: one representing elite White male interests and the other expressing Black feminist concerns. People have to know whom to trust, what to believe, and why something is true. This are not inconsequential academic issues and the answers vary by which epistemology you ascribe to. Knowledge validation processes that maintain the current power structure include credentialing processes, schools, publishers, and experts. These shape the current state of sociological knowledge by conforming everything to the interests of the people in control. In this case White men. This validation process works because it certifies a small portion of the Black women who apply and then they are brainwashed in a way so that they work with the system to uphold and protect the interests of the White men in control. Black women have challenged this power structure by working to have their views recognized so that they can start researching in earnest Black culture and change the existing power dynamics. Hopefully in the future we will not have these distinct power differences between Black and White, men and women. These power dynamics can be sustained because the White men do not know where the Black women are coming from and the Black women do not have the power/ability to buck the system and create the changes that would allow them to work freely. According to Hill Collins we should incorporate Black feminine epistemology into sociological knowledge because it is a valuable source of knowledge and tradition. Incorporating Black feminine thought will help to break down the unequal power relations that now exist.
Epistemology according to Patricia Hill Collins is an overarching theory of knowledge. It looks at the standards that we use to assess what we know. It looks at why we believe what we believe to be true. By looking at epistemology sometimes various power relations or power structures can be seen. She uses the example of Sally Hemmings, a black woman who was owned by Thomas Jefferson and who claimed that her children were fathered by Jefferson. She and her descendants were not believed until DNA testing proved that her family was related to Thomas Jefferson. It shows the power dynamic of white over black, men over women. This has become ingrained into our culture. It is important to incorporate Black feminist thought into sociological knowledge so that we can start to change some of these ideas and power relations that are out of date and serve no purpose in the modern world. Epistemology also implies power relations because it delves into who we believe as a source of knowledge. People that we believe tend to have more power than people that we find to not be credible. An example of this is how people often look down on people who sell their bodies or prostitute themselves. And when these people get raped and then report the rape people are less likely to believe them because they believe that because of their status as a prostitute they are less than credible. There are usually two distinct epistemologies of US Black feminist thought: one representing elite White male interests and the other expressing Black feminist concerns. People have to know whom to trust, what to believe, and why something is true. This are not inconsequential academic issues and the answers vary by which epistemology you ascribe to. Knowledge validation processes that maintain the current power structure include credentialing processes, schools, publishers, and experts. These shape the current state of sociological knowledge by conforming everything to the interests of the people in control. In this case White men. This validation process works because it certifies a small portion of the Black women who apply and then they are brainwashed in a way so that they work with the system to uphold and protect the interests of the White men in control. Black women have challenged this power structure by working to have their views recognized so that they can start researching in earnest Black culture and change the existing power dynamics. Hopefully in the future we will not have these distinct power differences between Black and White, men and women. These power dynamics can be sustained because the White men do not know where the Black women are coming from and the Black women do not have the power/ability to buck the system and create the changes that would allow them to work freely. According to Hill Collins we should incorporate Black feminine epistemology into sociological knowledge because it is a valuable source of knowledge and tradition. Incorporating Black feminine thought will help to break down the unequal power relations that now exist.
When Dorothy Smith suggests that sociology has been "based on and built up within the male social universe," (318) she means to say that sociology has taken for granted that it is being studied from a male perspective. Even when the standpoint of a woman is considered, it is still not held in as high a regard as that of a man. According to Smith, the incorporation of women's standpoints could change sociological thought and the sociological field by unlocking sociology from the structures occupied by men, as well as unlocking women from the situations in which they have found themselves oppressed. (319) When we unlock the latter, we unlock the former as well. The result that becomes possible is an alternative that allows us to look at sociology as a way of understanding our experience and the conditions of the experiences of both women and men in a contemporary capitalist society.
According to Patricia Hill Collins, epistemology constitutes an overarching theory of knowledge. It investigates the standards used to assess knowledge or why we believe what we believe to be true. It points to the ways in which power relations shape who is believed and why. This is illustrated by her example in which Sally Hemmings' descendants' claims that Thomas Jefferson fathered her children were ignored in favor of accounts made by his white descendants. Hemmings' descendants were finally believed when DNA testing validated their claims. In this example, one can see that power relations led Thomas Jefferson's white descendants to be believed rather than his black descendants, who also made claims that were not untrue. Perhaps another example of power embedded within systems of knowledge is the disproportionate amount of African Americans in jail for marijuana possession, compared to the amount of non-African Americans in jail for the same offense. According to the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, "Compared to Non-blacks, California's African-American population are 4 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana, 12 times more likely to be imprisoned for a marijuana felony arrest, and 3 times more likely to be imprisoned per marijuana possession arrest. Overall...these disparities accumulate to 10 times' greater odds of an African-American being imprisoned for marijuana than other racial/ethnic groups."
On page 328, Hill Collins writes, "Scholars, publishers, and other experts represent specific interests and credentialing processes, and their knowledge claims must satisfy the political and epistemological criteria of the contexts in which they reside." The current power structure is maintained when those in control of this enterprise, elite white men, have their interests reflected in knowledge validation processes. The current state of sociological knowledge is shaped by the ideas of these elite white men. Because they affect what knowledge is legitimate, they also affect how other people see sociology, suppressing any other ways of thinking.
