North American Longing to Cultures and Sub-Cultures
- Written by: Mohammad Momin Khawaja
Culture is defined in being behavior peculiar to humans, together with the material objects used as an integral part of this behavior. Culture includes languages, ideas, beliefs, customs, codes, institutions, tools, techniques, works of art, and rituals and ceremonies among other elements.(1) It is in fact the development of culture which brought about advanced societies that consequentially resulted in the triumph of Knowledge and reason over ignorance, science over superstition, and that of law and order over chaos. Some of this development may be explained by way of conflict perspectives. Groups in societies are engaged in some form of conflict such as in politics, litigation, family, or for other resources in order to shape and influence social life.(2) Societies therefore have developed social structures or institutions in order to survive. These institutions include family, education, government, religion, economy and health care. (3)
These concepts are important in relation to youth given that adolescents are and healthcare. individuals who are growing and begin to think of the future. Therefore, an adolescent’s present activities add to the life program for later activities as an adult.
A predominant opinion in sociology is that cultural life is created by culture itself. Although human nature has the capacity to be imprinted by culture, by itself, human nature itself is an empty vessel and thus devoid of prejudice, bias, and other preferences which relate to cultural influence. (4)
Nearly all human social development happens by way of social factors which influence and shape human behavior. Therefore, understanding culture and its impact on youth is necessary in knowing our tomorrow. Understanding culture and various subcultures also speaks to our readiness for tomorrow’s societies, our victories and opportunities, and what challenges lie ahead.
Across America, Juneteenth is meant to be a celebration of youth culture. Although there isn’t one celebration associated with Juneteenth, there are various outdoor celebrations which occur from east-coast to west-coast in celebration of youth culture in America. The nature of these celebrations is reminiscent of what we would find in Americans celebrating at any time of the year.
What stoked our curiosity and thought in seeing some of the Juneteenth celebrations was that something seemed odd and missing. We saw a homogeneous youth subculture dominated by a genre of music celebrating a holiday. Often, those leading the celebrations by way of performances were not even youth, but rather those in their 20’s and 30’s propagating and representing a homogeneous subculture. Culture is a dynamic construct and concept which includes languages, customs, ethnicities, races, traditions, and material and non-material concepts which give meaning to being and belonging.
Youth is a diverse, sometimes divergent, adventurous, and a dynamic sociobiological construct. An accurate and socially just Juneteenth celebration in America should include the millions of youth of Indigenous, Hispanics, East-Indians, East—Asians, Arabs, Jews, and other peoples that make up the dynamic cultural diaspora which defines America in celebrating, representing, and sharing their ideas and customs as a part and piece of what America is about. (5)
Praxis is defined by the practice of an art, science, or skill. Praxis is also the practical application of a theory. Paulo Freire was an intellectual and educator who worked to teach literacy in order to empower the people of Brazil. He discovered and argued in Pedagogy of the Oppressed that both theory and practice are important. He used the term praxis to speak about the extent to which there is harmony between what we think and what we do when we are dealing with people in the everyday world. In consideration of youth, our focus should be on the ways we think about and treat young people in society. How we think about youth includes - that they are an interface of biological, cultural, and social and cognitive influences in a complex cultural nest. How we treat youth in relation to our Juneteenth dilemma would include providing social spaces, opportunities, and resources in helping the marginalized youth subcultures have representation in America’s diverse culture.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who was the first to make a systematic study of the acquisition of understanding in children. He is thought by many to have been the major figure in the 20th century developmental psychology. (6) Some of the main points made by Piaget in Adolescent Thinking include that the thinking of the adolescent differs radically from that of the child. The adolescent superimposes propositional logic on the logic of classes and relations. Thus, the adolescent comes to control hypothetic-deductive reasoning and experimental proof based on the variation of a single factor with the others held constant.
Piaget’s theory includes that puberty cannot be considered the distinctive feature of adolescence. Although puberty happens at the same ages in all races in all societies, Piaget stays away from formalizing a type of thinking that may be representative of puberty. The adolescent is an individual who Is still growing and one who begins to think of the future. Therefore, the adolescent’s present activities add to the life program for later activities as an adult. This correlates well with the preoccupations of youth studies being about culture, development, and praxis. Culture shapes and directs the actions of youth and defines their outlook on life.
The impression is that human species can think about and desire anything at all completely randomly, culturally variable, and via a historically determined process. (7) Although these desires may be rooted in bio-neurological responses, they are largely subject to cultural influences. It is generalized to conclude that it is always culture which is the most dominant element shaping human societies. Leahy, a sociologist, writes that if biology were more important in shaping human behavior, humans would be governed by biological programs linked to defined actions. (8)Thus, if the hallmark and signature of culture is diversity and variety, then the signature of biological influence must be sameness. (9)
References
1. culture. (2009). Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference
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2. Murray, Linden, Kendall, Sociology in our Times, 2012, pp.12,13.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. Khawaja, M., “How to Understand the Problems of Violence, Injustice, and other Social Problems in North America.’, The Times, January, 11, 2023, https://www.thetimes.com.au/world/1950 1—-how-to—understand—the—problems—of—violence-and-injustice-in-north-american—societal- manifestation
6. Piaget, Jean. (2009). Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.
7. Ibid.
8. Leahy, T., “The Elephant in the Room”. Current Sociology. V.60., 2012, pp.810-812.
9. SOC12656, “Introduction to Social Inequality’, Laurentian University, 2022, Pg.1.
Mohammad Momin Khawaja is a Sociologist and a Journalist: Member of the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) and Member of the International Center for Journalist - ICFJ Global Network, Washington, D.C. USA. A graduate of Laurentian University in Sociology, he writes on current issues of social justice, criminology, philosophy, ethics, history and problems of social welfare system and human development. He is author of numerous publications including, Women in the Ancient World (Lambert Academic Publication, 2023), and his forthcoming book is entitled: Philosophy and Ethics. He recently published: “North American Colonization of Indigenous People, Cultures and System of Social Welfare.”
