Sociology Paper

Hey so I thought I would share this paper I wrote for sociology. I think it's pretty good, but who knows. My praxis weekend in Tepecoyo went well although very difficult. I will hopefully write more about it later.
He goes the paper...

What do we really know? This question has been rolling around my head for the past couple weeks as I have been reading through the material from class. It has led me into a reflection on my education, my intellect, and also my experience thus far in El Salvador, especially at my praxis site in Tepecoyo.

When I first arrived in El Salvador I was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of this place. The beauty of nature juxtaposed to the shocking reality of poverty has astounded me. Naturally, I immediately, subconsciously or not, began to compare my experience here to past experiences from home, school, and my life in general. I began to try to understand El Salvador through the lens of my context. As Bourdieu writes in The Scholastic Point of View, we of the academic world have been given great opportunity and privilege to make these kinds of comparisons and to think about topics of philosophy, religion, or politics. We have been granted the ability to “play seriously” (128). For example, I do not have responsibilities to supply food, shelter, or succor to myself or others. This free time allows me the pursuits of scholarship and travel. I have not only been given this once or twice but it is an ongoing paying of the “admission fee” into further pursuits. This is a privilege that only the smallest majority of the world can manifest, and there are some pertinent dangers which one must protect against, especially in an environment like my own.

When traversing cultural and transnational boundaries it is so important to fare the warnings in Bourdieu’s writings. I have been given amazing opportunities to expand my intellect in countless ways and with that has come a sense of certitude about theories, ideas, and knowledge about myself and the world. With education there comes a presumption that much of what you learn and experience is true. And indeed, much of it is “true.” But in order to more holistically experience the world and education we must from time to time take a step back and think about how we are thinking, what we are thinking, and why we are thinking that. One can make presumptions about what is right and what is wrong, not from a full contextual experience, but from a face value reading on what is perceived from an experience through a personal context. Therefore, before making a presumption it is important to put oneself into the context perceived so that a judgment can be made from within. That said we can not abandon our own context. I will never be able to abandon my experience and education from St. Xavier High School or Loyola University Chicago. But, in order to really enter into a reality I must intentionally lower my intellectual shield. What I have learned and experienced is not wrong, but it is not the whole story. Further, in order to communicate with someone, on the same page, we cannot keep that shield up, because we will never be able to speak the same language.

This has been very relevant at my praxis site in Tepecoyo. I have spent two weeks and a full weekend there, and I still find myself seeing that reality through my North American, white, male, student…etc. context. I have caught myself judging things through my context and dismissing their reality as incorrect, naiveté, or superfluous. For example, sanitary conditions have struck me especially. Practices that I take for granted, like brushing my teeth twice daily, or washing my hands after each bathroom use are not regularly practiced at my praxis site. I think instead of really trying to figure out why they do or do not do things I have blown it off as being gross or out of mere ignorance. However, I am sure they do the things they do for good reason. I have not gotten sick, and they are not dropping dead from pestilence; and, even if it is out of ignorance is it necessarily better or worse?

Another insight I had while reading this chapter was the use of language privilege of education as a form of power. Education is power, not necessarily in the form of domination, but in the sense of societal and cultural power. Over the years of my life doors have been swung open because of my education and my social network. Many people in Tepecoyo do not have the education or the social structures available to do what I have been able to do. This puts me in a unique and intimidating situation. On one hand I hold a certain power of them, but on the other they over me. I come with a topnotch education and cultural power as American. But, I do not know what life is really like in Tepecoyo and I can not really speak the language. No matter how much Spanish I learn I doubt I will ever be able to truly speak the language, on the same field, as them. There are certain cultural contexts which I will not learn in 4 months, or perhaps even 4 years. There will always be a part of my inherent context blocking my comprehension of their reality.

I do not think Bourdieu wants his readers to abandon their own contexts and framework. On the contrary he wants us to be aware and constantly in critical reflection. If not, we run the risk of letting our own context blind us from the current reality. Even if we never truly see that reality we can acknowledge our own limitations and work from there instead of from a place of assumptions and false pretenses. Then by acknowledging these shortcomings perhaps we can compensate for them in order to better grasp and delve into la realidad.