KIMBER BRADY DANGEROUS LIASIONS UNIT 3

Chapter 3 Reading Notes

Organizational Culture and Frameworks of Agency
o Structuration- forms of hierarchy, definition, or enactment that are embedded or encoded within an organization o Organizing- process that disciplines individual performance to be accountable to and understandable within a coherent ideological framework of member-to-member relationships, practices of discourse and action, rules of performance, and the judicial procedures of each.

Culture Explored
o Culture involves major systems of ideology and practice that constitute the conditions of our daily affairs o Seven systems that constitute our culture: o Semiotic: system of meaning in language and action o Epistemic: system of truth-making o Ethical: system of right and wrong o Aesthetic: system of beauty o Economic: system of value exchange o Political: system of allocation o Social: system of self, other and relationships

Cultural Agent
o We are not self made, we are a cultural agent o Cultural Agent: enactor and representative of culture; o What one can do and how it will be evaluated determined by culture

Organizations as Cultural Modifiers o

A cultural agent is an improvisational actor acting within the domain of interpretation

Seven system of culture:

The Semiotic System: signs, symbols etc.

Manages significance and meaning in the processes of language and action Significance: expressive potential of the sign Meaning: consequential result of using a sign o Language: sentences and discourse o Action: routines and practices Without semiotics we are left with only immediate sensory data available in the moment o No one could communicate or recognize what was going on

The use of semiotic system analysis is similar to rhetorical analysis. It is very important to analysis the meaning of signs and symbols because we use

them daily. However, because language is inherently ambiguous the true (or intended) meaning of a message can be distorted. For example, in another course I am taking this semester we are discussing the use of metaphors to describe ideas related to individual health. The metaphor we focused on was blueprint or map to describe human genetics. Recent studies have found this metaphor to be harmful to individuals health. Individuals interpreted the metaphor to mean that your genes determine your health, thus nothing an individual does can prevent cancer for example .Lay persons understanding of the metaphor distorted their health practices in a negative way. The metaphor was created to promote understanding of complex notions; but, it actually promoted a more deterministic, simplistic understanding of DNA.

Without looking into the use of the metaphor, the knowledge that it could promote the dark side would not have been known. To better communication within organizations critical and objective scrutiny must be given to the use semiotic practices.

In organizations:

Language: organizations with high cultural identity have recognizable ways of using language

Influenced by the professions and then specific site

o o

Jargon- good and bad Shut people out (i.e. outsiders) because they do not view the world in the way that the member language indexes

The dominant church here in Utah, has a very distinct culture that promotes high cultural identity to its members. It is well known within Utah that non-members of the LDS church often feel like outsiders within this culture. One thing that makes people feel this way is the jargon spoken by LDS members. This can be viewed as a dark side because, individuals within a society feel like they are not a part of, or at odds with the majority or dominant culture. I think a strong culture within an organization can unit workforces. But forcing people to be part of a dominant culture has a dark side as well. Individuals who feel shut out feel that way because their world view does not reflect the world view of the dominant culture promoted by the LDS church. It is more than just not understanding jargon; they do not understand (or strongly disagree with) the organizations views and thoughts or world view.

The Epistemic System system of truth-making

Not concerned with individual knowledge, but publiclyauthenticated knowledge or the knowledge of the group

Individual knowledge doesnt matter unless he/she can validate the claim in social process of authentication or the appropriate decision makers of the sphere

Agency framework- frame determines amount of agency an individual has or is able to show

Common failure in bureaucratic organizations is: common knowledge among workers is unknown among managers.

Primary function of organizing is to reduce uncertainty

Reduced through production of knowledge We spread individual knowledge in ways determined by the organization

The Ethical System: system of right and wrong

Postmodernist thought: no universal truth, thus every claim of what is denies what could be

Knowledge entail choice entail moral

Organizations identify moral behavior through mission statements, policies, etc. Known as local moral standard of membership

Moral Metonym one part of action meets moral standard, rest of action presumed to meet it also

As I kid I would use this rational to talk my parents into letting me do things. For example, I would always say, Well, so-and-sos mom is letting her go, as I mentioned the most moral, decent, proper family they knew. This would make my mother have to let me go, because if so-and-sos mom let her go and she is a moral, decent, proper mother than the activity must meet her standards and be just a moral, decent and proper. Often the person was never at the event I wanted to go to.

If an individual does not meet a standard the rule can be used for punishment

Example: Sometimes interview processes are not about qualifications, but to answer the question: Are you good enough to be one of us?

I learned this concept in an argumentative analysis class. It is because of this that interviewees must make their argument based on the qualifications established by the interviewers. It is the same ideas a organizing the self for the proper frames of action.

The Aesthetic System: system of beauty

Judgments of beauty more than skin deep

Judgment of merit, competence, trustworthiness, leadership, honesty and the like

Organizations control aesthetic expression of members

Example: dress code, templates for forms

Q: Does dress change who we are?

Yes, perfect examples of this are Halloween costumes. The above photo illustrates how a Halloween costume can change who we are, or who we are perceived as. Anything we adorn on our instruments can change how others perceive us. Especially if the items garlanded hold strong cultural meanings. Like above, we know someone dressed as women on the right is impersonating a Zombie, not someone who is deathly or mentally ill (although if the frame one was in did not recognized this attire as acceptable it may be seen as a symbol of mental illness.)

Because our dress can change how others perceive us, it changes us. It changes us because who we are is established by the self in action. If the self is prevented from acting or treated differently by other culture agents, it changes how the self is able to be in action. Thus, dress changes who we are. The changes may be subtle, but it does change the self in action.

Cultured environment- nearly every space we occupy

Constructs the self in addition to appearance

Subject position: who occupies what cultural space How the action relates to the site When we enter a site it promotes an action in that action, we materialize the self.

Thus, the site can change the perception of self and other. For example, Professor Andersons narrative changed when photos where shown of him outdoors. The photographs showed Anderson in a different site or frame from the one students usually see him in. For me (because of my past experiences) Andersons narrative changed from another professor to Edward Abbey figure. Thus, a different self was materialized when shown in a different location

The Economic System: system of value and exchange

Composed of units of value, qualified participants, the distribution of valued elements, exchange rates and method of exchange

Look as economic systems as an inevitable force rather than culturally constructed

You know Joe Davis, my old man, so I'll tell you this. I got orders whenever there's a family not moved out if I have an accident you know, get too close and cave the house a little well, I might get a couple of dollars. And my youngest kid never had no shoes yet." "I built it with my hands. Straightened old nails to put the sheathing on. Rafters are wired to the stringers with bailing wire. It's mine. I built it. You bump it down I'll be in the window with a rifle. You even come to close and I'll pot you like a rabbit." "It's not me. There's nothing I can do. I'll lose my job if I don't do it. And look suppose you kill me? They'll just hang you, but long before your hung there will be another guy on the tractor, and he'll bump the house down. You're not killing the right guy." "That's so," the tenant said. "Who gave you orders? I'll go after him. He's the one to kill." "You're wrong. He got his orders from the bank. The bank told them: "Clear those people out or it's your job." "Well, there's a president of the bank. There's a Board of Directors. I'll fill up the magazine of the rifle and go into the bank." The driver said: "Fellow was telling me the bank gets orders from the East. The orders were: "Make the land show profit or we'll close you up." "But where does it stop? Who can we shoot? I don't aim to starve to death before I kill the man that's starving me." "I don't know. Maybe there's nobody to shoot. Maybe the thing isn't man at all. Maybe, like you said, the property's doing it. Anyway I told you my orders." Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck

The above citation is an example of how economic systems are seen as a unstoppable force, rather than a system humans constructed and play out. In Steinbecks example the banking system is personified as a machine or monster that never stops. In reality, it is men who carry out everything that the bank machine does; the bank is not an entity on its own. However, in our cultural narrative the machine does seem to be real.

Economies generate justifications for action

Example pollution is justified as a means for the greater economy. Places like cancer alley exist because of justifications (need for industry) for their action (pollution).

Photo of cancer alley area

Economies entail obligation, obligation entail morality. Morality is constructed through economy

The Political System: system of allocation

The distribution of rights, privileges, entitlements, duties, responsibilities, requirements, rank, status and position

Political process, in order for the political system to work, the member of the system must be complicit

Dark side: lead to collapse of soviet union

Hierarchical Structure method used in organizations to establish practical rights, command and duties of service Overbearing regulation may lead to greater rebellion

o o

The Social System the system of self, other and relationships Domain of Agency: arena of action, social location where objects, acts, and discourses are provided or denied states of meaningfulness.

Disciplines systems of practical training that provide for coordinated action

Example: condition the body for working condition i.e. to eat three meals a day in response to the work day hours

Discipline semiotic activity, talk, action and the self Cannot achieve any organization or relationship without discipline

Apparatuses resources and practices of social structures

Apparatuses that are set are taken for granted in terms of both the organization and individual actions

Hegemonies social contracts by which apparatuses disciplines and all other systems are organized and maintained

Example: find predominantly all white males as CEOs Cultural processes of complicity and implication by which more or less are defined and sustained

The Individual as the Subject of Culture

o Every individual constitutes an intersection of the systems of culture o Provide means for being, engaging and understanding the world o Each of us is a moment-by-moment performance o We are an expression not a soul o Without cultural ennoblements there would be no human self to express

Chapter 4 Reading Notes Part 1: The Identity

The Tradition View of the Self
o We are fully-realized, rational intellect who can accurately read the world around it. o Concerned with everyone and everything effected by it o Listens to reason even if it results in being wrong.

Challenging the Tradition

o Old view is still with us but is not longer unchallenged o Challenges: The Cartesian Mind- no long thought to be one truth, training of the brain is actually cultural The Good Man- no true self just a product of culture and traits Thus culture gives us our identity; non of us can simply be whomever we want

The Collective Agent

o We act not as an individual, but as a composite of self-other relationships o Knowledge of membership greater than individual knowledge o It is the group that is empowered to act not the individual o Thus, can be part of an organization that makes unethical decisions

I think this can also be thought of as the peer effect. For example, as a kid I remember I had a friend that my group of friend did not like at school. During school I would ignore and sometimes tease her along with my group of friends. Outside of school the girl and I would go to cheerleading class and hang out as friends. I never thought about it, but my group of friends is who was making the action, as a part of the group I was partaking, but not enacting the action as an individual. I can see how this can be harmful, because it is very easy to be a part of a group that does things against your morals.

The Situated, Enacted Agent

o The good man thinking well o Every meaning to the words in the sentence are socially constructed and brought into existence through action Who we are depends on when we are Example: the excuse I was tired or I was excited to explain past behavior o More thought put into who we are questions because we have a larger communities; no longer are we able culturally identify with everyone around us because our societies are so diverse o No longer have naturalized actions For example, you used to keep the profession you were born into. Just because your Dad was a farmer doesnt mean you have to be.

Organizations as Frames of Meaning

o Enact who we are according to different domains o Give us instructions as to who are and directions for what we can do A funny example of this is the TV Series The United States of Tara. Tara, a wife and mother of two, also has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DDO). Tara frequently transforms into her five different personalities, her family must live and cope with it. It is interesting however, that the only reason the family members realize Tara is an alter (in an alternative personality mindset), is through her actions. Taras behavior as an alter is not constricted to the instructions of how a mother, wife should behave. For example, one of Taras alters is a 15 year-old-girl. The family knows when Tara is her, because Tara dresses and behaves as a 15-year-old teenager. Or you could say, Tara behaves in a different way than her instructions as a 40 year-old permit, but in line with a 15 year-old. Perhaps a rationale for DDO is an individuals internal resistance to behave in socially constructed norm, thus they splinter non-accepted parts of themselves from their base identity in attempts to protect that part of themselves. o Frames of Meaning- organizational setting we act and are an agent in and of o Frame: have been established over time o Actions and discourse, relationships and notions of self all change values within frames

o Frames are a product and sustained through action as well as set the terms of action o Organizations give us means for expression of self to appear Enlightenment Self- the ability to be in action in all frames?? Or is it the ability to be the same person in all frames??

The Self as Identity and Subjectivity o o

No true self- just agent in action within frames 2 meanings of agent

o o

Identity Agent identifiable agent of action Subjective Agent: agent for recognizable intersection of cultural signs or subject position

Example: mother Both construct the self and is the combo of the two that act

o Agency: the ability to do otherwise o self acts within the domain of agency o less choices = less agency o Persistent characteristics: 3 elements of an acting agent: identity, subjectivity and self

Identity
o 4 components: the instrument, naturalized practices, relationships and members and images in discourse and action

o are characteristics of the self that DO persist across time and occasions of performance 1. The Instrument the body o Instrument in Action: first concept in identity. Identity as the instrument of action includes material (how we look), biological (DNA), and semiotic configurations (mental states in observable social processes.) o Body is a material object o Body carries signs of identity, what those signs mean are culturally constructed o The mind= action provides for cognition o Example: we cannot lose ones mind, just failure to thing in culturally accepted ways. o Way we act towards others instrument is defined by culture Example of this is the view of breasts as a sexual purpose in western culture. In other cultures, ankles are sexy. In reality these body parts, like all parts, serve a function, other than just sexual pleasure for partners.

2. Naturalized Practices o Socialization into cultural and societal action forms, family memberships, muscle memories, regular performance o More than just habits o Actions are naturalized in repeated improvisations not determined by conditions o Boundaries set by practices; however, not deterministic o Provide systems of performance in which the self materializes o Cultural Paradigm: a culturally defined personal or ideal type. The hero, middle class, damsel in distress, are all paradigms o Syntagm: a culturally recognizable action line When actions are in doubt, identities of the characters are at risk When an action is moved from a frame or Syntagm of the frame of transaction to a frame of a relational test, it changes the meaning of what action comes next 3. Images in Discourse and Action o Practical texts of personality formation, aptitudes, cognitive configurations o Concerns our own readings of our textual selves and the persistent images that those readings provide o We interpret ourselves more than we interpret others Interpret self through performances of action

o We gain an understanding of ourselves in our own action and discourse Limits on discourse and action limit our identity

4. Relationships and Memberships o Relationships and memberships that are regularly exercised, that have naturalized practices that define them o Helps establish identity Identity dependent upon relationships and memberships

o No control over ones identity o Establish debts of obligation o Provide continuous reference points of the presentation of self o Help answer who am I? o 6 characteristics of a relationship/membership that are identity resources: they carry the naturalized performances of their enactment they are regularly exercised the regular exercise of the specific actions of naturalized performances entail obligations-to-do with a resultant appearance to have-to-be they are jointly constituted and in that constitution create a closure of the self to the extent that they are the resources for identity, they put that identity at risk

relationships and memberships are also powerful systems of organization

Summary
o Authors deny existence of a central self; instead an enacted composite o What we were yesterday is pretty much what we are today o Our identity is never fixed and it is always at risk

Chapter 5 Reading Notes The Organizational Agent Part II: Subjectivity

Subjectivity
o Subjectivity more important than identity in the formation of the self o We are continually the subject of the other o Subjectivity: the cultural location of the self. Subjectivity is a cultural production that includes the cultural meanings symbolized in the marks of identity. Individuals necessarily appear in subject positions that are the intersections of cultural resources for the appearance of the self. These subject positions form the prior conditions of self-actualization. o For example: cannot control gender, but what that gender means in society is more important in our identity than just being of a certain gender. Thus, subjectivity is the prior conditions of self-actualization

Roles have been established through the organizations individuals are a part of. Cultural meanings of gender, ethnicity, and age control who we can be. It would be hard for me to argue that I contain qualities not expected subjectively. Because of the internet, the limitations or prior conditions of self-actualization individuals have experienced in the past through subjectivity are lessened. For example, we learned in Unit 1 that individuals use internet sites such as SecondLife.com liberate themselves

from the constraints of society. The internet offers individuals a potential space in which they can gather objects of phenomena from external reality and uses these in the services of . . . inner or personal reality. . . it is only in being creative that the individual discovers the self, The Dark Side of Interpersonal Communication: Manipulation of Self in Cyberspace by Monica T. Whitty. Whitty, argues that because cyberspace offers adults with potential space that is still up to subjectivity (i.e. in the game second life, players still interact with others which shapes identity)individuals are now able to entertain a plethora of selves they would otherwise have been restricted from enacting given their instrument. o Objectivity: a view (objectivism) holding that there is a foundational framework for determining rationality, knowledge, truth, reality, and moral value. The opposite of relativism o In U.S. writing objective means true, factual, and credible. But, objectivity is a rhetorical stance. True objectivity is unattainable; thus subjectivity acknowledges that reality comes from some method of understanding. CULTURAL MARKS OF SUBJECTIVITY o Ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic position, age, family, political party, religion, social memberships play a part in who are can be o We are not all equal For example: Fortune 500 companies employee white, republican, protestant males as

CEOs Enacting Subjectivity: Materializing the Subject Position o Personal subjectivity is both imposed on us and socialized into us o Enactment of culturally produced subject positions ; evoked in the self by way others act towards it o Gender, race, etc. not objective facts but practices of subjectivity We enact everyday what it means to be of a certain gender for example. Women, for example, will not overcome the dominance of the masculine because they practice the feminine. But, why are women always practicing the feminine, obviously; because socialization has constructed women to do so. However, the constraints on women to be complicit to femininity are challenged every day. The pop artist Lady Gaga is an example of women challenging the expectation women complicity. Often Gaga is photographed in a very sexual, provocative manner. However, she challenges the image of feminine, by her powerful, dominating demeanor. The image provided, for example, shows Gaga almost naked, but with two large guns protruding from her chest. Although, the image

is of a sexual nature, Gaga is featured in a domineering, controlling way. Her breasts may be objectified, but they are objective to be powerful weapons that she grasps onto in control. Lady Gaga represents the power and masculinity women can represent, instead of femininity complicity, which is often associated with women. o Our own common practice enacts the conditions we seek to change; the change we have to change ourselves, mean to change who we are. THE SUBJECTIVITY OF ACITON AND DISCOURSE o Action Routines: a semiotically encoded and recognizable performance. Action routines make sensible the acts that compose them. Acts are under the governance of the overarching understanding that allows them to be recognized as a component of a routine. The action routine is the sign of what is being done. It carries rules of performance and implicates the character of the enactor within those rules. The enactor is necessarily an agent of the routine. o Human behavior understandable within a semiotic action Subjectivity prevents and allows us certain action routines. This is why a man wondering the halls of an elementary school would be stopped and questioned why he is there. It is because subjectivity, we would not expect to see a man in the halls of an elementary school, even though the reasoning for his presence could be completely justified such as: father of a student or a computer repair man.

o Action Routine is the sign of what is being done o Action Routine carries rules and implications of performance

o Discourse: enacted language or language in action o Discourse always materialized in action, but its intention are greater than the action can contain o Who you are speaking to and speaking as determines the language you use Going back to my example of cyberspace as potential space, individuals who use the internet to employ different identities, allows them to speak from the viewpoint of cultural markers that are not marked upon them in the real world. For example, online a 55 year-old unwed, male who has never had children can give advice on a blog from the point of view of a mother of six (or at least he can entertain the idea that he is this individual, and others reading the blog can believe his claim of identity). THE ETHICS OF SUBJECTIVITY

o Subjectivity materializes a different set of rights, privileges, obligations, enablements, and constraints across people who would not otherwise be so differentiated.

o RACE o Improper for nonmember to take what belongs to the membership For example, in the United States it is known that people with white skin should not use the slur for African Americans. However, pop cultures use of the word is numerous. I think a lot of people think it is acceptable to use the term.

o AGE o Ones ethical behavior changes with age

o ETHNICITY o Cannot celebrate ethnic voice without proclaiming the ethnic difference o CASTE: A social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank, profession, or wealth o GENDER

SUBJECTIVITY: A SUMMARY o Subjectivity contributor to the self o Subjectivity is a cultural production

o We both react to and enact symbols of subjectivity o Evocation/Invocation Principle: a principle that relates to identity. Identity always carries the signs of the cultural value of the self; however, those signs are not always in use. An identity is evoked by others or invoked by self in different actions. o Subjectivities are not essences but actions o Example: I am not a women because biologically I am, but because I act like a woman. Then this would justify cross-dressing, so why is it seen as enacting symbols of a mark they do not obtain? o Cultural meaning are the product of durable, pervasive, recurring, social practices

THE SELF AS ORGANIZATIONAL AGENT

o Hierarchies: practical rights and duties according to such social constructions as age, gender, ethnicity, caste, even birth order. Ethical responsibilities often accompany one moving through the gateway of one hierarchy to another. o As we enter new organizations we do not lose our previous identities or subjectivity ,but acquire another layer of both. The organization influences the self. Our actions are justified by the frame

Chapter 7 Reading Notes Ethical Issues in Power and Resistance

AN INTRODUCTION TO POWER: THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS
o Organization is not a singular experience o Ones location within organization determines domain of agency and expression of self POWER AS RELTIONSHIP o Power: the potential and expression of a relationship. Power is not the attribute of an individual or a hierarchical position. It is a quality of a relationship that comes into pay at points of authorization. Power is reciprocal, but its expression is not necessarily equitable. The reciprocal nature of power does not imply that the expression or experience of power will be the same for every member of the relationship. Authentic Power arises out of a relationship and is always at risk through the termination of that relationship. In all relationships there will be a reciprocal of power or an exchange of the potential to beand a set of rules for its performancethe realization of that potential in the expressions of it. o Relationship 2 components: rehearsed understanding of obligations and a set of recognizable practices. o Relationship is accounting for someone else.

o When we account for someone else we discipline the self in relation to the other o This discipline reflects the amount of power the other has over us. POWER AS CONTINGENT o Relationships cannot always be present, thus power is not continuous o Power comes into play during point of authorization (i.e. surrendered right, a granted bid, an unmarked assumption, an acquiesced demand, an answered request, an unregistered assignment) o Relationship grants authority to be/speak o As long as it is within the conditions of the relationship THE RECIPROCAL CHARACTER OF POWER o Power is a reciprocal (give and take) o Have power with someone not over someone o Quality of relationship not of individuals o Reciprocal does not mean equal o Power different in terms of organizational and cultural membership o No one in a relationship is powerlessness CULTURAL STRUCTURATIONS OF POWER o Self is in many relationships o Limited by race, gender, ethnicity etc. o Cultural relationshipsrelationships to the cultural other of gender, ethnicity and the like, relationships to the discourses that speak our truths.

o Cultural membership provides system of speaking, doing, and being in the world o Every relationship diminishes and enhances; we are less than we could be but more than we are ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURATIONS OF CONTROL o Every organization constructed from relationships o Organization system of mutual obligation and reciprocal power o Organizations enhance the power of some and reduce the power of other o Moral/immoral practices of control o Cultural understanding that organizations are hierarchical Must distribute resources tasks accordingly Organizationally authorized voices protected Control is thus hidden away by voting eligibility Control is viewed in the hands of upper management, but this is deceitful because each member in a relationship holds power One retain power but does not know the means of exercising it Implications are the same as having no power Unethical for mangers to pretend they hold all power, should promote fairness RELATIONSHIPS, POWER, AND OBLIGATION o Relationship: 1)power: the reciprocal production of power 2) obligation: the prior condition of ethical responsibility

o Relationships develop within cultural frameworks o Extent of obligation based on type of relationship o Example: you do not have to be exclusive with someone you just met last night; but you do with someone you are married to ( if that is part of the obligations of the relationship) POWER AND OBLIGATION IN ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS o Relationships have cultural identities o Not independent between two people o Not monolithic o 1st task of organizing: establish a common space in which work can get done o Instead when we enter a new organization we get their ideology that tries to influence our behaviors as employees If ideological practices do not reflect cultural ideology, power is distributed unequally among individuals o Organizations violate Habermasian communicative ethic o Members are to be equally trained and skilled, equally informed, equally given voice to questions until satisfied,, and equally valued in the process of consensus Organizational inequality It is our commitment in enacting the relationships that continues the inequality within organizations

ETHICAL ISSUES IN ORGANIZATIONAL POWER

o Organizational power is also result of relationships o Relationship between individual and organization o Resistance means of power o By your membership you are implicit to organizational actions o Organizational structures of misconduct: encode discourses that diminish or deny obligation; disallow the considered evaluation of action; constitute subjectivities of disadvantage; deceptively devalue or overvalue the worth to the organization of forms of work; encode practices that put people unnecessarily at risk, particularly if those risks are disguised; disenfranchise or silence those with a legitimate stake in outcomes; require workers to violate laws or community expectations of moral action; debase or hold the individual up to ridicule DISCURSIVE MISCONDUCT o Discourse and practice intertwined o Discourse: extended language use that does cultural or organizing work o Discourse denies responsibilities and moves towards totalitarianism MISCONDUCT THROUGH PERFORMANCE RULES o Performance rules represent cultural, societal, and local governances that are reproduced in the action we recognize o Performance rules not written instruction; embodied knowledge of how something is done o Performance rules that promote misconduct:

o Permit unnecessary or unrevealed risks o Silence those who have the right to be heard o Violate legal standards o Debase or ridicule the other

THE ETHICS OF RESISTANCE

o Ethical value of resistance is in what is being resisted o Not all resistance is good or evil o Resistance is a means of control from the bottom up o Resistance calls authority into question

Chapter 9 Reading Notes Theoretical Principles

Priors (from the authors)
o We are human in our collectivity not in our separateness o Rejection of universal right and wrong o Activative Individual: the coconspirator who materializes collective resources of action in local and partial performances within the realm of his or her own agency. Through managing the tensions between individual action, the composite uses collective means within a joint phenomenology(the study of the formation of human consciousness and self awareness as a preface to philosophy or as a part of philosophy. It is also a philosophical arena that represents the formal structures of the objects of awareness and the awareness itself from any claims concerning existence.) of what is and ought to be. It is the individual who must act, but cannot act alone. The individual will improvise on culturally given action routines made sensible within collective understanding. o Self is reveled in action

THE PRINCIPAL CONCEPTS

o Five concepts: the self, morality, the organization, power, and resistance o The Self o The Five Axioms of Analysis

a) As an ideational object: is a social invention; there is no true self; cannot discover the self without others

b) As a sign: combination of signs that make the self c) As an expression: the self in action; determined by identity and subjectivity d) As a state of becoming: the self must act, thus the self is an expression in action. e) In the web of connected lives: the self is a social invention o Reworking the Issues o The self is not self-sufficient; we must interact if we are to be human o Mind different from the brain Mind- social invention Brain- result of genetic processes

o Societies use of signs proves mind and thinking are socially constructed o The self is a joint expression

MORALITY o

Unit 2 Reflection
Guiding Reading Questions for Chapter 3
1. How do societal culture (the culture in which we live) and organizational culture (the cultures in which we work) interact? Societal and organizational cultures are not independent of each other. Both cultures are influenced and steal from each other. They cannot be separate of each other because individuals are a part of both. According to the reading no culture in this world is able to operate independently of every other culture. We borrow, poach, steal and are enmeshed in each other. 2. How do our memberships provide resources of identity? As a member we must represent our culture and enact our culture, this is referred to as a Cultural Agent. Our memberships both give us a blueprint of who we should be, but also gives us lines of actions in which we can act. The organizations we are members to establish a truth or worldview in which we operate by. 3. How does a claim of knowledge entail a claim of moral choice? There is no universal truth. Thus, all knowledge is based on cultural truths not universal truth. When we make claims then we establish what is and deny what could be. Thus our claims entail a choice to allow or deny, not knowledge. It is a moral choice, because knowledge is based on what is good (in the absence of absolute truth).

4. What is the relationship between significance and meaning? The significance of something is the potential of what it could be; the meaning is the result meaning. For example, in my earlier reflection I describe how the blueprint metaphor for DNA promoted harmful behavior for ones health. The significance of the metaphor was what it could mean, however; the meaning greatly fell short of the significance. 5. Describe the economic system of this course. I think part of the ambiguity and frustration felt by student in this class is the inability of students to understand the economic system of this course. As I do this portfolio I am not certain on what parts you (the grader) will put the most value. 6. What is the function of aesthetics in the presentation of the self? The function of aesthetics in the presentation of self is to present the self in a way that will be accepted by the frame it is enacted in. 7. What does the political system do? The political system allocates rights, privileges, entitlements, etc. of the cultural agent.

Guiding Reading Questions for Chapter 4

1. What is the function of a frame in the production of identity? The function of the frame is to establish how we act and who we are. Without the frame there would be no place in which to act, and

because the self is in action, there would be no identity without frames. 2. What does each of the four components of identity contribute to its production? The Instrument is the material part of the identity. It allows the self to act in the material world with a material object. Naturalized Practices provide means in which to connect and be in the world. Gives us an established means of acting even within new frames Images help us unite the different component of the self to establish an identity within frames Durable Relationships and Memberships give us place to belong; a place to establish rules, regulations, privileges; others within the memberships recognize the self. 3. Explain why you have the freedom but not the autonomy to stand up and yell in class? Because naturalized practices have already been established within the frame of the classroom. Standing up and yelling in class goes against those naturalized practices, thus the behavior would not be culturally accepted. 4. Describe the concept of the self from a postmodern position There is no true self. The self is just a cultural agent.

Guiding Reading Questions for Chapter 5

1. How does identity, subjectivity and agency produce the acting agent? Our identity encompasses our body, naturalized practices, practices images, and long-term relationships. Subjectivity is the cultural meaning of our identity both to ourselves and others. Agency is the ability to do otherwise. All of these produce an acting agent because the acting agent is the combination of all three elements. Our instruments make up how society views us. For example, as a white, woman Im most likely not going to make it as the next rap singer. This is how my identity restricts, thus producing, the acting agent. The cultural meaning of our identities and others is how subjectivity influences, thus producing the acting agent. The selfs ability to act other than in a way established by our identity or subjectivity is how agency produces the acting agent. All three elements make the acting agent. 2. How does the action routine constitute some of the terms of moral action? Because action routines make sense of the acts that compose them, action routines constitute some of the terms of moral action. Moral action is understood within a semiotics of action established by organizations. 3. How does fashion (clothes, cosmetics, adornments, styles) participate in invocation and evocation?

Clothes, cosmetics, adornments, styles can all change the identity. Thus, when one adorns their instruments with different adornments it changes the cultural signs in use. The identity is evoked by different apparel. 4. Can an adult be innocent of her/his societys immorality? Yes! I think many adults today are innocent of their societys immorality. I do not think the majority of adults critically analysis their society. Thus, they are innocent of any immorality occurring within it because they are unaware of either it happening or that it is immoral. For example, the participants in Nazi Germany did not view their actions as immoral, although majority of the world did. 5. Describe the organizational self? Understanding the complexity of what makes up the self and then adjusting our instruments, actions, etc. to benefit the self.

Guiding Reading Questions for Chapter 7

1. Describe the ethical principles you would use to answer the question: Is downloading a term paper from the Internet ever justified? Like the reading says, whether an act of resistance is viewed as ethical or not is in determined within the situation. So, one could argue there are situation that would justify downloading a term paper from the Internet. Perhaps, one situation would be the following: Terrys

husband recently passed in a car accident. She speaks with her professor about the stress and emotions she has been suffering from and asks for an extension on her paper. The profession in not empathic to Terrys situation and does not grant the extension. With the funeral preparations, taking care of the kids Terry does not have time to complete her term paper. She has been a good student up to this point, which is proven by her grades. However, the term paper is worth the majority of her grade and will prevent her from passing the class if she does not turn it in. Thus, Terrys inevitable decision to download a term paper from the Internet is justified. 2. In the absence of force, how is power constituted? Power is constituted by how it influences our behaviors in accordance to the constraints of relationships. For example, my boyfriend does not follow me around and enforce that I am sexual with him only. But because I know this is an obligation of the relationship I am in with him I adhere to this condition. 3. What is the ethical role of sabotage? Acts of sabotage can bring to light inequalities in the workplace. For example, the term monkey wrenching originated from workers acts of sabotage (they would throw monkey wrenches into machinery to make it jam) as a means to receive adequate breaks. Because of this act of resistance American workers now receive breaks in the workplace as required by law.

4. What ethical burdens are imposed by the concepts of complicity and implication? When workers are complicit they are implicated into organization action that may be immoral and unethical that they either do not resist or are a part of (even unknowingly) because they are a member of the organization. 5. Give an example of an ethically questionable performance rule from the traditional classroom. Attributing points to attendance is an example of ethically questionable practices. The reading relates the example of members at a board meeting establishing hierarchy other non present members. However, the reasons for peoples abstinence could be legitimate and just because a person is not there does not mean they are not dedicated to the cause. For example, this semester I was sick over five times!! Thus, I didnt go to school, as is recommended by Professors so as I would not get everyone else sick, however this practices will harm my grade in the course. 6. Learning how to do something can mean becoming slowly immersed in unethical conduct. How is the ethical moment masked in such situations? Students of law, for example, are required by professors to look at cases not from an ethical stance, but from an objective view so as they

can argue the best argument to win their case. In this example it is the socialization of professionals that mask ethical moments.

Guided Reading Questions for Chapter 9

1. Interpret the self as a state of becoming known in the down. 2. How does a relationship define the terms of power and obligation? 3. Analyze A&Es claim that grading is an hegemonic instrument 4. Self and other are joined in a process of joint constitution. Give an example. 5. How is power distributed? 6. What are the mechanism by which control is produce? 7. How do good organizations create good people, but good people alone cannot create good organizations? 8. How does moment of resistance produce the opportunity of redemption?