“ Inside Social Life” by Spencer Cahil, Kent Sandstom and Cariisa Froyum demonstrate a comprehensive approach to a well-articulated pedagogical demonstration of understanding of self and the society at large. “Inside Social Life” describes in depth the globalization issues and ethnic effects due to interactions through technology. The current issues that are critical to the self and the society are addressed to reconnect the diverse and overlooked populations in recognizing the importance of sociology. Through the sociological study of interpersonal interactions, selfhood, inequality and social psychology, the book addresses the central issues related to self-life and the comprehensive view of the society.
The book is, however, a collection of ideas from different people and their understanding of social life and the physiological processes and mechanisms. According to Fiske, Gilber and Lindzey (2010), the mind is perceived to be an instrument which achieves culturally constructed ends. “All attempts to infer mental states from behavioral observation are suspended, then, on a network of conjectural assumptions” (p. 47). Fiske et al., (2010) draw attentions towards the nature of historical, social psychology and knowledge. In their article, they argued that physiology could never specify how the response to individual life. “However, while social psychology is thus insulated from physiological reductionism, its theories are not insulated from historical change.” (Fiske et al. 2010, p. 59)
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Social organization is another point of concern in the book “Inside Social Life,” and scrutinizes the individual interdependence and collective social actions. Herbert Blumer in his article, “industrialization as an agent of social change” (2018) discusses the issues of social life and some complex phenomena related to the social life. Industrialization is seen as a channel to reveal the broader theoretical significance of social life. Social reality creates the relationship between social action and social organization which develops the human industrialization. In social industrialization, the macro level of social phenomena is discussed to determine the relevance of social interactions and how they affect the social life of people. The main area of knowledge in social industrialization is to link the social structure to the individual life and get generic social processes.
In examining the self-reactions, the individuals have a more significant part to play in revealing who they are and what defines them in social life. Charles Cooley in his articles “Social Construction of Self” examines the mind of his young daughter in contrast to the mind of an adult to decipher how each view themselves. Children act according to how they are taught from young ages and follow the steps of their parents whereas an adult performs duties according to how they understand the world. Cooley says that children learn how to act “soon see a connection between their acts and changes in those movements, perceiving their influence and power over persons.” (Cooley 2006, p.19). The central knowledge revolves around social self and individual understanding. Human beings are social creatures who have common characteristics such as language, movements, and culture.
The differences in such characteristics like culture, language and ethnicity dictate the reflections of the social self. The way people think about themselves depends on the social environment that they live in and how they understand their natural state. Therefore, the study of social life calls for careful introspection to determine how someone views himself/ herself in any given situation. Self-examination is the base for creating thoughts on one’s consciousness and feelings towards the social consequences of action. Therefore, the contents in the “Inside Social Life” require everyone to scrutinize their own lives and decipher who they are through self-examination. However, some forces may affect someone’s behavior from the outside environment. In this case, the self-examination helps to clear away the outward forces and describe the self with the social life.
In another context, self-examination is seen as the efforts of actors on stage trying to satisfy the needs of the audience. In the social world, people put efforts to reveal themselves through the way they act towards a given task. The actions provide people with social identity in that particular society. The efforts to create our impressions help us to fit in well in the community. Our interactions, however, reveal the image of self in the sense that there are no secrets in determining the behavior inherent in a person’s life. The self-presentation like in performance on stage may not reveal the individual behavior but rather may create a general sense on the social understanding of the society. Cahill et al., (2014) explains that the audience is keen to know about the performers, ‘performers can stop giving expressions, but they cannot stop giving them off.’(p. 69)
The general information in the book “Inside Social Life” revolves around the self-examination and social life in general. In determining how we can effectively fit in society, there is a need to scrutinize our behavior and act in ways that promote our social wellbeing. However, it is not necessary to provide all the information about ourselves but rather conceal the most private information. The secret life is essential as it gives people the liberty to perform tasks efficiently. However, there is a need to critically examine our lives to know how to handle life issues and become well fitted in society.
References
Blumer, H. (2018). Industrialization as an agent of social change: A critical analysis . Routledge.
Cahill, S., Sandstrom, K. L., & Froyum, C. (Eds.). (2014). Inside social life: Readings in sociological psychology and microsociology . Oxford University Press.
Cooley, C. H., & Mead, G. H. (2006). The social self. Charles Horton Cooley: Imagining Social Reality , 53 .
Fiske, S. T., Gilbert, D. T., & Lindzey, G. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2). John Wiley & Sons.
