Unit 9: Social change & value- reboot:
Cultivating Humanity
nadia dresscher
Objectives unit 9
• Reflect on what social change is and what are
factors that can trigger social change (causes)
• Reflect on some major shifts at this moment
(connect with unit 10)
• Exercise: make an inventory of
challenges/opportunities in terms of social
change
• Discuss article “Cultivating humanity” and focus
on “values” in development, for the overcoming
of challenges
Values and Attitudes
• If you want to understand a
person’s behavior, you must
understand his or her values.
Values and Attitudes
• Values are basic convictions
(notions) about what is right and
wrong.
Values and Attitudes
• Importance of values – Values generally
influence attitudes and behavior.
• Value system is a hierarchy based on a
ranking of an individual’s values in terms of
one’s intensity.
Values and Attitudes
• Source of our Value Systems
– A significant portion is genetically
determined.
– Other factors include national culture,
parents, teachers, friends, and similar
environmental influences (socialization
process is core to acquiring value
orientations)
Values and Attitudes
–Values are relatively stable and
enduring.
–If we know an individual’s values,
we are better able to predict a
behavior in a particular situation.
Values
• Values differ between generations.
• Values differ between regions.
• Values differ between cultures.
Values
• Terminal values are the end-state we
hope to achieve in life.
• Instrumental values are means of
achieving these terminal values.
Attitudes
• Attitudes have three evaluative
components:
– Cognitive component of an attitude is the
opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
– Affective component is the emotion or
feeling segment of an attitude.
– Behavioral component is the intention to
behave in a certain way toward someone or
something.
Attitudes
• Sources of Attitudes:
– Acquired from parents, teachers, and
peer group members.
– There are “genetic” predispositions.
– Observations, attitudes that we imitate.
• Attitudes are less stable than values.
Cognitive Dissonance
• Cognitive dissonance is a conflict
between two values or between
values and behavior.
Assignment: Rokeach Values test
• What values are important to you
• survey
Terminal and Instrumental Values in
Rokeach Value Survey
Terminal values
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A comfortable life
An exciting life
A sense of accomplishment
A world at peace
Equality
Family security
Freedom
Happiness
Inner harmony
Mature love
National security
Pleasure
Salvation
Self-respect
Social recognition
True friendship
Wisdom
Instrumental values
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Ambitious
Broad-minded
Capable
Cheerful
Clean
Courageous
Forgiving
Helpful
Honest
Imaginative
Independent
Intellectual
Logical
Loving
Obedient
Polite
Responsible
Self-controlled
Exercise:
• make an inventory of
challenges/opportunities in terms of social
change
• 3 major challenges and opportunities
Cultivating Humanity?
Education and capabilities for a global ‘great transition’
Gasper & George’s (2010) essay reflects on the following
question:
• What are the implications for education of the
formidable emergent global challenges of
sustainability?
The essay starts with the crucial message:
• We need to change, we need to cultivate new values.
• These are major changes in the next two generations
• on the level of human values
• In order to ensure politically and environmentally
sustainable societies and a sustainable global order
3 major value-shifts/paradigm
1. From consumerism and an ideology of lifefulfilment through buying to a focus instead on
quality of living
2. From individualism to human solidarity,
including concern for the ‘external effects’
(consequences) one imposes on others
3. From domination of nature to ecological
sensitivity
(based on The great transition today, a report for the
future, 2006 )
Watch the story of stuff
Answer the following question before viewing:
• What do you expect from this video? Why?
• What are your thoughts on human
consumption? Is it a theme you reflect on?
The Story of Stuff
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAY
Xp8
3 important values to work on
(Des & George, 2010)
1. Quality of life
2. Human solidarity
3. Ecological sustainability
Statesman, philosopher, advocate,
man of letters
• Cordoba
• 4 BC
Seneca’s notion of
“Cultivation of Humanity”:
• Inspired Martha Nussbaum and she
elaborated further on this notion
• Cultivating Humanity is comparable a
civilizational project
• It involves promoting and using the following
capacities (next sheet)
• These capacities can help our planet move
forward in a sustainable direction (Nussbaum,
1997)
3 Capacities for
the “Cultivation of Humanity” (Nussbaum, 1997)
1. The narrative
imagination/
empathy/ sympathic
imagination: the ability
to think (triggers the
feeling) what it might
be to be in the shoes
of a person different
from oneself
To become a global citizen, we need
these 3 capabilities
2. The capacity for critical
examination of oneself
and one’s tradition
“ a good reflective citizen”
goes hand in hand with
the capacity of empathy
3. An ability to see oneself
not simply as citizens of
some local region or
group, but above all, as
human beings bound to all
other human beings by
ties of recognition and
concern
The emerging of
solidarity: the self as part
of something bigger
What’s the story of your generation?
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5joE6AjPl
30&NR=1
• In which values should we invest nowadays
more than ever?
Philosophical questions
• Can expressing/practicing the freedom of
oneself, come in the way of the freedom of
others?