“What are the limits of cultural and social pluralism for the
operational integration and symbolic coherence of liberal
democratic societies? Is such an integration and coherence
necessary, is it desirable, and is it, finally, possible to
achieve? These are the larger issues that lend significance
to the proliferation of deviant populations and their
organized activities to claim legitimation.” J Kitsuse
Deviance as Rebellion;
Rebellion as Deviance
http://www.islamtimes.org/images/docs/000006/n00006141-r-s-000.jpg
Previously on Social Control…
Idea
In other words
Deviance normal…
So always present
…but not constant or universal
Need research on who, when, why
…culture of lack…
Don’t learn to be social
…they want what we have…
Merton’s strain
…deviance as pain avoidance…
Victims who fight back
Deviance functional…
Unite v. scapegoats, canary in coal mine, innovation
What if we take these ideas (and the “deviants”) seriously?
And now…
• Combine Coser and Merton on innovation,
retreat, and rebellion…
• …with Agnew’s observation about pain
avoidance…
• …to look at deviance as affirmative social act
Innovators, Retreaters, and Rebels
from the Wikimedia Commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mertons_social_strain_theory.svg
Lecture Trajectory
1. How to take functions of deviance seriously …without
giving up on social order
2. Lessons learned from delinquent kids
3. When deviants fight back
4. Comedy as functional deviance
5. Deviance, Social Control, and Occupying Wall Street
6. Debate: How much pluralism can society handle and
still be a society?
Willis Learning to Labour
Katz “Ways of the Badass”
Badass as the Ultimate Sociologist
http://i3.kymhttp://theselvedgeyard.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/la-gang-sign-members-cholo.jpg
cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/637/Honey
-Badger-Dont-Care.jpg
http://rockhall.com/media/assets/inductees/default/ramones.jpg
http://pleatedjeans.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/badass
-biker.jpg
http://www.islamtimes.org/images/docs/000006/n00006141-r-s-000.jpg
http://qph.cf.quoracdn.net/main-qimg1b7f435608da3943b70877cef17b8dae
http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/244/1/f/
badass_punk_by_miki2k-d2xtnef.jpg
http://beatlesource.com/savage/evermore.jpg
http://www.majesticdetroit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/thesosoglos1.jpg
Who are these people?
Kitsuse “Coming Out All Over”
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CijcaA9yq58/Sj0czgkUwQI/AAAAAAAACfU/oeBnTPdUEkA/s400/stonewall+rioters+throwing+things.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ww90pQP-08Y/SkpfvWJG7bI/AAAAAAAABPY/Iw1a_Ub19Fs/s400/Stonewall4.jpeg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ww90pQP-08Y/SkpfWzmJUDI/AAAAAAAABPA/rYK__d6i15U/s1600/Stonewall1.jpeg
Lafer “Why Occupy Has Left Washington Behind”
• “What makes OWS different …that this protest is not, at its
core, voicing an appeal to lawmakers.”
• OWS is clearly inspired by Tahrir Square. …Egyptians
succeeded … not because they occupied the square but
because their occupation exerted direct pressure on the
country’s most powerful business interests.
• …something similar—nonviolent action that directly
challenges the economic elite—is required here ….
• …there is a precedent. Before there were civil rights laws,
people broke the back of Jim Crow by picketing, boycotting,
getting beaten and arrested by the tens of thousands, in
direct action against the most powerful forces of their
society.”
Bruce “So Who’s Deviant?”
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/media/images/36
14.jpg
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2009/5/20/1242822406798/Lenny-Bruce-001.jpg
http://empirephotoarchives.com/pix/lennybruce_sept09_emparchives.jpg
http://ironicsurrealism.com/files/2010/09/danish_muslim_cartoons.jpg
http://www.bendib.com/newones/2006/february/small/2-5-Denmark-cartoons.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Yy3nxANArBw/S_yZ1AVUxdI/AAAAAAAABi0/v521t6G2Ymo/s1600/Muslim+Cartoons+and+Comics+697.jpg
Room for Debate
“What are the limits of cultural and social
pluralism for the operational integration and
symbolic coherence of liberal democratic
societies? Is such an integration and coherence
necessary, is it desirable, and is it, finally,
possible to achieve? These are the larger issues
that lend significance to the proliferation of
deviant populations and their organized
activities to claim legitimation.” J Kitsuse