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Examples Of Fatalism In The Radical Durkheim Pearce

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Fatalism and In the novel “Fatalism” The Radical Durkheim Pearce theorizes Durkheim’s work to explain the concept of fatalism and how it can be related to contemporary society. Additionally, the C. Wright Mills book “The Promise” and The Sociological Imagination uses social theory to explain how individuals see themselves and the surrounding society around them. Mills uses social theory to explain how individuals can understand their own fate by realizing the social position they stand in and how others are also affected by the same circumstances (Mills 1959: 1). In contrast, Pearce uses the ideas of traditional customs and force as tools to support fatalism, which is the idea that the life one lives in is predetermined and therefore inevitable …show more content…

How people see their fate can affect how they react to their perceived life, an example of this would be suicide, which is sometimes seen as a valid option if one cannot accept the fate given to the by society. Additionally, people are expected to follow the life they were born into, for example, this can be seen through the expectations of married couples and the norm to have a baby. Personally, I have been influenced by the idea of fatalism because I am expected to meet certain standards as a person in the western society this includes getting a job and having a baby. These factors of are related to my personal sociological imagination because I am able to see how I relate to the wider society around me. Moreover, I contend that sociological imagination is very evident in the Pearce chapter “fatalism” as it entails contemporary examples to explain how people are aware of their personal surroundings and the society around them. Pearce uses concepts such as slavery and forced labour, marriage and sexuality, and solidarity to effectively explain fatalism and how it runs through individuals and society. Overall, the Mills concept of sociological imagination is evident in how Pearce uses these concepts to …show more content…

These traditions caused a common form of fatalistic suicide due to the expectations to conform even when one does not want to. An example of this would be the forced solidarity slaves as they were under continuous surveillance and brutality so conforming to social order the only option. Furthermore, people may fail to conform due to their belief that society is unjust, this may be because inherited wealth gives an advantage to people that may not deserve it. This can cause people to deny the legitimacy of the social order and adopt radical political positions and in result engage in political action to change society (Pearce 2013: 128). The idea of fatalistic solidarity can also be related to the concept of motherhood as mothers have a virtually mandatory social role to give birth. Furthermore, if a mother cannot give birth she is seen as a failure to the man (Pearce 2013: 127). These fatalistic terms can be seen in the social imaginative perspective that states how people often feel their private lives are a series of traps. Additionally, the private orbits of society often bind individuals, and by focusing on their immediate surrounding they are in turn more trapped (Mills 1959: 1). Ultimately, People feel that the only option they have is what they see in front of them, for example, if everyone in their life is married

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The concept has been widely used by sociologists since. Anome is a French word which means normlessness or a state without rules or regulations. One of Durkheim 's most famous studies was concerned with the analysis of suicide. Durkheim showed that social factors employ a fundamental influence on suicidal behaviour. Durkheim defined suicide as "every case of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act performed by the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result" (Aragwal, 2012).

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