Course:SOCI 1110/Emile Durkheim

Historical World Events during His Lifetime

1864

• Lincoln is assassinated
• End of the Civil was in the US

1865

• Slavery is abolished in the US

1867

• Canadian Confederation

1869

• Suez Canal opens - reduces travel time for trade between Europe and Asia

1875

• Civil Rights Act is passed in the US

1876

• Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone

1896

• US supreme court rules that “separate but equal” public facilities for whites and blacks are legal

1900

• World population is 1.7 billion, up from 1 billion in 1800
• Theodore Roosevelt is elected President of the US

1905

• Albert Einstein submits his paper that will develop his argument for E=mc²

1907

• New Zealand and Newfoundland join the British Commonwealth

1912

• The Titanic sinks

1914

• World War I begins

1918

• World War I ends

1919

• The Treaty of Versailles is signed

1929

• The Stock Market crashes
• The Great Depression begins

1931

• The worst of the Great Depression - almost 25% are unemployed in the US

Theory of I and Me

Mead’s largest contribution to the socological world was his theory of “I” and “Me”. This theory encompasses the development of our social self (“Me”) and how we personally and individually react (“I”) to our social selves. When we are children we don't have the capability or wherewithal to understand how others around us are influencing “Me.” As we grow up we begin to understand the social influences around us and ultimately develop both “Me” and “I.” When we are only engaged in the “me” we are not engaging ourselves “at a non-reflective level” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy uses the example of baseball to describe this theory. Their outline of this example is as follows:

" "If I am playing second base, I may reflect on my position as a second baseman, but to do so I have to be able to think of “myself” in relationship to the whole game, namely, the other actors and the rules of the game. We might refer to this cognitive object as my (second baseman) baseball self or “Me.”... One may have a self, a “Me,” that corresponds to a particular position that one plays, which is nested within the game as an organized totality. This self, however, doesn't tell us how any particular play may be made. When a ball is grounded to a second baseman, how he or she reacts is not predetermined. He reacts, and how he reacts is always to some degree different from how he has reacted in the past. These reactions or actions of the individual, whether in response to others or self-initiated, fall within the “sphere” of the “I.” Every response that the “I” makes is somewhat novel. Its responses may differ only in small ways from previous responses, making them functionally equivalent, but they will never be exactly the same. No catch in a ball game is ever identical to a previous catch. Mead declares that, “The ‘I’ gives the sense of freedom, of initiative. " 1

Mead was also a driving force in Symbolic Interactionism. Symbolic Interactionism “focuses on interaction in micro level social settings and emphasizes that an adequate explanation of social behaviour requires understanding the subjective meanings people attach to their social circumstances. ” (textbook*)

Mead's Theories in Relation to the World Around Him

One of the major world events during Mead's lifetime was the Civil Rights Act. This may have contributed to the development of his theory regarding the development of "I" and "Me". This movement could be seen in relation to the development of "Me" and engaging yourself in the world around you.