This concerns the pragmatics of language
- Social identities are skills, being a professor/parent is like dribbling a basketball
- “Calls”
- Say “Yo, Matt!” to someone in the street. Have recognized Matt as a social partner but also demands Matt recognize me.
- “Performative” Difference between judge saying “the meeting is adjourned” vs someone outside looking in who tells someone “the meeting is adjourned”
- “Order”
- Unlike a call, it is an asymmetric speech action.
- Responding acknowledges the power gradient.
- Distinct from requests and treaties
- If students respond to roll call, they are jointly bringing into being the roles of “teacher” and “student”
- Gendered/Racial
- We recognize demographics in certain ways.
- Data shows people talk to male babies different from female babies
- Data shows teachers let male students talk for longer before interrupting (even filtering for female Womens’ Studies profs)
- We recognize demographics in certain ways.
- You can refuse the way someone engages you, but is a tricky negotiation.
- There’s no way to stay neutral - either have to be aggressive or passive (accept the role you don’t want to be placed in) .
- A call can be responded to appropriately or inapprorpiate - placing someone in a role puts them in a normative role.
- Example: school system in DC
- Nominally egalitarian, however:
- Good schools are in rich neighborhoods (issues with transportation)
- Complicated application / interview process
- Nominally egalitarian, however:
- Some identities seem chosen vs not
- Not exactly a clear line (one chooses to work at a sweatshop, but the alternative was starving)
- Big normative implications for roles that are perceived as a choice
- The point of analyzing these social roles is to see where it’s possible to
intervene
- Certain problems are only addressible by social organizers
- We can be more aware of how these roles affect our lives
- A project of political liberation.
- What’s a good reason to resist a social role?
- No general answers - just good reasons for doing anything. E.g. freedom, prevention of human fluorishing.