Assignment 1: Individual Autonomy And Social Structure

Essay 1: Individual Autonomy and Social Structure

Khustinder Saran

York University

AP/SOSC1140 9.00

Self, Culture and Society

October 13, 2016

Essay 1: Individual Autonomy and Social Structure Individual autonomy refers to the ability to be one’s own person and social structure refers to the ties between individuals or to an organization in a social network. Dorothy Lee is an anthropologist who uses a comparative approach in understanding culture in order to find alternative approaches or resolutions to conflicts that we experience in western society. She looks at a number of cultural practices related to the general themes of language, child rearing, leadership and work. Lee studies and compares other societies dealing

Individual autonomy means that individuals are free to make their own decisions without being restrained or altered by society, and this idea of individual autonomy has been a tenet in western society. However, individual autonomy is actually an illusion in western society because an individuals’ freedom is socially restrained by the society. In western society, individuals view the social structure or the laws and norms as an obligation or set of rules that they have to adhere to absolutely or else they will be punished. According to Lee this conflict between individual autonomy and social structure happens because “we often find a hierarchy where women or children or the uninitiated or the commoners are accorded a minority status” (Lee, 1959, p. 6), which also means that western society does not respect an individuals’ “value for sheer personal being” (Lee, 1959, p. 5). However, Lee believes that this conflict can be resolved and they can coexist respectfully. Lee provides some cultural examples to prove her point but this paper will only be using one of the cultural examples, which is the theme of work amongst the Navajo Indians to demonstrate a resolution to the key social

Lee discusses the culture of the Navajo Indians to show how the principle of personal autonomy is supported by their cultural framework (Lee, 1959, p. 5). Furthermore, this paper will now look at the cultural practices of the Navajo Indians in relation to the theme of work and how these practices preserve individual autonomy with their social structure. Lee provides accounts of Navajo Indians which showcase that “they maintain an inviolable privacy while living as a family in a one-room house sharing work and responsibility to such an extent that even a child of six will contribute his share of mutton to the family meal” (Lee, 1959, p. 10). This makes the Navajo family so closely knit that even when a child of five is absent, the entire family suffers because there is a gap in the cooperative effort and when a man goes hunting, he can get nothing unless his wife cooperates at home by observing the necessary taboos (Lee, 1959, p. 10). The Navajo lives according to do’s and don’ts, these rules derive from the structure and come as guidance from the parents, not as commands. This demonstrates that the Navajo lives in personal autonomy while also being supported by the social structure. In the Navajo culture everyone is valued for their sheer being, just because they are and there is no urge toward