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This week, we continue our discussion of cosmopolitanism and liquid modernity in terms of our careers. Arlie Hochschild, an American Professor Emeritus of Sociology, has developed the idea that society teaches us emotions. Each culture gives us a template, which shows us how to feel in a given situation. Should I feel anger or joy when something happens at work? Also, we try to manage our emotions in our roles (as an employer or employee). Simply being employed is ripe with the potential to shape our sense of community and belonging. In various ways, our collective participation in work creates the opening to experience oneself and others in a way that seeks to unite (or splinter) a group of individuals.

In pop culture, many films have made social commentary on work and how demanding it can be. The Devil Wears Prada, starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, is a memorable one. Hathaway plays a new hire at a New York fashion magazine. The demands are high and her boss seems impossible to work with (played by Streep). As she adjusts to her job responsibilities and adapts to her boss’s intense managerial style, a ripple effect occurs which influences how she interfaces with various other aspects of her life.

GWF Hegel, the German philosopher, was a big influence on Western philosophy. He noted that we make numerous private choices in our work and our associations, in order to benefit ourselves, and yet we must also consider the interests of the community. Is this union of self and others more difficult to maintain in a state of liquid modernity? How can this tension of opposites be equitably resolved?

Please join us Sunday and bring a friend. You may also have questions or comments on liquid modernity, so bring those along! We’d like everyone to participate in this important discussion.

READING MATERIALS

Arlie Hochschild: “Emotion as a social norm”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlie_Russell_Hochschild#Emotion_as_a_social_norm

The Devil Wears Prada
(Streep enters the building & everyone scrambles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PjZAeiU7uM

GWF Hegel: “Private individuality”
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/common-good/#CommInteIiPrivIndi