Tradition and modernity, society free essay sample

Various journals have pointed out different scenarios regarding the conflict of traditions and the advent of modernity in certain societies. One in particular by Freund and Band- Winterstein (2012) explored how a Jewish society in Israel belonging in an ultra- orthodox society adapt and modify their behaviour toward social work which is cultural, western and secular in form. People belonging to the ultra- orthodox society have strong sense of faith and religious practice. They prefer to avoid contact with those persons belonging in the secular society. (Coleman- Brueckheimer, Spitzer Koffman, 2009). When faced with the idea of social work, a feeling of ambivalence usually takes place. They would accept services because of necessity yet, a feeling of suspicion and hostility takes place as well. (Popovsky 2010). Unfamiliarity with other cultures makes one prejudice about it, often causing stress and conflict. It is important, therefore, to create a circumstance wherein the religious belief is able to coexist with the necessary procedure. Based on the results of the study, there is a diversity of groups that are differentiated from each other based on their level of openness to society, closeness to tradition, ideology, modernization and openness to larger economy. The diversity leads to different views toward the function of social work in their community. A lack of professional resources in their community however, compels them to have constant interaction with the secular environment (Bilu and Witztum, 1993). Extensive changes have been occurring in the society with regards to the surrounding environment. The large openness shown by different areas in the ultra-orthodox society towards secular society worker is only a small part of a large scale process continuously developing. The similarity of this study to past journals is its focus on how one will adapt when faced with two conflicting trends in society. It seeks to discover the factors that will affect the behaviour towards self. It explains the conditions that predispose a person to react as such toward modernization. The difference of this study from previous studies is the specific focus on the contrast between tradition and modernity. It’s not just simply one culture converging with another particular culture, rather a generalized past traditions or customs going up and adapting to current trends in general such as technological advancement as alternative for traditional events. Another study by Talbani and Hasanali (2000) examined the social and cultural experiences of adolescent females from south Asia who immigrated to Canada. The major problem encountered by the South Asian adolescent females was their control over socialization, going out, parties and dating. One common observation was how the parents would take their children to visit relatives or family friends on weekends because they do not allow their child to socialize without their supervision. Whenever there were occasions or festivities, the parents would often organize parties for their children so as to avoid the feeling of alienation. The arrangements would usually involve non- alcoholic beverage, music and dances. Parents would also maintain gender segregation wherein the boys and girls mingled with each other under certain rules. The presence of the parents usually maintained certain decorum among the youth. Most of the parents also disapproved of dating especially among their daughters. They justified that girls are much more vulnerable than boys. Parents became faced with a dilemma because female members would challenge the parental decision because of unequal treatment compared to the boys. In terms of marriage, girls were usually set up for arranged marriages. Resentment was expressed because they had absolutely no say in it, or they got married to a person they do not know. Various ways of expressing the Adolescent females’ disapproval of traditional control were used to express their discontent. The restrictions imposed by their parents resulted to discontent and unhappiness and would eventually come to a point where there will be rebellion amongst there. Parents as well as youth have to adapt to society. The similarity of this journal to the study lies with the different issues about adapting to certain norms of a society that is in complete conflict with the traditions inculcated within their system. Various reactions toward resisting change have manifested different coping mechanism. The differences lie with the struggle between tradition and instead of modernity, foreign customs since the subjects involved are immigrants. B. LOCAL LITERATURE A study entitled Hidden in a Coke Bottle:Modernity,Gender and the Informal Storing of Money in Philippine Indigenous Communities by Arnado (2012) revolved around the relationship between modernity and gender in a traditional society. One part of the study with the heading â€Å"The indigenous population betwixt and between tradition and modernity† stated that there is a conflict between survival and the preservation of tradition. There is an incomplete inculcation of modernity among indigents due to limitations in their resources and resistance to change. Indigenous people in the Philippines are progressively adapting into the mainstream through education, intensive agriculture, and communication technology all while still pursuing their ethnic customs and tradition. According to Portus (2007) mobile phones have been adopted by various indigent groups and have become part of their everyday life. Their accessibility to the internet has also gradually increased. One group in particular from Northern Luzon, called the Igorots, have used the internet to blog about their traditional identities. (Longboan 2009). SOCIETY Cocca et. Al. (2014) analysed the relationship of predominant religious culture of a nation to their innovative performance. Certain factors such as predominance in religion or fractionalization have the ability to shape the cultural traits, education, democratization, and institutions of countries. There is a direct relationship between religious diversity and technological innovation which is a main determinant in economic growth. Based on the data, countries with higher religious plurality have higher innovations by a million compared to countries with lower religious plurality. This can be a main driver of technological output in association with GDP per capita. There are however, omitted factors which also influence the shaping of a country’s socio- economic structure and technological factors. The factors included are: effective economic governance, diversity of cultures, geo economic location of countries, available natural resources and efficient energy system, colonial origins of countries, demographic change and population, institutions, effective national system of innovation and fruitful university, industry and government linkages, higher investment, and industrial structure of countries. ( Acemoglu , Johnson, Robinson. 2008) Christian religions have positive relationship with the shaping of people’s attitude towards a conducive economic growth (Guiso, Sapienza, Zingales. 2006) Protestantism has a positive correlation with growth and development. An argument proposed by Deneulin and Rakodi (2011) states that religion is an essential force in influencing the values of people. Things considered important by religion have an effect on what people consider as important. Other sectors of a government (eg. Economic . social, political, cultural and scientific) rely on religion as an important source to consider before deciding to take an action. Religion has set formal and informal standards to motives set by the people. On another outlook, it influences the society’s culture and stimulates the people’s attitude of mind that develops the social capital in the population. A large influence directs the government with its priorities which may vary from human life, culture, education, institutions, socioeconomic activities and the likes. Alesina, Devleeshauwer, Easterly, Kurlat, and Wacziang . (2003) There is however a downside to cultural diversity according to Linstone (2010). With too much diversity, it is much harder to come up with agreements due to communication constraints. It is therefore, necessary to maintain a good balance between the numbers of divergent culture so as to still meet the benefit of technological innovations for the establishment of a good society. The past studies have large similarities with this study. Primarily is the mentioned necessity of the enumerated factors for socio- cultural advancement. These will be important in determining the effects of such factors in the context of establishing a new society. The second similarity involves the relationship of the presence of diverse cultures in the advancement of innovations which is necessary for societal advancement. This can be attributed how small groups eventually merge to form a society. A need to control the number of divergent is also a fact necessary to maintain just the right amount in decision making in order to arrive in a mutual agreement. Another similarity involves the influence of one factor in shaping the decision of a society. Usually this factor(eg. Religion) is considered extremely important and treated as something that should be considered with every decision made by the society. There are glaring differences between the past studies and this particular study. Instead of focusing on the technological innovations primarily, this study will be focusing on the establishment of society per se not on innovations alone. it is only one of the many indicator of socioeconomical growth, therefore other factors should be as equally involved.