Society Power And Personal Freedom

The discussion of the relationship between individuals and society is not new. The nature of this relationship varies in different political systems. The relationship between the individual and the organization affects personal freedom. Many factors play a role in determining the nature and level of personal freedom, including gender, race, social class, and nationality. Consequently, the concept of freedom is linked to the idea of power.

In other words, more power leads to an increase in individual autonomy. To see how power and freedom go hand in hand, we need to examine the concept of power and also see what sources of power an individual has in society.
French sociologist Pierre Felix Bourdieu understood the concept of power through the concept of capital.

According to Bourdieu, economic, social, and cultural capital determine the power of any individual in society. Economic capital refers to economic assets that include cash and property. Social capital refers to an individual’s relationships with important people in society (social network). If a person has relationships with prominent and influential people in society, it means that he is more socially reasonable and powerful.

Read Also: Do You Sleep All Day? Are You Awake All Night?

Cultural capital refers to an individual’s relationship with prestigious institutions determined by society. For example, if a person has been associated with a prominent educational institution or has worked in a prominent institution, then his position in society is better. The important point is that sometimes one capital can be converted into another capital. For example, if someone has economic capital, it will be easy for him to acquire cultural capital, similarly, people with cultural capital do not have difficulty in acquiring social capital.

Along with the determination of power and freedom in terms of capital, various social institutions also shape freedom. Among these social institutions are family, educational institutions, religion, and media. In the context of industrial and technological development, it is understood that today’s man is much more independent than in the past. But it is very sad to say that in the modern era everything is the opposite.

The corporate sector has abundant funds for marketing. That is, this sector is determining people’s wants and needs with the help of their capital. Although people think that they are independent in their decisions, the reality is the opposite.
Powerful advertising also affects individual freedom in a very effective and powerful way. German philosopher and sociologist Adorno says that “In the modern era, personal freedom has been replaced by corporate logic”.

Read Also: Thug of Banaras Short Story

Education, which is an important social institution, aims to guide people towards freedom. Freedom, which is the first basic goal of education, is not available to children in ordinary schools in the same way as it is available to children in elite schools. This is mainly due to the fact that children of the poor who go to ordinary schools do not have access to basic facilities. Among these basic facilities are regular buildings, drinking water, toilet, etc. Similarly, schools do not have such teachers and dynamic classrooms.

In such situations, children of normal schools do not even have the freedom to ask questions and express their ideas. The concept of freedom should be imprinted in the minds of children. Almost extinct in normal school children. Let us examine the role of another social institution called the media.
Media has emerged as an important and effective institution, and the role of media in terms of impact on the audience is much greater than all other institutions. We all strongly believe that media provides readers and listeners with a wide range of information on various topics.

People should be empowered by the information and knowledge provided by the media and thus media should enhance the personal freedom of the people.
An important question is, is this happening in the world around us? To find the answer to this question, we must understand the politics of representation and the media is a great supporter of this concept of representation. As Foucault opines that there is a close relationship between power and knowledge, those who have the source and sources of power cultivate certain types of narratives. And this narrative constructs social reality.

The media does all this through the two techniques of priming and framing. These concepts are close to Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. Thus the media has emerged as an institution that shapes the thinking of people subject to its will. Readers, listeners, and viewers are free to choose what the media has planned for them.

Gramsci names this whole process as spontaneous consent, where a certain group of people clothes their ideas according to their will. Chomsky’s spontaneous consent is actually manufactured consent.
This process of will-building takes place on the basis of different realities established on the basis of the agenda. Which comes into existence with the help of language. This concept is clearly explained by Fairclough in his seminal book Language and Power. You will be quite surprised when you see the coverage of the same incident on different news channels.

For example, if we examine the coverage of the war in Iraq, we will find that the same event (Fox News), CNN, and Al Jazeera have been treated very differently according to their preferences. has presented all these different perspectives and views of the same event. That is, viewers are not free to form an opinion about something, but on the contrary, social institutions, especially the media, continue to build this opinion on a regular basis.
As progress is being made, freedom is becoming more and more elusive. Foucault in his book (Discipline and Punish) explains how physical punishment is now turning into mental torture. In other words, mental punishment is replacing physical torture.

Foucault’s concept of panoptic surveillance illustrates how modernity has affected people’s solitude and individual freedom. In today’s modern world complete tracking of our phone calls, phone messages, and internet activities have severely affected our personal freedom. At offices, at home, and on outings, we always feel that someone is watching our activities. Thus, we are not personally free in the modern age but are living under the shadow of constant surveillance.

Read Also: How We Used To Read Books As Children