We are not born with values, beliefs, and viewpoints. Socialization is the way culture is transmitted and the way we learn the expectations of our society. Politics, broadly conceived, is essentially about power and values: who gets what, when, where, how, and why. Values are our beliefs about what is proper and improper, right and wrong, fair and unfair. People acquire their political values and social sensibilities through socialization. This is the way we become aware of beliefs and values, developing a worldview, forming frames and opinions about social and political issues, our social and political system, and power relations, indeed about everyday issues of fairness and justice, what’s right and wrong, what is and should be.
While closely related to values, politics and political socialization are not simply and periodically about issues related to politicians, political parties, governments, and elections, but rather about our sensibilities regarding how society works and should work. Values and politics are embedded into every group that we are a part of and every setting that we enter.
Discuss and analyze your own personal process of values socialization, both as a child and also as an adult, from your earliest memories to the present. Don’t simply tell what you think or believe, but rather why you believe it and where those beliefs may have originated.
Consider each of the following agents of socialization (though you don’t necessarily need to cite each), and give specific examples from your own life regarding how your past experiences may have affected your current beliefs and values:
* family (parents, grandparents, siblings, children, relatives)
* peers (work, school, social, etc.)
* other significant people (teachers, neighbors, politicians, coaches, clergy, etc.)
* region (where you were born, grew up, visited, and/or live now)
* school / education / training
job / work / career
* class, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, ability, nationality, and other identities
* religion / spirituality / philosophy / ideology
* community (neighborhood, group memberships, etc.)
* media (TV, radio, music, internet, movies, books, magazines, etc.)
significant events, processes, or experiences, either in your own life or in society
You must discuss and analyze how some of these factors have influenced you (e.g., what is their impact on your social attitudes and political beliefs?). In terms of values, where do you come from? Leave abstractions aside, being concrete, specific, and explicit about how you’ve incorporated the beliefs and values you were taught into your life.
This paper should be no less than 1200 words; longer is OK. Please include the plagiarism certification statement and a word count on the top of your paper as well as creatively titling your values autobiography. We will also discuss our socialization processes and values socialization projects in class.
