Paradigms and the Structure of Scientific Revolutions of Thomas Kuhn

 1. Definition and explanation of what is a Paradigm and how it is created and developed.

A paradigm can be defined as a theory or assumption about a certain topic, which has often been used in a multicultural context to describe the preconceived ideas we have about some groups or a relevant topic. It is mostly bound to a historical or cultural context which determines the way we conceive things.  

It all starts with an idea about a problem or relevant theme which is developed to find a solution, creating at the same time new paradigms. Kuhn described this process as an opportunity to explore the research of different ideas or interpretation of the same phenomena. 

To explain this topic, it is important to have an example. We have an idea such as “Gay couples shouldn’t adopt babies”, this very polemic idea is the first paradigm because many people believe so.  Which is followed by a reaction, maybe to be against this idea there’s a protest march to support gay couples who wish to adopt babies but at the same time there are some of them who agree with the paradigm. This starts a crisis about who is right or who is wrong. There is also a turning point where we are able to change some people's mind but not everyone, so they will start creating new paradigms. 

The paradigms develop through social interaction. Unfortunately, sometimes we normalize ideas that sometimes end up hurting others, and those are the main concerns when it comes to finding new solutions.

2. What is the Structure of Scientific Revolutions of Thomas Kuhn and how the social revolutions may fit in this system, provide explanations and examples.

He takes into account three main points, the paradigm, which is the set of ideas that are considered universal. The methodological processes that come with the creation of these ideas and the cultural concepts that are related to the context and the community where they are created. 

An idea is put on the table, this causes a reaction (an anomaly) therefore we start a crisis (what is the truth and what is a lie?). Then we have a revolutionary science which helps to find solutions in order to create a new paradigm which becomes a normalized science. 

The Structure of the Scientific Revolution of Thomas Kuhn is very complex because it not only exposes the main points to develop the idea, but it also opens the possibility of creating even more paradigms.  Paradigms become something that we get accustomed to because we normalize these ideas, all this due to the fact that maybe this idea is a common belief. 

                                  Anomalies

1 PARADIGM ------------------------------------------CRISIS-------------------------------------------- 2 PARADIGM

(Normal Science)                                                                    Revolutionary Science         (Normal science)

A clear example can be feminism in Mexico, the paradigm was that women were not treated equally generally speaking. The increase of cases of women murdered by men impacted significantly on topics such as safety, in how protected are women in our country by the justice system. This is the anomaly, women started protesting against the social justice system because there has been an increase in cases, but it seems as if they were avoiding talking about this issue. The crisis started when people started questioning the ways women protested because they thought it was very destructive and rude, but at the end. Many changed their minds because we realized that protesting caught the attention of the authorities, who helped with some laws that protected women in some areas. Even though they created these laws, there were many areas that needed protection, which started with new paradigms. 

Another example is the fact that African Americans were not allowed to go to some stores. As an anomaly, we can consider the start of the civil rights movement by Dr. Martin Luther King, who gave African Americans hope and inspired others to fight (non-violently) to be treated equally. The crisis in this case is the fact that people started questioning why they treated black people the way they did, this helped to find solutions for those who were in need. They changed their ways and started to allow them to go to more places, but it didn't completely change the situation as we can see nowadays creating even more paradigms about the same topic. 

      

                  

3. I would be thankful to read your feedback about the spiral structure of knowledge/skills acquisition.

The Spiral structure or the Mondragon Spiral is a very interesting view of how to overcome some typical problems in different areas when we want to expand our set of skills. The idea of the event is something that I haven't considered before as a motivation booster, at least not as something you can apply in a classroom. It is inspired by the previous structure, but the idea of having a record is very much needed to exceed our expectations and be able to create new solutions to our concerns. I didn't know about this structure:

1. Unconscious competent

2. Consciously competent

3. Consciously incompetent

4. Unconsciously incompetent 

This is required to develop skills to our full potential, which means that thanks to the spiral, we can achieve it.  I'm also interested in seeing the three-dimensional spiral model. Because I think adding some new aspects will help them to have a complete idea about how we can be able to be unconsciously competent and develop more skills that will help with our daily life.

Will Kymlicka's theory

Will Kymlicka’s minority rights theory, for a multicultural citizenship, takes into account about three main points. Will Kymlicka is a Canadian philosopher whose works about multiculturalism have given us important points to comprehend the evolving societal structure in a globalized world. 

Starting with the Self-Government, as the name states, is the ability to govern one self meaning to have political and territorial autonomy to be able to keep their traditions untouched. An indispensable example about this is how minority groups had to establish their own set of rules to preserve their identity. It alludes to the political rights that are seen as official for a community, such as the right to vote, to own a property and to receive education. 

Ex. Immigrants in the United States have established their own communities where everyone shares traditions and a specific territory, and sometimes they are supported by the law of the place, or they create their own set of rules. 

Another main point is the Poly-ethnic, this point is significant because it helps to include or integrate the cultural minorities and promote their lifestyle in a society. An essential example about this point is that the groups are allowed to be themselves, embrace their culture and lifestyle in the society that they belong to, because they are accepted by them. On the other hand, they are not recognized by the law. It refers to the social rights, which mean that these rights work in order for the society to work out their problems and be able to coexist. Some examples are: freedom of speech, security, not to be exploited…

Ex. LGBTQ+ communities are starting to gain recognition by members of the society. At the same time, in the present, they are still struggling to gain political recognition since in many countries being part of this community is illegal or considered as bad behavior. 

The last point that Kymlicka takes is the Representation. This is the lowest level of recognition because it means that the whole country knows that these groups exist, but they are not as accepted or taking into account.  This group represents just the human rights, which means they are granted to everyone for the only reason that we are all human. Everything considered friendly is part of the representation group because it treats people as they are, human beings. Some examples are: life, respect, freedom of religion. 

Ex. Students belong to these groups because they exist in a society, but they are not granted with as much visibility as they deserve, the same thing happens with members of the 3rd age groups, teenagers and disable people. These groups are recognized by the human rights, but they don't belong to any specific society or territory because they're sill part of a general one. Nevertheless, most of the time these groups are forgotten.

 

OPINION:

In my opinion, this theory describes perfectly how we live right now. There are levels of privilege that some groups take advantage of because the world is evolving and acceptance becomes easier and a key to integrate the group in the social order. Despite the fact that these levels are marked by the type of rights these groups rely on.  It is true that if we see the world as fragmented as it is, we will continue to separate these groups and diminish their value on the society as a whole. Human, social or political rights must be given to every citizen despite their culture. Even though it is just a theory, it reflects how departed we are from the idea of a unity, the society that not only explores diversity but embraces it. What is the point in granting some rights to some and depriving some groups from the advantages of feeling protected and supported. Recognition shouldn't be based on these ideas, but I now know that it is the reality we are facing day by day. This theory comes very close to how we can fix our “differences” and try to be more open-minded about the way societies work. I agree with the idea that this is how we are distributed, minority groups because they are considered as a minority are not taken into account in the decision-making process. But I refuse to believe that this can’t be changed, I think that it is possible that these groups can be recognized by every right even though by the majority they are not worth of them. 

We can see with disabled people who are somehow respected but they most of the time struggle to find a job, or how LGBTQ+ members aren't recognized by institutions to be able to marry their loved ones. Or in the higher level of this theory, how natives live in certain areas because they are still not accepted in the society despite being part of the historical context. Will Kymlicka’s theory explores the points that we don’t want to acknowledge because most of the time we turn the blind eye on them. 

REFERENCES:

(N.d.). Uregina.Ca. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://uregina.ca/~gingrich/k1.htm#:~:text=Kymlicka%20defines%20national%20minorities%20in,rights%20or%20special%20representation%20rights.

Braund, M. J. (n.d.). Will Kymlicka. Thecanadianencyclopedia.Ca. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/will-kymlicka

 

Article of opinion.

 "I HAVE A DREAM"  that this dream will eventually come true. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr gave a very inspiring speech called “I Have a Dream”, declared on the 28th of August 1963. In this speech he exposes the ideal scenery for the African American communities who suffered from discrimination and lack of recognition even though they were also American and a substantial part of the community. This speech was supposed to give hope to the communities about a future where everyone could be treated equally, but as the present taught us, we are still fighting for this cause even 50 years after. 

“Five score years ago, a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation” 

He starts by talking about the Emancipation Proclamation, which was what we call the end of slavery, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. From here on, African Americans were supposed to be treated differently, but he continues by explaining that “One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity”. He meant to expose a reality that this idea of freedom was just for a few and that they were treated almost the same. In my opinion, what we call America has always been separated despite it being a multicultural place. We can say that African Americans were considered a form of descriptive multiculturalism, but they struggled to escalate to a normative type. They were considered a group, but never really dignified as human beings at the time. 

This idea is described later on when Dr King refers to the declaration of Independence guaranteeing “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” which in reality was available for white people only. The idea of giving African Americans a dignified life was not on the plan, or at least explicitly. This created a world of injustice and lack of identity for those who were not supported by the government because in comparison to other groups they were considered a minority, therefore they did not receive the same attention. He continues talking about the importance of unity and how this is a topic that not only concerns African Americans, but it is something that everyone has to be part of because we are all humans.

“We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt”. A very clever idea was to use the bank as a metaphor for changing their checks for rights, and how this worked for some, but for others it seemed that there were not any funds. This rejection and segregation caused that these communities joined together, and became very attached to their religion. A cultural trait that is very well known in the African American communities and the culture they had built. The church was an escape, an example is how gospel allowed people to express themselves through music and how almost every artist set their bases into it. 

We can see this context in Dr King’s speech because he used many biblical allusions. 

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”(Jeremiah 2:13) which encourages people to fight for their rights but not exceed this hatred because violence is still not the answer as Gandhi used to say. 

“I have a dream” cannot be a more fitting name for a speech that talks about an ideal society, an ideal way of living, fair for all and how this was expected to happen in the future. It was seen as something possible, a change that was about to come. Specially when Dr King talks about his own family and legacy: 

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character”.

All in all, Dr King’s speech is still relevant today because many of these actions are still present in the daily life. Black, brown or yellow people are not treated equally because they are still considered a minority. Despite having rights like everybody else, having a unique culture and identity that was built from many events, including this speech that I just talked about. 

If you think words can’t change the world, I think they are completely underestimating it. Changes do not come overnight, it takes time because there are some ideas that are rooted in some people, and it's very hard to make them change their mind. It takes time to be able to change them in order to respect others, we can say that the new generations are growing up surrounded by multiculturalism, by freedom of speech, and they are allowed to create their own identity. It's a matter of time to make this dream come true and prove that a word of equality would be better.  

As Dr. King mentioned: 

“With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together [...] knowing that we will be free one day”.

“Free at last, free at last, great God a-mighty, we are free at last”.

The response to new social movements has been divided, but it brought many changes that are taking us to this utopia that Martin Luther King Jr once dreamed about. 

References: 

2K Studios. (2017, Jan 18). Martin Luther King Jr. - I Have A Dream (Subtitulado en español) [Completo] . [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zxQRHJJuXU

King, M.L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream [Speech transcript]. The Avalon Project. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/mlk01.asp

MULTICULTURALISM

Today's class was about a very interesting topic: Multiculturalism, which is the existence of diverse cultures in a society, we have to take into account that these groups can be or not accepted by the society laws. Often we can see groups that are recognizable, because the members share unique attributes (culture). In few words, they have their own identity, and they are recognized for these characteristics, but they are no always well seen, therefore the struggle for them to become normative (supported by the law). 

History is filled with events that have marked this process. Women, for example, were mistreated the whole time, but they were recognized when they were given the right to vote. We can say that before this happened, they were just a group that had their own identity and culture. Same thing happened with the African American communities in the United States, they were oppressed due to the fact that in the past they used to be treated in the worst way possible and this idea did not change overnight. Years of fighting and raising their voice was what it took to finally be able to be part of a society as everyone is supposed to be. 

To reach this conclusion, many themes were considered. A clear example is the Hegel and the masters and slaves dialect. It explains that we have to see people as individual and look at what defines their existence as a human being in order to be able to recognize one self and the nation. The next one is Rousseau's Model of dignity where we are not only recognized and love ourselves, this way we can create unity and equality. Additionally, the Meech lake accord would have allowed Canada its linguistic duality and to be considered a distinct society, but it also raised concerns on feminist and indigenous groups in the lack of citizen involvement in the accord. In the end, they fix the problem by providing protections for multicultural rights. Which takes us to the recognition of the country, with the 14 amendment the United States recognizes each individual by granting them citizenship and guaranteeing equal protection. On the other hand, the Dworkin liberalism allows people to choose how they want to live and respect others decision to fulfill the idea of a good life, making an environment of equality. To sum it all up, Charles Taylor in his study explains the Politics of recognition, all the information we just talked about gets to the conclusion that these groups are worth of dignity and self recognition. Equality and the law recognition is a valuable point to live in a multicultural society, we have to support every group or minority understanding who they are to avoid nonrecognition that causes more harm than good. 

GLOSSARY: 

Multiculturalism: It refers to the existence of many cultural and ethnic groups in a society and, at the same time, at the policy that promotes this type of society around the world. 

Descriptive Multiculturalism: It explains the cultural phenomena  that exist in every society. We can recognize that some groups have developed their own identity and are coexisting among us. 

Normative Multiculturalism: It refers to the recognition of these groups that are considered multicultural because their practices differ from others. It is considered as a celebration due to the fact that they now have rights and are respected by some policies and laws.  

Identity: it can be defined as the unique characteristics that one person has, it can be linked to the culture they belong to or a social group that they are part of. It is what takes a person apart from the group because it also holds personal features. 

Culture: It is a term that in a few words can be described as the lifestyle, behavior values that a community share and consider their own identity. These costumes and traditions are passed along by communication from one generation to the following one.

Finally, add a picture that explains roughly each one of the following topics:

1. Dialectic of Master and Slave of Hegel:

2. The Model of Dignity Citizenship of Rousseau:

3. The Meech Lake Accord:

4. 14th amendment of the American bill of rights:

5. Dworkin liberalism:

6. Politics of Recognition of Charles Taylor:

REFERENCES:

Ward, C., Watters, S. M., Stuart, J., & Karl, J. A. (2020). Normative multiculturalism in Socio-political context. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/iaccp_papers/281/

Kazanjian, C. J. (2019). Toward developing a descriptive multicultural phenomenology. Pedagogy Culture and Society, 27(2), 287–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2018.1469544

Eagan, J. L. (2021). multiculturalism. In Encyclopedia Britannica.

Identity: Definition, types, & examples. (n.d.). The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/identity.html

Culture definition. (n.d.). Tamu.edu. Retrieved August 28, 2022, from http://people.tamu.edu/~i-choudhury//culture.html

FIRST CLASS REVIEW

 1. Write a review in which you indicate the main points or concerns about the subject introduction. Include as well a full report on the topics that were addressed on the videoconference with the special guest.

The subject is called Cultural Diversity Management. We are going to review many subjects that we saw in the past semester, “postcolonialism”.  We read the program, and we noticed that this time we are looking for information that has to do with the direct consequences of colonialism; such as multiculturalism, cultural diversity and reconciliation.

This means that from a critic point of view, we will be able to analyze information about the sociocultural context of many Anglo-Saxon countries. The social movements that have developed throughout the years and had caused a change in the way that society thinks.

To understand a little more, it is important to study three concepts that are the main ideas of this topic. 

Multiculturalism: the way in which a society deals with cultural diversity, both at the national and at the community level. It assumes that society as a whole benefits from increased diversity through the harmonious coexistence of different cultures.

With this concept, it will be easier to understand the reality of many countries that have managed to preserve their culture in a place where we can find many of them coexisting. 

Cultural diversity: the cultural variety and cultural differences that exist in the world, a society, or an institution. 

The acknowledgement of a cultural diversity to respect the differences that may present and be able to live in an environment full of mutual appreciation.

Reconciliation: the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement. 

Many countries have a shaky past due to colonialism, war or other conflicts, but we have to reach a reconciliation in order to move forward towards a society that seeks the development and preservation of each other. This subject is going to introduce many of the examples that already exist between countries that are not in the best terms but have managed to support each other in this process. 

We made a video conference with Juan Moreno who is part of a very interesting program. His program seeks for the preservation of indigenous cultures who have been left aside by many government programs in previous years, but now there are six programs which are bringing fabulous results.  It was about the cultural diversity that exists in our country and how it has to be promoted. From the beginning I realized that this topic was very significant and related to the subject. 

Even though this subject is focused on other cultures, we have to be aware that our own country struggles with the recognition of many of them that are disappearing little by little. It is also a fact that when we lose another language, we lose part of our history. Just in Oaxaca, there are 16 indigenous languages and his program is covering many aspects that these communities struggle with, such as: the essence and history of the communities which by a program called “Living languages” are trying to tell stories in their own language and with this tell us a little about their history and the things they believe in. 

Another program which I consider to be very important and relevant is the “talent seeds”, this program helps to overcome the school dropout problem due to the lack of opportunities that these communities have.  

Last but not least, there is a program that they had to add during the pandemic that helps single mothers to be able to take care of themselves and their children. Most of the time in our country, women have to fight harder to get a job due to discrimination, specially if they have children. 

Another topic that we approached in this conference was discrimination, in spite of being in a society that is more inclusive as time goes by, we haven't made a difference for indigenous communities. They still deal with rejection because of their language and their clothing, leaving them with close to none opportunities to develop and be part of the society in general. 

All in all, we ended the call with a very influential topic which is how can we preserve a culture while we are facing constant changes that lead us towards a globalize culture. It is a challenge that this type of programs have to deal with, but it doesn't stop them to try to save as many of a culture as they can. It is unfair that history is being lost due to ignorance towards indigenous groups because they hold a precious part of our history in general.

References:

Longley, Robert. (2021, December 6). What Is Multiculturalism? Definition, Theories, and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-multiculturalism-4689285

Cultural diversity. (n.d.). Www.dictionary.com. Retrieved August 17, 2022, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cultural-diversity

Reconciliation definition & meaning | Britannica dictionary. (n.d.). In Encyclopedia Britannica.