1920-2020: History Repeats Itself, So Does Sociology

This essay explores the connection between history, biography, and sociology by comparing the eras of 1920 and 2020. It examines the impact of industrialization and technology on society, the role of social engineering, and the concept of sociological imagination. The essay also discusses the lessons we can learn from history and the importance of critical assimilation. Subject: Sociology, Course Code: N/A, Course Name: N/A, College/University: N/A, Document Type: Essay, Assignment Type: Comparative Analysis

Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
Introduction
The connection between, history, biography and sociology is an interesting one, for
developing a better understanding in an anecdotal term we can hypothetically create a time
machine. After it, we can pick up a topic or the theory of sociological interest and compare
two different eras of history (Mills, 1959). This phenomenon is also known as sociological
imagination. Period film dramas and novel writers often take the support of this technique of
sociological imagination. In the current essay, we will also strike a combination of biography
and history when we will compare the era of 2020 with 1920. With the help of this
comparison, we will also explain certain elements of this comparison on an academic level.
A comparison between the eras of the industrial revolution in the USA with the fourth
generation of the industrial revolution
Let's take the case of the industrialization of the US society in the era of 1920. It was the time
when huge machines were taking over smaller businesses. These machines were very
efficient and it was a challenge in front of the managers to come up with efficient human
beings that can be placed in the big assembly lines to do the mean jobs or the smaller job
(Mayeda, 2016).
Let’s now travel in the era of 2020; it is just the same, the technology of “Internet of the
things” is all set to take over the world. Once again the industrialists of our era are trying to
place human beings in between. The only saving grace with the human kind right now is
“intelligence.” Machines are not intelligent enough, they are running on “artificial
intelligence (AI)” however, this artificial intelligence is not sufficient enough to handle
certain decisions based on intuition or tacit knowledge (Johnson, 2016).
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
As an individual, I am living in an era where I am subjected to compete with this onslaught of
AI. Yes, let's accept it, it is not a plot of any Hollywood film, it is a reality, we all are under
severe threat of AI. It seems like another solution adding comfort in our life; however, the
impacts of AI on the socio-economic status of future societies are drastic (Wiley, 2016).
They can increase the gap between the rich and poor and create a socio-economic imbalance
that can trigger a dirty war of survival between humans and machines.
Now let's tam our imagination and travel back in the era of 1920, it was the time when
humans were trying to become a machine, their managers were telling them to become smart,
they were telling them to kill human emotions and work like a machine. For many
individuals, it was a matter of survival at that point in time. The story of the era of 1920 and
2020 can attract the same title, this title is "Man v/s Machine" the timeless eternal quest".
In the current essay while drawing a comparison between both these era's we will try to
explain the societies and the culture of these respective eras under some sociological
frameworks. By connecting some events and social phenomenon we will try to generate some
lessons from the history that can be carried forward in the biographies of the future
generation (Shields, 2017).
Social Engineering is a common factor
As an individual transplanting myself in the era of the 1920s and then moving back to the era
of the 1920s, I find certain keywords that have been thrown by the social engineers of that
era. The sociological history of that era tells us that it was the time when two major things
were taking place in society. The first thing was related to the abolishment of slavery from
society and the second thing was related to the arrival of the immigrants from the different
countries of the world (Shapiro, 2016). From the context of the sociology, we can say that it
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
was the time when political leaders, social leaders and the role models of the society were
busy in the creation of some messages that can build and unite a nation while propagating the
mantra of “unity in diversity (Ossewarde, 2014).”
We can give them the name of "social engineers of the society." A lot of things happened
during that time, the concept of "American dreams" was floated. We are aware that the
American dream is a collective name given to the literature and the culture of a society which
was open to all. Symbols like the statue of the liberty and constitutional dictum that the USA
welcomes everyone who wants to be a true and progressive citizen of this country (Connect,
2014). Legal experts of that era were busy in taking care of the anomie. Anomie is a socio-
legal concept, this concept deals with the dissatisfaction levels caused due to the class
difference. The developers of criminal psychology expressed a concern related to the
development of anomie in society (Mudge, 2014). Leaders like Thomas Jefferson and others
took note of this concern and they came up with some messages to add a new culture in the
life of the people belonging to the upcoming classes.
Most of the historians of that era gave it the name of the development of modern society. It
was also the time when the concept of the liberalism came into existence. It was the time
when administrative forces, joined hands with the policy makers and they tried to come up
with an agenda for the creation the community goods. The broad sum of these activities can
also be termed as a neo-culture (Fraiser, 2014). Right now we are giving it the name of neo-
culture because we are talking about these changes in the era of the 1920s.
Social engineering in the 21st century
Every society has its own share of priorities, for instance when we have a look at the present
society which is heading towards 2020, we find that on the scale of socio-economic affairs
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
this society is in a transition (Johnson, 2015). Three major changes are taking place in this
society. First, this society is heading towards the fourth generation of industrial reforms.
Second, this society is preparing itself for becoming a host of the global market. In the year
2022, most of the major countries of this world will start trading in the era of open skies
(Marie, 2018). Most of the countries of the world are preparing themselves for this major
change. On the sociological level, we can say that the current world is heading towards
becoming a global world where global citizens will form the foundation of a new world
(Kremakova, 2015).
In the terms of the creation of cultural identity when we compare this era with the era of 1920
then we find that at that point of time USA was inviting individuals to join the workforce in
the USA. Now they are reaching out to the other countries of the world and trying to promote
the culture of consumerism so that they can sell their goods in the world. In a similar fashion
other countries of the world are doing the same thing. A cultural exchange of the highest
level is ringing in the world (Skagess, 2014).
Social engineers of the present times are now tackling the problem of anomie once again,
however, this time it is an international problem because certain third world countries may
feel dissatisfied. This is why they are trying to promote western values in these countries.
We can understand it with the help of a simple example associated with business process
outsourcing (BPO) industry. In order to bring down operational costs, many western world
countries are now outsourcing their call center services in third world countries. They are
hiring and training economic labor, during this process of training they are telling these
employees to behave and dress like a resident of any first world country. We can compare
this training with the training giving by the social engineers in the era of the 1920s.
Sometimes I can correlate myself with an individual living in the era of 1920. They were
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
chasing American dreams and in the year 2019, I am aspiring for a “digital dream” where I
can leave a mark in the digital world and make a fortune.
The combination of history and biography allows us to explore the inner life of an
individual
Author C. Wright Millis in his essay "The Promise" introduced us to many concepts of the
history that can be explored with the help of the biography. One such concept is of the "inner
life" of a person. Filmmakers and novel writers often take advantage of this connection
between biography and history while setting up some plots in a bygone era. We can
understand it more clearly with the help of an example of a timeless story. “The gift of the
Magi" is an immortal story essayed by author O Henry, in the year 1905, the backdrop of this
story was set in the era of great recession when jobless couples were trying to meet the ends.
This story depicts the emotional journey of a couple on the eve of Christmas when they were
short of money to enjoy the festivity. The plot line of this story can be rewritten for the 21st
century as well and this time we can represent the era of 2006 when the USA was dealing
with a great grand recession and people were losing their jobs.
Conclusion
The combination of history and biology has this potential to enrich the social imagination of
individual multiple folds. It allows an individual to compare and contrast the two eras of
human history and draw parallels. An individual can interpret few facts of a bygone era
beyond the dry language of facts and add a flash and blood of his own experiences to
understand it better. Most of the historians promote history as a lesson book for social science
where thinkers and social engineers can learn a few lessons from a course of the event from
the past. This critical assimilation of the two eras demands a strong sociological imagination.
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
In order to complete this circle of critical assimilation, an individual can take the support of a
comparative study of his own biography and history to draw a few conclusions.
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Running Head: 1920-2020, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, SO DOES THE SOCIOLOGY
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