Sociologist Says Individualism Is Anathema to Social Change

The problem with American Society is the way individuals view their relation to social change, sociologist Phillip E. Slater told a Cambridge Forum last night.

"We think of social change in terms of an inert mass of mechanically interrelated parts. We change the part that's not functioning," Slater, a former professor at Harvard and Brandeis and author of "The Pursuit of Loneliness," said.

Find a Solution

We cannot begin to find a solution to problems until we stop looking at things piecemeal, he said. In his speech on "Is American Society Outsmarting Itself?" Slater said, "The system is not functioning--to look for a distinct malfunction is pointless."

Slater extrapolated the problem of compartmentalization of social problems to the compartmentalization of each individual in his relation to other people.

Slater said that the recognition of social problems as a common denominator helps unify people.

"Social problems are the mileau in which we swim: people should acknowledge that they share a concern," he said.

However, an individual should not make the mistake of taking on the problems of the world, Slater said. He should "pay attention to his own viscera."

'Blueprinting Tendency'

He cited the "blueprinting" tendency of the American system--each person's viewing himself as an isolated entity in an effort to view social problems objectively--as a basic flaw of commissions studying social problems.

The problem with analyzing a problem by breaking it down to components is that one obtains "such a narrow focus that we psychologize and miss the totality of the problem," he said.

Slater said Americans should cure individualism by changing their attitudes toward society and by interacting with their own problems but not by assuming the problems of the world.

"Social change cannot be forced to come about--it comes out of a lot of collected little decisions by people in their everyday lives who finally gain impact," he said.

Slater, further extrapolated his analysis of the problem of compartmentalization to the university level.

"I don't like universities. People don't explore ideas they classify them," he said.

Slater is director and founder of Greenhouse, an agency interested in consciousness raising and development of new communities.