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  • Essay / Overview of the Role of Social Imagination in Society

    Humanity has developed a multitude of societies based on different ideologies throughout our existence on Earth. This essay implicitly explores the role of imagination in the construction of these societies. According to Hargreaves, the social imagination can be defined as "how, in any age, members of society make unquestioned assumptions about the social and moral order in which they live." He specifies that this is what “constitutes normality for them in their practices and in their relationships with each other”. It is essential to explore this concept of social imagination because it appears to directly influence the structure and action of a society. This concept also raises a number of questions about the nature of the human mentality and how this means that imagination has played an extremely important role in the construction of societies throughout history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayA contemporary piece of legislation that effectively maps a progression of ideologies is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). Produced shortly after the end of World War II, this document was the culmination of a series of political concepts and its introduction was necessitated by an accumulation of perceived human rights violations during the war. A crucial statement conveyed in this document is that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” While this may seem obvious to those of us born after this legislation was implemented, it was more of a revolutionary ideology derived from several landmark historical concepts. From the original Magna Carta in England in 1215 to the American abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and the abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861, history is littered with controversial innovations conceived by many individuals with the aim to spread freedom, fairness and equality among peoples. perceived as not having that. Although this is a way of tracing the trajectory of ideologies throughout history, Lopez describes human rights law as "a moral shortcut for determining what is acceptable, but even more so what is not." is not in the treatment of individuals. Here he alludes to the theory that this trajectory can be traced not only by progressive human rights initiatives, but just as much by human rights violations. Indeed, human mentality is often influenced by contemporary issues. Magna Carta, for example, was written in response to a tyrannical ruler who violated the civil liberties of his people. The same can be said of the abolition of the slave trade and serfdom, in the United States and Russia respectively. As Lopez notes, human imagination is influenced by one's experiences, and it is these experiences that develop the ideologies that evolve and construct the image of societies. Jack Donnelly asserts in his 2013 book Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice that "the universal nature of these rights and freedoms is indisputable", suggesting that although this document is a product of the human imagination, it is fundamentally linked to the life of each individual. Not only does this demonstrate the power of imagination in constructing a document that would become a pillar of modern society, but it also alludes to the workings of the human mind and how such a great change in society can be perceived simply from a written idea. on paper. This point is developed by the DOHR, whichrecognizes that “virtually all states regard internationally recognized human rights as a firmly established part of law and policy.” It is only due to the global accumulation of progressive human rights ideologies and historical human rights violations that such legislation has come into existence and, in a contemporary sense, it plays a vital role in social development.imaginary as to what is perceived as acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Not only does such legislation exist as a result of human imagination, but its very fabric is sustained by enduring moral support for the ideologies that contributed to its founding. Fundamentally, these historical developments, whether progressive or otherwise, are simply experiments. As Von Glasersfeld points out, society "must be formed by each individual by means of generalizations from his own experiences", implying that society is a collective image of singular perspectives which, when conglomerated, form the pillars of the company. This may be the case in relation to human rights law, where the link between the date of introduction of the legislation and recent historiography is clear. Other important ideologies can also be attributed to the ingenuity of an individual or to a number of events that, in tandem, result in some form of social enlightenment. Von Glasersfeld expands on this point by explaining that "socialization arises from drives, interests, goals and inclinations", thus developing the perspective that fundamental aspects of a society were once mere products of the human imagination . The motivations behind the development of these imaginations are unclear, as Von Glasersfeld notes, and may be more than social experiences. The catalyst for radical social change may be as seemingly irrelevant as the accumulation of individual experiences as in the case of Adolf Hitler, political intent as in the case of Joseph Stalin or even the propensity of a individual to vote in a certain way as in the case of Joseph Stalin. This has been the case many times throughout history. Although it is impossible to break down each social pillar and trace its roots, it is evident that there is a historiographical pattern behind each of them, and as such, the contemporary social imagination has been heavily influenced to both by a variety and combination of different ideologies. It is these by-products of the imagination that continually shape society and influence social change, and will continue to do so. Although it is simple to look back on such developments and view them as inherently established and unquestionable truths, much like how religious texts have done. For centuries, it has been equally important to assess how contemporary ideologies might influence future developments, resulting in similar “universal” truths. On a global scale, the modern social imagination can be said to neglect ecological issues, an issue which, in hindsight, could be viewed in the same light as human rights. As Education, Sustainability and the Social Ecological Imaginary points out, “the environment cannot be considered another problem, it is life itself”. In the same way that human rights are now considered “universal,” ecological reform is considered an absolute truth in some circles and may come to be accepted as such by future generations. However, as with the issue of human rights, these ideas will probably need to be..