Modernity - a philosophical disposition
Modernity is a philosophical disposition which addresses society as a rational object of analysis. Modernity assumes, that through rational analysis of our society, rational solutions can be derived and implemented in the name of progress. However, progress is a loaded word and one man's progress is another man's nightmare. The Film N!ai portrays a community which becomes victim to theories of modernity and the implementation, or modernization, thereof. The community depicted in N!ai, the "!Kung", is affected by forced relocation, the shift to a cash-based economy from a subsistence-based one, and the circumscription and subsequent bureaucratization of social life under the South African state within a managed reservation. While the "!Kung" people are represented by white managers and soldiers as the 'beneficiaries' of this transformation, the film tells a different narrative; one that offers a critique of the effects of modern state politics upon small scale societies. By exploring Durkheim's theory of 'anomie and mechanical/organic transitions through the division of labor; Marx's theory of class conflict and commodity fetishism; and Freud's theory of repression and displaced aggression, it can be understood why the theories of modernity and the modernization thereof ultimately failed to progress the peoples depicted in the film N!ai.
Durkheim's theory begins with the notion of mechanical and organic divisions of labor. The !Kung tribal peoples within the film N!ai were an isolated mechanical division of labor. The hunter-gatherer tribe preformed group rituals of healing. Such healing rituals included song, trance like dancing and song and the collective effort of the group. Durkheim would suggest that such healing rituals reinforce a collective consciousness; the trance and dancing encourage family ties as well as hold a political power in their ability to persuade people to organize. Similarly, kinship, group solidarity and religion are reaffirmed through the songs associated with the healing process. The overlap of kinship, economic, political and religious spheres within the tribe in N!ai is defined by Durkheim as Mechanical solidarity.
According to Durkheim, eventually the tribe will grow and require a more complex and specialized division of labor in order to govern its peoples. Durkheim referred to this specialized division of labor as 'organic'. Durkheim' theory assumes that the transition from a mechanical division of labor to an organic division of labor will be a gradual evolution and that group solidarity will continue through reason not conformity. In the film N!ai, this was not the case. The !Kung tribe which functioned according to a mechanical division of labor was victim of forced movement and placed upon a reservation ...
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According to Durkheim, eventually the tribe will grow and require a more complex and specialized division of labor in order to govern its peoples. Durkheim referred to this specialized division of labor as 'organic'. Durkheim' theory assumes that the transition from a mechanical division of labor to an organic division of labor will be a gradual evolution and that group solidarity will continue through reason not conformity. In the film N!ai, this was not the case. The !Kung tribe which functioned according to a mechanical division of labor was victim of forced movement and placed upon a reservation and into a system of organic division of labor. This forced transition created a clash of values and world views. The !Kung did not evolve nor adapt gradually from their practice of shared wealth to a system of wage labor but were forced. This forced rapid transition ultimately created feelings of anxiety and dissent or anomie. Anomie according to Durkheim is the idea that people who lack social integration are lost, feel a deep sense of anxiety and will eventually rebel. Durkheim's theory of anomie accurately describes the feelings illustrated by the relevant !Kung tribe in the film N!ai. The !Kung, when forced into an organic division of labor were displaced, began to feel jealous of the monetary 'successes' of their peers, fought over food and possessions, and rebelled against each other. The old moral compass of the !Kung tribe was destroyed and there was nothing to take its place.
By reviewing Durkheims theory of mechanical and organic divisions of labor it can be concluded that the forced transition from mechanical to organic seen in the film N!ai ultimately created 'anomie'. The !Kung tribal peoples in N!ai, experienced discomfort with self because they lacked the sense of belonging to their newly enlarged society. The discomfort experienced by the tribe led to the destruction of their tribe and its rituals. The !Kung tribe and its values which were destroyed by the rapid transition from mechanical to organic divisions of labor and the consequent 'anomie' thereof, effectively illustrate the failure of modernity and its implementation.
Karl Marx wrote of class conflict and commodity fetishism. By comparing Marx's theories of class and class domination with the forced occupational divisions experienced by the !Kung tribe in the film N!ai, it will be clear that the theories applied to modernity ultimately failed. Marx asserted that cultural difference is produced through social practice. Marx feared that the difference between values embedded in culture are not insurmountable and will diminish into global culture that will supersede all those differences. Marx concluded that culture is an essentialized form of thinking used to separate people. Culture therefore, masks over the fact that certain individuals dominate over others and serves as the creator of a dominant ideology. The !Kung tribe existed within a classes society; food was gathered collectively and distributed evenly throughout the peoples. There was no concept of material things nor their worth. Eventually, white managers and soldiers placed the !Kung peoples upon a reservation and inserted them at the bottom of a class based economy. Hunting was banned, and the !Kung were forced to eat mealy meal. The values which once defined the !Kung culture were no longer were effective means survival and were erased. The !Kung were placed at the bottom of a capitalist society, the dominant ideology of modernity, and this lead to the abolishment of the !Kung culture and created asymmetrical encounters between the dominant culture and the individual.
As the class economy took shape among the !Kung, commodity fetishism and further conflict was created. According to Marx, commodity fetishism is instead of seeing the relationship between people in society, there is a transformation where relationships become based on exploitation. People begin work hard to purchase the fruits of their labor not realizing that they are giving value to the very source of their bondage. N!ai, the protagonist, begins to experience aggression from her peers on account of her ability to earn a wage through the entertainment of tourists curious about 'savage' cultural practices.
Modernity introduced a class society to the !Kung peoples. This dominant ideology eventually led to destruction of the cultural differences inherent to the !Kung. The !Kung assimilated to the class system and became victim to commodity fetishism. The new found obsession with material goods led to the internal conflict within the !Kung. Thus, it is seen that the culture of the !Kung was placed into conflict and destroyed by the implementation of modernity.
Freud argues that we have an obsession in modern society with order and structure. Order and structure can lead to (1) obsessive and neurotic compulsion and (2) repression. Similarly Freud argues, that the repression of internal desires will lead to displaced aggression. By examining Freud's theory of repression and displaced aggression in congruence to the film N!ai it will be concluded that the implementation of modernity has tragic effects.
Freud thought the obsession with order and cleanliness can lead to a tyranny of order. The tyranny of order, Freud argues, is that in high modernists societies human subjects repress certain aspects of human nature that need to be expressed. The !Kung for example, when placed within the strict confines of the reserve were no longer able to hunt giraffe. The hunting of wild giraffe was the main source of food and group solidarity for the !Kung. The restrictions placed upon this practice, forced the !Kung to repress their cultural practices, their confusion and their anger. The ban of giraffe hunting was rationalized by the 'white man' in terms of potential threat of extinction. And so, although modernization is beneficial when science and dominant theorists are addressing problems, the tyranny of order denies the basic needs of human beings and leads to neurosis.
Conflict, Freud argues, can come from a society that has repressed something too traumatic to face. The traits which one begins to recognize in oneself are displaced unto another. The !Kung, unable to rationalize their new environment eventually became aggressive to one another. For example, N!ai's daughter is accused of sleeping with someone for money and this causes an outburst of anger and aggression by N!ai to her daughter and by the tribe against N!ai and her daughter. The anger illustrated by the tribe against N!ai, according to Freud, is a clear example of repressed emotions and the displaced aggression thereof.
The Film N!ai portrays a community which becomes victim to theories of modernity. The community depicted in N!ai is affected by forced relocation, the shift to a cash-based economy from a subsistence-based one, and the circumscription and subsequent bureaucratization of social life under the South African state within a managed reservation. While the "!Kung" people are represented by white managers and soldiers as the 'beneficiaries' of this transformation, the film tells a different narrative; one that offers a critique of the effects of modern state politics upon small scale societies. The theories of Durkheim, Marx and Freud when reviewed lend themselves to the understanding of why this might be true. Durkheim asserts that the rapid transition of labor from a mechanical to an organic based society will result in feelings of 'anomie'. Marx argues that certain individuals dominate others. In N!ai, the dominant South Africans or 'white man' asserted their dominance over the !Kung tribe and placed them within a class based society. The class based economy effectively created commodity fetishism within the !Kung and the consequently created conflict. Last, Freud explained that the strict order demanded by the societal structure which the !Kung were placed within created feelings of repression. The repression of feelings of anxiety and confusion, or as described by Durkheim 'anomie', eventually led to displaced aggression of the !Kung peoples unto themselves. By examining the film N!ai according to the theories of Durkheim, Marx and Freud, it is clearly understood that theories of modernity and the modernization thereof, are sometimes unable to progress the peoples which it intends.
