Running Head: Carnal Sociology

Reflective Essay: Carnal Sociology

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The sociologists like Wacquant (2014) and Merleau-Ponty’s (1962), have tried to make

inroads to give birth to Carnal sociology. It is the study that shows that our mind has a privilege

over the body. Our dreams have certain meaning which hold importance and dreams are also

controlled by our mind as they take us in the whole new world where our physical body has no

use. Body is basically a standpoint and provide us with a location on this earth however, our

body and mind are subjected to two different things. The body into movement when it is

instructed to, otherwise it is like a separate entity (Wacquant, 2005). According to Merleau-

Ponty’s (1962) our body experiences what the mind thinks which means that the mind directs the

body as a matter or substance to have certain experiences throughout, which is controlled by the

mind. Enactive ethnography is used to explicit and than exaggerate or deepen the unique features

of social values or cultures of people, it is named and than a person tend to embed him or herself

into the social or symbolic structure that is investigated or examined.

Human’s understanding is also considered to be a cognitive as well as physical process.

In 1968, Merleau-Ponty further stressed upon the same theory by explaining it with the concept

of tangible and intangible without being restricted to the perceived. This can be well explained

with the example of a hand touching the other hand. The hand that is touching is intellectual

known as the subjective body, while the hand being touched is objective, sensory body. This

proves Merleau’s point that the passive body (mind) is given importance over the active body.

A lot of researchers have critiqued on this thought process by saying that our body is

denied of its materiality. According to my theory, I perceive with my daily life examples that the

body is not just flesh but a whole complex system. It is not just a robot who is programmed with

certain steps by the mind and it is not separate from the mind. Humans are very different from
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robots in fact, body and mind, both function together in harmony. In simple terms, the nation and

movements are not just generated by the intelligent body (mind) but also the physical body.

Talking about the physical aspect does not mean the shift is towards the biology and the

composition but, the actions performed by the body have a reason and the logical explanation

behind them. According to Wacquant (2011), that historical human was categorized as animals

who have brought a lot of revolutions in our generations and defined sensibilities and attributes

in form of body uses and these are sediments of their past social experience. Similarly, he further

argues about enactive ethnography and is of the view that a researcher uncovers and examines

the suitability of practical drafts or graphs. Enactive ethnography therefore goes against the

contemporary anthropological concepts that are popular with the tropes, ethics and positionality.

Many researchers believe that Carnal theory is vague and has no sense of being close to

reality and it is a general research misconduct of theory and ethnography. Because a theory is

always based on some vigorous facts, observations and collection of data rather than only words.

However, it is also true that the people who rely and focus on mind building and mind control

are not wrong because our mind has power beyond this world and more than the body of course.

The concept of spirit as well as medical science also supports the fact that the body is controlled

by the mind. It has more importance than the physical body itself and the body is meant to

coordinate with the mind to perform effectively. The mind functions effectively to perform the

tasks through the influence that it makes on body (Wacquant, 2005).

The mental techniques and learning holds importance. Knowledge is held by the mind

while body performs with the practice. I can relate this theory with the example of swimming in

which the mind stores the entire knowledge how to swim and the ways to hinder the fear of
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drowning. The body just follows the learning by mind. This is known as habitus, which is a form

of practical reasoning exhibited and performed in different ways and contexts. The nature of

cooperation makes the embodiment a tangible or real concept. It is known as subjective in

educational technology. Body techniques are not visible or understandable to everyone. They

are learned or acquired through practice and experience. Here it is important to understand that

all may not perform at same level in this regard. Some might be better swimmers then others. It

is not static for all. Hence the mind structures in the manner that we act (Wacquant, 2014).

The body techniques are performed by the individual but it is a collaborative effort. Body

techniques translate the body into researchable format in terms of both the measureable and

qualitative analysis. The bodily techniques can be understood with the example of research.

Children learning is effected with the digital mediums that have been introduced as an evolution

in the body techniques (Wacquant, 2014). Technology relations can be categorized in the two

ways:

 Tangible of the physical activity

 Intangibility of the digital screens and the touch systems

The learning is effected by the bodily features. It is observed that the hands play great role in

teaching a young child whether it be reading or writing. Hands are not only used for gesture and

non-verbal communication, but, also for verbal and effective interaction. Physical body and

mind go hand in hand. Without the physical body it would be just intellect without any outcome.

Minds do hold great importance if look in our society but without body, existence in this world is

impossible. The physical embodiment helps in achieving what is in mind (Crossely, 2005).
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The proposed theory by Watkins in (2011) does not really mean to put more importance to

the embodiment but rather to aspect the disconnection between the body and mind. There is a

disconnection in general that we observe however, I believe that they both are working to

support each other. The cultural thought process has an impact on the thinking and the physical

activity. The disconnect needs to be collaborated. It allows to achieve the goals set. With the

physical body the thoughts are practically achieved. If the thought process is not experienced it

does not really hold a value. Social agents do have an impact on this theory. There is no single

way that the one can be studied without the other. They both hold equal importance. In

developing children it is normally emphasized that the mental and physical health of the child

should be equally looked after. This just explains the fact that both faculties are equally

important and needed (Wacquant, 2011). Moreover, I agree with the arguments of Wacquant on

the subject of enactive ethnography where he is of the view that in a social setup where the chief

of a village is deemed important a commoner wouldn’t be. In all the divisions of people and

circumstances like status and age plays important role in the thought process of the individuals

where the point of views is different and starts off from a single point and go onto multiple

evolving points in order to find or determine the attributes and positions that make them belong

to that social group.

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References:

 Crossely, N. (2005). Merleau-Ponty the Elusive Body and Carnal Sociology. SAGE

Social Science Collections, 1(1), 43-63. doi: 10.1177/1470412905050889

 Wacquant, L. (2005). Carnal Connections: On Embodiment, Apprenticeship, and

Membership. Qualitative Sociology, 28(4), 445-474. doi: 10.1007/s11133-005-8367-0

 Wacquant, L. (2011). Habitus as Topic and Tool: Reflections on Becoming a

Prizefighter. Qualitative Research In Psychology, 8(1), 81-92. doi:

10.1080/14780887.2010.544176

 Wacquant, L. (2014). Homines in Extremis: What Fighting Scholars Teach Us about

Habitus. Body & Society, 20(2), 3-17. doi: 10.1177/1357034x13501348

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 Wacquant, L. (2014). Homines in Extremis: What Fighting Scholars Teach Us about

Habitus. Body & Society, 20(2), 3-17. doi: 10.1177/1357034x13501348