Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Seahawks meet Frantz Fanon and Alexis De Tocqueville

Frantz Fanon was an early 20th century French Psychologist that studied the effects of decolonization and the psychology behind the process of colonization. Alexis de Tocqueville was a 19th century political historian that focused on the evolution of social conditions for both the individual and society in western society.They both look at how power is generated, and applied, in society.

Fanon focused on decolonization and the effects a conquered nation faces through the violent process, leading to colonization.

Tocqueville focuses on how power is ineffectually distributed and then redistributed throughout society, particularly in his analysis of French society and it's transition from the "Old Regime" to the "New Regime" in his 1865 work The Old Regime and the French Revolution.

In both of their analyses, the role of the working/upper middle class is vital in determining societies' overall view of the government and its social institutions. In 2010, and looking forward into 2011, its crucial to look at which players on the Seahawks played that role and how they performed on the field and in the locker room.

Which players carried the message of the organization, relayed an understanding of the principles of the football schemes to a young team; did any young players step up, define themselves as immediate leaders for the young core of the team?

The organization showed in 2010 that roster turnover, weeding through the old regime Seahawks to find new regime players, was a central part of the rebuilding process; with no CBA and likely limited preparation for the season, what is the impact of one, or many, of these players leaving in 2011?

However, can there be more value in wiping parts of the slate clean? Fanon believes the idea of Tabula Rasa is a driver in the de-colonization process, while Tocqueville believes power is most effective when its applied within the system, with the greater good in mind, in a trustworthy fashion--that means making changes if/when necessary.

I believe both theorists provide some insight as to how the team can proceed forward, especially when circling back to Mary Douglas' idea of transition; how would these two forward thinkers work through the difficulty and dangers she associates with transitional states?

Comments/questions? Next, I'm going to circle back to some ideas I explored during the season. More on those topics later in the week. Thanks for continuing to take interest in my off-season project; the continued interest is definitely inspiring me to share more on the blog as I explore these somewhat offbeat ideas. I appreciate the support!

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