From Primary Groups to Social Influencers, and Remote Work: Rethinking Charles Horton Cooley

• In Event: 20461 - Teaching and Learning Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 7: Teaching Social Engagement, Teaching Groups

Abstract

It has always been a challenge to circumscribe the sphere of influence of a secondary group based upon its time-limited functioning for some pragmatic purpose. This became spectacularly evident when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans forcing 30,000 strangers to find shelter in the Louisiana Superdome for pragmatic reasons. Indeed, this prototypical secondary group became more akin to a primary group with critical roles in the face-to-face emotional and expressive lives of each other. In addition to having my Intro to Sociology students classify the Katrina group, I ask them to classify the January 6th protesters, then rioters, subsequent prisoners (and National Anthem choir), and eventually pardoned "patriots" -- Are they a primary group or a secondary group, or both, depending on the various stages of their MAGA Sojourn. In another vein, questions arise as to the adequacy of primary or secondary group classifications in a digital age of social media Influencers, remote jobs and a gig economy where employees don't work together for long enough periods to share common interests or build long-standing relationships. Moreover, in a global age with ease of travel, transnational marital and family arrangements have become more common so that it is not unusual for a happily married couple to work in different states or even different countries. In this presentation, I will delve into the array of factors that today remain relevant in terms of defining Groups and Organizations in ways that have currency with today's lifestyles.

Author

• Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis, DePaul University