Sociology 211
Social Problems
Fall 2002
Dr. Scott Schaffer

Week 6-7 Discussion Questions: Meyer, Identity Mania

Due Date: As listed in the syllabus for discussion.

Short and sweet questions for you...

1. What definition does Meyer give for the idea of a fundamentalism? How does this definition conflict with that to which you've been exposed?

2. How does Meyer view the idea of the "clash of civilizations" thesis? To what extent do you see either Huntington's original idea or Meyer's critique of it playing out in current events, and why?

3. Why does Meyer think that people are beginning to fetishize cultural and/or ethnic identities? What kinds of solutions to social problems does Meyer claim are developed through this "identity mania," and how are they developed? To what extent do you and Meyer believe that these problems are solved through fundamentalisms, and why?

4. To what extent do you think that fundamentalisms represent a new kind of social problem? What other kinds of social problems operate in the same way that fundamentalisms do? What kind of sociological problem do you think is operating behind the social problem of fundamentalism, and why?

5. What is Meyer's overall argument in Identity Mania? To what extent do you find his discussion of fundamentalisms convincing and compelling? And to what extent do you think that his ideas contradict those to which we're exposed in the media?

6. To what extent do you think that fundamentalisms operate in the way that American society develops solutions to its social problems? To its sociological problems? Is this use of fundamentalisms beneficial or detrimental to American society, to Americans, and to the rest of the world? Why?