A Warm Welcome & the Generalized Other

My family has finally arrived in Canada! We are very excited that we are being welcomed with open arms by so many people. Above is a photo of a group of Canadians who were welcoming my family, and many other Syrian's to Canada at the airport. The flight was long and nerve wracking, but I love Canada so far. Everyone has been so kind and generous, and so many people have helped us adapt to our new home.

The flight from Syria to Canada was very long, so I had a lot of spare time to read. One of Mead's ideas that I have been thinking a lot about is the generalized other. The generalized other shapes the way people think by providing them with possibilities, while simultaneously excluding other possibilities. Essentially, the generalized other dictates the way we live in our society and the way we internalize the things that impact our behaviours and experiences. Moreover, it depicts our internalized expectations of others, and clarifies our relation to others as members of a shared society. When we try to imagine what is expected of us, we use the perspective of the generalized other. Essentially, we use the generalized other as a reference group who we can refer to when constructing our behaviour. 

Mead said "the organized community or social group which gives to the individual his unity of self may be called 'the generalized other.' The attitude of the generalized other is the attitude of the community" (Mead 1967, 154). Mead also wrote "if the given human individual is to develop a self in the fullest sense, it is not sufficient for him to merely take the attitudes of other human individuals toward himself [...] he must also, in the same way that he takes the attitudes of other individuals toward himself and toward one another, take their attitudes toward the various phases or aspects of the common social activity or set of social undertakings in which, as members of an organized society or social group, they are all engaged [...]" (Mead 1967, 154-155).

My family and I will be looking to our communities (or as Mead would say, the generalized other) to determine how to behave in our new communities. We have a lot of learning to do, as Canada is very different than Syria. We are very excited to have the opportunity to become part of such a warm community, and I am proud that my children will grow up around a generalized other that will help shape them into caring and generous people.