The American Red Cross A Socio-cultural Perspective
Human societies of different nations and culture contain people (alsosocial members and actors) that constantly interact with socialinstitutions and organizations, primarily because these institutionsachieve a common goal that is desirable and agreeable to an individual orgroup. The American Red Cross is an example of such organization, which isa humanitarian organization centering on volunteerism, and provides "reliefof victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respondto emergencies." This non-profit and independent organization offershumanitarian services such as blood donations, financial/monetary donationand funding, tissue donation, volunteerism, planned giving, and donation of As an independent humanitarian organization, the American Red Crosselicited help not only from concerned individu
Indeed, the hegemonic theory on ARC's culture of altruism is parallelwith Pierre Bourdieu's social distinction theory, which posits that ARCbecomes part of the ruling class' prevailing ideology of altruism, which isactually a manifestation of "symbolic capital. However, despite the functional role that ARC plays in Americansociety, some people and organization do not share the same cultural viewthat ARC and its supporters cultivates-that is, the tradition of altruism,defined as the "devotion to the welfare of others" (Microsoft Encarta2002). Under Gramsci'stheory, the ARC is perceived as an institution that represents the rulingclass's control over the American society, where ARC becomes the governmentand country's 'protection' from criticisms and antagonisms that may arisefrom political conflicts and differences. Hegemony is a concept formulated by Antonio Gramsci, which representsthe ways in which the ruling class uses a dominant ideology to continuouslyoppress and control the proletariat or working class. Using sociological theories of culture, three theories/perspectives discusshow people are prevented from sharing the ARC culture of altruism:hegemony, critical theory, and social distinction. Because it seeks to help individuals and groups in times ofemergency, the ARC is considered one of the bastions of goodwill inAmerican society. Underthe critical/conflict theory, ARC, ruled by the elite, continuouslyoppresses the working class, mainly by inculcating that it is desirable,even an obligation, for society to participate in acts of altruism, such asblood and tissue donation, as well as other services that the ARC provides. The American RedCross is constantly in touch with the government and other non-profitorganizations. als in the society, but thehelp of other institutions and organizations as well. Furthermore, the ideology ofaltruism cultivated by ARC also reiterates the control of the elite, sincemost institutions supporting the ARC are owned or controlled by the rulingclass. Similarly, the Frankfurt school, popularly known as the criticaltheory, also subsists to the same arguments in both the hegemonic andsocial distinction theories of Gramsci and Bourdieu, respectively. " In his theory, Bourdieustates that the dominance of an institution is determined not by its goals,but through its money and property (symbolic capital); this is indeed thenature of the American Red Cross, whose popularity and wealth as anorganization has become the subject of criticism in America, especiallywith the occurrence of the World Trade Center attack in 2001 (Levine,2001). Coined by Auguste Comte, this term illustrates conduct that seeksgoodness for the welfare of others, an act that is considered as moral.
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