1

Social Injustice and Adorno

Student’s Name

Institution
 2

Introduction

Social injustice is one of the unfair practices that involve unequal treatment of people.

Social injustice takes three primary forms, which include ageism, homophobia, and

discrimination. Examples of such practices include racial discrimination, unfair labor practices,

and discrimination based on gender and race. Social injustice is considered illegal and punishable

globally, depending on different laws in different states. In the recent past, there have been

significant levels of social injustice globally. As a result, people have devised new ways of

fighting against social injustice.

1. What has been pop culture’s role in promoting social justice? Give specific examples.

Pop culture is one of the ways that help improve social justice. Pop culture is a

communication strategy that is used to help people air out their issues. It also emphasizes

creating awareness among the members of the public. Pop culture uses platforms where people

have mass access to them and also have a great appeal. Such platforms include the use of

fashion, radio, television, music, art, and many more aspects.

2. Share one unique example of how pop culture has promoted social justice, awareness of

an issue, or has had a role in influencing public opinion to promote equality, justice,

acceptance or tolerance

An excellent example of pop culture implementation is whereby Leonardo DiCaprio

used his first Oscar speech to shed light on the suffering and struggle of different indigenous

groups around the world [ CITATION Pau16 \l 1033 ]. Another notable example is the use of

television. In 1992 a television program named ‘The Real World’ was aired. Its main aim was to

show the impact of having people from diverse backgrounds come together. The show further
 3

emphasized the importance of having tolerance despite having differences such as sexual

orientation. The latter examples show how pop culture can be used to address the various issues

that affect people and also promote social justice.

3. In your opinion, do people with a high pop culture following have an ethical

responsibility to promote positive messages in their work?

People who have a significant impact on pop culture have societal expectations. It is

expected that such people use their influential power to pass a positive message to the public and

also meet societal expectations [ CITATION Hol15 \l 1033 ]. Despite taking different mediums,

art is considered to have a common purpose. Art is mainly used to pass positive information

concerning a society by ensuring that it addresses the day to day issues that affect the community

or else document events that people may have missed. Thus, the use of pop culture is considered

as a reflection of the society whereby it describes the organization and also influences various

reactions towards issues such as social injustices.

5. Share a unique example from pop culture (movies, songs, books, etc.) that follows this

structure.

Theodor Adorno, a German philosopher, and musicologist came up with a theory of

standardization and Pseudo-Individualization [ CITATION Oph16 \l 1033 ]. Adorno proposed

that popular culture has a formula used to appeal masses. Adorno further states that the said

formula is interchangeable and does not always apply to all songs. Also, he claims that Pseudo-

Individualization is where artists have mass cultural production and have free choice and keep

the audience in line. ’16 and pregnant’ is an example of a movie that follows Adorno’s view. It
 4

was linked to a decline in the birth rate among teenagers because the target audience was

manipulated to believe in whatever they were watching.

6. Do you find merit in or agree with Adorno’s theory of popular culture? Why or why

Not?

In my opinion, I do not agree with Adorno’s view of standardization and Pseudo-

Individualization. Mainly because the sight of standardization makes the audience tend to believe

that they have an option, yet the producers and artists make the audience listen to what they

intend to promote [ CITATION Vic16 \l 1033 ]. The view further limits the audience by making

them believe that whatever they are listening to has not listened. In conclusion, the view does not

support free will instead try to manipulate the target audience and thus makes it prone to critics.
 5

References

Daffurn, H. (2015). Times Have Changed: The Evolving Role of an Artist. Art Web.

Pom, O. N. (2016). Political Economy: Adorno, Standardisation and Pseudo-Individualisation.

Political Economy: Adorno, Standardisation and Pseudo-Individualisation.

Silva, P. (2016). #PopJustice: When pop culture meets social justice. FordFoundation.

Tappin, V. (2016). What are Adorno’s criticisms of popular music and the role it plays in
society? Are they accurate in relation to contemporary society? Professional and
academic development journal.