**3. Socialization as acquiring rationality**

**II.** At the microlevel (the level of the individual and the small group), *rationality is any reflective act (its process and result) of an individual or a group subject of social action, carried out through the verbal means of communication* [34]. A necessary condition for the realization of such reflection is a group communication and a group interaction; these are the processes which are described in detail in the theory of symbolic interactionism (Mead, Cooley, et al.).

The general properties of rationality in our understanding can be reduced to the following

**1.** Discreteness: Disjointed and separated reality reflection is a characteristic for rationality. It is caused by the use of a measuring instrument, which implies distinguishing an elementary measure underlying it (a number, a word, a logical connection, etc.). With the help of such a measure, one is able to single out in the measurement object parts corresponding to the measure. These parts are segments, quantities, and other various qualitative determinations. As a result, the world appears in front of the measuring subject as a structure, i.e., a collection of individual fragments that enter into various relations and form different connections. Irrationality, on the contrary, indicates the existence of an integral, continuous, unstructured reality that is not reduced by the cognizing consciousness to its constituent fragments.

**2.** Normativeness: Rationality presupposes the existence of norms and rules for the application of certain means of measuring reality. These rules are a vital condition for the re-use of the measuring instrument (measure), which enables rationality existence in the form of cognitive models shared by many subjects of cognition. A clear illustration of such rules dates back to the above-mentioned Euclid's "Elements": "… for a given line there is an infinite number of lines both commensurable and incommensurable, <and> some are commensurable or incommensurable only linearly, others also – to a power. We can now call a given straight line rational, while lines commensurable with it, linearly as well as to a power, and lines commensurable only to a power will be called rational, but the lines incommensurable with it will be called irrational" [35]. Here we have the rule of measuring the lines, following which rationality occurs. Irrationality does not presuppose such meas-

urements and, therefore, neither it is subject to this rule nor it is normative.

**3.** Symbolic shape: The allocation of any measure designed to identify the commensurability of reality fragments is realized through its designation by specific symbols—algebraic, geometric, logical, verbal, etc. Rationality is thereby expressed through a symbolic system: a natural or an artificial language. It is evident that the primary symbolic system expressing rationality is the verbal communication system which is the base for formation of artificial languages. Any artificial language is a social convention, the emergence of which is possible under the condition of an already existing system of natural communication which uses a specific system of definitions. Thus, rationality is first and foremost a verbal shape of the reality contents. Irrationality is not symbolically expressed and goes beyond verbal

**4.** Reflexivity: Rationality has a reflective nature, because it is a process of cognitive selfreference of reality. As it is known, the necessary requirement for reflection is the presence

minimal set:

8 Socialization - A Multidimensional Perspective

shape of the worldview.

Socialization in human society is intended to practice rationality. This means socialization is the process of teaching an individual to reflect the world discretely, normatively, through symbols, and thus, reflexively; this is the process of mastering the basic tools of the reproduction of the society culture. The discrete reality reflection presupposes the individual mastering of various ways of its measuring, by instruments such as a word, a number, and the ability to establish logical connections. In the process of mastering them, the individual begins to apprehend the world as a structure in the totality of its parts, segments, and elements. Normativity is associated with the acquisition by an individual of the ability to apply norms and rules that establish a social order. Reflection of the world through symbols involves mastering the language, i.e., a symbolic system, being the basic condition for the development of thinking and communication. Reflexivity is the ability of an individual to distinguish oneself from the world, to occupy a meta-position in relation to the world.

As an illustration of these theses, let us think about the socialization of the child, which can be successful only if the child masters rationality is in the aggregate of all its four aspects. So, in the course of interaction with the social environment, the child learns to recognize symbols and use them to define different objects. He/she learns letters, putting them into words, learns numbers, gestures, learns to recognize various iconographic symbols. This is the first experience of the child's exit beyond the purely biological mode of existence when he/she gets acquainted with the cultural world—that recursive layer of social existence, whose essential feature is rationality. Gradual acquisition of symbols actualizes the child's ability to use languages—natural (verbal) and artificial (numerical, iconographic, etc.). This, in turn, reveals the surrounding world as a structure, as a collection of parts, where each part has a symbolic designation. So, one does not need any special evidence to assert that without mastering the means of language, such rational structuring of reality remains inaccessible for the child.

in the existing world" [37], a property that distinguishes the world of culture from the natural world, human society from other associations. In this regard, researchers rightfully consider

Socialization from the Point of View of Postnonclassical (Universum) Sociological Theory…

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A necessary condition for mastering rationality in the socialization process are social and group interactions and, more broadly, a person's ability to communicate [40]. Social communication is a key factor in actualizing the individual's ability to reflect reality discretely and comprehend the world as a structure. The methods of the reality discrete reflection such as a word, a number, symbols of artificial language systems, are social conventions (agreements) that have been formed during communication. At the heart of these conventions, there are

Such properties of rationality as normativity and the reality symbolic reflection also have a social and conventional nature and are the result of group communication. Social norms and symbolic systems (both natural and artificial) are a product of communication in social sys-

Meanwhile, social-group interactions are a necessary condition for reflexivity as a rationality characteristic. Let us consider this process in more detail. It is of fundamental importance for

To actualize the reflecting ability in the process of socialization, the individual must acquire the cognitive position, as if located outside of oneself. Thus, the subject is capable of reflection only when he/she is outside the reflected area. This is a position on which the individuals can analyze their own social being using their language and thinking. Such cognitive reflection becomes possible in the course of the group social interactions. Group interactions generate the effect of the "self-duplication," i.e., the formation of meta-position with respect to the

This effect of the "self-duplication" becomes possible in the course of socialization by introducing a metasubject in the structure of group communication. This metasubject is at a higher reflective level and reflects on the activity of the first subject. In this case, every social actor acts as a metasubject in relation to other actors. The reciprocal reflection of the plethora of social actors in meta-positions in relation to each other creates a reflective space in which the individual subject acquires the ability to understand their own bases of activity through reflection in the products of the social group's reflective activity. As Mureiko writes, the organized normalized interaction of social groups provides the opportunity for the individual to

This understanding of the reflexive process has theoretical surmises in sociology and the psychology of behavior. Theorists of symbolic interactionism interpret social interactions as a system of mutual reflection and use for its description another terminology. Mead remarks about the formation of the self (distinguishing human societies from animals), as, in fact, the

individual's social activity (the effect of "the observation of the observer" [41]).

identify oneself as a subject and the subject's self-control [42].

common patterns of activity that most individuals realize in their behavior.

rationality as the value of culture and civilization [38, 39].

**4. Socialization as a communicative process**

tems and do not exist outside of them.

mastering rationality in the course of socialization.

Further, the child's mastery of the norms and rules of social behavior structures the social world for him/her, resulting in understanding what the patterns of tabooed and socially approved behavior are. Finally, the gradual actualization of these abilities creates conditions for the development of the child's self-consciousness, the appearance in his/her mind of a reflective position that allows one to apprehend one's own being among other objects of reality. Such reflection is realized from the point of those meanings that are transmitted to the child by the surrounding society culture through the active agents partaking in socialization. Thus, the child becomes proficient in the basic cognitive products of his/her society, which express the basic content of culture, and becomes able to reproduce them in his/her social behavior.

Another example of the process of socialization as the mastery of rationality is the socialization of a new employee in any formal organization—an enterprise, an institution, or a company. In order to acquire the ability to act effectively in the organization, to fulfill their duties, the new employee must become fluent in the system of symbols that is used for communication in the organization and to structure it. The organization may consist of departments, brigades, shifts, and other parts, which are called by the appropriate names. Not having learned the symbols of the organization and the language of the correspondent communication, the employee will not be able to integrate into the organization's social processes. This statement is particularly relevant for specific organizations in highly specialized industries where special symbolic systems are used.

Next, the new employee is tasked with mastering the normative and value regulators in the organization. This task covers internalizing of the basic rules of social behavior and the values of corporate culture. The systemic effect of the new employee learning about these conditions of the organization's existence and development is the formation of a special reflexive position allowing him/her to regard himself/herself as the employee of this very organization. The employee separates himself/herself as a company employee from himself/herself as a private person or as a family member and is aware of the differences in these statuses. Under the condition that the new employees acquire these aspects of rationality, their socialization in the organization is successful.

Actualization of the individual's ability to rational (i.e., discrete, normative, symbolic, and reflective) reproduction of reality is a necessary factor for mastering the societal culture. This is obvious, given that the culture of human society, understood as the total set of the supra-biologic programs of social behavior, is based on these human abilities. In case when the process of socialization does not solve the problem of actualization of the individual's given abilities, the individual does not acquire the skills necessary to live in human society, the contents of culture become inaccessible to the individual, who remains predominantly a biological being.

Summing it up, acquiring rationality in the course of socialization is a communicative process that can happen exclusively in human society. Outside society, there is no position capable of communication [36]. Rationality is an attribute of social reality that cannot exist beyond its limits. In this sense, rationality is "a totemic symbol of a person's special position in the existing world" [37], a property that distinguishes the world of culture from the natural world, human society from other associations. In this regard, researchers rightfully consider rationality as the value of culture and civilization [38, 39].
