Elysium: Restitutive Sanctions And Contract Law

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This moves us forward in reference to the restitutive sanctions and contract laws, which Durkheim explains can occur in an industrial society. The sanctions and punishments represented by the legal system, in and of themselves, ultimately reflect the changes in the division of labor. “Restitutive sanctions are mediated by specialized social institutions in which the actual sanction no longer stems from the collective conscience itself” (Morrison 2006:176). The movie, Elysium, incorporated this idea through describing how the robots that control the legal system on earth are programmed by the people living on Elysium. The restitutive sanctions or punishments which are mediated by these law makers have very little relation with the collective…show more content…
Martineau’s theory, “Natural law is the idea that, apart from human institutions, there are laws and right that apply to every human being” (Martineau in Allan 2005: 265). Through this idea Martineau describes happiness as an inalienable right of every human being. Martineau believes that society must be held up to this one standard, her belief that happiness is the touchstone for sociological analysis. In the end of Elysium when all of the people on Earth are granted citizenship, it allows for them to have full access to medical care. Until this point, health care had been limited to the citizens on earth and they struggled with getting the proper medical attention necessary because of the rights that they were limited to. Once they were all offered the proper medical attention necessary to heal all of their aliments, which was previously only available to the citizens on Elysium, the natural law was put into effect. Through Martineau’s theory, when this occurs happiness is granted to all human beings through their inalienable right according to the natural…show more content…
Double consciousness is when individuals have two views of themselves, often making it difficult to develop a sense of self. “The sense of otherness that not only inhibits social solidarity, but also prevents the formation of a unified sense of self” (DuBois in Appelrouth and Edles 2005:270). DuBois believed that African Americans lived in a society that was oppressive and devalued them as equals and as human beings in general, yet at the same time, there was an encouragement toward equality and self-worth. With double consciousness it is important to understand your role within your culture, as well as the role of the other. This can cause the individual to feel as if living in two different worlds. There is a perfect example of double consciousness in Elysium because they were quite literally living in two completely different worlds, which were even separated as far away from one another as possible. The individuals on earth viewed themselves as inferior to those on Elysium. They knew that they were living in poverty and had no other possible reality but to struggle to make ends meet every day. Contrarily, the individuals on Elysium viewed the citizens on earth as disgusting and could find no reason to ever want to visit

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