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Question 1

Phenomenology

Answer 1

tries to understand our
taken-for-granted interpretations and routines
and how these are reproduced in interactions
* Why is that so important for sociology?
1. Daily routines and interactions structure much of our lives
2. We shape social reality through such (inter-)actions either by
repeating/reproducing it or by creatively changing it
3. Understanding this helps us understand social institutions and social
life, which depend on numerous social interactions to exist

Question 2

Identity

Answer 2

gender) identities are always about knowing who we are, who
others are, how others see us, etc.; always very much socia

Question 3

Primary identity:

Answer 3

gender, race/ethnicity, disability…

Question 4

Secondary identity:

Answer 4

added later, such as social roles, status…

Question 5

We can try to affect the way others see us by
conscious self-presentation, or

Answer 5

impression
management

• Powerdressing vs being explicitly laid-back, trying to
  sound clever, trying to transform accidental stumbling
  into purposive hopping, shouting “Oops!”
• Fashion is a relevant tool here too, but may require
  ‘close reading’ of increasingly subtle indicators (irony?)

Question 6

Status symbols

Answer 6

status (social position, role) can be ranked on the basis of
prestige
* a person’s esteem depends on the proper “fulfillment” of status
requirements
* in order to work together harmoniously, people need to
agree upon mutual conceptions of status
* I know what you are, you know what I am

• status symbols are needed to divide
  the world into categories of persons
• they differ from esteem symbols
• status symbols carry categorical (identification of status) and
  expressive (express one’s views or values) significance
• not all status symbols are good tests of status (i.e., reliable
  signs or tests of status)

Question 7

how is misrepresentation of status restricted?

Answer 7

• moral restrictions
• Religion (e.g., frugal Protestant ethic), loyalties
• intrinsic restrictions
• some symbols require what they represent:
  money, power
• natural restrictions
• scarce objects that cannot be produced at
  will, e.g., large diamonds, Vermeer paintings,
  family name will represent higher status
• socialization restrictions
• etiquette, vocabulary, gesturing; social style
  (naturalness, habitus: Bourdieu)
• cultivation restrictions
• proof of having spent a lot of time on sports/ hobbies,
  being sophisticated (leisure class: Veblen;
  rarity of conditions of acquiring dispositions: Bourdieu)
• organic restrictions
• length, hands, attractiveness: effects of long-term
  development (diet, work; embodiment)

Question 8

problems in studying class symbols

Answer 8

• Class movement
• social mobility: status symbols slow down the rise to social
  eminence of the upwardly mobile and the fall of those
  losing power and wealth.
• Curator groups
• when symbols become elaborate, higher classes can hire
  domestic servants, fashion experts, interior decorators etc.
  (institutionalized misrepresentation)
• Circulation of symbols: meanings are not fixed
• consequences:
• looking for new symbols once yours are appropriated by
  ‘others’
• people may become too consciously concerned with
  symbols that are in a sense not natural or congenial to them

Question 9

Status symbols today

Answer 9

• Not just about class differentiation
• We also have specific styles for
  communicating one’s position on other dimensions:
• Ethnicity
• Fashion
• Sexual identity
• etc… all sorts of (sub-)cultural capital

Question 10

front stage, back stage

Answer 10

Impression management may also involve code
switching
* Speaking dialect at home, slang with friends,
standard language at work
* Dressing differently for different occasions
* We may also change behavior when moving
between front stage/region and back stage
/region
* Famous examples of politicians speaking when
thinking the mic is off
* Being annoyed that guests show up early yet
opening the door smiling

Question 11

Breaking tacit rules of interaction

Answer 11

interactional vandalism

Question 12

Online interactions

Answer 12

• Less body language – more misunderstandings
• More fleeting contacts, albeit with potentially more people
• Using Whatsapp to communicate efficiently and at own convenience
• Identities can be hidden: anonymity makes rudeness more likely
• But often online and offline communications and networks are
  blended
• Yet so are people’s own diverse social roles, which may be
  awkward online
• Being online friends with your boss/parents/teachers?
• How much private information is being shared with whom?