identity Flashcards
define identity
- the way people see themselves and how others see them
- in the process of socialisation we acquire a social identity - what happens when we internalise the socialisation process and it becomes part of how you view yourself
- different aspects of identity have different importance depending on the individual eg. being homosexual and being heterosexual
name the two types of identity
- individual eg. music, clothes
- group eg. school, religion, ethnicity
what are the positive views of identity
- identity covers protected characteristics which means they are protected by law
- some identities that were once stigmatised are now accepted
- eg. pronouns being asked
- can create a sense of belonging and community among those with similar identities
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negative views of identity
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what is intersectionality
- the idea of having more than one identity
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how do Neo marxist and intersectional feminists explain social inequalities
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why are functionalists suspicious of intersecting views of society?
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kimberley crenshaw
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hybrid identities
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how do interactionists (social action theory) view individuals?
- as having a lot of agency (power to make changes) and choose to go along with social institutions
- BUT they can also choose to resist or even replace them
- as being capable of rising u against social control and challenging the powerful institutions
who are interactionists
Weber and George Mead
how do interactionists view society
as the product of human interactions and the meanings that humans give to those interactions
what does historic interactionist Weber believe about human motivations
we can make generalisations on 4 human motivations
what does weber believe are the 4 human motivations
- traditional
- affective
- value-rational
- instrumental rational
what does ‘traditional’ motivation mean
respecting the past eg. going to school because your religion tells you have a duty to be educated
what does ‘affective’ motivation mean
- acting on powerful emotions and thinking about the consequences eg. you enjoy going to school so you go
what does ‘value-rational’ motivation mean
- believing in a certain moral code eg. going to school because you believe it to be wrong to skip school
what does ‘instrumental-rational mean’
scientific style thoughts which does things to get certain results eg. you go to school because having qualifications will get you a good job
what does contemporary interactionist Howard Becker think about interactionism
- the labelling theory suggesting that ur interactions cause us to develop labels that affect how other people view us
what is the affect of labelling
- we internalise the labels - even the deviant ones - and believe they are part of our identity
- self fulfilling prophecy
- can lead to a master status which overrules over all the other labels
how does consensus perspective: functionalism view identity
- trace it back to human biology
- think it is healthy to conform to biological identity
- view gender identity as based on biological sex
how do functionalists view national identity
important for integrating people around shared values
how do functionalists view privileged identities
- don’t believe in them because of meritocracy
- everyone gets a fair chance in society and inequality results from people having different talents and abilities
how does conflict perspective: marxism view identity
- one is more important than others: class
- focusing on others is a distraction and playing into the hand of the ruling class
describe the most important identity for marxists
- being either P or B is the most important thing about you, and denying it is false class consciousness
how do Neo marxists view identity
- have a looser understanding on what it is to be ruling class
- other privileged identities are engaged in oppression without realising it
how did conflict perspective: 1st/2nd wave feminists view identity
- focused on women’s gender identity and the way it was oppressed in a patriarchal society
- tended to overlook the distinctive experience of women from other backgrounds eg. working class overlooked by middle class women
- tended to adopt the view that if the laws could be changed to remove discrimination against white middle class women, all would be right for women everywhere
how did 3rd wave feminists see identity
- in the 1990s, it was clear that despite much of the legal discrimination against women and been removed, many of the problems hadn’t
- the focus had to be shifted to other aspects of women’s identity (making Crenshaw’s intersectionality ideas so popular)
what does intersectional feminism represent
- represents 3rd ave feminism with the recognition of trans identities in the 2010s (4th wave ish)
what were traditional feminists concerned with surrounding 3rd/4th wave feminist movements
- by focusing on trans identities, they felt the women’s issues were being crowded out by the other identities
- called TERFS (trans excluding radical feminists)
CLASS
describe what it is to have an ‘upper class’ identity
- made up of a fairly small number of wealthy extended families who are interconnected by marriage
- inherited land and wealth
- tend to share a common background in education eg. Eton
- SCOTT argues that the main purpose of these schools was to mould the people into certain outcomes
- promoted values of conservatism and tradition
- same cultural values with contacts within the community
- acceptance of privilege, conservative values
- high culture interests/pursuits
- MCINTOSH AND MOORLEY - key feature is invisibility - social closure (eg. boarding schools)
how is the upper class changing
- decline of social class as an identity (young people have more of a choice with identities)
- decline in numbers
describe what it is to have a ‘middle class’ identity
- non manual workers
- can be split into 4 groups (according to SAVAGE)
- groups share similar values
- focus in work and home, likely to have mortgages, living in the suburbs
- encourage good education
- belief in the pursuit of working hard to get qualifications and deferred gratification
possible changes in the middle class
- Tony Blair’s ‘we are all middle class now’
- increase in numbers to do more accessible uni
what are SAVAGE’S 4 groups for the middle class
- doctors and lawyers
- managers
- self employed owners of small businesses
- white collar
(middle class) describe doctors and lawyers
- gained from a long and successful education, value cultural assets eg. knowledge
(middle class) describe managers
- likely to have worked their way up in the company, defines status in terms of standard of living
(middle class) describe self employed owners of small businesses
- independent, faith in hard work and discipline
(middle class) describe white collar workers
- children of manual workers
- pay and status in decline due to rise in better tech
describe what it is to have a ‘working class’ identity
- those in manual job
- having a very strong sense of the economic/social class position
- identify very strongly with each other (due to the collective nature of their jobs)
- many workers belonged to trade unions which represented workers’ interests and engaged in industrial action
- typically labour voting
- live in close-knit communities made up of extremed kinship networks
possible changes in the working class
- now, the traditional working class identity is less important because of the decline in manual work over the last 30 years
- new working class (mainly found in the S/East community) see work as a means rather than a community
- no heightened sense of class injustice or political loyalty
- HUTTON found a decline in trade union membership
- SKEGGS found that w/c women felt humiliated and not proud due to their w/c background and started to take extra pride in their appearances
possible subgroups of the WC
- urban underclass held by those in the margins of society
- MURRAY identified this as the ‘new urban underclass’
- living in council estates of depressed inner cities
- long term unemployment, drug problems
- children socialised into this
argument to MURRAY’s ‘underclass’
- not everyone believes in exists
- studies show that those living in poorer conditions hold the same values as everyone else
- feelings like low self esteem are not a choice, neither is unemployment
what is objective social class
- based on the view that people can be placed in a social class by using a scale or measurement device eg. the NS SEC, which places people according to occupation
what is subjective social class
- comes from what people think themselves to be/how they define themselves
- could be based on occupation and a number of different factors
which group has seen a decline in the number of people who identify as that class
- groups that lie in-between middle and working classes, since their occupation may not fit in either group objectively
- eg. service sector jobs
postmodernists ideas on class
- PALUSKI AND WATERS
what do PALUSKI AND WATERS argue about social class
- suggest there has been a shift from production to consumption in the definition of identities
- we are defined by what we buy, not what we do
what does OFFE believe about social class
- in today’s society, fewer and fewer individuals share a common/unifying experience of full-time work (what used to shape the culture of social classes)
- we are all able to create our own identities regardless of social class
how does media have an effect on our social class
- gives access to an endless range of information and cultural experiences
- has broken down many class and social barriers that may have existed 30 years ago
what is the counter argument to a class-free society
- not everyone would agree that today’s society is as class free as it seem
- social class background remains the most significant indicator of outcomes such as education, health and life expectancy
