Paper 1 - social class identities Flashcards
Scott (Upper class)
Scott argues that the upper class practice the ‘old boy network’ in which the boys that went to private education together would help each other get promotions and gain social advantages by holding connections from private education. Scott also argues that having friends within the same class and with similar assets would equal to life-long friendships.
Scott argues that the Upper class practice social closure which implies that they are separated from the rest of society and they are self selective and an exclusive elite so they block anyone who tries to reach their social position.
Kenway (Upper class)
Kenway states that privately educated girls thought their social class and position was an important part of their identity as they were then socialised into a culture of success and encouraged to see their schooling as superior
Mackintosh and Mooney (Upper class)
Have pointed out that a key feature of the upper class is their invisibility. The upper class operate ‘social closure’, meaning that their education, leisure time and daily lives are separated from and partially invisible to the rest of the population.
Occupation is linked to identity through social class. Our judgements about our own and other people’s jobs usually involve the classifying of ourselves and others into social classes. Social class can provide us with a sense of belonging; it can tell us who ‘we’ are and who ‘they’ are and hence how to relate to the world around us.
King and Raynor (Middle class)
the family could be seen and reinforce a middle class identity as it encourages achievement and values deferred gratification. King and Raynor suggest that parents socialise middle class identities by reinforcing attitudes and values about the importance of educational success through the use of role models, positive and negative sanctions and imitation. they suggest that child centeredness is a distinctive feature of middle class families.
‘child centeredness’ - where the family becomes more centered on the needs of children rather than the needs of adults. e.g photographs, frameworks, tutoring - advancing their education and clubs etc.
Bourdieu (Middle class)
Suggests that school helps to socialise people into middle class identities through the use of role models, imitation, rewards, sanctions and the whole environment of school being similar to aspects of their homes.
Suggests that the middle classes have values, knowledge, leisure interests, levels of language and skills at home that are similar to how school is set up, and this serves to advantage their children in the education system. This is called ‘cultural capital’.
Therefore the education system could be said to reinforce a middle class identity that has already been constructed by the family and other agents if socialisation.
Also referred to middle class parents being able to give their children an advantage educationally by having social and economic.
Hidden Curriculum - the set of values, norms, and beliefs that are not explicitly taught in school, but are still learned by students.
social capital - Networking and socialising with others in a similar economic position to advantage them. E.g. Can secure work experience placements and school places.
Economic Capital - The amount of money/material goods that a person/group possesses. E.g. Can pay for extra curricular activities, trips, tutors, school resources.
Goodwin (Middle class)
Suggests that many middle class mothers define their identities by peer approval.
The new breed of ‘Yummy Mummies’ are no longer passive or traditional types of hegemonic females, but are now defined by peer approval on maternal capabilities, glamour and the ‘style’ of their children.
Saunders (Middle class)
conspicuous consumption : Study on consumption (buying patterns) suggested that those who satisfy their needs through personal ownership are influenced heavily by advertising and the media.
The media targets the middle ages/classes as they are a group with a high disposable income and they often define their identity by what they own.
wright (Middle class)
argues that the middle class occupy a contradictory class position
The middle class are in this position due to the fact that they often hold managerial or supervisory roles. This gives them some control over resources within organisations.
There are three different types of resources which need to be controlled: investment, the means of production and labour power.
The upper class have full control over these, middle class managers have partial control, middle class supervisors have minimal control and the working class have no control.
Willis (Working class)
Whilst famous for researching the ‘lads’ and the ‘earoles’, was also interested in the types of jobs these boys went into and how they were related to their father’s jobs.
Many of them were in manual jobs and he found that for both the boys and their fathers, their jobs were a key source of identity.
Mac an Ghaill (Working class)
argues that working class men are experiencing a ‘crisis of masculinity’. As the manual jobs that they felt destined to go into were no longer available and the loss of these traditional jobs meant they were unprepared for other skill areas.
This crisis of masculinity meant their traditional hegemonic gender identity was no longer being fulfilled and they felt unstable and unsure in their gender identity. A lack of male working class role models may make this crisis worse for young working class males.
Bowles and Gintis (Working class)
argue that education’s function is to maintain, legitimate and reproduce class inequalities in wealth and power by transmitting capitalist ruling class values disguised as common values.
They suggest that education is designed by and for the ruling class and it encourages children from working class backgrounds to be obedient and passive workers in the future.
Mertens and D’Haenens (Working class)
studied he digital divide in Brussels and found a clear link between class and internet usage - Those from the lower social classes used the internet less (81% were users as opposed to 94% of middle class people). They also found a difference of how digital devices were used - Those from the lower social classes used technology as a form of entertainment, whereas the middle classes used devices more to boost their knowledge and to research different information. For example they found that 79% of those from the lower classes owned a games console was opposed to 65% of those from the higher social classes. Claimed that social class was the biggest factor affecting digital inequality as opposed to issues based on gender or ethnicity.
Murray (Underclass)
Claims that the underclass are lazy, work shy, immoral, criminal and dependent on benefits, he suggests it is their own fault they are in this position.
Jordan (Underclass)
disagrees with Murray and argues that the Underclass have the same values and attitudes as everyone else and most of them would love to work if they had the chance, they feel a sense of shame that they cant provide for their families.
Pakulski and Waters (Postmodernists)
suggests that there has been a shift from production to consumption in the defining of identities. we are now defined by what we buy, not what we do.
Offe (Postmodernists)
argues that in today’s society, fewer and fewer individuals share a common, unifying experience of full time work - the experience that used to shape the culture of social classes. the days when people had a job for life have gone and we are all able to create our own identities regardless of the social class of our families and the particular level of qualifications or job we may have at any one time.
Skeggs (Postmodernists)
Found that working class woman had instrumental attitudes to work, their jobs didn’t influence their identities they were simply a means to an end.
The new working class also saw capitalism as effective in rising their living standards and therefore they have no sense of class injustice or political loyalty.
They see society as meritocratic as they believe all individuals have an equal chance of success and can experience social mobility.
The new working class believe in individualism, putting themselves and their immediate family first rather than the collective or community.
They develop identities based around popular culture, conspicuous consumption and consumer culture.
The new working class look to role models in the media who were from working class backgrounds but have become successful.
These role models are usually used to advertise goods.
Giddens (Postmodernists)
agrees with John Scott that there is a traditional upper class, which he calls ‘the landowning aristocracy’ who do practice social closure. However he argues that a further two groups have emerged which could now be considered part of the upper class called the super rich.
The jet set or pop aristocracy and the entrepreneurial rich
Parsons (Traditional gender identity)
Believes that females have an ‘expressive’ role in the family. It’s natural and based on their child bearing role. Males have an ‘instrumental’ role, that of a breadwinner and protector.
Oakley (Traditional gender identity)
gender role socialisation takes place in 4 main ways (canalisation, domestic activities, verbal appellations, hegemonic roles) and that primary socialisation is key to developing a sense of gender identity.
Manipulation - Encouraging or discouraging gender appropriate behaviour e.g giving a book or sitting quietly for girls and boys ruff sports.
Canalisation - parents directing children’s interest into certain toys and play. e.g buying football for boys and buying dolls for girls. pink and blue colours.
Verbal Appellations - Parents using stereotypical feminine and masculine descriptions such as ‘gentle’ - girls and ‘strong boys’. e.g calling boys ‘mate’ and calling girls ‘love’, ‘darling’.
Domestic Activities - Daughters have cultural expectations of future responsibilities (helping out with the house work). e.g girls imitate their mothers house and boys help their fathers.
McRobbie (Traditional gender identity)
girls socialised in a protective environment of home ‘bedroom culture’ and ‘cult of femininity’. Subculture is male dominated like the rest of society and the limited role of girls was a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Nakuamura (Traditional gender identity)
Found that digital communication, internet and media are increasingly being used by women from different ethnic and class backgrounds, as a form of support as they face inequality and discrimination.
Ferguson (Traditional gender identity)
content analysis of women’s magazines, the idea of ‘cult femininity’ - promotes the idea that women should care for appearance and marriage etc.
Mitsos and Browne (Traditional gender identity)
Teachers are less harsh on boys in education, as they are stereotyped to not want to achieve in education - teachers being less harsh on boys does them a disservice and will in turn fail.
Willis (Traditional gender identity)
working class males form an ‘anti-school subculture’ where they adopt anti-school behaviour and a ‘laddish’ form of masculinity.
Skelton (Traditional gender identity)
Argues that the ‘hidden curriculum’ is responsible for creating gender differences in subject choice. This is through the use of praise in female/male dominating subjects, teacher genders and more.
Kelly (Traditional gender identity)
Suggests that science is packaged as a ‘boys subject’, through textbooks and being allowed to dominate the classroom by shouting and grabbing equipment first.
Colley (Traditional gender identity)
school subject choices are affected by three things: their perception of gender roles, subject preferences and the learning environment.
Mac an Ghaill (Traditional gender identity)
Working class men faced a ‘crisis of masculinity’ due to de-industrialisation. They have lost their traditional jobs and are unprepared for other jobs.
Adkins (Traditional gender identity)
labour market has a gendered character (there are separate jobs for men and jobs for women). Research in theme parks - evidence of sexual harassment, horizontal and vertical segregation.
Connell (Changing gender identity)
Argues that rather than masculinity referring to one type of behaviour, there are actually different forms of masculinity which emerge or change over time.
Hegemonic masculinity - Andrew tate
Complicit masculinity - Family man
Subordinate masculinity - yes to the dress
Marginalised masculinity - they feel as though they have lost their identity.
Sewell (Changing gender identity)
Sewell also recognises a new hyper-masculinity, displayed by black Afro-Caribbean males who adopt an exaggerated version of hegemonic traditional masculinity. Sewell explains that this is due to being from matriachal backgrounds where they lack positive black, male role models.
Nixon (Changing gender identity)
Nixon states that the origins of the new man roots back to the 1985 Levi’s advert - The Laundrette - This advert presented the notion that it could now be ‘cool’ for men to spend time, money and effort on their appearances.
Nixon - new man - formation
Mort (Changing gender identity)
Mort discussed consumption patterns of men in the 80s and states that these changed due to changes in the media portrayal of men - There was a rise in men’s fashion magazines and change in consumption patterns of men. Toiletries were promoted such as hair, gel, aftershave and Perfumes and an increase in designer labels available to men.
