Social class

Question 1

what is social class

Answer 1

divisions in society based on economic status, things like occupation and volume of money

Question 2

what is stratification

Answer 2

idea that society is made of layers - wealthy at the top and poor at the bottom

Question 3

what are the two ways of defining class

Answer 3

objective and subjective

Question 4

what is the objective way of defining class

Answer 4

refers to a persons income/ occupation

Question 5

what is the subjective way of defining class

Answer 5

refers to what class a person thinks they belong to

Question 6

what is habitus

Answer 6

refers to knowledge, norms, values, attitudes and behaviour of a particular social group

Question 7

how does cultural capital and habitus link together

Answer 7

middle class habitus provide them with cultural capital as they have more opportunities and advantages in society

Question 8

what is cultural capital

Answer 8

knowledge, norms, values, attitudes that you have that will give you more opportunities in society

Question 9

what is social capital

Answer 9

refers to the people who are associated with your sociasl network

Question 10

what is economic capital

Answer 10

amount of wealth you have

Question 11

how many social classes are there

Answer 11

5

Question 12

what are the 5 different types of classes

Answer 12

upper class
middle class
tradional working class
new working class
under class

Question 13

what is upper class

Answer 13

hold highest social status, usually wealthiest, great political power and priviledge
includes: royalty, owners of industry, stars of entertainment

Question 14

what is nouveau rich

Answer 14

when you aquire wealth rather than inherit it

Question 15

what is middle class

Answer 15

people in the middle of social hierarchy
consaists of people in wide range of non-manual work
usuage has often been vague whether defnined in terms of occupation, income, education, or social class

Question 16

what is working class

Answer 16

comprises of those engaged in manual-labour (blue collar) jobs who are remunerated via wages
includes two main groups: tradition and new

Question 17

what is the underclass

Answer 17

at the bottom of social class hierarchy
developed by new right sociologiest Charles Murray
suggested thast the welfare state was overly generous and offered perverse incentive, encouraging lone parenthood and discouraging working

Question 18

what are the difference between traditional and new working class

Answer 18

traditional: close nitt community with traditional gender roles and more focused on getting a skill rather than education
new: a privatised home centred lifestyle with little involvement in the community, conspicuous consumption and instrumental approach

Question 19

how do we learn our class identities

Answer 19

through agents of socialisation

Question 20

what are the agents of socialisation which we learn our class identity from

Answer 20

media
peer group
family
education
religion
workplace

Question 21

how does the media socialise us into our class identities

Answer 21

it represents different social classes differenty
WC is devalued - dumb and stupid baffoons - Butsch
Shildrick: ‘chavs’ = lower position in society due to own failings
blamed for unemployment, ‘benefit scroungers’
MC represented as superior - over presented and shown positively
eg ‘supernanny’ - how to control un-ruly lower class children

Question 22

how does the peer group socialise us into our class identities

Answer 22

Mac an Ghail: ‘macho lads’- male WC, reject school and act tough
Brah: ‘white skin heads’- norms and values reflect class and ethnicity

Question 23

how does the family socialise us into out class identities

Answer 23

primary socialisation- meal times: WC = eat around a TV at 5pm
MC = around a table with family at 6pm and focus on manners
Sugarman: WC socialised into 4 values
immediate gratification
present time orientation
collectivism
fatalism
MC have opposite values

Question 24

how does the education system socialise us into our class identities

Answer 24

Bourdieu- uni fits MC habitus making WC feel isolated
Becker- apprenticeship linked to WC, academic studies linked to MC
status of uni attracts different status of students
Teachers likely to label MC kids as ideal pupil - Becker

Question 25

how does religion socialise us into our class identities

Answer 25

HARD TO IDENTIFY LINK BUT:
evidence that attendance to church is higer in MC
attending church provides a degree of status within community
Rasafarianism are more likely to have a broader working class base as they are often located in inner city areas

Question 26

how does the workplace socialise us into our class identities

Answer 26

manual work tends to be associated with WC, non-manual with MC
Willis-1970 manual work was central to mens sesne of masculinity as ‘real men’ and was their main source of identity

Question 27

what is marxists perspective on social class

Answer 27

class is important in influencing the inequalities of people
it is the most significant part of someones identity
two social classes: Bourgeosisie and Proletariat
social class is determened by whether you own the means of production
Bourgeosisie own means of production and Proletariat have to sell labour for income

Question 28

what is functionalist perspective on social class

Answer 28

important as we live in a meritocratic society (earn merit by hard work) where class is defined by hard work
everyone has same opportunities
different classes work in different roles but it helps society run smoothly (organic analogy= social order)
differences in wealth are justified as everyone had an equal chance

Question 29

what is postmodernists perspective on social class

Answer 29

lifestyles and consumption have become more important
social class is no longer significant part of identity
people have more choice to ‘pick n mix’ the identities they want from consumer choice - Pakulski and waters
range of other things influence identity - not just class
eg gender

Question 30

what are some evaluation points for postmodernists perspective on social class

Answer 30

social class influences peoples standard of living and many other factors such as homeownership, risks of unemployment
not everyone is able to form an identity based of leisure activities as they are influenced by income
British social attitudes survey found 95% of people identify themselves with a social class