Social class and identity Flashcards
Social class
Refers to a way o dividing people into groups. This is usually based on their occupation. In the UK there are three main social class groups that sociologists refer to. The upper, middle and working class. “A group who share a similar economic and social situation”
Old class system- upper class
The upper class was a much smaller group of people that owned land and businesses and were the wealthiest and powerful. Money comes from wealth and inheritance, owning property and investing creates interest. So ownership of wealth produces a high income. There are 3 distinct groups within the upper class 1. The landowning aristocracy
2. The pop aristocracy
3. The entrpreneurs
The landowning aristocracy
This group have inherited titiles such as the duke, earl, lord. And have inherited wealth. The wealth of aristocracy has been reduced in the last 100 years by estate duties = and some have had to open their houses to the public to raise money. The landowner aristocracy have less political power than in the past, after they lost automatic rights to seat in the HOC
The pop aristocracy
This group have made their money in sport, the media and entertainement, and they are often from working class origins. Their income is unpredictable. For example footballers and stars tend to earn most of their money in their 20s and then retire in their 30s. The top pop stars tend to make more money and continuing sales of their recordings will bring in income for many years. Anothergroups who belongs to the pop aristocracy are the national lottery winners
The entrpreneurs
This group have made their own money from businesses. They have usually stated with some money from family businesses behind them, but have built up much more successful businesses and become very rich. Richard nranson is a good example who started the virgin group companies. Joseph Lewis, made a fortune in the restaurant businesses and now speculates on world currency markets from his villa in the Bahamas. He’s thought to be worth £3bn.
The old boys network
People with the most important and well paid positions in british society tend to be drawn from a very small minority. They have neem to one of the top public schools doxbridge students. They often know each other socially for example, through membership or exclusive gentlemen’s clubs in the west end of London and attending hunt balls dances which a re connected to fox hunting and the royal ascot. They marry someone from the same social level. The network of contacts this creates is popularly known as the old boys network
Reasons for the rise in the middle class
Marx predicted that the middle class of his day would disappear but it is now as big as ever, but why is this?
- after WW2 there was a big growth in the number of people in middle class occupations in the public sector, more teachers, social workers, health workers and civil servants.
-More people were attending uni and getting higher qualifications to take on middle class jobs
- in the 1980-90s, traditional working class jobs such as working in coalmines and factories declined.
-New jobs replacing them such as computer programming and travel and tourism.
The upper middle class
These are the managers and professionals. People with specialised knowledge and qualifications that are gained after long periods of training. Including teachers, lawyers. Architects, social workers, doctors and nurses.
The lower middle class
These include occupations such as clerks, office workers, telephone sales and sop workers. They are middle class jobs because they are non-manual. Lower middle-class jobs are not very well paid and do not require high qualifications. They are different to working class jobs because working conditions are cleaners and there are more opportunities to get a promotion or go on training courses. Women hold a high proportion of lower middle class jobs.
The working class
Are skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers. This group has fallen over the last 100 years. The working class people were proud with a strong sense of identity, having powerful loyalties to local communities and marx saw these loyalties as a basis for a better future, where the working classes would unite and overthrow capitalism.
Embourgeoisement
Refers to the way the working classes are becoming more middle class as their norms and values and incomes are standards of living improve. Thw working class today is better off than in the past. Most have secure incomes, own TVs, washing machines, cars and houses. This improvement of working class living standards should mean that more working class people both conservative. Labour had lost its traditional voters because the working classes were behaving ;ole the middle class and less involved in communities and more interested in being consumers.
Evidence for embourgeoisement
Higher incomes for the working class. The WC tend to vote more conservative and becoming consumers and buying durables.
Evidence against embourgeoisement
There are still differences between middle and working class jobs. Affluent workers voted labour again in 1997
Gold Thorpe and lockwood
Studied and interviewed highly paid manual workers in Luton car factories in the 60s. If workers were becoming more like the middle class, then it was likely to be the ones paid the most. They found that working class was not disappearing it was changing. Hw rocking classes held on to their attitudes and values but changed their consumption patterns.
Fiona devine 1980s
Repeated the goldthorpe and lockwood study in the 80, finding many traditional values still held by working classes, they supported trade unions and wanted to improve their pay, working conditions and gain more power at work. They were less involved in the community than before, but men were still the main breadwinners. They were no longer necessarily supporting the labour party. She claimed she found a sense of working class identity.
Life chances
This refers to the opportunity to achieve and obtain the things we enjoy in life like good health, a nice car, house, holidays and avoiding the unpleasant things.
SC-speech codes
Class is leanred through the restricted and elaborated code. Bernstein argues that WC families tend to use a restricted code, whereas MC families tend to use an elaborated code.
SC- education
Working class families tend to put less value on educationa DN with this their children are less likely to achieve high GCSE grades, and this can reduce social mobility. More likely to study vocational courses or apprenticeships which are associated with lower pay and lower class position
Social identity and family
Families will influence their children’s identites by the way they are socialised. Upper and middle class families are more liekly to have a form of language and attitudes and values that will help their children succeed at school. They pass their way of living on to their children. Working class parents do not always have the appropriate culture to transmit to their children. Their childrena re more liekly to underachieve at school.
The role of schools creating class identity
Different type of schools can reinforce class identity i.e grammar, comprehensive, academy, private students from different social class groups are treated differently by teachers. This links to labelling theory and Howard Becker.
Pierre bourdieu and cultural capital
Advantages that parents can pass on to their children in the form of knowledge, resources and lifestyle choice which help their children to be successful. Middle class families are more likely to have greater cultural capital than lowe class. Boureui believes that the upper classes control education. They make sure that their culture is seen to be superior and is the one that is established ins schools.
Role of the media
The media can influence class identity by portraying certain social class groups in a positive or negative light. Programmes or comments in the newspapers about unemployed peoples who rely on benifits might show them as lazy scroungers. Working class groups are often given negative labels. For example, chavs, skinheads.
-Beverly skeggs found that the media labels lower class families as chavs.
Social class and work
Social class is leanred through work . Work is categories by hierarchy, power and pay scale.l people learn their superior and inferior positions. The working classes known as the manual workers- mining, construction ect… The middle class are those with a higher education/ work in offices.
