social class and identity

Question 1

what is meant by the term of social class?

Answer 1

refers to a group of people who share a similar economic situation, such as similar income.
- how much money/influence someone has
- type of housing
- leisure activities

Question 2

what is meant by class is method of social stratification?

Answer 2

a way that we can divide the population based on their income, occupation and life chances.

Question 3

what is the Registrar General’s Scale 1911-1998

Answer 3

I - higher professionals
II - professionals, managenal/technical
III n-m - skilled non-manual
III m - skilled manual
IV - semi-skilled
V - unskilled

Question 4

what are the advantages and disadvantages of the scale?

Answer 4

+ organised, straightforward
- ignores children, retired and anyone who doesn’t have an occupation.
- ignores how much money people make.

Question 5

what is the National Stats Socio-econ classification 1998 onwards?

Answer 5

1 - higher management/ professional
2 - lower management/professional
3 - intermediate occupations
4 - small employers and own account workers
5 - lower supervisory/technical
6 - semi-routine
7 - routine
8 - long term unemployed

Question 6

what are the advantages and disadvantages of this classification?

Answer 6

+ more categorised and accurate
- how much money people make still isn’t considered

Question 7

how can a person’s occupation affect their self-identity and how others see them?

Answer 7

• leisure activities (golf vs pool or swimming, tennis and darts)
• detached house or mansion
• accountant and CEO or engineer and plumber.

Question 8

what is meant by life chances?

Answer 8

the chance of obtaining those things defined as desirable and of avoiding those things undesirable

Question 9

what are some differences of life chances in social classes?

Answer 9

• higher social classes have better housing, cars, food, holidays, incomes and job security
• twice as many babies die at birth or in the 1st year in bottom social classes
• a man from top social classes lives 7 years longer than a man from lower class

Question 10

what is meant by objective dimensions of class?

Answer 10

those aspects of social class which exist independently of people’s thoughts and ideas.
material differences in people’s life chances

Question 11

what is meant by subjective dimensions of class?

Answer 11

people’s personal perception of the social class they think they belong to - their class identity.

Question 12

what is meant by habitus?

Answer 12

the cultural framework and set of ideas possessed by a social class, into which people are socialised, initially by their families, and which influences their cultural tastes and choices.

Question 13

what is meant by cultural capital as suggested by Bourdieu 1973?

Answer 13

the knowledge, education, lang. attitudes, values and network of social contracts and lifestyle possessed by the upper and upper middle class.

Question 14

what are the 3 main groups in upper-class culture?

Answer 14

• traditional upper class (royalty, ‘old rich’, traditional landowning aristocracy, dukes and duchesses, lords and ladies)
• owners of industry and commerce ( ‘corporate rich’ e.g. Sir Richard Branson)
• stars of entertainment, media and sport (e.g. Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, J.K Rowling)

Question 15

what is meant by old rich?

Answer 15

strong sense of identity created by the socialisation process and close family net works, intermarriage, inherited wealth and shared subcultures

Question 16

what is meant by Nouveau riche?

Answer 16

acquired their wealth in their own lifetimes rather than through inheritance. culturally inferior, lacking cultural capital, with poor taste.

Question 17

a summary of upper-class culture

Answer 17

main owners of society’s wealth and split into 3 groups.

Question 18

what is meant by the middle-class?

Answer 18

those in non-manual work which don’t involve heavy physical effort and which are usually performed in offices and involves paperwork.
e.g. Roberts 2001

Question 19

what are some key features of the middle-class?

Answer 19

• commitment to education, including private education
• recognition of individual effort
• concern with future orientation
• concern with fitness and wellbeing

Question 20

what are the 5 main groups within the middle-class?

Answer 20

• professionals (lawyers and doctors)
• managers (upper range salaries, identity due to lifestyle and leisure choices)
• self-employed small business owners (individualistic identity, work-centred)
• financially and creative middle-class (involved in finance and media/advertising, clubbing, expensive restaurants)
• lower-middle-class white collar (non-manual work, clerical and sales staff, employed in routine)

Question 21

what is meant by the working class?

Answer 21

largest social class refers to people working in manual jobs - involves physical effort and mainly working with hands e.g. factory work.

Question 22

what are some features of the traditional working class?

Answer 22

• close knit community and community life
• men breadwinners
• obtaining a skill and getting a job better than education
• commitment to old labour party
• enjoyment of pop culture and sometimes folk culture

Question 23

what is meant by immediate gratification?

Answer 23

enjoying pleasures today rather than putting them off for later

Question 24

what is meant by present orientation?

Answer 24

a focus on here and now rather than the future and long-term goals

Question 25

what is meant by fatalism?

Answer 25

and acceptance of the situation they found themselves in as they didn't see much hope of improving their lives.

Question 26

what is meant by the new working class?

Answer 26

the largest section of the working class emerging in 1960s

Question 27

what are some features of the new working class?

Answer 27

- privatised, home-centred family lifestyle - instrumental life and work - work=money - little sense of loyalty to others in same class - difference between ppl is money - high levels of home ownership - women paid employment

Question 28

what does Charlesworth say about the attitudes and values of the W/C 2000?

Answer 28

a phenomenology of W/C. far from W/C culture being marked by solidarity or resistance. he sees it as characterised by conservatism and by enforced appearance of the realities of social order.

Question 29

what is meant by the underclass?

Answer 29

a social group right at the bottom of the social class hierarchy. new right writers characterise the culture of the underclass.

Question 30

what did Jones 2011 say about the impact of the 'chav' stereotype?

Answer 30

'demonisation of the working class' terms such as 'social scum' and 'chav' have been used most hostile = chav

Question 31

what did Lawler 2005 and Weltman 2008 suggest?

Answer 31

the chav stereotype is used to devalue working class taste and culture

Question 32

what did Tyler 2008 suggest?

Answer 32

the word 'chav' has now become a common force of middle class abuse to w/c.

Question 33

what did Shildrick 2007 suggest?

Answer 33

the media explain these alleged features of the poorest groups in society as arising from character deficiencies, moral failings, depravity and weakness rather than structural inequalities of wealth. reinforces the idea that poor is poor because of their own failings. reinforces cultural hegemony of dom class.

Question 34

what are 2 arguments for social class being in decline?

Answer 34

1) Clarke and Saunders agree that it is as classes become fragmented into a range of different groups and are being replaced by a whole range of other influences 2) Lash and Urry argue that class subcultures have weakened and people became more individualistic

Question 35

what are 2 arguments against social class being in decline?

Answer 35

1) 95% of people identified themselves with a social class 2) social class is still the major influence on people's standard of living and lifestyle.