Social Class Identities Flashcards
Mackintosh and Mooney
They suggest that people’s occupation affects how we see ourselves and others based on the judgements we make about jobs associated with social class
Scott
‘Old boy network’ = give each other contacts which secure business deals and gain promotions, uses social closure
How does Scott operate social closure
-encourage inter-marriages
-immerse children into culture of privilege
What does Giddens say
He agrees with Scott that there is a traditional upper class ‘landowning aristocracy’ which practices social closure, 2 other groups = jet set pop aristocracy, entrepreneurial rich
King and Raynor
Middle class, reinforced attitudes about educational success through the use of role models, positive and negative sanctions, imitation
-child centeredness
-deferred gratification
Bourdieu
Education system helps socialise people into different class identities through role models, imitation, rewards, sanctions
-cultural capital
-leisure interests, levels of language and skills similar to school= advantage for children in education system
-hidden curriculum
Cultural capital
Having skills, knowledge (etc) to get ahead in education and life= high status in society
Social capital
Resources based on group membership, relationships, networks of influence and support
Economic capital
Economic resources, material wealth owned by individuals or families
Goodwin
-middle class
-yummy mummies
Saunders
-middle class
-conspicuous consumption
Consumer culture
Culture where status, sense of worth, identity are centred on the purchase and consumption of goods and services
Wright
-middle class occupy a contradictory class position
Structured interview
Researcher reads out a list of closed questions from an interview schedule and writes respondents answers according to pre-set fixed categories
Quantitative
Semi-structured interview
Mix of structured and unstructured interviews. Close and open questions.
Qualitative
Unstructured interview
Informal interview which is guided conversation
Qualitative
Focus groups of facts
People get together to discuss an issue rather than direct questions
Qualitative
Capital
any aspects that can improve your life chances
Deferred gratification
Resisting the temptation of immediate pleasure in the hope of finding a valuable and long-lasting reward in the long term
Social mobility
Moving up and down the social scale
Child centredness
When decisions within a family are based around how impacted the child would be
Yummy mummy
Middle class mother who cares about appearance and how she is viewed within society
Conspicuous consumption
The purchase of goods or services for the specific purpose of displaying wealth
Social closure
When the upper class are self selective and exclude others (invited to events)
Old boy network
Upper class boys use this to give each other business deals and gain promotions = exercise social closure
High culture
Activities which appeal to upper class = ballet, opera, classical music
Ascribed /achieved status
Ascribed = status you are born with
Achieved = the one you work for
Traditional working class
Dominant for most of the 20th century and still influential in some parts of the uk today
New working class
Seen to be replacing the traditional working class as new types of jobs replace manual old ones, mainly found in south south east
Middle class
Majority of population who have professional or managerial careers. University educated and their own homes
Traditional upper class
Those who have inherited wealth, often within form of land. They operate social closure
Jet set pop aristocracy
Individuals who have earned their status through sport, media and entertainment
Entrepreneurial rich
Earned money through business enterprise
Indicators of social class
-food
-family/peer groups
-job
-type of car they drive
-housing
-education
-speech and dialect
-clothing
-activities + sports
Subjective approach
Ask people to rate themselves
Objective appproach
Uses a measurement of class by asking respondents questions based on indicators such as income and occupation
Under class
Group of people unemployed, live off benefits and come from a deprived area
The NS SEC
National statistics socio-economic classification, descriptive approach based on occupations according to their similarity of qualification, training, skills and experience used from 1990s
Objective Definitions of Class
People placed in a social class by using a scale or measuring device (e.g NS SEC) classification
Subjective Definitions of class
Where people place themselves and now they define themselves
Scott
-upper class
-old boy network
-social closure
Macintosh and Mooney
-upper class
-people’s occupation affects how we see ourselves and others based on judgements we make about jobs associated with social class
Kenway
-upper class
-found that private school girls maintained their high levels of self-esteem by devaluing the status and achievements of state-educated young people
King and Raynor
-middle class
-child centredness
-parents socialise middle class identities by reinforcing attitudes and values on the importance of education
Bourdieu
-middle class
-school helps to socialise people though role models, imitation (etc)
-cultural capital
-hidden curriculum
Goodwin
-middle class
-yummy mummies defined by peer approval on maternal capabilities, glamour and styles and experiences of their children
Saunders
-middle class
-conspicuous consumption
Wright
-middle class
-occupy a contradictory class position = taken advantage of by upper class and working class
-hold managerial or supervisory roles
-resources should be controlled = investment, means of production and labour power
Willis
-working class
-‘lads’ formed a distinctive ‘counter-school sub-cultural grouping’
-little interest in academic work and would identify with the adult by smoking, drinking and expressing sexist, racist attitudes
-influenced by home backgrounds
Mac an Ghail
-working class
-ethnographic study= studied a range of subcultures within a school and noted if boys followed their fathers with manual labour job roles.
-heavy, manual work became a way to shape them into working class identity
-boys had no academic qualifications
Bowles and Gintis
-working class
-education’s purpose = maintain and reproduce class inequalities in wealth and power.
-hidden curriculum
-suggest education is designed for the ruling class and encourages children from working class backgrounds to be obedient workers
Bourdieu 2
-working class
-don’t have social, economic or cultural capital
-hidden curriculum = not effective to working class
Mertens and D’haenens
-working class
-digital divide = link between class and internet usage
-lower social class = use internet less and technology for entertainment
-middle class use it to boost their knowledge
-social class = buffers factor affecting digital inequality
Murray
-underclass
-people who are lazy, workshy, immoral, criminal and dependent on benefits
-own fault they are in this position
-believe in a culture based on idleness, failure and criminality
Jordan
-underclass
-Jordan disagrees with Murray
-these people would love to work and feel shame and guilt, low self-esteem, poor mental and physical health
Pakulski and Waters
-postmodernism
-shift from production to consumption
-defined by what we buy not what we do
Offe
-postmodernism
-today’s society = fewer individuals share a common unifying experience of full time work
-we all create our own identities regardless of social class of families or jobs
Skeggs
-postmodernism
-working class women have instrumental attitudes to work
-new working class saw capitalism as effective in raising living standards = no sense of class injustice or political loyalty.
-see society as meritocratic and believe in individualism
-develop identities based on popular culture, conspicuous consumption and consumer culture
