Social Class Identity

Question 1

What does social class derives from

Answer 1

From the work you do, the income, status and lifestyle that arise out of it.

Question 2

What are the three broad social class groupings that exist in the UK

Answer 2

The upper class
The middle class
The working class

Question 3

What does Pierre Bourdieu say about the groups

Answer 3

He says these class groupings or ‘class fractions’ can be distinguished from each other by their possession or non-possession of three of capital: economic, social and cultural.

Question 4

What has the upper-class been traditionally defined as

Answer 4

Defined by its wealth, privilege, aristocratic titles and possession of high culture. Many members of this class possess ascribed status in that they have inherited their wealth and title, and they never have to work for a living.

Question 5

What do some sociologists observe about the Upper class

Answer 5

That they practise social closure in order to ensure that their share of wealth and privilege is maintained by the elite few.

Question 6

What are examples of social closure

Answer 6

Educating the children of the upper class in separate and distinct private schools independent of state control.
Marrying others from the same social circle.

Question 7

In recent years what has the Upper class been challenged by

Answer 7

The new group - ‘Super rich’

Question 8

What is the new group ‘Super rich’

Answer 8

Made up of those who have made their fortunes through business or talent. The ‘Super rich’ are distinctive because of their celebrity status and lifestyles documented by magazines and newspapers.

Question 9

What type of status is ‘Super rich’

Answer 9

Achieved because their wealth is often a product of hard work and talent.

Question 10

What is the middle-class identity associated with

Answer 10

With non-manual work, especially that associated with long periods of training in skilled professional work such as law and medicine.

Question 11

What characteristics do the middle-class tend to share

Answer 11

They are likely to have had a university education, they usually earn well above average salaries, they wield power over others, they have a great deal of status as well as cultural capital and social capital.

Question 12

Define cultural capital

Answer 12

A term used by Bourdieu to describe knowledge, attitudes and values possessed by members of the higher social classes which enable them to be more successful in the education system.

Question 13

Define social capital

Answer 13

A marxist idea that refers to useful social contacts and networks which can be used to increase a persons economic capital or to gain an advantage in a competitive education system.

Question 14

Are the middle-class aspirational and what does this lead to

Answer 14

Yes and consequently they highly value education, especially higher education and deferred gratification - the idea that it is worth making sacrifices in the short tern in order to reap rewards in the long term.

Question 15

What do sociologists agree about the range of middle-class identities

Answer 15

That there is 3 separate middle class groupings:
- The upper middle class which is comprised of highly paid professionals - doctors, executives
- The middle middle class which is composed if lower professionals - teachers
- The lower middle class made up of clerical workers and managers of small self employed companies

Question 16

How do sociologists further divide those three middle class groups

Answer 16

Into those employed in the public sector who are thought to be more altruistic or community-spirited and those employed in the private sector who are thought to be more individualistic.

Question 16

How do sociologists further divide those three middle class groups

Answer 16

Into those employed in the public sector who are thought to be more altruistic or community-spirited and those employed in the private sector who are thought to be more individualistic.

Question 17

Until the 1980s what was working-class identity associated with

Answer 17

Associated with skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled manual or ‘blue-collar’ work.

Question 18

What did working-class identity traditionally involve

Answer 18

Pride in ones job and solidarity with other manual workers, left wing political outlook, voting for labour with ‘them’ (the rich) against ‘us’, strong sense of community and loyalty.

Question 19

What has happened to the working-class since 1980

Answer 19

It has been declining because recession and globalisation have resulted in a major decline in the sorts of industries that employed such workers.

Question 20

What has New right sociologist Murray (1984) argue

Answer 20

That a new type of working-class identity has appeared - The underclass. He argues that this minority class is made up of people who are workshop and happy to be dependant upon state welfare benefits. It is argued that the underclass socialise their children into a set of deviant and immoral values and that this class is responsible for the majority of crime committed.

Question 21

What do Postmodernist sociologists, Pakulski and Waters (1996) argue

Answer 21

That social class is no longer important because in postmodern societies there has been a shift from the production of goods to consumption.
They say that people therefore no longer identify with being working or middle class because people no longer share the common unifying experience.
Social class is no longer imposed upon us and we are free to construct our own identities based on the diversity of choices.

Question 22

Who criticises that class is dead and what do they say

Answer 22

Marshall (1998) who points out that surveys frequently show that people still themselves as belonging to a particular class.

Question 23

What does Savage (2001) find

Answer 23

That only a minority believed that Britain was a classless society

Question 24

What is the research into the links between top jobs and social mobility

Answer 24

It has found that social class still plays an important role because children from upper and middle class families enjoy class advantages in their access to higher education and top jobs, whereas working class children face class-based obstacles that prevent bright working class children from competing equally with their upper and middle class peers.