Social Class (Marxism/Bourdieu)

Question 1

what is equality vs equity?

Answer 1

Equality: Aims to ensure the everyone gets the same things in order to enjoy full, healthy lives

Equity: Trying to understand and give people what they need to enjoy full, healthy lives

Question 2

what does privilege mean?

Answer 2

• having certain advantages in society either economic, social, political or cultural

Question 3

Who is Karl Marx and what did he believe?

Answer 3

Marxism

• Poorest people had no means to escape their poverty
• Exploitation
• Alienation
• False conciousness

Marx’s theory was that poor people should

1) educate thelselves
2) Rise up and fight those who explited them

Question 4

what is exploitation is marxism?

Answer 4

Exploited through economic relations and work patterns

Question 5

what is alienation in marxism?

Answer 5

removed from any decision-making or control of their lives and livelihoods

Question 6

what is false consciousness in marxism?

Answer 6

living with little hope yet a dulled sense of their wn position in society

Question 7

who believes in instability and conflict?

Answer 7

Marxists

Question 8

what is the relationship of bourgeoisie and proletariat with marxism?

Answer 8

Society is structurally divided into classes based on their relationships to the means of production

Question 9

what are the bourgeoisie?

Answer 9

owners of “production”

• factories
• business
• land

have the power to exploit because they own

The more you have, the more you can exploit

Question 10

what are the two levels of power?

Answer 10

1) the base of society
2) the superstructure of society

Question 11

what does the base of society mean?

Answer 11

Bourgeorisie maintain their dominance over Proletariat through exploitation

• To survive, the proletariats sell their labour power but are exploited in the process

Ex: pie shop worker

Question 12

what does capitalism rely on?

Answer 12

• wage earners earn less than the value of goods they produce
• unemployment (ex: 100 people applying for 1 job)

Question 13

how are fans (as consumers) exploited in sport?

Answer 13

• seasons tickets
• replica jerseys/shirts
• TV/cable susbscriptions

Question 14

what is the idea behind the superstructure of society?

Answer 14

Ideologies are put forward to “prop up” the system of explotation, and mantain dominance of ruling class:

• stuctured by the ruling class
• serve the interests of the ruling class

Question 15

what is ideology?

Answer 15

a web of ideas and beliefs that people use to give meaning to the world and make sense of their experiences

• one important ideology is the notion that sport is about ‘play’

Question 16

how can sport be alienating?

Answer 16

athletes have alienation from:

• their bodies
• their colleagues
• their performances
• work itself

Question 17

what social structures are in place to disempower athetes and prevent them from making informed decisions regarding their career futures?

Answer 17

well known banter:

• real men don’t quit
• you’re letting your team down
• you owe it to your family/parents to continue
• you’re forgoing fame and fortune
• you’re so lucky to be a professional athlete

Question 18

what are the different levels of exclution?

Answer 18

1) hard exclusion
2) soft exclusion

Question 19

what is hard exclusion?

Answer 19

(first line of attack)

structural determinante of access and perticipation

ex: being able to afford membership

Question 20

what is soft exclusion?

Answer 20

(second line of attack)

social and cultural determinants of access and full participation that work to exclude when “harder” forms fail

ex: after someone paid for club/membership, the more sophisticated of exclusion emerge that has little to do with money/economics

Question 21

how do Bourdieu’s ideas about social class help to advance out understanding of social inequality beyond marxism/conflict theory?

Answer 21

• Recognized classes are also defined by culture
• recognized the power of culture to influence behaviour and determine agency

Question 22

what is habitus?

Answer 22

your tendancies as a group to do cetain things, think certain ways, and like certain things based on patterns of behaviour

Question 23

what is a good way to remember habitus?

Answer 23

split the word in half

Habit: behaviour acted on subconciously

Us: patterns of behaviour and thought shared by groups

Question 24

what does Bourdieu refer capital (power) as?

Answer 24

• determines your life chances
• structures your habitus
• helps structure your identity

Question 25

what is economic capital?

Answer 25

financial resources

ex: wealth/money

Question 26

what is social capital?

Answer 26

access to gatekeepers, group memberships, networks of influence

ex: who you know

Question 27

what is cultural capital?

Answer 27

• knowledge/understanding, skill, language

Question 28

what is symbolic capital?

Answer 28

symbols that have vslue within certain cultures

ex: titles, qualifications, records