Social Class (Marxism/Bourdieu) Flashcards
what is equality vs equity?
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
what does privilege mean?
- having certain advantages in society either economic, social, political or cultural
Who is Karl Marx and what did he believe?
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
what is exploitation is marxism?
Exploited through economic relations and work patterns
what is alienation in marxism?
removed from any decision-making or control of their lives and livelihoods
what is false consciousness in marxism?
living with little hope yet a dulled sense of their wn position in society
who believes in instability and conflict?
Marxists
what is the relationship of bourgeoisie and proletariat with marxism?
Society is structurally divided into classes based on their relationships to the means of production
what are the bourgeoisie?
owners of “production”
- factories
- business
- land
have the power to exploit because they own
The more you have, the more you can exploit
what are the two levels of power?
1) the base of society
2) the superstructure of society
what does the base of society mean?
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
what does capitalism rely on?
- wage earners earn less than the value of goods they produce
- unemployment (ex: 100 people applying for 1 job)
how are fans (as consumers) exploited in sport?
- seasons tickets
- replica jerseys/shirts
- TV/cable susbscriptions
what is the idea behind the superstructure of society?
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
what is ideology?
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’
how can sport be alienating?
athletes have alienation from:
- their bodies
- their colleagues
- their performances
- work itself
what social structures are in place to disempower athetes and prevent them from making informed decisions regarding their career futures?
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
what are the different levels of exclution?
1) hard exclusion
2) soft exclusion
what is hard exclusion?
(first line of attack)
structural determinante of access and perticipation
ex: being able to afford membership
what is soft exclusion?
(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
how do Bourdieu’s ideas about social class help to advance out understanding of social inequality beyond marxism/conflict theory?
- Recognized classes are also defined by culture
- recognized the power of culture to influence behaviour and determine agency
what is habitus?
your tendancies as a group to do cetain things, think certain ways, and like certain things based on patterns of behaviour
what is a good way to remember habitus?
split the word in half
Habit: behaviour acted on subconciously
Us: patterns of behaviour and thought shared by groups
what does Bourdieu refer capital (power) as?
- determines your life chances
- structures your habitus
- helps structure your identity
what is economic capital?
financial resources
ex: wealth/money
what is social capital?
access to gatekeepers, group memberships, networks of influence
ex: who you know
what is cultural capital?
- knowledge/understanding, skill, language
what is symbolic capital?
symbols that have vslue within certain cultures
ex: titles, qualifications, records
