Topic 4- Social Class And Identity

Question 1

Examples of how occupation, income and ownership of wealth influences the lives of individuals

Answer 1

• how much power and influence they have in society
• their levels of education
• their social status
• their type of housing
• their car ownership
• their leisure activities
• the consumer goods bought and lifestyle adopted

Question 2

How a persons occupation effects how they see themselves?

Answer 2

• their individual identity& how other people define them(their social identity)
• the time&money available for an individual to participate in social life, enjoy leisure activities&buy the consumer good to support the lifestyle we aspire

Question 3

Social class

Answer 3

Refers to a group of people who share a similar economic situation, such as a similar occupational level, income and ownership

Question 4

Differences in life chances between social classes

Answer 4

• higher social classes have better housing, cars, food, holidays, income and job security
• a man from top social class lives 7 times longer than a man from the lowest social class
• lower working class suffer more diseases compared to those in upper middle class
• smoking, drug and alcohol abuse common in wc

Question 5

Two dimensions of social class:

The objective dimension

Answer 5

Refers to those aspects of social class which exist independently of people's thoughts and ideas
- the material differences in people's life chances

Question 6

Two dimensions of social class:

The subjective dimension

Answer 6

• people’s personal perception of the social class they think they belong to (their class identity).
• while people’s income means they don’t always have a free choice to do the activities of any class they wish, the class they identify with will influence their attitudes,beliefs&cultural choices e.g music(part of the subculture of the class they belong to)
• these subjective dimensions are part of what bourdieu called habits

Question 7

Habitus

Answer 7

Is the cultural framework and set of ideas possessed by a social class into which people are socialised into

Question 8

Bourdieu (Marxists) and class habitus

what a social class habitus influences

Answer 8

• each social class possesses its own cultural framework or set of ideas(habitus)
• the knowledge they have
• the way they use language and their accent
• manners and forms of behaviour
• attitudes and values
• cultural tastes including choices in cultural preference (high/popular culture), diet&leisure activ

Question 9

What does cultural framework contain ideas about

Answer 9

• What’s good and bad taste
• dominant class has the power to impose its views on what counts as good taste on the rest of society
• high culture=good taste of the habitus of the dominant class
• working class=inferior tastes of popular or mass
• those who have access to the habitus of the dominant class posses cultural capital-Bourdieu

Question 10

Cultural capital

Answer 10

The education, language, attitudes and values and lifestyle possessed by the upper and upper middle class

Question 11

Upper-class subculture and identity: 
Definition and main groups

Answer 11

A small class and refers to those who are the main owners of society’s wealth

• traditional upper class: consists of royalty& the ‘old rich’ traditional landowners e.g dukes, lords
• the owners of industry and commerce- the corporate rich of the business world e.g Richard Branson
• stars of entertainment,media and sport

Question 12

Features of upper class suggested by scott (1991)

Answer 12

• the employment of domestic, like nannies, butlers, cooks and gardeners
• a taste for high culture e.g opera,ballet, classical music
• education based around private boarding schools, public schools e.g eton&Harrow followed by Oxford and Cambridge

Question 13

Difference between nouveau rich (new rich) and old rich

Answer 13

• new rich who have acquired their wealth in their own lifetimes rather than through inheritance
• new rich attempt to achieve acceptance by the traditional upper class by attempting to copy their lifestyle
• Old rich regard new rich as culturally inferior lacking cultural capital with poor tastes

Question 14

Middle class:

Definition and features

Answer 14

A large class&refers to those in non-manual work- jobs that don’t need heavy physical effort

• a commitment to education, including private education and recognition of its importance for career success
• a sense of individual and family self-interest
• a concern with their own fitness, health&well-being

Question 15

Groups in the middle class (5)

Answer 15

1. ) the professionals e.g lawyers, doctors, teachers and social workers(high levels of cultural capital)
2. ) managers in the private sector of business, and government officials
3. ) the self-employed small business owners (individualistic identities because they stand on their own
4. ) The financial and creative middle class
5. ) The lowest middle class

Question 16

The traditional working class features

Answer 16

no loner exists in today’s society as the industries in which it was found closed down

• close knit community people looked out&protected each other
• men= main breadwinners, and women=housewives (looking after their men&children)
• Willis found manual work was central to men’s sense of masculinity and was their main source of identity
• enjoyment of pop culture&elements of folk culture

Question 17

Hobart: 3 main attitudes

Answer 17

• immediate gratification: enjoying pleasures today while the goings good rather than putting them off for later
• a present orientation:A focus on the hear and now rather than the future and Long term goals
• a sense of fatalism: an acceptance of the situation they found themselves in, (educational qualifications not important for jobs so wouldn’t encourage ambition and educational success on kids)

Question 18

The new working class(1960s)

Answer 18

The largest section of the working class today

• a privatised home-centred family lifestyle, with little involvement with neighbours or the wider community
• women are more likely to be in paid employment but still responsible for looking after the home
• more emphasis on consumer goods, leisure activities and lifestyle in forming identity

Question 19

is social class in declining importance:
Clarke and Saunders
Postmodernist writers

Answer 19

• declining as classes are becoming fragmented into range of different groups. Other influences on our identity e.g religion, ethnicity
• identities are now changeable and people can pick n mix from a range of different lifestyles (consumer culture has replaced class culture)

Question 20

The continuing importance of social class

Answer 20

• Those who suggest that identity is now formed through leisure activities, consumer goods fail to realise that these choices are not free but are influenced by peoples income. e.g exotic foreign holidays (not a lifestyle available to everyone)
• social class is a major influence on peoples choices&lifestyle