Topic 4- Social Class And Identity Flashcards
Examples of how occupation, income and ownership of wealth influences the lives of individuals
- 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
How a persons occupation effects how they see themselves?
- 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
Social class
Refers to a group of people who share a similar economic situation, such as a similar occupational level, income and ownership
Differences in life chances between social classes
- 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
Two dimensions of social class:
The objective dimension
Refers to those aspects of social class which exist independently of people's thoughts and ideas - the material differences in people's life chances
Two dimensions of social class:
The subjective dimension
- 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
Habitus
Is the cultural framework and set of ideas possessed by a social class into which people are socialised into
Bourdieu (Marxists) and class habitus
what a social class habitus influences
- 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
What does cultural framework contain ideas about
- 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
Cultural capital
The education, language, attitudes and values and lifestyle possessed by the upper and upper middle class
Upper-class subculture and identity: Definition and main groups
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
Features of upper class suggested by scott (1991)
- 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
Difference between nouveau rich (new rich) and old rich
- 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
Middle class:
Definition and features
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
Groups in the middle class (5)
- ) the professionals e.g lawyers, doctors, teachers and social workers(high levels of cultural capital)
- ) managers in the private sector of business, and government officials
- ) the self-employed small business owners (individualistic identities because they stand on their own
- ) The financial and creative middle class
- ) The lowest middle class
The traditional working class features
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
Hobart: 3 main attitudes
- 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)
The new working class(1960s)
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
is social class in declining importance:
Clarke and Saunders
Postmodernist writers
- 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)
The continuing importance of social class
- 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
