Work, consumption, leisure and identity Flashcards
The significance of work as a source of identity.
“What we do is what we’ll become” is a quote by who and what does it describe?
Gini (1998) “What we do is what we’ll become” – The sense that work is not just about producing goods or providing services, but helps to ‘produce’ us in terms of our identity. Pay, working conditions, pension funds, number of hours worked all create a person’s status and the kind of life they will lead.
Bourdieu in 1994 in describing Social Class within the significance of Work as a source of Identity came up with what conclusion?
Bourdieu (1984) (M) notes that social class is partly shaped by occupation and therefore can influence identity and leisure, such as through different levels of cultural capital leading to popular and high cultures being enjoyed by different social classes.
Parker, in 1976, makes an argument about Work, Identity and Leisure. What was this?
Include the names of the three patterns on the link between work and leisure.
Parker (1976) argues that work, identity and leisure were closely connected.
He argues that people’s occupations and the way they experience their work, such as independence and satisfaction can influence their leisure choices and the activities they engage in during their work time have important influences on their leisure activities, which can influence the identities they project on others.
Parker notes that there are 3 patterns in the link between work and leisure: opposition, neutrality, extension:
In what two ways has Parker’s work on the links between Work and Leisure been criticised?
Parker’s work has been criticised in the following ways:
- He ignores the influence of factors other than work in shaping identity and leisure activities, such as gender, ethnicity and social class. Therefore his work is seen as ‘deterministic’ as it only focuses on work and assumes that leisure activities are determined by work leaving little choice over leisure or identity.
- Scraton & Bramham (2001) note that Parker’s notion of work as being paid is too narrow and ignores other forms of unpaid work, such as housework and childcare which are ignored in his work. For women, the amount of time on this work restricts their opportunities and also the lack of pay also restricts them too.
List the six ways in which Work influences our Identity.
- It is an important factor in determining social class identity
- Social identity and status in society
- It provides us with self-esteem and personal identity (Riach & Loretto 2009)
- Work influences identities established through leisure choices (see Parker above)
- Peer-group influence/friendships affects identities
- Income to establish identity through consumption and leisure
Durkheim noted that people will experience Anomie when and why?
Unemployment, redundancy, being a full time carer can have the opposite effects on identity than those in work leading to a lack of social status and the social identity that work provides.
Durkehim notes that these people will experience ‘anomie’, a state of normlessness or insecurity arising from rapid change, such as with redundancy or being a carer for a family member.
What did Gini note in 1998 about lack of Work?
Gini (1998) notes that ‘a lack of work rips away one of the anchors of adult life’.
Riach & Loretto noted in 2009 that Work provides self-esteem. What else did they note?
Riach & Loretto (2009) note that work provides self-esteem and without it, such as losing your job through redundancy or through ill-health can affect our personal lives. Loss of friends, increased rejections of prospective employers can lead to a personal crisis of confidence. They found that people try to maintain a ‘working identity’ and wanted to contribute to society even though they are not in paid employment. This lead them to getting up early in the morning, despite not having a job, having a structure to the day, gaining new qualifications, working on projects that benefit others. These activities reinforced the idea that they were the type of person who was potentially employable and this sustained their personal well-being, self-esteem and a feeling of being needed. They also actively tried to avoid the stigmatised label (Goffman 1990) of being a ‘benefit scrounger’.
Riach & Loretto wrote in 2009 about the status of jobs and that people would not be forced into jobs. Why?
Riach & Loretto also found that they would not be forced into jobs that were low-skilled, poorly paid jobs, such as cleaning or security due to their stigmatising status of being disabled or older people.
They saw that this would devalue their skills and the working identity that they had created before losing their original job. This shows that work is a significant source of identity and how those without work try to avoid the stigma of unemployment and the way this may generate what Goffman (interactionism) referred to as a ‘spoiled identity’.
List the six reasons for declining importance of work as a source of identity
- Consumer Society
- Choice
- Identity found in other factors (gender, ethnicity)
- Identity linked to age not work
- Work is insecure and not used as source of identity
- Deskilling at work
As a reason for the declining importance of work as a source of identity Postmodernism have this theory.
Postmodernism – society is no longer based on production (making goods) but identity is now gained through consumption (consumer society). Consuming goods has become a much more important source of identity than work. ‘Work society’ whereby we gain our identity through work is no longer to people’s identity. Work is now just a ‘means to an end’ which provides us with an income which we then invest into a lifestyle that we identify with – This is known as the ‘end of work’ thesis. Bauman (2005) notes that when work ceases to be a central axis of identity which underpins other identities, the new focus for identity creation is now consumption of goods and lifestyle choices.
What is Roberts’ 1986 argument about the importance of Choice over Work in terms of identity?
Roberts (1986) argues that choice is more important than work in terms of identity and leisure. His research in Liverpool found that certain leisure activities, such as gambling and drinking alcohol, were found in all occupational groups rather than specifically to one occupation.
Whilst Parker notes that work does influence leisure activities, he has been criticised for putting too much emphasis on the importance of work in this relationship and fails to understand that other factors, such as…
Continue this sentence.
Whilst Parker notes that work does influence leisure activities, he has been criticised for putting too much emphasis on the importance of work in this relationship and fails to understand that other factors, such as gender, sexuality and ethnicity may all be more important in shaping leisure activities.
What are the 2014 statistics on employment in the UK?
Over 16s
60% in employment
Of those
75% full time
25% part time
Given the statistics on employment in the UK (2014 60% in work, of those 25% in part time work. Over 16s), can work be a central source of Identity.
Argue this point.
2014 in UK – Only 60% of population over 16years are in employment, with 25% of these in part-time employment. Therefore, work cannot be a central source of identity for those who are retired, in full time education or are carers or on long term sickness. Work doesn’t impact on leisure activities of these groups either. Clarke & Critcher (1985)(M) note that sociologists, such as Parker, who argue that work affects patterns of leisure fails to take into account ‘choice’ about their leisure activities and also that people within the same occupation may have different leisure activities.
Identification is not in work, but through age or where they are in the lifecycle, such as old age groups, or youth clubs
