Culture and Identity Studies

Culture and Identity Studies

1. Culture

   • High Culture
     • Bordieu - the ruling class creates cultural capital which means their norms and values are considered the best.
     • Berger - high culture is used to justify the ruling class view of the world.
   • Folk Culture
     • Redfield - folk culture was based upon extended families, supportive communities and local culture
   • Mass Culture
     • Simmel - in industrial societies people have little in common with each other and are more invidualistic. Mass culture takes over; we have TV in common and other entertainment sources.
     • Marcuse & Adorno - mass culture is all about making money. Mass culture needs a forum, we buy that forum and it becomes a money maker.
   • Popular Culture
     • Hall - from the CCCS argues that people are good at using popular culture to be creative and rebellious this is known as 'Cultural Resistance'.
     • Hebdige - rebellious subcultures such as punk quickly becomes mainstream this is known as 'incorporation'
     • Bansky - popular culture can be used to express frustrations at class exploitation.
   • Global Culture
     • Giddens - technology has led to globalisation. Goods can be transported to anywhere in the world so local culture has become global.
     • Klein - points out that transnational companies/corporations (like Nike or Coca Cola) produce goods which are consumed throughout the world.

2. Theories of Culture

   • Functionalism
     • Durkheim - we are socialised into out culture through the learning of norms and values as this will lead to value consensus.
   • Feminism
     • Ferguson & McRobbie - studied magazines and found out that they promoted traditional female roles.
     • Dworkin - images of women in popular culture encourages and justifies violence towards women.
     • Pagila - popular culture can be empowering for women.
   • Postmodernism
     • Goffman - we are seen
   • Signifiers
     • Baudrillard - suggests that in postmodern age symbols have become commodities, we no longer buy products for what they are but what they represent.
   • Interactionism
     • Goffman - we are seen as actors within our own drama (life).
   • Subcultures
     • Cohen (functionalist) - subcultures develop as a way of coping with failure in society.
       • Cohen - skinheads - tried to recreate the working class culture by dressing in grandad shirts, worn boots and braces and acting in a way that valued masculinity and aggression.
     • Willis (postmodernist) - young people have too many definitions of their identity.
     • Hetherton (postmodernist) - fashion and musicals are too varied.
     • Einstandt (functionalist) - subcultures are to do with ascribed and achieved status.
     • Hebdige - punks - punks dressed and acted in a way which showed society they would not conform.
     • Jefferson - teddy boys - the smartness of their attires gave the working class teddy boys a higher status, something they didn't have in their normal jobs.

3. Socialisation

   • Primary
     • Parsons :) - we are all a blank sheet of paper until we are socialised
     • Zaretsky :(- family promotes capitalism.
   • Secondary
     • Durkheim - school promotes consensus by teaching norms and values.
     • Bowles and Gintis - education operates a hidden curriculum lets them accept exploitation and socialises pupils into ruling class culture.
     • Gilborn & Wright - teachers labelled Afro-Carribean pupils; which can lead to self fulfilling prophecy.
     • Sewell - peer groups are important he thinks that young afro-Caribbean males are too influenced by the media.
   • Mass Media
     • Althusser - media have now replaced religion in secondary socialisation.
   • Social Control
     • Durkheim - socialisation puts limits on behaviour this si called 'constraint'.
   • Gender
     • Oakley - family creates gender roles and reinforced patriarchy. 1) MANIPULATION - parents encourage normal behaviour and interests for the child's sex and discourage which is seen as deviant. 2) CANALISATION - parents channel their child's interests in a particular direction. 3) VERBAL APPELLATION - parents may use language which is gender specific.
     • School
       • Skelton - schools both create gender stereotypes and maintain those learnt at home.
     • Media
       • McRobbie - argued that teenage female magazines reinforce conventional notions of feminity, emphasising the importance of keeping a man and how to be attractive to men.
   • Ethnicity
     • Ballard - he thought that Asians negotiated two separate lives are at home and the other is when they are outside of the home.

4. Self

   • Cooley - 'looking glass theory' - we see ourselves how others see us.
   • Goffman - 'symbolic consumption' - all the world is a stage and we are all actors. there are two regions that we show. The front region - present ourselves to other. The back region - which is private and we don't show anyone.