identity

identity

1. personal identity refers to the sense of self, how people see/judge themselves in terms of their individuality and difference from others.

2. refers to social roles/identity - family roles mothers/fathers/children, community roles - lovers/friends/neighbours or occupational roles.

3. passive/ascribed identities: acquire through birth. active identities: chosen through activities (football team etc.)

   • collective identity - identifying with larger social groups.

4. postmodernists claim people are rejecting traditional sources of identity, such as those shaped by ethnicity and social class, in favour of hybrid identities.

   • Marsh and Keating define ethnicity as 'a sense of cultural awareness and identity within groups that share a common history or heritage.

5. 2011 UK census - 80% of pop. white - significant amount from Ireland, eastern Europe, France, Usa and Australia. 20% ethnic minority

   • ethnic minority - people who originated from former British colonies of the Indian subcontinent (Pakistani, Indian, Bangledeshi extraction)
     • ethnic identity can have particular social features:
       • common racial origin/ skin colour
       • common language other than majority language
       • common historical experience ie. slavery
       • similar religious beliefs/practices
       • common shared customs/traditions
       • Rhodes found that white voters in Burnley felt 'cultureless' compared to ethnic minorities.
     • ethnic identity is the product of socialisation
       • cultural expectations

6. Ghuman (1999) outlined some of the family and primary socialisation practices found in many asian families within the UK:

   • children are brought up to be odedient, loyal and respectful to their elders and community.
   • arranged marriage accepted by the majority of young people
   • respect for religion (especially in muslim families)
   • mother tongue (children tend to bilingual)
   • strong sense of obligation to the elderly and next of kin
     • Dench et al. showed importance of extended families in bangledeshi communities in east end of london

7. Reynolds (2004) found Afro-Caribbean family life in the UK produced strong transnational A-C identity among young people. collective and individual pride in A-C culture was achieved by maintaining close family ties with extended kin living in the Caribbean via technology, and by offering economic and social support.

8. Education

   • indian and chinese children indicate the importance of educational success to family and ethnic identity.
   • ethnic identity can be undermined by aspects of hidden curriculum eg. studies of curriculum content suggest that the knowledge taught in schools tends to be ethnocentric.
     • ethnocentric - culturally bias
     • sewell argues entrepreneurship/ 'hustling' as well as masculinity are regarded more important than academic achievement by A-C boys, british teachers have lower expectations of them and treat them more harshly.
       • black boys are more likely than any other social groups to be excluded from school

9. religion

   • 'faith' schools - christian, muslim, jewish etc. promote an ethnic identity underpinned by religious values and practices.
     • most are CoE or roman catholic (around !% are non christian religions)
     • fears expressed by law that faith schools furnish children with narrow, intolerant, uncritical and often patriarchal ethnic identities which reject an other way of seeing the world
   • strong relationship between identity and religion
   • islam has a large impact on young packistani and bangledeshi identity in terms of diet, worship,dress behaviour and everyday routines and practices.
     • jacobson suggested being muslim is more important to them than being pakistani or british. she suggests its a defensive identity which may compensate for the lack of power they feel.

10. peer group

    • cultural comfort zone - the fact that people from similar social and ethnic backgrounds tend to cluster together in public areas such as college social areas.