Sociology: Social class, culture and identity

Sociology: Culture & Identity

1. Topic 4

   • Social class
     • Social class is a term that refers to a group of people who share a similar economic situatuon, such as a similar occupational level, income and ownership of wealth. Often occupation, income and ownership of wealth are closely related to each other and influce the lives of individuals, for example: how much power and influence they have in society, their level of education, social status, type of housing, car ownership, leisure activities, consumer goods bought and lifestyle adopted.
       • Occupation - work - is often a central part of how people see themselves - their individual identity - as well as how other people define them - their social identity. It is usually one of the first thing we find out about people when we meet them for the first time. The time and money available to participate in social life, enjoy leisure activities and buy the consumer goods and services to support the lifestyles we aspire to, which are also important aspects of our identity, are all linked to some degree to the work we do.
   • Life chances
     • There are wide, measurable differences in life chances between social classes: higher social classes have better housing, cars, food, holidays, incomes and job security. Sickness increases as one moves down the social class hierarchy, Lower-working-class people suffer more from almost all diseases than those in the upper-middle-class. Smoking, drugs and alcohol abuse and obesity are all more monnomly found in the lower social classes. Around one-fifth of the population of Britian lives in relative poverty.
   • Objective and Subjective dimensions of class
     • Key term: A habitus is the cultural framework and set of ideas possessed by social class, into which people are socialised, initially by their families, and which influences their cultural tastes and choices.
     • Key term: Cultural capital is the knowledge, education, language, attitudes and values, and network of social contacts and lifestyle possessed by the upper middle class.
     • Bourdieu and class 'habitus' - Study: Bourdieu (1971) was a French Marxist, who argued that each social group possesses its own cultural framework or set of ideas, which he called a habitus. Individuals will operate according to the social class habitus they have learnt during socialisation, and this will influence: the knowledge they have, the way they use language and their accent, manners and forms of bahaviour, attitudes and values and cultural tastes. This cultural framework contains ideas about what counts as 'good' and 'bad' taste. The dominant class has the power to impose its own views on what counts as good taste on the rest of society. Those who have access to the habitus of the dominant class possess what Bourdieu calles cultural capital.
   • Social class subcultures
     • Upper-class subculture and identity
       • The upper class is a small class, and refers to those who are the main owners of society's wealth. The upper class includes three main groups.
         • 1. The traditional upper class. This consists of Royalty and the 'old rich' traditional landowning aristocracy, as well as the titled ranks of dukes, duchesses, lords, ladies earls and so on.
           • Has a strong sense of identity created by the socialisation process and close family networks established through intermarriage, inherited wealth, a shared educational experience and a shared subculture.
             • Study: Scott (1991) suggested features of upper-class subcultures include:
               • Military service
               • The employement of domestic staff
               • A taste for high culture
               • Particular codes of etiquette and manners
               • Leisure activities like hunting and shooting
               • A sense of leadership, self-confidence and superiority over others
               • Socialisation through a family life providing an exclusive upbringing and lifestyle, and close kinship relations through intermarriage with similar families.
               • Secondary socialisation through an education based around private boarding schools.
         • 2. The owners of industry and commerce - the 'corporate rich' of the business world.
         • 3. Stars of entertainment, media and sport make up the third group.
           • The other two groups make up the 'nouveau riche' (new rich), who have acquired their wealth in their own lifetimes rather than through inheritance, and sometimes come from humble orgins. These groups may attempt to achieve by the tradidtional upper class by attempting to copy their lifestyle, but they often find acceptance difficult, as the 'old rich' tend to regard the new rich as culturally inferior, lacking cultural capital, with poor taste. They are thought to lack the sophisticated taste and high culture of the traditional upper class. The new rich more commonly establish their identities independently through their lifestyles and extravagant consumption patterns, which are discussed later in this chapter.
     • Middle-class subcultures and identity
       • The middle class is a large class, and refers to those in non-manual work-jobs which don't involve heavy physical effort, and which are usually performed in offices and involve paperwork or ICT work of various kinds. This class has expanded rapidly in recent years, and it consists of such a wide range of different groups, with different occupations, educational qualifications, incomes and lifestyles.
         • Study: Savage (1995) and Roberts (2001) argue, it is difficult to generalise with any accuracy about a shared middle-class culture and identity. Despite this, some general features that might distinguish the middle class from the working class, and that are found in aspects of the identity of most sections of the middle-class and into which are socialised, include:
           • A commitment to education
           • A recognition of the importance of individual efforts, personal ambition and self-help for success in life.
           • A sense of individual and family self-interest.
           • Future orientation
           • A concern with their own fitness, health and well-being.
           • Lawler (2005) suggests that taste is one way the middle-class helps to secure and maintain its identity, through a sense of its own superiority over and opposition to white working class culture. She suggests that working-class people are viewed by the middle class as variously worthless, disgusting, with bad clothes, bad food, bad behaviour and bad taste.
             • Jones (2011) echoes this view, with the middle class seen as sneering at and ridiculing the white working class, treating them as the 'scum of the earth', and demonizing and stereotyping them as 'chavs'.
       • Groups in the middle class
         • 1. The professionals, such as lawyers, doctors, teachers and social workers, who value education, their independence, high culture products, and possess high levels of what Bourdieu called cultural capital.
         • 2. Managers in the private sector of the business, and government officals. These will have upper-range salaries, and their identity is likely to be formed in terms of consumer spending and the lifestyle and leisure activites their income will support. They are likely to adopt identities associated with more traditional middle-class respectability, valuing politeness, respect for the law and refined behaviour, including an appreciation of high culture, moderation in behaviour - such as not overindulging in alcohol or drugs - and visting museums and so on.
         • 3. The self - employed small business owners. These are likely to have a very individualistic identity,as they are forced to stand on their own two feet, and they are likely to be very work-centred.
         • 4. The financial and creative middle class. This consists of thoise involved in finance and the media and advertising. These groups tend to be young and very well-off, with high levels of consumer spending. Features include elements of both high and popular culture.
         • 5. The lower-middle-class 'white-collar' workers. These are employed in routine, non-manual work, like routine clerical and sales staff, with limited promotion prospects, and with lifestyles very similar to those of the new working class. People in this group are more likely to have a shared collective identity than other middle-class groups, expressed through membership of trade unions to protect against declining status and pay.
     • Working-class subcultures and identity
       • The working class is one of the largest social classes, and refers to those working in manual jobs - jobs involving physical work and, mainly, work with their hands. There are two broad groups within the working class: the traditional working class and the 'new' working class.
         • The 'new' working class
           • By far the largest secion of the working class today is what is commonly called the 'new' working class, though it is actaully quite old now as it first emerged in the 1960s. Cultutral features include:
             • A privatised, home-centred family lifestyle, with involvement with neighbours or the wider community.
             • An instrumental approach to life and work. Work is more likely to be seen as a means of simply making money, rather than as a means of making friends or as a major source of identity.
             • There is little sense of loyalty to others in the same class. Those identifyinf with this class don't regard social class and power differences between people is that some have more money and possessions than others.
             • Women are more likely to be in paid employment, though still retaining prime responibility for the home.
             • There are high levels of home-ownership, with home-centred lifestyles and consumption of popular culture.
             • There is more emphasis on consumer goods, leisure activities and lifestyle in forming identity, than on work.
       • The traditional working-class - the traditional working class declined rapidly in the last quater of the twentieth century,as the industries in which it was found closed down, and it has practically disappeared in Britain today. Cultural features include:
         • a close-knit community and community life: they 'looked out' for and protected one another.
         • Men were the main breadwinners, and women primarily housewives, looking after their men and their children.
         • Study: Willis (1977) found, hard manual work was central to men's sense of masculinity as 'real men', and was their main source of identity.
         • Obtaining a skill and getting a job and money were seen as more important than educational qualifications.
         • A strong sense of working-class identity and loyalty to their social class, with class solidarity expressed through a strong commitment to trade unions and the joining together ('collectivism') this involved.
         • A view of society based on a struggle between the social classes, identifying the workers - 'us' - as engaged in a conflict with 'them' - the bosses.
         • Enjoyment of and participation in popular culture, and so elements of traditional folk culture.
         • Study: Charlesworth (2000) founf in his study of a traditional working-class community in Rotherham, language may involve a lot of swearing, and the use of insults as forms of endearment to display friendship.
         • Study: Hoggart (1969), there were very strong moral values, with clear conceptions of right and wrong, and maintaining respectability in the community was closely linked to 'doing the right thing'. The insecurity of life in the traditional working class, with few chances of promotion at work, and ever-present risks of unemployment, industrial, ill-health and poverty, led to three particular attitudes:
           • Immediate gratification: enjoying pleasures today while the going's good rather then putting them off for later.
           • A present orientation: a focus on the here and now rather than the future and long-term goals.
           • A sense of fatalism: an acceptance of the situation they found themselves in, as they didn't see much hope of improving or changing their lives. In traditional working-class jobs, educational qualifications were often not very important for work, and parents tended not to encourage ambition and educational success.
   • Is social class of declining importance in forming identities?
     • Study: Clarke and Saunders (1991), suggest that social class is of declining importance today as a source of identity, as classes become fragmented into a range of different groups, and are being replaced by a whole range of other influences on identity, including gender, religion, ethnicity and consumer lifestyles.
     • Study: Pakulski and Waters (1996) suggest that class is dead as an important factor un a person's identity, being replaced witht he lifestyle and consumption patterns of different status groups.
     • Study: Lash and Urry (1987) argue that class subcultures have weakened, and people's cultural choices, tastes and lifestyles have become more individualistic and less influenced by their close communities and work situations.
     • Postmodernist writes suggest that identities have become much more fluid and changeable, and people can now choose, pick 'n' mix, chop and change any identities they want from a range of different lifestyles present to them through the mass media, and by the choices they make in their leisure activities and they lifestyles they express through their consumer spending. For postmodernists, consumer culture has replaced class culture as the major influence on people's identity.
   • The continuing importance of social class
     • Social class is still the major influence on people's standard of living and lifestyle, their chances of educational sucess, their health and life expectancy, their home ownership, their risks of unemployment and poverty, and other life chances.
     • 95 per cent og people identified themselves with a social class, with only 5 per cent saying they did not identify with any class. £8 per cent of people identified themselves as middle class. 57 per cent identified themselves as working class. (survey).