social class

Question 1

important - class-based society and measurements of social class

Answer 1

Marxism - identity determined by social class - single and fixed - taught our class identities through agents of socialisation who transmit dominant ideology and teach us what identities are suitable for our class

Education can be seen as one major institution that reinforced class inequalities - state and private school, different values in education and levels of capital

British attitudes survey - 95% of people identities themselves with a particular social class

Question 2

not important - class-based society and measurements of social class

Answer 2

Neo-marxists - traditional marxism doesnt account for the existence of resistant subcultures

Pakulski and Waters - pm - class is dead as an important factor in person’s identity - replaced with lifestyle and consumption - class identity fragmented into numerous separate identities

Clarke and Saunders - pm - social class is of declining important as fragmentation of identity into range of groups with new influences eg consumption, religion

PM - breakdown of class divisions - decline of manual labour, mass media breaking down cultural barriers

Question 3

important - life chances, consumption patterns, leisure opportunities

Answer 3

Acheson - life chances of top two classes still considerably better - life expectancy 5 years longer for men - class polarisation and reduced social mobility (stagnant for past 30 years)

Bourdieu - marxism - whilst we measure social class based on occupation - income and wealth - now increasingly more important to look at class cultures
- whilst traditional jobs have declined - importance of cultural capital becomes ever more important as signifier of social class difference

Question 4

not important - life chances, consumption patterns, leisure opportunities

Answer 4

BBC’s British Class survey - devised idea that class is now in 7 different categories - view that class in british is fluid to the point it’s meaningless
- pointless to divide people into traditional classes that no longer exist

Postmodernists - fluidity, choice, individualism and fragmentation is much more important than rigid class identities in contemporary society - pick and mix - Bauman

Question 5

important - class cultures, change and decline in social class

Answer 5

Lawler - uses Bourdieu’s concept of taste and how this becomes a symbol of middle class identity - by using taste provides middle class with own form of superiority - view working class as inferior

Jones - middle class seen to sneer and ridicule the white working class - treating them the scum of earth

McKenzie et al - working class seen to be in decline due to fail in traditional manufacturing industries - steel workers saw society as still strongly divided in class

Question 6

not important - class cultures, change and decline in social class

Answer 6

Feminists - gender more important source of identity

Lash and Urry - pm - class and subcultures have weakened and people’s cultural choices, tastes and lifestyles have become more individualistic
- rise in individualism means people are now identifying themselves individually rather than as a collective group (class)