Pakuliski and Walters (1996)
Social class is no longer important as there has been a shift from production of goods to consumption so defined by what we buy
As results of people no longer identify with being working or middle class due to people no longer sharing common experience of full-time work
Social class is no longer imposed upon us and we are free to construct identity based on diversity of choices which are affected by globalisation, mass media and consumer culture
Pakuliski and Walters argue that identity is defined by consumption such as male hipster
Offe (1985)
Today’s society, fewer and fewer individuals share a common experience of full-time work and use of culture
Marshall (1998)
Surveys frequently show that people still see themselves as belonging to a class
Savage (2001)
Only a minority believed that Britain was a class less society
Contemporary UK gives choice and opportunities to everyone which were limited before such as university
Media gave access to endless range of information and cultural experience so broken down many social and class-based barriers that may exist even 30 years ago
Not everyone agrees that today’s society is as class-free
Social class background remains the most significant indictor or outcomes such as education, health and life expectancy
Important to recognise the ability to make choices and take opportunities depends on money
Some sections of UK don’t have access to interact and are more concerned with struggling to feed the family
Recent search links top jobs and social mobility have founded that social class play important role
Children from upper- and middle-class families enjoys class advantages in access to higher education and jobs
Where children in working class face class-based obstacles that prevent bright working-class children from competing equally with middle and upper class
Iyon
Pick and mis different style which one have been described to a certain class such as football
Originally dedicated to working class but due to popular culture, all social background can join in with entertainment
Objective Social Class
View that people can be placed in a social class by using a scale or measurement
Done by governments and national statistics social economic classification
Places individual in a social class position according to their occupation seen as unfair though
Subjective Social Class
Based upon what an individual think of themselves such as;
- Occupation
- Housing
- Parents
- Education
- Consumption patterns
Socialisation
Family
Teach norms and values such as meal time
Middle class so eating in the evening whilst sitting together
Working class was thought to have meals earlier whilst watching TV
Breaking down and blurring
Media
Super rich use media for their advent age
Get money through using media via TV programs and advertisement
Education
Private schools so teaching a child advertisement such as Latin
Allows them to network through peers and friends
Prepares an individual for work which decides their education
Type of school they attend such as private school will give elevated social position
Learn different things from state schools such as polo
Upper individuals would have trust funds such as Grants so parents don’t have to pay for fees
Peer Groups
People they hang out with
Individuals peers will influence them by teaching them to conform to a certain way of life which links to a class
Power Et al
Close relationship from middle class backgrounds achieving at top public schools and gaining places of elite universities
Schools encouraging applications to elite universities and see this as a measure of success
Students don’t achieve excellence sees it as a personal failure
Bourdieu
Middle class students go to university linked to fish in the water compared with working class students whose experiences can be isolating and daunting