Sophie Rebecca Prosser Y836531X TMA07 DD100
How does class influence identity in
Contemporary society?
"A number of studies conducted in Britain over the last 30 years have revealed that the vast majority of the population believes that society is divided into social classes."(H&H, 2000,P75)
Class is defined through wealth, income, education and occupation, which would then be filtered down to manners, language and grooming. These are not established through legal and religious structures and form an inevitable hierarchy. A hierarchy contains many levels of power and its is an example of ranking and organization. It is seen as a pyramid, the higher it gets the less room there is at the top. There are no restrictions on what class a person is or can be. A process know as Social mobility enables anyone, in theory, in society to move up and down the class ladder with opportunities and choices.
Through the early 1960's it was first suggested that working class was an important and relevant class to be a part of as the middle class would not succeed without them. The two classes depend on each other and a functionalist view would be a society, which works as a system, with different parts, doing different things but ultimately all working together. This period saw the beginning of many more opportunities through the industrial revolution. Women were allowed to work, which allowed there to be a joint income with partners. So where as before the war a women would rely on the husbands wage they now have the ability to some extent to earn two wages. Even though this would break the norm in society of women staying home they would move up the class ladder with a better income, which would gain them more options. The class structure began to expand from two main groups to three, Not just the unemployed, and the working but there was now upper class aswell.
How does class influence identity in
Contemporary society?
"A number of studies conducted in Britain over the last 30 years have revealed that the vast majority of the population believes that society is divided into social classes."(H&H, 2000,P75)
Class is defined through wealth, income, education and occupation, which would then be filtered down to manners, language and grooming. These are not established through legal and religious structures and form an inevitable hierarchy. A hierarchy contains many levels of power and its is an example of ranking and organization. It is seen as a pyramid, the higher it gets the less room there is at the top. There are no restrictions on what class a person is or can be. A process know as Social mobility enables anyone, in theory, in society to move up and down the class ladder with opportunities and choices.
Through the early 1960's it was first suggested that working class was an important and relevant class to be a part of as the middle class would not succeed without them. The two classes depend on each other and a functionalist view would be a society, which works as a system, with different parts, doing different things but ultimately all working together. This period saw the beginning of many more opportunities through the industrial revolution. Women were allowed to work, which allowed there to be a joint income with partners. So where as before the war a women would rely on the husbands wage they now have the ability to some extent to earn two wages. Even though this would break the norm in society of women staying home they would move up the class ladder with a better income, which would gain them more options. The class structure began to expand from two main groups to three, Not just the unemployed, and the working but there was now upper class aswell.
