Introduction to Sociology: Culture and Identity

• Sociology studies social life, social change, and human behavior's social causes and consequences.
• Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.
• Auguste Comte is recognized as the founding father of sociology.
• Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim are the other 3 main founding fathers who further developed sociology.
• They aimed to establish sociology as a new science within society.
• These figures collectively built sociology's foundation.

Culture and Identity

• Culture encompasses ideas, customs, and social behaviors learned by people, which shape a society's "way of life".
• Culture is passed down through the process of socialization.
• Through socialization individuals are integrated into the society they live in.
• Dominant culture in a refers to the main culture shared by most people within the society.
• Subcultures are smaller cultures that differ somewhat from the dominant culture but share common elements.
• Resistant subcultures/Counter cultures resist the perceived ideological and controlling norms and values of a culture.
• Folk culture is created by local communities and is rooted in the customs and beliefs of everyday life.
• Authentic folk culture emerges from, and made by, local people, reflecting their traditions.
• High culture is seen as superior and often associated with the highest class of society.
• Elites are associated with high culture.
• Elites, a small group, hold great power and privilege in society.
• Mass culture contrasts with high culture, appealing to a wide range of people.
• Bourdieu evaluated popular/mass culture in 1971.
• Bourdieu believes that high culture is allegedly superior to mass culture.
• The dominant class can impose on the rest of society its cultural ideas about what is considered good or bad taste.
• Cultural Hegemony refers to domination maintained by ideological or cultural means.
• Cultural Hegemony keeps the masses entertained by offering controlled choices within a range of similar products.
• Marcuse (1964) believed that people learn to accept the social system as a form of social repression.
• Social Repression is the socially supported mistreatment and exploitation of a group of individuals.
• Social Control refers to anything that keeps people in their place.
• Strinati (1995) rejects the view that mass culture diverts people from useful activities and lowers cultural standards.
• Strinati sees mass culture as valuable and worthy of study.
• Livingstone (1988) saw the producers and writers of soap operas have positive benefits for society, as it was about educating and informing the public about important or controversial social issues.

Global Culture

• Globalisation is the growing interconnectedness of societies worldwide.
• Globalisation involves the spread of a shared culture, consumer goods, and economic interests.
• Global culture is when cultures in different countries become more alike, sharing consumer products and ways of life.
• Global culture has arisen because globalisation has undermined national and local cultures.
• Ritzer's theory of McDonaldization refers to the global promotion of huge companies and brands.
• The McDonaldization of society involves a desired culture and is enabled by technology.
• Identity is the concept of who you are as a person and how you see yourself and others see you.
• Identity includes not only personality traits but also membership in a social group

Social Identity

• Lawler (2014) states that identity establishes similarities and differences, influencing social interaction.
• Giddens and Suttons (2013) discuss primary and secondary identities.
• Primary identity is learned through socialization and forms the basic building blocks of socialization.
• Primary identity is developed through primary socialization, and includes gender, race, and social class.
• Secondary identity is more fluid and dependent on situations, such as college majors, occupation, and marital status.
• Personal identity is how an individual sees themselves and what distinguishes them from others.
• Social identity is assigned with factors that require no choice, like gender and ethnicity.
• Collective identity is similar to social identity but includes elements of choice, such as political groups or style.
• Identity formation is influenced by agents of socialization, including family, education, and religion, which relies on where you were raised.
• Bauman (2004) argues that gender, social class, and ethnicity have become more fluid in contemporary Europe.
• Multiple identities occur when an individual can be defined by various identities.
• Multiple identities form due to social roles, age, gender, reference groups, and social groups.

Theory of 'I' and 'Me'

• Mead (1934) developed the theory of the "I" vs. "Me".
• "I" is driven by instinct and represents how an individual sees themselves.
• "Me" is adapted by what society teaches, representing the social self that develops based on how others see you.
• Stigmatized or spoiled identity refers to an undesirable characteristic that prevents full acceptance into society.
• Goffman (1990) views stigmatized identity as undesirable or demeaning, excluding people from full societal acceptance.
• Through socialisation individuals learn the norms and values of society leading to social cohesion and functionality.
• Resocialisation involves learning new norms and values to adapt to a new social environment or situation.
• Nature refers to innate qualities like human nature or genetics.
• Nurture encompasses care given, environmental influences and parental influences such as media.
• The Nature vs Nurture debate involves philosophical questions about determinism and free will. Socialisation and Identity: Identity is socially constructed through socialisation and personal interpretations.
• Social Construction involves characteristics of such as statistics, health, childhood, old age or deviance are created and influenced by the attitudes, actions and interpretations of members of society.
• They only exist because they are defined as such.
• Primary Socialisation occurs during childhood within the family or close community.
• Secondary Socialisation occurs outside family and community, such as in education or peer groups.
• Functionalists view schools as a mini society to prepare young people for adult life.
• Parsons saw schools bridge particularistic values and ascribed status with universalistic values and achieved status.
• Marxists such as Bourdieu, Bowles, Gintis and Althusser regard school as the reproduction and justification of social class inequalities.
• The main methods of communication used by media Functionalists see the media as beneficial by building value consensus and social stability.
• Marxists view the media as a form of social control.

Religion

• Is taught and teaches values
• Functionalists view religion as important for morality.
• Marxists see religion as a form of social control.
• Religion is a collective identity, as it is a person's belonging to a group.
• Durkheim views religion as vital in second socialisation for strengthening moral communities.
• Marx views religion as the opium of the masses, keeping people in their place.
• Althusser (1971) views religion as an ideological state apparatus.
• Religion spreads the ideology of, and justifies the power of, the dominant social class.
• Gramsci believes religion strengthens hegemony.
• Functionalists like Durkheim and Parsons believe that a lack of socialisation leads to chaos with a need for social stability and equilibrium.
• Marxists and Feminists see socialisation as a form of control.
• Marxists view socialisation as a form of class inequality.
• Feminists view socialisation as gendered, reinforcing patriarchy.
• Garfinkel (1984) criticized structural approaches.
• Garfinkel views Individuals are 'cultural dopes' that passively consume and accept values handed down through socialisation.
• Giddens argues for a middle ground between structural and social approaches, and that society and individuals exert pressure on each other.
• People think about their identity as they act with individuals and social agencies.
• Giddens sees identity as a continuously reflected story.
• Social class refers to a group sharing a similar economic situation, occupation, level of income, and ownership.
• Social class influences life chances, which involves obtaining desirable things and avoiding those that are undesirable.
• Objective and Subjective dimensions of class

Class Dimensions

• Objective dimension refers to income and education related to social classes.
• Subjective dimension is related to self and identity.
• Bourdieu was a Marxist who argued each social class has its cultural framework called a habitus.
• Class Habitus encompasses group norms, values, attitudes, and behaviors in a particular group.
• Cultural capital comes from having access to the habitus of the dominant class.
• Cultural Capital includes norms, values and lifestyle possessed by the upper and upper middle class.
• Upper class subcultures and identity is a small class of society with owners of wealth.
• 3 main groups of the upper class: the royalty and the old rich, owners of industry and commerce, and stars of entertainment, media and sport.
• Traditional upper class shows a strong sense of identity through the socialisation process.
• Nouveau riche acquire their wealth quicker than inheritance and lack elegance and sophistication from the old wealth
• Conspicuous consumption establishes identity through showing off wealth.
• The middle class involves those in non-manual jobs. Jobs that do not involve physical effort
• The middle class has middle class has rapidly grown and has different education, occupation, income and lifestyles.
• Value for education by the middle class shows a sense of ambition, looks to the future, has greater appreciation for high culture rather then a lower culture, and has a concern about health.

Groups of the Middle Class

• Upper middle class include doctors, lawyers and professors.
• Middle class involve teachers, managers and professionals.
• Tower middle class involve factory workers, manual labourers and drivers.
• Financial middle class involve I-gaming
• Middle class is somewhere between low and high culture.
• Lawler (2005) a main difference in the working class, is that they distinguish themselves from the working class.
• Bourdieu spoke about how the middle class distinguish their taste from the working class.
• Working class subculture and identity is a large group of people not invested in educational jobs and prefer jobs in the manual labour industry such as construction.
• Traditional and new groups are the two working class.
• Traditional Working Class communities are strong as they rely on each other and show a strong sense of masculinity with skills better then education.
• The traditional working class trend to see society as a divide, valuing folk culture.
• Charlesworth (2000) found that swearing and insults were a form of affection in the traditional class.
• Insecurity of life in the traditional working class is said to lead to 3 attitudes, immediate gratification which involves enjoying pleasures today and avoid putting it off, living in the present unlike the higher classes as they lack the ambition and success, and a sense of fatalism which shows they have no hope in improving.
• New working class is the largest section of the working class to date.
• They new working-class has a privatised home centred family lifestyle with little involvement in the community.
• An instrumental approach to work with money is important, little sense of loyalty to others of the same class, women work more, more emphasis on customer goods, leisure activities and lifestyle in forming an identity more then work.
• The underclass involves a social group at the bottom of the social class hierarchy excluded from society
• Murray (1989-1990) Characterise the culture of the underclass consisting of:
• educational failures, single parents and family instability, proponents of the new right wing.
• Jones (2011) demonisation of the working class terms such as chav.
• Clarke and Saunders (1981) believes social class is an indentity that have lost its importance with it being replaced by other identity groups such as gender, religion, and sexuality.
• Lash and Urry (1987) believes the subculture of social class is not as strong, as losing its importance.
• The big idea taken for granted by the meta narrative, that helps us make sense of the world around us, means when there is more science then things will be better for everyone
• Post modernists reject the word meta narrative to questions if classes really as important.
• Many studies show that gender isnt only male of female, but a spectrum.

Gender and Identity

• Sex (physical) refers to the biological differences between men and women.
• Gender refers to how to express our gender in a society that labels the male and female (expressions of gender and societal expectations).
• Sexuality/Sexual Orientation refers to the type of people to whom individuals are either physically or romantically attracted to.
• The significance of Gender of Identity is that it effects how we present ourselves as the masculine or feminine on how they influences us.
• Expectations from being male and female are learnt from socialisation.
• The learnt expectations vary from different cultures and locations
• Performance of gender is different all over the world however the performance of sex acts is the same.
• Oakley (1972) disagreed with the ideas of gender.
• Oakley took evidence that women can take on men's jobs and are as capable as them.
• The only exclusive task for women is childbirth. Margeret Mead (1935) carried out a study, she studied the roles of women in 3 different tribes.
• Gender roles manifested differently in each tribe from the males and females expressing their identity.
• Gender Stereoytypes and Hegemonic Gender identities:
• Stereotpye - a held fixed and simplified image of a particular type of person or thing
• Hegemonic Identity- one that is dominant and hard for indivduals to assert alternative identities.
• Connel (1995) Hegemonic masc/fem is th ideal model of masculine and feminine,.
• Those that don't follow these models get called hurtful names like tomboy or sissy.
• The Social construction of Hegemonic gender through Socialisation can occur through many sources.
• Agencies of socialisation establish traditional gender roles that forms to female and males into the hegemonic gender identities Oakley developed 4 ways in which children learn gender roles:
• Manipuation- child self concept is not allowed to develop naturally
• Canalisation- seperating and directing children to different object pushing the child into masc or fem role
• Versal Appelllations- Verbal praise that are directed at either masc or fem

Social Gender Rules

• During Activities, there are directives into separate female and male activities from a young age.
• The School: Gender socialisation happens through the worlds hidden curriculum.
• There are different rules of gender which can be seen through books, pictures and role models etc.
• The Peer group is a big influence in conforming the individual and stereotypes,
• The role of the media creates and reinforces gender stereotypes which can influences are identity and it caters for men and women differently. Changing Gender Identities

Changing Gender Roles

• There becoming more males accepting of changing gender identities which combine elements of both genders, meaning that there more people not conforming.
• The new social identity has given people the freedom to experiments and adopt new identities, which has created a conscious and acceptance.
• Changing Female Identities:
• Females are doing better then males is education
• Legislations have helped people to choose ignoring traditional gender stereotypes Changing Male Identities: more independence for women has causes higher rates of divorce for men, and there is less male dominated jobs.
• what happens to men once women being emancipated?
• There has the emergence of the new man. who is caring, gentle, sensitive and willing to help around the house.
• due to these changes the male grooming market exploded.
• the UK has coined 6 new male identities: 1-New Lad, becoming softer and the typical behaviour of a aggressive, beer loving, more promiscuous person 2- New bloke, being the same as the new lad but married 3-New Dad , who is invested in fatherhood 4 Emotional boy, but loves music and art and emotions 5- Metrosexual, that are straight who embrace there feminine side due to there passion to look will groomed 6-Retrosexual an answer of metrosexual to say what men shouldnt be groom selves so that there are more to stereotypes YMCA + Succeed foundations show from 2012 that there are more men showing signs of anxiety about there image.
• Mac an Ghaill (1994) Suggests that there is a crisis of masculinity and men filling lost for new gender identity.

Sexuality and Identity

• Gender,sexuality and "normal sex" is a social construct of our sexy.
• Homosecuality being a social and attraction to the sex.
• Sexual behaviour from the woman's point of view, Standard was woman and woman that was men.
• women was sex objects known as the man gaze: where men look at women as sexual object.

Changing Identity

• Changing Identifies physical and sex aspects have become an important part of men masculinity.
• sex appael for woman has always been feminine identity with men being the one that they will attractive .
• men are sexually attracted to women due to the feminine identity.
• men boded and men sexual attraction has made them more and more popular.
• men are becoming the new main main sex as they are facing the same physical as the women.
• stigmatised Identity happens to the people that aren't cis and they get called devient.
• in west society certain attractions has face stigmas but now there they less
• gay Indentity ha become more better and they less.
• the Malty Guy Right moments has made gay become more llegal in 1973.
• there is caution, even they more acceptment there is still hater speech and the homophia is commen.
• Ecthicity has many identy's.
• Ethnicyt grows up in cultuer.
• recae is just phiscal charictarist and is how we are in the end of the same race.
• minors they not dominut.
• ethinic the grew up in cultuer.
• found by the afro.
• relgion ha power.

Ethnicity

• The media influences their black identity
• It influences through teaching about our ethnicity
• Fanon (1952) found that black individuals adopt aspects from white culture to feel accepted, which Is called white mask.
• Diaspora occurs when one ethnic population separates into different countries.
• Globalisation has resulted in the blur of identities due to travel and exposure to cultures through music and food.
• Hybrid Identity a new formation from the mix of or identities.
• Ethnicity as a Resistance has helped to give in the way for resistance of racism and disadvantage Whit Identities

National Identity

• Europe needs often need it to asserted.
• Whit suppermacy
• people are in racsime.
• muslim and an identity which is seen as begib is Muslims a identity
• Isiams group had a high hate.
• fundamental they go to the.
• having the citizship.
• and the person as the born or they has come.
• nation.
• nation.
• Hali. Every country is created and formed in a specific way
• Country all have there own language or a music.
• nation needs it to be strength or its gone
• need strong identity
• nation is import.

Common Culture

• Every thing has needs on each others an is together
• Is import to be one with them.
• If it is less it is not gonna happen.
• Banes.
• they depend on each other
• ability and some other
• identity
• lable as disabled might won’t.
• stimagated or spooled
• disablty. depends on how you feel
• socail norms and what do you expect to happen in life.

Arses chold hild. to keep a hold of things.

Britsh attutid most import thing thing to find yours self.

• Brdalay
• more inportant fo ryoung kids.

Age Identities

• older you have the less burdens and are less capable
• the lose thing they pro thing.
• they are live longer
• and more stereos on them.
• they may become longer and heather.
• and better
• class and that they stay the same as the active aging

Third Age

• Actuve aging means better health and safer life.
• Laslett refet to the to tired of the elder people the are more avtive
• there ha alot of constrints with work and they are more in a better place
• young and identy cultuer.
• identy is more subcuture.
• yoth subcultuer is more youth that shared.

An overview of sociology's foundational concepts, influential figures like Comte, Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, and the basics of culture. It focuses on how culture shapes social behavior, is transmitted through socialization, and includes the concepts of dominant culture and subcultures within societies.