Culture and Identity- Revision Notes/Key Sociologists (Whole Topic)
- Created by: JessFenwick
- Created on: 17-05-18 13:22
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Culture and Identity
Types of Culture
- Culture Definition: Language, beliefs, values and morals in society
- Subculture: Identifiable group within a culture, shares norms and values different from mainstream norms
- Folk: Created by local communities, rooted in customs
- Mass: Socialisation through media and consumption
- High: Educated Elite, theatre/opera lifestyle
- Low: Working Class, enjoyed by the masses, e.g. reality TV and Soap Operas
- Global: Technological advancements/Globalisation
Culture Theories
- Frankfurt School: Mass culture causes a reduced sense of community
- Strinati: Culture is affected by structural issues such as social class (postmodernism)
- Durkheim/Parsons: Culture allows for consensus, family is a ‘personality factory’ socialises culture (Functionalism)
- Marx: Commodity Fetishism; Mass culture creates false needs leading to desires towards consumer goods, fuelling capitalism (Marxism)
- Hall: Cultural Globalisation; construction of identity from a range of different cultures (Postmodernism)
- Goffman: Cultural Norms; If people change how they interact with each other, culture will also change (Interactionsim)
- Paglia: Popular culture; Representation of women can be empowering (Feminism)
- Criticisms: Single mass culture is too simplistic; capitalism creates some opposition to create illusion of a fair system (Gramsci/Neo-Marxist), Functionalism is outdated; culture is increasingly diverse rather than shared (Postmodernism)
Socialisation
- Parsons: ‘Personality Factory’; Nuclear family is key to primary socialisation (Functionalism)
- Marx: Socialises working class into accepting their own exploitation in capitalist society (Marxism)
- Oakley: Parents socialise children to conform to patriarchal ideas by praising in gender appropriate ways (Feminism)
- Mead: ‘Looking Glass Self’; Socialisation process develops a sense of self and learning to understand others and how they see us (interactionism)
- Lyotard: Socialisation allows control over the knowledge we are exposed to…
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