Class Culture

Examples of Class Culture in the following topics:

• Social Class

  • Neighborhood composition is one way in which individuals learn the culture of their own class.
  • One's neighborhood often determines where individuals go to school, which recreational facilities they use, and where they attend religious services (for example), so neighborhood composition can teach class culture and reinforce distinctions between classes.
  • Sociologists studying class distinctions since the 1970s have found that social classes each have unique cultural traits.
  • Due to class mobility, in some cases individuals may also acculturate to the culture of another class when ascending or descending in the social order.
  • Nonetheless, the impact of class culture on delineating a social hierarchy is significant.

• The Working Class

  • Secretaries, farmers, and hair stylists may all be considered members of the working class.
  • Since many members of the working class, as defined by academic models, are often identified in the vernacular as being middle class, there is considerable ambiguity over the term's meaning.
  • In the class models devised by sociologists, the working class comprises between 30 percent and 35 percent of the population, roughly the same percentage as the lower middle class.
  • Due to differences between middle and working-class cultures, working-class college students may face "culture shock" upon entering the post-secondary education system, with its "middle class" culture.
  • Explain how differences in class culture may affect working-class students who enter the post-secondary education system

• Social Class in the U.S.

  • When an elite politician enters a working class social scene, their apparent unfamiliarity can be seen as evidence of disparate class cultures.
  • Sociologists studying class distinctions since the 1970s have found that social classes each have unique cultural traits.
  • The phenomenon, referred to as class culture, has been shown to have a strong influence on the mundane lives of people.
  • Due to class mobility, in some cases, individuals may also acculturate to the culture of another class when ascending or descending in the social order.
  • Nonetheless, the impact of class culture on the social hierarchy is significant.

• Class Structure in the U.S.

  • Many Americans recognize a simple three-tier model that includes the upper class, the middle class, and the lower or working class.
  • The middle class (40%) is divided into upper-middle class (14%, earning $76,000 or more per year) and the lower-middle class (26%, earning $46,000 to $75,000 per year).
  • Many sociologists dispute the existence of such class mobility and point to the ways in which social class is inherited.
  • For example, a son or daughter of a wealthy individual may carry a higher status and different cultural connotations than a member of the nouveau riche ("new money").
  • Thus social classes form social groups so large that they feature considerable internal diversity and any statement regarding a given social class' culture should be seen as a broad generalization.

• High and Low Culture

  • High culture most commonly refers to the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture.
  • Gellner's concept of a high culture extended beyond the arts; he used it to distinguish between different cultures (rather than within a culture), contrasting high cultures with simpler, agrarian low cultures.
  • Pierre Bourdieu, on the other hand, used a much broader, class-based, definition of high culture or "taste", which includes etiquette, appreciation of fine food and wine, and even military service, but also references different social codes supposedly observed in the dominant class, and that are not accessible to the lower classes.
  • Traditionally the term has been synonymous with low culture, denoting the education and general "culturedness" (or lack thereof) of the lower classes, as opposed to the "official culture" and higher education emanated by the dominant classes.
  • Discuss the roles of both high culture and popular culture within society

• Theories of Culture

  • This model is of particular use in understanding the role of culture in sociological research because it presents two axes for understanding culture: one ranging from objective (society) to subjective (culture and cultural interpretation); the other ranging from the macro-level (norms) to the micro-level (individual level beliefs).
  • If used for understanding a specific cultural phenomenon, like the displaying of abstract art, this model depicts how cultural norms can influence individual behavior.
  • This is, in fact, part of what David Halle finds: while there are certainly cultural differences based on class, they are not unique to class.
  • Displayers of abstract art tend not only to belong to the upper-class, but also are employed in art-production occupations.
  • According to Collins, cultural notions of race, class, gender, and sexuality may be used to explain and justify societal level patterns of oppression and privilege by allowing social beings to believe existing inequalities simply reflect the way things have always been.

• Mental Health

  • What counts as healthy enjoyment and resilience depends upon one's class perspective.
  • Members of different classes encounter different stressors—lower class people likely face more financial stress as it pertains to day-to-day sustenance and well-being, while upper class people might experience stress from the intense social pressures associated with elite circles.
  • Definitions of mental health depend on cultural understandings in addition to biological and neurological findings.
  • Members of different social classes often hold different views on mental health.
  • To say that mental health is socially constructed means that its definition and criteria can change across time and culture.

• Class

  • According to the class social theorist Karl Marx, class is a combination of objective and subjective factors.
  • Class consciousness is not simply an awareness of one's own class interest but is also a set of shared views regarding how society should be organized legally, culturally, socially and politically.
  • The upper class is the social class composed of those who are wealthy, well-born, or both.
  • Class mobility refers to movement from one class status to another--either upward or downward.
  • Compare and contrast Marx's understanding of 'class' with Weber's class model

• Culture and Society

  • Culture is what differentiates one group or society from the next; different societies have different cultures.
  • Material and nonmaterial aspects of culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural ideas.
  • Someone who uses culture in this sense might argue that classical music is more refined than music by working-class people, such as jazz or the indigenous music traditions of aboriginal peoples.
  • For instance, the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture.
  • In this sense, high culture no longer refers to the idea of being "cultured," as all people have culture.

• Cultural Sociology: Researching Culture

  • How do sociologists study culture?
  • One approach to studying culture falls under the label 'cultural sociology', which combines the study of culture with cultural understandings of phenomena.
  • Not surprisingly, cultural conflict is an optimal scenario for the exploration of culture and cultural interaction.
  • Additionally, Anderson is interested in how individuals in these neighborhoods negotiate interpersonal interactions, especially when individuals from the Village (middle to upper-middle class and predominantly white) are forced to interact with members of the Northton area (lower class and poor blacks).
  • First, he found a cultural border that presented cultural conflict.