Sociology · Sociology Themes and Perspectives (Haralambos and Holborn)
Chapter 11 : Culture, socialisation and identity
Table of contents93 sections
- 1.Culture, socialisation and identity
- 2.Introduction
- 3.Key Terms
- 4.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 5.Types of culture
- 6.Key Terms
- 7.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 8.Socialisation
- 9.Key Terms
- 10.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 11.Identity
- 12.Key Terms
- 13.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 14.Culture - functionalist perspectives
- 15.Emile Durkheim and Marcel Mauss - Primitive Classification
- 16.Religion and classification
- 17.Criticisms and evaluation of Durkheim
- 18.Key Terms
- 19.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 20.Marxist theories of culture and identity
- 21.Karl Marx on culture
- 22.Key Terms
- 23.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 24.Marxist theories of the arts
- 25.John Berger - oil paintings and private property
- 26.Evaluation of Berger
- 27.Lucien Goldmann - class and literature
- 28.Evaluation of Goldmann
- 29.Key Terms
- 30.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 31.Neo-Marxist theories of culture
- 32.Raymond Williams - Culture and Society
- 33.Evaluation of Williams
- 34.Pierre Bourdieu - class and culture
- 35.Tony Bennett, Mike Savage, Elizabeth Silva, Alan Warde, Modesto Gayo-Cal and David Wright - Culture, Class, Distinction
- 36.Key Terms
- 37.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 38.Mass culture
- 39.Dwight Macdonald - A theory of mass culture
- 40.Evaluation of mass culture theory
- 41.Herbert J. Gans - the plurality of taste cultures
- 42.Dominic Strinati - a critique of mass culture theory
- 43.Key Terms
- 44.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 45.Global culture
- 46.Frank J. Lechner and John Boli - World Culture
- 47.John Storey - global culture and popular culture
- 48.Key Terms
- 49.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 50.Structuralism
- 51.Ferdinand de Saussure - semiology
- 52.Claude Lévi-Strauss - structuralism, myths and kinship
- 53.Key Terms
- 54.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 55.Poststructuralism
- 56.Derrida, Lacan and Foucault
- 57.Key Terms
- 58.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 59.Modernity, postmodernity, globalisation and culture
- 60.Stephen Crook, Jan Pakulski and Malcolm Waters - Postmodernization
- 61.Dominic Strinati - postmodernism and popular culture
- 62.Key Terms
- 63.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 64.Socialisation (Detailed Perspectives)
- 65.The functionalist view of socialisation
- 66.Marxism and socialisation
- 67.Neo-Marxism and socialisation
- 68.Symbolic interactionism and socialisation
- 69.Feminist perspectives on socialisation
- 70.Barrie Thorne - gender in school
- 71.Key Terms
- 72.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 73.Identity (Detailed Perspectives)
- 74.Introduction - the nature of social identity
- 75.Kath Woodward - the formation of identities
- 76.Stuart Hall - three concepts of identity
- 77.Zygmunt Bauman - 'From pilgrim to tourist'
- 78.Evaluation of Hall and Bauman
- 79.Richard Jenkins - identity as a social product
- 80.Harriet Bradley - Fractured Identities
- 81.Key Terms
- 82.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 83.Identity, leisure and consumerism
- 84.Chris Rojek - Decentring Leisure
- 85.Sheila Scraton and Peter Bramham - leisure, postmodernity and identity
- 86.James Katz and Satomi Sugiyama - 'Mobile phones as fashion statements'
- 87.Rich Ling - fashion, mobile phones and group identity
- 88.Jennifer Craik - The Fate of Fashion
- 89.Celia Lury - consumer culture and identity
- 90.Key Terms
- 91.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 92.Summary and conclusions
- 93.Quick-Recall Box
Chapter preview
Culture, socialisation and identity
"Without social identity, there is, in fact, no society." — Richard Jenkins (1996)
Introduction
- In the introductory chapter (explored further in sociological studies of culture), culture was defined as the whole way of life found in a particular society, which is learned and shared by its members.
- Raymond Williams (1976), a leading theorist of culture, claims: "Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language."
- Culture is implicitly or explicitly contrasted with nature. Christopher Jencks (1993) describes culture as "all which is symbolic: the learned aspects of human society".
| Concept | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| Culture | Encompasses human symbolic and learned production. |
| Nature | Exists without human intervention. |
- Jencks (1993) distinguishes 4 main senses in which the word 'culture' is used:
| Sense of Culture | Description |
|---|---|
| A state of mind | Moving towards "the idea of perfection, a goal or an aspiration of individual human achievement or emancipation". It is a quality possessed by individuals who gain desirable learning. |
| Civilisation | An elitist definition linking culture to evolutionary ideas (e.g., Herbert Spencer), viewing Western societies as more evolved/civilised than others. |
| The collective body of arts and intellectual work | A common-sense definition locating culture in theatres, concert halls, art galleries, and libraries (high culture). This definition identifies a distinct sociology of culture (e.g., sociology of art, music, literature). |
| The whole way of life of a people | The definition most usually adopted by contemporary sociologists. Ralph Linton (1945) says: "The culture of a society is the way of life of its members; the collection of ideas and habits which they learn, share and transmit from generation to generation." |
Key Terms
| Concept | Definition |
|---|---|
| Culture | The whole way of life found in a particular society, encompassing all which is symbolic and learned, contrasting with the natural world. |
📌 Exam Tidbits
- Raymond Williams (1976): Noted culture is one of the most complicated words in the English language.
- Christopher Jencks (1993): Identified 4 main senses of culture: state of mind, civilisation, collective arts/intellectual work, and whole way of life.
- Ralph Linton (1945): Defined culture as the collection of ideas and…
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