3.4.1
Production & Consumption
Identity and Production
Identity and Production
Work is an important source of identity because factors relating to type of occupation and level of earnings are a good indicator of a person’s social class, providing information about status.
Influence of work on identity
Influence of work on identity
- Work (or people’s role in production) influences identity in a number of ways.
- The type of occupation is an important indicator of social class identity and, therefore, perceived status within society.
- The amount of money a person earns influences status, the kind of consumer goods they can buy and the lifestyle they can lead.
Influence of work on identity cont.
Influence of work on identity cont.
- Work-related peer-group influences and friendships can influence the identity someone chooses to assert (e.g. group leader, trades union activist).
- People’s work can influence the identities they project to other through their work-leisure patterns.
Lack of work as stigmatised identity
Lack of work as stigmatised identity
- Lack of work can occur through, for example, unemployment, disability or retirement.
- Lack of work can undermine the part of our identity related to employment and can lead to what Durkheim called anomie (normlessness, or a lack of feelings of security and certainty).
Stigmatised identity cont.
Stigmatised identity cont.
- Unemployment can also lead to other disruptions of the normal routines and traditions of everyday social life.
- The unemployed may face what Goffman called a stigmatised identity through negative labelling as ‘benefit scroungers’.
Work and Leisure
Work and Leisure
Patterns of relationships between work and leisure (Parker, 1971/1976).
Parker
Parker
- Parker (1971, 1976) believes that people’s occupations and the way they experience their work (e.g. the amount of independence and satisfaction) have important influences on their leisure.
Three patterns
Three patterns
- Parker suggests that there are three patterns in the link between work and leisure:
- Opposition.
- Neutrality.
- Extension.
Opposition pattern
Opposition pattern
- In the opposition pattern, people see their leisure as a central life interest to compensate for and escape from physically hard and dangerous jobs.
Neutrality pattern
Neutrality pattern
- The neutrality pattern suggests that people see their family and leisure (not work) as major life interests because their jobs are boring, unfulfilling and routine.
Extension pattern
Extension pattern
- In the extension pattern, work is so interesting and demanding that there is a blurring of the distinction between work and leisure time; work extends into leisure time and leisure is often work-related.
Criticisms
Criticisms
- Parker overemphasises the importance of work in shaping leisure activities.
- Parker over-simplifies the influence of work on leisure.
- Parker's research is focused primarily on men in full-time paid employment.
Consumption and Identity
Consumption and Identity
Postmodernists argue that work is declining in significance as a source of identity and is being replaced by consumer choices and leisure choices.
The declining significance of work as a source of identity
The declining significance of work as a source of identity
- Postmodernists like Bauman, suggest that work had lost its once central importance in people’s lives.
- Work is no longer seen as the central axis of identity which underpins other identities.
- Consuming goods and lifestyle choices have become much more significant sources of identity than work and occupation.
Postmodernists approaches to consumption and identity
Postmodernists approaches to consumption and identity
- Postmodernists (e.g. Lyotard) argue that the most important aspects in moulding people’s identities have changed and are now more closely associated with consumer choices and leisure choices.
Consumer choices
Consumer choices
- Consumer choices refer to people’s tastes and the type, image and style of the goods they buy, including music, home décor and designer labels.
- Leisure choices include holiday destinations, clubs and self-improvement activities.
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
Jump to other topics
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
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