Culture and identity/media

• Jacobson

  • religion as a form of identity
  • islam important in formation of identity for young British Pakistani
• hides

  • ethnic identities are reinforced through cultural artefacts in the home
  • female orientated and children socialised into ethnic cultures
• Hall

  • variation of identity- greater diversity of ethnic identities and more emerging
  • gender, class and sexuality also important aspect of Identity to younger generations
• Basit

  • fluidity of ethnic identities
  • british Asian girls combined elements of Asian and British culture
  • merging religion, dress and language with western ideas
• culture

  • the shared norms and values of a group of people
• Four types of culture

  • mass culture
  • high culture
  • low culture
  • folk culture
• Marxism and Culture

  • marx saw culture as a tool of the elite
  • the elite use culture to oppress the masses and maintain their wealth and power

   

   
• In a postmodern society the difference between society and culture breaks down. Style becomes more important than substance
• Gender socialisation- Oakley

  • gender socialisation through primary socialisation
  • manipulation
  • canalisation
  • verbal appellation
  • Differential Activities
• McRobbie- gender socialisation through media

  • girls magazines reinforce conventional ideas about femininity - being a pretty, finding a man
• Skelton - school is an agent of socialisation

  • maintaining stereotypes and reinforcing primary gender socialisation
• The self, identity and difference are both socially caused and socially constructed
• Marxist Views of Identity Formation

  • Identity is largely determined by social class and the relationship to the means of production.
  • Society's norms and values are those of ruling class and this manipulates an individual's identity to fit into hegemonic ideals.
  • Working-class identity is limited by lack of economic resources and rejection of what they perceive as valuable.
• Functionalist Views of Identity

  • Formation of Fixed identities based upon norms and values of society
  • Individuals are socialised into these by social institutions which determine an individuals sense of self-identity.
  • Based on their abilities they are then allocated roles which form part of their identity
• Giddens view of identity formation

  • We are constantly reflecting upon own identity and looking to improve - by examine the past, the present and the future
• Feminist Views of Identity Formation

  • Fixed identities based upon gender socialisation.
  • Women's identities are controlled by patriarchal organisation of society and this is reinforced through secondary socialisation to ensure women see themselves as subordinate to men.
  • Male identities are reinforced through socialisation also, ensuring stereotypical ideas about both males and females which limits their sense of self.
• Interactionist Views of Identity

  • Formation Identity is socially constructed and based upon what the individual perceives others view them as (Cooley).
  • Goffman argues we have multiple identities in different social situations
  • Becker argues identity is formed through how other people label individuals and whether or not these labels are internalised.
• How does globalisation influence social class identity?

  - influences cultural capital available to individuals

  • rise of nationalism within working class subcultures
  • changing patterns of consumption in relation to social status
  • impact on employment
  • growth of individualism within the middle class
  • greater ethnic diversity within social classes
  • Increased multiculturalism In middle classes
• Bagdikian found that the 'Big Six' owned 90% of the media in the US
• Marxist view of the media:

  • media owners control what we see in media through censorship
  • owners of media exploit their position of power to manipulate the content
  • capitalist media owners tell news editors what to cover and what views to put across
  • Miliband said these messages encourage the proletariat to be subordinate and happy to serve the bourgeoisie
• Neo-Marxist view of the media:

  • media reflects the ideas of the ruling class indirectly
  • the values and ideas of the ruling class are presented as the natural, common sense views to have
  • This is cultural hegemony- one set of ideas dominating over other ideas
  • alternative views are allowed which gives the impression all views are heard, validating the ability of the dominant view to stay on top
• False Needs:

  The Frankfurt School argued that advertising in the media makes people feel that they need goods produced in the capitalist economy
• Pluralist view of media:

  • society is made up of lots of different and interacting parts- each producing their own opinions
  • The audience chooses what media to consume and therefore nobody can push their views on society because there is always an alternative view- creating consumer power
  • Journalists can choose what to write limiting the power of media owners and creating media diversity- but also have journalist integrity
  • The state restricts the power of media owners by regulating it and making sure journalists are acting responsibly- BBC is regulated and has to represent many views by law
• Conford and Robins disagree that new media is revolutionary because it has evolved from existing media. The only new feature is its great speed of communication
• Use of media varies according to Age, Location and consumer power

  • young people are the biggest users of new media- 5900 citizens have never used media, only 31 of them were aged 16-24
  • older peoples use of media is increasing
• People who cannot access media are part of the digital underclass

  • things like getting a passport and registering to vote are mainly carried out online
  • lack of internet access can be a major barrier to accessing these services
  • people who are in poverty are often excluded from new media- they cannot afford to pay for broadband or new media devices e.g apple does not update older phones
  • people in rural communities also have limited access as modern broadband may not be installed in remote areas
• Curran and Seaton divided attitudes to new media into two types:

  • Cultural pessimists
  • neophiliacs
• The attitude of cultural pessimists:

  • globalisation increases influence of multi-national corporations
  • new media is also controlled by the states- reducing everybodys privacy
  • Consumer benefits come at a social cost- exploitation of workers and tax avoidance to increase profits
  • freedom of information means that offensive views can be shared easily online
• The attitude of neophiliacs:

  • They say the development of technology leads to increased consumer choice
  • Through sharing information, society has become more democratic
  • A shared culture is created as satellite TV has meant viewers can access TV content from many countries - some shows became global phenomena
• News is influenced by practical constraints- time, space and money

  • Time constraints mean the most easily available stories make it onto media e.g journalists have contacts that they will use consistently reducing the number of viewpoints used
  • Technical constraints influence the news- accessibility
  • News organizations run on a budget, reporters can be expensive and so many newspapers buy stories from news agencies
  • competition affects the selection of the news
• Gans- gatekeeping of news by deciding which stories were featured and how much space it was given