19/01/ · Cultural identity is the sense of belonging people have to a certain culture. It reveals the person’s heritage as well as help them identify with others who have the same Every single person has their own unique identity and culture. An 'identity' is the image that one projects out into the rest if the world and 'culture' is the image which one has of themselves. 10/02/ · Culture is important to one’s identity formation because it adds context to a person’s DNA. The uniqueness of a person is the combination of his or her natural character
Culture and Identity: "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros - Words | Essay Example
CULTURE AND IDENTITY This essay will aim to critically analyse and evaluate the contribution of modern and post modern perspectives to a sociological understanding of culture and identity. This will be achieved by analysing similarities and differences between culture and identity essay contrasting sociological theories and evaluating culture and identity essay strengths and weaknesses. Studies will be included as the debate is developed further and their contributions will also be explained. Culture is defined simply as the way of life of a group of people. Culture varies between societies and across time. It is an extremely important part of everyday life and is the focal point in the study of sociology. Therefore, sociologists are interested in how culture is patterned, maintained and why it is the way it is.
There are various other ways in which to define culture, with many more complex definitions. However, the above definitions provide a useful starting point from which to explore. Different types of culture have been identified by sociologists. These include high culture, low culture, folk culture, mass culture, culture and identity essay, popular culture, subculture and global culture. Further analysis of these culture and identity essay has led Sociologists to examine to what extent culture constrains the individual and to question if humans are puppets of culture or if they have free will Livesey, Identity is different from culture, although they are inextricably linked.
Culture often establishes our sense of identity. However, sociologically, they are seen as two separate concepts, culture and identity essay. Culture is representative of society as a whole and is macro in origin, whereas identity represents the smaller, micro aspects of us as individuals. As with culture, culture and identity essay, identity can be linked to the socialisation process that occurs from birth. Sources of identity include nationality, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and social class.
Although identity is individual, it also relates to the social and cultural groups people become part of and identify with. For example someone perceived by others as a heterosexual male, may see himself as homosexual. In contemporary sociology, the concept of identity allows humans to be seen as taking an active role in their lives within the cultural constraints of the society they live in. Early, sociologists, such as Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Auguste Comte and Max Weber were interested primarily in social class identities. Their initial interest in social change came as a result of industrialisation. In addition, this era, known as Modernity was characterised by the enlightenment of the 18th century and the progression of scientific rationalism.
Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim agreed that culture and identity are shaped by the structure of society. They also believed that society was developing progressively. Their competing perspectives will be explored further. Karl Marx did not believe that culture and identity were innate or as a result of nature. He believed that the social structure of society shaped humans identity, primarily through socialisation. For Marx, culture was an ideology of the ruling class, who use their unequal, economic power to achieve and maintain order. He proposed that individual identity should be exchanged for group identity to overthrow the oppressive structure of capitalism.
However, this could only happen when the working class became fully aware of the nature of their oppression and developed what he termed as a class consciousness. Marx saw this realisation as crucial in the development of a class identity which would ensure solidarity of the masses. According to Marx, this ruling class ideology of culture is socialised among the members of society in various ways such as through religion and education to ensure social cohesion and maintain order. He viewed education as a way for the ruling class to legitimise their wealth and maintain their power.
For the working class, education only serves to produce labour for the future. This is achieved by conditioning the future workforce to be docile, motivated, obedient and hard working, culture and identity essay. Bowles and Gintis support this argument in their study of the relationship between capitalism and education, culture and identity essay. The organisation of education as a whole, and specific forms of teaching and learning are essential in capitalist societies and they conclude that they provide subliminal conditioning to ensure an obedient, subservient culture and identity essay in the future. The study also aims to show how different social groups are taught different values which also contribute to the shaping of identities Sweeney et alp.
In a study of pupils conducted in a New York school, Bowles and Gintis concluded that teachers were giving higher grades based on what could be termed personality and not necessarily academic ability. Those pupils who were punctual, obedient and dependable etc received higher grades than pupils culture and identity essay displayed independence or aggressiveness. They also propose that education operates on a form of hierarchy where the pupils are under the control of the teachers, subjects learned etc. This relates to how the workforce is fragmented, with individual workers carrying out specific tasks. Although this study aims to highlight the inequalities in a system that is supposed to be equally accessible to all, it has been criticised for assuming that the working class are passive and do not take an active role in their education or working environment.
Bowles and Gintis clearly highlight how educational establishments socialise individuals and contribute to shaping identity. However, the study ignores the fact that there are many sub cultures within groups of pupils who form their own identities. In contrast to Bowles and Gintis, he suggests that people may have some understanding of their treatment at school and try to resist. The boys recognised that there were no equal opportunities in a capitalist society and felt that they would never have the same chances of success as middle class children. Therefore, loyalty to their group was far more important than commitment to school. There were many aspects to this study that support the idea that no matter how hard you work to achieve good grades, individual effort will do little to assist in achieving decent career prospects for the working class.
As a result, the culture and identity essay of male working class could be related to working class culture where the pupils actively participate in their own failure. On the whole, Marxism provides awareness of the conflicting interests between working and ruling classes. However, it has been criticised for being economically deterministic and ignores the fact that humans can exercise their free will. It also seems to place more importance on groups rather than individuals. Marxism ignores the uniqueness of the individual and their ability to form varying identities based on their different experiences.
Like Marx, Emile Durkheim believed we could find an objective truth about reality. He proposed that culture and identity are structural and are a result of a human need to classify and distinguish between things. He argued that post industrialisation had led to a division of labour which in turn led to people developing the use of classification systems further, culture and identity essay. However, in industrialised societies, this solidarity is lost as hierarchy takes over. The division of labour that arises from this, does, however, ensure solidarity within groups as they become reliant on each other.
For Durkheim, although individual identity existed, and was based on position in the division of labour, collective consciousness and a common culture developed because of this dependence on each other which maintains social order. Therefore, cultural constraints are positive as they allow humans to live and think naturally about the world around them. Durkheim agreed with philosopher, Thomas Hobbes that individuals are selfish and greedy by nature and argued that culture and socialisation made it possible for humans to develop a collective social consciousness, with collective morals and values.
Culture and identity essay proposed that religion plays an extremely important role in social cohesion. He developed this argument further by using an Aborigine religion which he called Totemism as an example. Here, he suggests that the totem is sacred because it is symbolically representative of the group, and by worshipping the totem, people are essentially worshipping the group, culture and identity essay, or society. For Durkheim, religion is not about individual belief; it is about collective rituals, ceremonies and worship, bringing people together and defining the group.
He argues that religion gives emotional comfort, social solidarity, guidelines for everyday life and support culture and identity essay the status quo and develops his theory of the sacred and the profane further. The sacred can be viewed as the symbols and ceremonies, with the profane being present in everyday life. In this respect Durkheim viewed the sacred as society and the profane as the individual. For Durkheim, religion is the celebration of society, where people share a common belief, culture and identity essay. Societies do not have an empirical existence. Therefore, people need to be encouraged to feel that they belong to something. Religion is a way of doing this as a system of common values is created, encouraging social cohesion and integration.
This reinforces collective identity and provides a sense of belonging. Religious institutions create and maintain a sense of order and continuity in society, with their main function being to provide individuals with a set of meanings or values to help them make sense of the world. They explain the socialisation process and how culture can create order. However, his ideas about religion and its place in society are based on studies conducted on a small number of groups, which do not necessarily reflect the ideas of larger, modern societies, where there are many different religions and subcultures. He also overlooks the fact that religion can be a source of conflict or social change.
He can also be criticised for treating society as culture and identity essay important than the individual. It is proposed that the postmodern era comes after modernity. The focus of society is shifted away from production and is based on the consumption of culture, identity, economy, lifestyles etc. Postmodern theorists reject scientific methodology and have adopted qualitative methodologies such as interviews, discourse analysis and naturalistic observations. They aim to find meaning and appreciation instead of the blanket explanations of the past.
Postmodernists reject the hopes and dreams of Enlightenment thinkers and disagree with the Grand Metanarratives of the classical theorists. For postmodernists, culture and identity essay are no absolute truths and they see knowledge as another commodity and a source of power. They claim that there are too many choices available which all claim to be true. Religion, politics, and science for example all claim to give insight to the truth. However, they cannot all be true. People culture and identity essay no longer be pigeon holed as society is so dynamic and chaotic, culture and identity essay. Postmodernist theorists argue that identity cannot be defined by one factor and believe that humans take culture and identity essay of, and manipulate their own identities.
Ultimately, individuals choose their own lifestyle, culture and identity essay. This results in a plurality of identities. The idea of the change in consumption is developed further by the French postmodernist Jean Baudillard. He proposes that the purchases of commodities are now consumed as signs or symbols. The physical nature of the object and its intended purpose no longer matters as people are more concerned with how the object represents them in their culture. For example, the Nike symbol on trainers or a tracksuit says more about the image people wish to portray than the physical activity the items are intended for The postmodern idea of individuals changing their own identities is supported by Zygmunt Bauman. He agrees that identities were clear and fixed during the age of modernity.
The Cultural Identity Essay Pt. 1
, time: 7:00Cultural Identity Essay Writing Guide with Examples | HandMadeWriting
10/02/ · Culture is important to one’s identity formation because it adds context to a person’s DNA. The uniqueness of a person is the combination of his or her natural character 19/01/ · Cultural identity is the sense of belonging people have to a certain culture. It reveals the person’s heritage as well as help them identify with others who have the same First of all, “Identity” is about identification of people such as female or male, nationality, religion, role and other things. In fact, “People are not born with an identity. Rather, identity is
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