Social Class in Britain - Essay Example

SOCIAL IN BRITAIN al Affiliation) Social in Britain has differentiated people into various positions depending on their status. This division puts members of the British society into a hierarchy of well distinguished social classes that elaborates more about their status in the society (Alexander, Ball-Rokeach and Cantor, 1986). In a given class, members of that specific class have the same status which is different from that of members of another class. These social classes are measured by the amount of wealth, prestige and power members of that class possess. The status that exists in various social classes is also impacted by the income earned, occupation and level of education of the members in these social classes (Andersen and Gray, 2008). Social class is normally set up in a hierarchical manner. The social classes are arranged in a hierarchy that ranks from low social status to a high social status. The British society is divided into various classes such that people of the same group or class have similar income, education and occupation. These three aspects differ from one social rank to the next and are very important in creating the differences that occur between these classes (Bell and Hollows, 2006). This fact leads to the general assumption which members of a certain class believe that they have the same status in the society as their fellow colleagues in the same class, lower status compared to members of a higher social class and a higher class compared to members of a lower social class (Bendix and Lipset, 1953). In traditional British culture, the social class used to be determined based on an occupational scale. They rank from higher professional and managerial occupations such as company directors, professors and teachers to those people in the society who are unemployed. Despite the fact that people may assume social classes to be objective they subjectively appear to exist if a certain group of people come to realize their similarity and hence share a common goal and interests (Bihagen, 2000). It is common to find people in the same job group having almost similar income, economic assets, and level of education and hence having a similar lifestyle. In the British culture, the working class a social class in itself. In recent times this is not applicable due to the fact that a labourer in a farm cannot be in the same social class with a senior doctor or an engineer due to the difference in income, education and occupation (Benson, 2003). The British culture has a tradition working class. The traditional working class came into emergence because of urbanization and industrialization. The traditional working class jobs involved heavy manual jobs that took place in the factories (Blumin, 1989). The people who worked in modern industries such as industrial work and mining had a high social status as compared to their counterparts in the agricultural sector. Industrial and mining jobs involved hiring many workers and allocating them in one area (Cannadine, 1998). Due to the riskiness associated with these types of jobs, the workers had to be in solidarity to work together to meet a common goal. The coming together of the workers led to them sharing a common culture and their lifestyle. These workers lived in the same type of houses and spent their free time in very similar ways. This distinguished them from their counterparts in the agricultural sector who had simpler lifestyles. It made the workers from the industries and mines to be of a higher social class (Brooks, 2000). After the traditional working class period, Britain had the new working class period. This came into being because of the deindustrialization that occurred. A larger percentage of the workforce had shifted from being manual labourers to being experts in various fields. The traditional working classes divided due to a number of reasons. First, the industries had divided greatly causing many differences between the employs (Cunningham, Cunningham and Moore, 1976). Some industries become more skilled than others. Some industries also paid their employees much better than others. Secondly, there are greater differences between working classes that have secure, consistent and well-paying jobs as compared to those that work seasonally in less secure jobs (Dines and Humez, 1995). The former were able to acquire loans and other benefits from their employers to upgrade their living standards and as a result increased their social status. Lastly, recently the number of self-employed people has increased in the manual labour sector. They cannot fit in the same social class with other manual labourers since they get a much higher pay (Chan, 2010). In the British culture marketers are always keen to use this aspect of social class to be determining the consumption patterns and taste of different customers (Holtzman, 2000). They divide the market into several market segments depending on the various social classes that exist in a certain class. It is often more likely for people in a certain social class to purchase goods and services which members of the same social class purchase (Hesmondhalgh and Toynbee, 2008). Marketers use this ideology to target specific social classes with appropriate products and services that will best fit their social status. This marketing strategy is a good technique in marketing products and services within a market segment (Jencks and Peterson, 1991). This is because members of specific social classes especially the upper social classes would always want to seek for approval from their respective social classes. Social classes are a major influence of consumption patterns in the British society (Goldthorpe, Llewellyn and Payne, 1980). Many people associate different brands and products to different social classes. Members of a higher social class would not be ready to consume products and services that their consumption is more related to a lower social class. The higher social classes also act as a benchmark when it comes to the consumption of various goods and services. Members of the lower social classes emulate members of the higher social classes by going to the extent of buying products and services that are common to the higher social classes (Kendall, 2005). Members of the same social class are similar in many ways. Despite the members being similar by way of income, education and occupation, this group of people is also similar in terms of beliefs, norms, values, thinking, lifestyle, attitudes and behavioural patterns. The classification of social classes can be done into various divisions such as two, three and even more but due to simplicity, the British culture divides it into three major categories (Lawton, 1968). These categories are the upper social class, the middle social class and the lower social class. Each social class has its unique lifestyle factors, which are in terms of the shared values, beliefs, norms, activities and interests. Despite the many differences that occur between the lifestyle of different social groups, these classes heavily influence each other (Marshall, 1989). The upper social classes have an executive lifestyle, which is associated with having luxury houses, cars, clothing, and having expensive entertainment facilities (Mandiberg, 2012). The middle class try their best to emulate this kind of flashy lifestyle which is as a result of their interaction with the upper social class. The lower social classes are also influenced by the middle social classes hence try to reach their social status in the society. Due to the influence in lifestyle between different social classes, members of specific social classes may be seen to possess one or two hybrid lifestyles in terms of interests, values, norms and behavioural patterns (McKibbin, 1990). It is evident that social classes exist in the British culture. This fact gives determination individuals in lower social classes to move to the upper ones while encouraging those at the upper social classes to strive to maintain their social status. There is always a possibility of individuals moving in the hierarchy of social classes. An individual can move either up the ranks or down depending on the education, income and occupation. This transition may occur across generations or through one’s lifetime. It occurs across generation in cases where an individual belongs to a different class either lower or upper from their parents’ social class (Michman, 1991). The transition that occurs through an individual’s life is the one in which at a given point in time, an individual moves from one social class to another due to change in education, income or occupation. In the British society and culture, upward mobility or transition is more common though there might a few instances of downward mobility. This mobility is accelerated by the fact that people in the upper social classes often act as references to the people in lower social classes. Marketers use this fact to increase the consumption of their products and services by associating them more with the upper social classes (Michman, Mazze and Greco, 2003). This is done through advertisement, which incorporates the upper social class both in context and in content. The products and services currently exhibit more symbols of the upper social class. This has caused increase in consumption of expensive commodities. The lower social classes now currently consume products and goods that were meant for the upper social class in the past. Despite the many advantages that the influence of the upper social class has had on the lower classes, it is associated with a few drawbacks (Wynne, 2002). This influence has led to the emergence of clone products. These clone products are counterfeit products which have a poor quality than the original product (Patico, 2008). They emerge due to the desire of the lower social classes in Britain to consume the commodities that the upper social classes do but lack sufficient funds to do so. This aspect makes them to resolute to using clone products that are cheaper than the original product. The clone products are a setback to the manufactures of original products since they lead to lower profits and increased competition in the market (Veblen and Chase, 1934). Social class is an important factor when viewing the British culture in terms of media. Many research studies portray the focus of social classes on different aspects of the media. The media in different dimensions impact different social classes. In television programming, there is usually under representation of the lower social classes and over representation of the upper social classes (Sobel, 1981). The upper classes characters are also the ones that appear in the prime time shows. They often take part in advertising products and services of various brands to portray a link between some brands to specific social classes and hence increase its demand. Social class issues in media have become very sensitive. The corporate media fears to express their opinion on social class issues in that it may portray some element of inequality and discrimination (Reid, 1977). In theatres and movie, cinemas the seats are usually arranged in a manner that portrays the recognition of different social classes in the British society. In most cases the seats are divided into the three categories; the VIP section, the upper decks and the lower decks. The VIP section is usually meant for the upper social class, the lower decks meant for the middle social class and the upper decks meant for the lower social class (Rondinone, 2010). The difference in the seat sections comes due the pricing of the tickets, where a VIP ticket will cost more expensive than a lower deck one and also a lower deck ticket will cause less than an upper deck one. Another difference that is experienced is the distance from the main podium and the comfort of the seats. Media has brought a lot of inequality and to some extent discrimination between the different social classes. Almost all the forms of media such as television, radio, movies and social media websites portray people in the lower economic class, as responsible for the criminal activities in Britain. These aspects make people from the upper social classes not want to interact with those from the lower social class (Reid, 1998). Social class played a major role in the British culture in many aspects such as lifestyle, consumption and media. Many people in the British society are divided according to the three categories of social classes. The division of the British society into social classes has advantages as well as disadvantages. References Alexander, J., Ball-Rokeach, S. and Cantor, M. 1986. Media, audience, and social structure. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications. Andersen, R. and Gray, J. 2008. Battleground. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. Bell, D. and Hollows, J. 2006. Historicizing lifestyle. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. Bendix, R. and Lipset, S. 1953. Class, status, and power. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press. Benson, J. 2003. The working class in Britain, 1850-1939. London: I.B. Tauris. Bihagen, E. 2000. The significance of class. UmeaÌŠ: Dept. of Sociology, UmeaÌŠ University. Blumin, S. 1989. The emergence of the middle class. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. Brooks, D. 2000. Bobos in paradise. New York: Simon & Schuster. Cannadine, D. 1998. Class in Britain. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chan, T. 2010. Social status and cultural consumption. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Cunningham, I., Cunningham, W. and Moore, R. 1976. Social class and consumption behavior in São Paulo, Brazil. [Austin]: Bureau of Business Research, University of Texas at Austin. Dines, G. and Humez, J. 1995. Gender, race, and class in media. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. Goldthorpe, J., Llewellyn, C. and Payne, C. 1980. Social mobility and class structure in modern Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Hesmondhalgh, D. and Toynbee, J. 2008. The media and social theory. New York: Routledge. Holtzman, L. 2000. Media messages. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. Jencks, C. and Peterson, P. 1991. The Urban underclass. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution. Kendall, D. 2005. Framing class. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Lawton, D. 1968. Social class, language and education. London: Routledge & K. Paul. Mandiberg, M. 2012. The social media reader. New York: New York University Press. Marshall, G. 1989. Social class in modern Britain. London: Unwin Hyman. McKibbin, R. 1990. The ideologies of class. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press. Michman, R. 1991. Lifestyle market segmentation. New York: Praeger. Michman, R., Mazze, E. and Greco, A. 2003. Lifestyle marketing. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. Patico, J. 2008. Consumption and social change in a post-Soviet middle class. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. Reid, I. 1977. Social class differences in Britain. London: Open Books. Reid, I. 1998. Class in Britain. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Rondinone, T. 2010. The great industrial war. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Sobel, M. 1981. Lifestyle and social structure. New York: Academic Press. Veblen, T. and Chase, S. 1934. The theory of the leisure class. New York: Modern library. Wynne, D. 2002. Leisure, lifestyle, and the new middle class. London: Routledge. Read More