Issues in Study of Culture and Identity Ayaz & Dur-i-Nayab

Culture & Identity

Culture The way of life of a group of people The pattern of social organization and the ‘normal’ ways which we are expected to behave in society touch all aspect of our daily lives. It includes the customs, attitudes, beliefs , traditions and rituals of a society. We should not assume that all cultures are same. Simply because social life for us happen to be structured in a particular way, does not mean that it has to be like this, nor that it was like that in the past…… Culture

Or even like this in other societies around the world Or even like this in other societies around the world. Given its importance in every aspect of our social life, the concept of culture is central to the subject of sociology. why you behave as you do ? Who says you should act as you do ? How do you know how to behave ? These questions relate to our culture and prompt other questions which are sociologically vital; How is culture patterned ? How is culture maintained ? Continue…….

Continue… Who shares the same culture ? Why ? Do you have control over this ? If not who does ? Why is culture as it is – could it be any different ? Culture is a part and parcel of all we do, all that we are, and all that we can and might become. Continue…

Culture As a map of ‘Meaning’ Culture allow us the build the reality we live on, usually through the meaning we give to symbols, passed down in language ? Do we consciously chose these meanings ? Culture allow us to interact with other , to share meanings, patterns of behavior and ways of communication. Culture is objective,,,,, shapes styles of dress, food, art , music and so on . Culture As a map of ‘Meaning’

Subjective,,,,, concerned with individuals’ interpretations-they exist in mind and allow us to make sense of world around us…… Continue…..

Activity Way of life on an average Sunday My self……….. Someone of my age living hundreds years ago……….. Someone living today who is elderly…………. Someone living in a poor area of India………. Activity

Over to AyaZ

Identity How we behave is Culture The Word ‘Identity’ relates to how we think about ourselves as people , how we think about other people around us , and what we imagine other think of us. ‘Identity’ means being able to ‘fix’ and ‘figure out’ who we are as people. Identity can be express through culture. Identity

The identity of individuals and groups involves both elements of personal choice and the responses and attitudes of others. The individual is not free to adopt any identity they like, and factors like their social class, their ethnic group and their sex are likely to influence how others see them. The identity that an individual wants to assert and which they may wish others to see them having may not be the one that others accept or recognize. An Asian woman, for example, may not wish to be identified primarily as an Asian or a woman, but as a senior manager or entertainer. Continue….

‘Look, don’t identify me by the size and shape of my body, my social class, my job, my gender, my ethnicity, my sexuality, my nationality, my age, my religion, my education, my friends, my lifestyle, how much money I earn, the clothes I wear, the books I read, where I go shopping, the way I decorate my house, the television programmes and movies I watch, my leisure and sports activities, the car I drive, the music I listen to, the drinks I like, the food I eat, the clubs I go to, where I go on holiday, the way I speak or my accent, the things I say, the things I do, or what I believe in. I’m just me. OK?’ Continue…

Types of Identities Individual or personal identity Social identity Multiple identities Stigmatized or ‘spoiled’ identities Types of Identities

Individual or Personal Woodward (2000) suggests that individual identity is concerned with the question ‘Who am I?’ – how individuals define themselves, what is important and matters to them, how they see themselves as individuals different from other people, and the things that give them their own unique personal or individual characteristics. Their name, their passport, their National Insurance number, their fingerprints, their DNA, their birth certificate and their signature are some obvious examples of these, as well as people’s personal histories, friends and relationships and their own understanding of who they really are as individuals: their own self-concept of the ‘inner me’, or ‘I’ as Mead referred to it. Individual or Personal

Social identity defines individuals in relation to the social groups with which they identify and to which they belong, and how they differ from other social groups and individuals. Such groups might include men and women, ethnic groups, or national groups like the English, Scots or Welsh. Social Identity

The idea of multiple identities simply means that people have several identities, rather than just one. Individuals may draw on more than one source of identity, such as identities formed around their social class, and/or their ethnicity, their sexuality, their gender, their nationality and/or their age,etc., or a combination of all of them. Multiple Identity

Stigmatized or ‘spoiled’ identitiy Goffman (1990) said a stigmatized identityis an identity that is in some way undesirable or demeaning, excluding people from full acceptance in society. The disabled, for example, are often said to have a stigmatized identity in a society which places a high premium on bodily perfection. Those with stigmatized identities can face serious social consequences, with others treating them with contempt, poking fun at them, denying them proper medical treatment (as happens with some older people and the disabled), or refusing them employment (as with former prisoners, the mentally ill or the elderly). Stigmatized or ‘spoiled’ identitiy

Culture and Identity are frequently linked but they should not seen as exactly the same. While our culture often establishes our sense of identity or even identities. Sociologists separate the concepts in two ways; ‘culture’ represents the macro pattern ‘big picture’ while ‘identity’ represent the smaller more micro .. Means we have as individuals. Culture & Identity

Discussing culture and identity we can engage the ‘ghost’ of founders of sociology. We can look there ideas that led to the birth of the subject and newer ideas that challenge many of assumptions held by founders. Conclusion

Any Questions ????