Categories of class operate not only as an ongoing principle which enable access to and limitations on social movement and interaction, but are also reproduced at the intimate level as a ‘structure of feeling’ in which doubt, anxiety and fear inform the production of subjectivity. (Skeggs, 1997, p. 6) The process of negotiating identities which our students describe can be conceptualised as stemming from the development of new forms of cultural capital associated with a change in class-based habitus (Bourdieu, 1976, 1986, 1994; James, 1995; Skeggs, 1997). Habitus refers not merely to the external markers of social position, such as occupation, education and material wealth, but also to embodied dispositions which generate thought and action (Bouveresse, 1999). A key aspect of this embodied habitus is language which, according to Bourdieu, ‘provides us with a system of transposable mental dispositions’ (Bourdieu, 1994, quoted in Charlesworth, 2000, p. 120). Mature students can be seen to be developing new forms of embodied cultural capital, of which language is a key aspect. Taking on a new language of academia engages students in a project of social mobility which may involve a break from their former habitus; ‘Becoming academic is simultaneously an erosion of working-classness’ (Reay, 1996).
Identities are, of course, multiple, and class-based identities interact with gendered and other identities to produce subjectivity. In what follows we analyse how a small group of mature students negotiate their changing identities in two different contexts. First, the context of family and intimate relationships where the new identity of mature student poses challenges to established gender roles and identities. Second, the context of friends and other social relationships where social mobility presents a threat to class identity.
8 Comments
Maiah Washington
1/27/2017 08:17:01 pm
I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Often times in class structures, people are stuck in a position where they can't move. People aren't able to move. Like the explanation says, this is because of wealth, occupation, and education. But in today's time, the breaking of this social barriers of class can be broken. Using language that is common for ALL people is one way to be inclusive. It;s a way for all people to be connected and allows for mobility between the "classes". It doesn't have to be a certain vernacular, language I mean. I looked up the word academia, and it means to be concerned with the pursuit of research, education, and scholarship. This is the true meaning: it is only through meaning and true understanding that we are able to break through the barriers and eliminate the class order. So yes, language is key to breaking the class structure. When we don't have true understanding, we just go by whatever other people have established before us. But knowing how to reach and bend around the corners will allow us to break the class structure and to officially, in my mind, reach equilibrium.
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NaZingha Joyeux
1/27/2017 08:34:30 pm
The subject is about how the different categories of the habitus and how students are trapped in a class with academia and different relationships.
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NaZingha Joyeux
1/27/2017 08:35:37 pm
And I agree with this statement 100%
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Micaiah Bessellieu
1/27/2017 09:16:02 pm
This thought provoking passage has my mind thinking about finding ourselves and wanting to know ourselves. Perhaps in order to find our true selves, we need to start portraying the selves we want to be and stop the ones other people want us to be. For example, if every generation before you were lawyers than it is expected of you to become a lawyer, and not even consider wanting to become a teacher. When the passage says that "The process of negotiating identities which our students describe can be conceptualised as stemming from the development of new forms of cultural capital associated with a change in class-based habitus" (Bourdieu, 1976, 1986, 1994; James, 1995; Skeggs, 1997) it reveals that finding your identity will take some work; spending time by yourself, meditating, yoga and other calming activities that can reveal things you may not have known about yourself. Or you can also establish your relationships inside and outside of your family by being social and open.
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Kodak Reed (Donterice)
1/27/2017 09:44:47 pm
I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. Often times in class structures, people are stuck in a position where they can't move. People aren't able to move. Like the explanation says, this is because of wealth, occupation, and education. But in today's time, the breaking of this social barriers of class can be broken. Using language that is common for ALL people is one way to be inclusive. It;s a way for all people to be connected and allows for mobility between the "classes". It doesn't have to be a certain vernacular, language I mean. I looked up the word academia, and it means to be concerned with the pursuit of research, education, and scholarship. This is the true meaning: it is only through meaning and true understanding that we are able to break through the barriers and eliminate the class order. So yes, language is key to breaking the class structure. When we don't have true understanding, we just go by whatever other people have established before us. But knowing how to reach and bend around the corners will allow us to break the class structure and to officially, in my mind, reach equilibrium.
Reply
Isaiah Washington
1/28/2017 12:25:21 am
This passage is talking about the social interaction with the students. Students taking on a new language of academia engages students in a project of social mobility which may involve a break from their former habitus. Multiple and class-based identities interact with gendered and other identities to produce subjectivity.
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Elijah
1/28/2017 12:49:31 pm
I view this as saying that the world has a weath structure that we are placed in if we like it or not and because of this we are limited by what class we are in.
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Donovan Monero
1/28/2017 11:59:49 pm
I think when we identify ourselves as students with a good reputation by trying our best. If the world identify us as a bad student or person because we're black we should change it and prove that we're better.
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Solid Rock Cathedral of Faith ChurchYouth Department Archives
May 2021
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