Class, Capital and Consumption (Week 6)

Class

In other words, is Social Class (Dr. Taylor, 2019). The ability to segregate people in different socio-economic classes based on finance, livelihood, expense and living standards. Each country has various social classes but one can boil them down to five as shown below (What is social class? n.d.):

• Upper Class - Elite: Richest of the rich, people who own multinational companies, universities, corporate leaders. For example, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk.
  

• Upper Class - Middle: People in this sector are reliant on scientific and technical knowledge such as doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, etc.
  

• Lower Middle Class: A common sector in cities where people work 9-5 jobs such as secretary, administrative assistance, record keepers and sales.
  

• Working Class: Usually paid hourly, factory workers, service in a restaurant, delivery services.
  

• Poor Class: Where people in this sector donʼt have the basic needs to survive. Who earn below the minimum wage and cannot meet daily expenses.

Karl Marx, a 19th-century philosopher was able to distinguish between workers and owners much like employees and employers. The distinct difference between them is how they interact with one another and society. As workers use their skills or labor force/power to gain wages while the owners are often the leaders in the company they possess. They give out the wages and means of production such as tools and machines. This work dynamic coexist in modern society and Marx was not very fond of this (What is social class? n.d.). He argued on how the two should develop ideas and understand their positions which means class consciousness and if the workers are convinced by the owners that their labor force is suited for the job it is called false consciousness (What is social class? n.d.). There is a middle-class worker that Marx could not categorize as the person was the owner of a small company, yet he worked as a laborer (What is social class? n.d.). Social class categorization has been happening ever since civilization began,

(Riley, 2020)

CAPITAL

Capital according to an accountant would mean

(Capital (Noun), n.d.) However, ignoring the economic capital, According to Bourdieu there are a few different types of capital. Social capital Cultural capital which is later divided into embodied, objectified and institutionalized (Kon, 2017). Social capital suggests that the people in our lives who represent a higher living standard and are of an upper class is likely to benefit you in various scenarios such as a high paid job, a ticket to a theater that is difficult to purchase or get in, an internship at an international firm and much more. Social capital boils down to connections and the social groups we are a part of who have higher capital or net worth (Rose, 2019). Social capital boils down to connections and the social groups we are a part of who have higher capital or net worth. Cultural capital is segregated first into embodied capital which means the division of classes based on how one would dress, the accent that one would have, the color of a person's hair, etc. Physical appearance plays a role furthermore so does one's taste in music, hobbies, and mannerism (Kon, 2017).

Objectified capital is how a person would represent themselves by having luxurious belongings such as an expensive smartphone, a golden car and much more (Kon, 2017). Institutionalized capital is the knowledge and education that are attended through our course in life. Expensive schooling or universities and the status of having a “doctor” in their names, for example, shows the prestige quality of capital that the person has (Kon, 2017).

(Bourdieuʼs Food Space chart, from fast food to French Laundry, 2012)

Consumption

“Consumption is the process by which goods and services are, at last, put to final use by people.” (Dr. Taylor, 2019). Consumerism is an advertising technique to promote goods and services. Consumption can be a dangerous influence on modern society as it can dwell in the minds of the public by advertising things and items that is not necessary at all. It has both a positive influence and a negative influence (New Dream, 2011). While the positive influence can mean to attain a certain level of acceptance in society, negative influence can lead to greed and the lust for wanting more.

(Abraham, 2014)

Individuals have thought of how consumption can lead to a state of happiness and less loneliness, how inanimate objects can feel the role of friends and family, human connection and emotion, yet this is both true and false. With society growing daily the desire to achieve a quality standard of living can in turn invite groups of people who have similar standard of living. But one must avoid spiraling down the rabbit whole of consumerism and advertisement. As long there is income and money, there is the thought of purchase and need (New Dream, 2011). A friend I had always asked me, “do you really need this?” whenever I wanted to purchase an item and this is an important question that many forget to ask themselves or others.

REFERENCES: Abraham, M. A. (2014). All for Nothing – Consumerism the New Cancer [Image]. Retrieved from https://qrius.com/nothing-consumerism-new-cancer/ Bourdieuʼs Food Space chart, from fast food to French Laundry [Image]. (2012). Retrieved from https://flowingdata.com/2012/06/21/bourdieus-food-space-chartfrom-fast-food-to-french-laundry/

Capital (Noun). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capital Dr. Taylor, J. (2019). Class, Capital & Consumption. Retrieved from https://moodledubai.axis.navitas.com/mod/page/view.php?id=142321 Kon, O. (2017, Dec 18th). Pierre Bourdieu: Theory of Capital (Social and Cultural Capital) [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ5MdAjX4NU New Dream. (2011, Dec 4th). The High Price of Materialism [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGab38pKscw Riley, P. O. (2020). Ancient Egyptian Society [Image]. Retrieved from https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/233016 Rose, J. (2019, Jan 17th). What is Social and Cultural Capital? [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqUvxEqVC-0 What is social class? (n.d.). Retrieved from http://udel.edu/~cmarks/What%20is%20social%20class.htm APPENDIX: Baker, J. A. (2016). The good and bad sides of consumerism. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/the-good-and-bad-sides-of-consumerism Kon, O. (2018, May 1st). Pierre Bourdieu: Theory of Capital Part 2 (Economic/ Symbolic Capital + Cycle of Capital) [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2TcDktBWMU Wicker, A. (2017). Conscious consumerism is a lie. Hereʼs a better way to help save the world. Retrieved from https://qz.com/920561/conscious-consumerismis-a-lie-heres-a-better-way-to-help-save-the-world/