collective identity

Collective Identity: Collective Identity: Youth CultureYouth Culture

G325G325 Critical PerspectivesCritical Perspectives

Collective Identity: Youth Collective Identity: Youth CultureCulture

The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals' sense of belonging to the group or collective. For the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes a part of his or her personal identity.

Collective Identity is the idea that through participating in social activities, individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an "identity" that transcends the individual.

KEY WORDS:

Stryker: this theorist suggested we interact with others to create an identity, this is called identity negotiation. This develops a consistent set of behaviours that reinforce the identity of the person or group. These behaviours then become social expectations.

KEY WORDS:

Foucault: This theorist believed people do not have a 'real' identity within themselves; that's just a way of talking about the self -- a discourse. An 'identity' is communicated to others in your interactions with them, but this is not a fixed thing within a person. It is a shifting, temporary construction


Identity is a vacillating idea as it does not determine a person for their whole life, but merely adapts depending on their social circumstances. We, as human beings tend to have a number of different identities – however we will adopt certain characteristics that make us recognisable to other people.

KEY WORDS:

Hegemony: A leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.

Gramsci: used the term hegemony to show how the dominant class can project its own ideologies so that those who are subordinated accept it as 'common

sense' and 'natural'.


• Studied subcultures in 1970s.

• Subcultures allow youth to express opposition to society and challenge hegemony.

• Style is key aspect of subculture – attempt to resist hegemony.

• Representations tend to be limited: Youth as fun or youth as trouble.

Hebdige (1979)

KEY WORDS:

Jacques Lacan: Mirror stage – child begins to develop their identity – recognise themselves in a mirror at around 6 months, helps to develop sense of self.

Just like the recognition of the mirror, images on screen offer:• Identification• Aspiration


Subculture

• Fashion:• Clothing, hairstyle

• Opposition/ resistance to dominant culture

• Lifestyle/• practices

• Music, art

• Counterculture

• Dialect/ slang

• Place, gender, class, race

KEY WORDS:

Jacques Lacan: Mirror stage – child begins to develop their identity – recognise themselves in a mirror at around 6 months, helps to develop sense of self.

Just like the recognition of the mirror, images on screen offer:• Identification• Aspiration


Subculture

• Fashion:• Clothing, hairstyle

• Opposition/ resistance to dominant culture

• Lifestyle/• practices

• Music, art

• Counterculture

• Dialect/ slang

• Place, gender, class, race

Think about this different subcultures of the youth today.

Create a montage of their identities – what are their interests? How do they dress? What are their ideologies?

L.O: To explore the L.O: To explore the medias influence on medias influence on

the youth. the youth. G325G325 Critical PerspectivesCritical Perspectives

Youth SubculturesYouth Subcultures

• Key Quote: “Subcultures try to compensate for the failure of the larger culture to provide adequate status, acceptance and identity. In the youth subculture, youth find their age-related needs met.” (Tittley, p.2).

• Youth are no longer children but they are also not yet adults, i.e. they are too old to sit in with Mum and Dad on a Saturday night watching Casualty, but they are not old enough to get into bars, pubs and clubs etc. They do not have a fixed identity at this point so they form these subcultures to forge their own as a collective.


Kelman (1958) wrote about social influence and identified three areas of conformity:

•1.Compliance – public but not private conformity

•2.Identification – influenced by someone who is liked and respected

•3.Internalisation – completely accept the beliefs and behaviour of a group and conform publicly and privately

Youth SubculturesYouth SubculturesThrasher (1927) studied gangs in the jails and on the streets of Chicago. He found various reasons for young people joining gangs, including:

•A sense of family – mostly from broken homes so desired a group of people to feel part of.

•Guidance – again, because of lack of family guidance they seek someone to teach them and to help structure their belief system.

•Solidarity – giving them the self-esteem and security that they longed for.

•Gangs were forming in Chicago as a result of urban neglect. These young people represented the “inner cracks of identity that occur in the turbulent years of adolescence”.


• Willis (1977) studied British youths and found that they were struggling to deal with the changes sweeping post-war Britain. They therefore developed these ‘deviant’ subcultures and employed a variety of strategies including “outright aggression” to deal with these changes.

L.O: To explore the L.O: To explore the use of subcultures. use of subcultures.

G325G325 Critical PerspectivesCritical Perspectives

KEY WORDS:

Gramsci: used the term hegemony to show how the dominant class can project its own ideologies so that those who are subordinated accept it as 'common sense' and 'natural'.

Cultivation Theory: George Gerbner believed that the more time people spend ‘living’ in the television, the more they are to believe social reality portrayed on television. The Cultivation Theory leaves people with a misconstrued perception of what is true in our world.

Media Influence: Youth CultureMedia Influence: Youth Culture

The media used its influence by portraying their hegemonic view of what the youth should be like.

Cultivation Theory

The hope was that they young would see this and believe this is how they SHOULD behave.

KEY WORDS:

Dichotomous: Divided or dividing intotwo parts or Classifications.


1945-60s:1945-60s:

Economic potential is obvious – market of the future, but also the first negative stereotypes.

Youth simultaneously represented “a prosperous and liberated future” and “a culture of moral decline”

First sign of adult culture’s dichotomous image of teenagers

Film example: ‘The Wild One’

KEY WORDS:

Hegemony: A leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others.

Ideology: The opinions, beliefs and ways of thinking characteristics of a particular person, group or nation.

Polysemic: Different individuals can interpret different meanings from the text.


• Adults have always voiced their views of teenagers in a predominately negative way.

• Adult mainstream exploited the image of the ‘rebel teen’

• Sold to teenagers as aspiration

• Sold to adults as a fear

KEY WORDS:

Moral Panic: an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order.


Marcuse suggests that the mass media carry with them prescribed attitudes and habits, certain intellectual and emotional reactions which bind the consumer and reduce them to a mindless mass. – leading to a passive audience.

This could/and would lead to Cohen’s idea of Moral Panic. The feel of the youth imitating what they see.

Acland argues that media representations of delinquent youths actually reinforce hegemony. They do this by constructing an idea of ‘normal’ adult and youth behaviour, and contrasting it with deviant youth behaviour which is shown to be unacceptable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCENBce_dls



L.O: To analyse the L.O: To analyse the media’s influence on media’s influence on



Cultural theorist Henry A. Giroux argues that in media representations of young people ‘youth becomes an empty category’ (1997) which reflects the anxieties and interests of adult society.

From this perspective media representations of the collective identities of young people are constructed by adults, and serve the needs of adult society.

This approach to youth identity and the media raises several questions about the relationship between media and identity.

The Wild One

Adult’s fears and anxieties

Re-enforcing hegemony

Youth’s response

How are the youth How are the youth represented within the represented within the

media. media. IntroductionHenry A Giroux argues in media representations ‘youth becomes an empty category’ reflecting the concerns of adults.•media representations of youth serve the purpose of the middle class adults who produce them•media representation of youth reinforce hegemony •Explain how you are going to be exploring this in ‘The Wild One’

Historical RepresentationsMedia representations of young people have always tended to be negative, look back at the ancient quotes describing youth.

Main focus‘The Wild One’ (1953) shows a motorcycle gang terrorising a small town. It focused on a delinquent, anti-social youth.This representation reflected anxieties of middle class adult society, in relation to the threat to hegemony posed by young people. – use specific examples.

KEY WORDS:

• Foucault

• Hegemony

• Gramsci

• Jacques Lacan

• Cultivation theory

• Ideology

• Polysemic

• Moral Panic

• Marcuse

• Acland

L.O: To analyse the L.O: To analyse the media’s influence on media’s influence on


Rebel Without A Cause

Adult’s fears and anxieties

Re-enforcing hegemony

Youth’s response


1. How does the opening of Rebel Without A Cause help to demonstrate Giroux’s idea of the youth being an ‘empty category’?

2. What is the main character’s identity?

3. What do you think the ‘adult’ fear might be?

4. How might this have created a moral panic amongst the older audiences during the time?

5. What do you think the hegemonic values are in the opening?

6. How might a younger audience respond to this opening?

collective identity - youth

Education

key words

herpersonal identity

fixed identity

essencean identity

mirror ataround

mirror stage

youth astrouble