Transnational Social Class

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

The disparity between the social classes in The Outsiders is one of the central themes and the driving force of the plot. Hinton sought to depict teen life in a more accurate light as she saw it occur from day to day (“S. E. Hinton Biography,” 2014). Class distinction is the issue that incites the conflict in the novel, and that conflict causes much of the action. Hinton’s fourteen-year-old narrator and his gang are locked in a battle with their rival, the Socials (socs), “the jet set, the West-side rich kids (Hinton, 1967, p. 2). While The Outsiders is an analysis of the inner conflict of identity among the characters, most of the action and conflict is surrounded by interactions either within or between the two groups (“Shmoop Editorial Team,” 2014). The Greasers who have long hair, wear jeans, and have reputations for being ‘hoods’ are marked as inferior in class status (Tribunella, 2007). Ponyboy depicts the Socs as being superior, “you can’t win against them no matter how hard you try, because they’ve got all the breaks” (Hinton, 1967, p. 47).

Social class is a “tag” to define your status in a community. One of the main requirements you must have to be in the Upper class, is to have wealth and power. That is basically it, and obviously the absence of those characteristics could mean you are in a Middle or even in the Lower class. Sports are an activity that people do for pleasure that requires physical activity and sometimes has rules for the players to follow in order to play the game. It is most commonly played outdoors. It can improve your cardio, health, and physical condition. For example, it can prevent things like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer or even mental illnesses like depression.

The fictional stories Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Really Really by Paul Downs Colaizzo, and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens are all set in societies with classes that either dignify great importance or lack thereof. Character interaction, plot points, and demeanor of the characters are all influenced by their social statuses. In A Tale of Two Cities it’s nobility versus the working class. In the more modern story, Really Really, Leigh and her sister represent poverty in an affluent atmosphere. The futuristic society of Brave New World is completely centered on the differences between the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon classes. The differences between the classes or castes are huge throughout all of these stories. Although the societies in the semester readings are set in different times, they are all the same and show that the hierarchical aspect of society is always based on the

This essay will explore the notion of social class and whether it is still relevant within today’s society. The Oxford Dictionary defines social class as ‘a division of a society based on social and economic status’ and is measurable in terms of stratification and inequality. Stratification suggests people are ranked hierarchically according to their attributes such as income, wealth, power, age, gender and status, whereas, inequality explains the difference between people in terms of their abilities and rewards

There are so many problems that Americans face. A lot of American citizens pay the consequences for the mistakes of the wealthy, and not every citizen is fortunate to battle through them.There is no doubt that America has a very wide range of social classes, but what makes America strong is how social classes cooperate and help each other. For the past 20 years the social classes of America have been at a political war. The wealthy privilege that are in power of America fail to recognize the disadvantages that low income citizens have, because they have never been in the certain types of situations that a low income citizen experiences every day. Our social system, benefits the privilege. It's designed for the privileged, and keeps them in

As a New England woman of post-American Revolution, I expect that America will end its restrictive customs towards women and that women of all social classes will have the opportunity to obtain equal rights, in which women previously did not have. Formerly, men controlled all public institutions, including government, legislatures, and juries. Men did not allow women to have the freedom to express their opinions on public issues. In fact, women of the upper class engaged in debate with opinions through diaries and letters. However, it would be a pleasure for all women to be able to engage in politics rather than just the upper class. Specifically, they can participate in public debates and hold the same jobs that men had during pre-Revolution.

According to most, even though American Dream is possible to attain, it is significantly more difficult to achieve than it is made out to be. It relies as much on luck as it does on hard work, if not more. Though there are occasions where people move up and down the social ladder, certain qualities such as race, social class, and social status can determine the opportunities that allow for social mobility.

In addition, I will explore the concept of transnationalism and Disaporas using John’s experiences and his use of social capital in his migration experience. Theories of migration do not necessarily relate to all migration experiences, as migration is shaped individually through historical and social contexts. John’s migration incorporates a blend of lifestyle migration and economic migration. John’s father was migrating to Australia for work purposes; however John chose to migrate with his family to be close to them and also to explore a different lifestyle to that in England. “I didn’t have much interest in life in England, the lifestyle didn’t appeal to me and I hated how society was very class based” (Geare, 2015).

Social class has developed over the centuries into an obstacle we cannot ignore. I believe that social class exists and proves itself in stereotypes as well as in our government. Our world divides social class into three sections: upper, middle, and lower class. However, many also think that there could be multiple classes. The problems that we face with social class display themselves in the lack of opportunities for lower class children, the abuse of power by ghettoizing, and the addiction of money instead of longing for Jesus. We need to awaken to the world around us that daily struggles with the uncompromising chaos of their circumstances.

“A New Model of Social Class? Findings from the BBC’s Great British Class Survey Experiment” is an article written by Savage et. Al (2013), shows analysis of two surveys which results in a new way of mapping the social class in the UK. Savage et. Al. explains in his article the five steps of analysis that led to the division of the seven classes, and the explains the seven classes, and the economic, social, and cultural capital.

On the other hand, Craig Calhoun in the reading,’’ The Class Consciousness of Frequent Travellers File, Critiques one of the central features within Cosmopolitanism; Global Capitalism. He states that the global capitalists were they first Cosmopolitanism. Given that, capitalism promotes economic growth, which allows for a free market trade for local and international states. Although this may be true, he contends that global capitalism should be not regarded as a source of solidarity. To put it differently, he asserts that even though global capitalism is expanding It does not necessarily connect individuals. But instead, it leads individuals to see themselves and others as consumers. Thereupon, global capitalism in this regard does not help

Social mobility in the United States is commonly seen as an opportunity available to every individual to assume a higher economic status through conscientious willpower. However, recent studies have brought to question the extent to which social mobility can be achieved. The extent to which social mobility can be attained is directly tied to various factors such as the intersectionality of people’s identity and government aid stigmatization. In the few exceptions, where individuals achieved social mobility— rising from lower class to middle class, it was through the safety-net that government programs provided.

Peter L. Berger, a renowned American sociologist perceives the study of Sociology as believing that the world is not what it appears to be1, whereby sociology explores the mere surface of social issues plaguing the world today. Studying sociology will see oneself analysing the relationship between an individual and social structures established in the world today, and therefore the possibility of making change in society based upon these drawn relationships. Through an examination of parents raising a “global kid” – where they move overseas so as to provide their children with a culturally rich and bilingual education – we shall explore an individual’s relationship between social structures

Sandra Cisneros and Reyna Grande’s representation of their liminal identities contribute to the understanding of the formation of transnational identities. Their liminal identities are elaborated through the descriptions of their physical and emotional journeys across material and ideological borders that do not recognize transnational identities. To begin, in the jigsaw autobiography A House of My Own (2015) Cisneros mediates between her experience of growing up in Chicago, excavating into her Mexican father’s family history, been perceived as a gringa in Mexico and as a working class writer. In “An Ofrenda for My Father on Day of the Dead” Cisneros stresses the fundamental contributions that her father’s Mexican lineage added to her