SOCIALISATION exam questions

National identity can be seen as the identity of the whole country. However, it can also
affect how an individual sees their own identity. As the world continues to experience
globalisation, individuals will fight against this in order to protect their national identity. This
therefore means that national identities are more important now than ever before.

Anderson refers to a ‘nation’ as an imagined community where most of its members will
never meet. As a result, they national identity is socially constructed (created by society)
using symbols such as flags or the national anthem. Some may argue that this is no longer
relevant in British society due to the multi-cultural nature of it. Britain has always adopted a
‘multicultural’ view to immigration that may have led to a further division within British
identity. Unlike states like France which have insisted that immigrants assimilate to the host
country the British model has been to allow migrants to retain their identity and promoted
an ‘equal but different’ policy that has allowed migrant groups to retain their culture whilst
living in the UK. However, Hall argues that globalisation has led to ‘cultural resistance’ which
further implies that national identity is still important. This is where a country resists
changes from global influences and instead strengthens their own national identity. Strong
evidence of this can be seen through the recent decision made to leave the EU by Brexit.
This therefore suggests that despite the multi-cultural nature of Britain, people do still resist
new cultures entering because of them having a strong national identity and wanting to
protect it.

It also argued that national identity is slowly losing its importance as evident through the
changes in British cuisine. The meal people would normally associate as their traditional dish
is fish and chips however this has changed over the last few years to be chicken tikka
masala. This depicts Hall’s concept of a cultural supermarket. This means we can choose
‘hybrid identities’ from a very wide range of different identities; we can adopt the clothes
ways of speaking, values and lifestyles of any group we choose, e.g. Black American youth
culture is found throughout all ethnic groups in Britain. Global consumerism can also lead to
increasing homogeneity or similarity between people. Products are marketed worldwide
such as Starbucks and McDonald’s and people are able to find a common ground through
these products despite their different cultural backgrounds. Overall, Hall argues that
countries are becoming more similar causing cultural ‘homogenisation’. This therefore
illustrates how nationality may not have the impact it used to have on someone’s identity
due to the increasing sharing of new ideas from cultures all around the world as a result of
globalisation.

On the contrary, it can be argued that we are made to value our national identity through
secondary socialisation in the form of education. Hall has also mentioned how every nation
has a collection of stories about shared experiences. These include shared triumphs and
disasters. For example, the British victory in the World Wars is a shared triumph which is a
key part of the national identity. This is something that we get taught through history being
part of the formal curriculum. We learn about British history from a British perspective with
there being a key focus on winning the world wars as well as the success of the British
Empire. Moreover, we also learn about important classic British literature e.g. Shakespeare’s
plays and novels by Charles Dickens. This has been referred to as being ‘ethnocentric’ by
Coard as the curriculum is focused on White British culture.

Overall, it is clear to see that the importance of national identity is instilled in us from a very
young age through the education system as well as the way in which voting on key issues
such as Brexit also reflect how strong our connection to our national identities are. Despite
this, we are still heavily influenced by global products which we are exposed as a cause of
living in a globalised world; living in a multi-cultural place also allows you to understand
other cultures and make you have a weaker sense of national identity. To conclude, national
identity is more important now than ever due to the continuous development of the world
through globalisation causing conflicts and creating cultural resistance.

Outline and briefly evaluate the view that individuals learn society's culture through the
process of primary socialisation. (12 marks)

Primary socialisation refers to the agent of socialisation family through which individuals
learn the norms and values of society through their parents as they grow up. Whilst primary
socialisation is important, I believe that secondary socialisation is a more important factor to
consider. This is due to the fact that secondary socialisation takes into account even more of
the agents of socialisation such as media, religion, peers, work and education.

Primary socialisation is the place where individuals tend to learn the norms in society in
regard to how men and women should behave in society. This is made clear by the
sociologist Oakley who believes that verbal appellations, manipulation and canalisation are
processes through which individuals learn the differences in how different genders are
treated. Verbal appellations are when the parents say ‘good girl’ and ‘bad boy’,
manipulation is when they are taught the difference between what behaviour is acceptable
between the genders and this is evident through the concept of how ‘big boys don’t cry’. As
well as these two you also have canalisation which teaches boys to play with cars and girls
to play with dolls, therefore taking away the choice of what the children want to play with
due to the norm of boys playing with one toy other the other. These all signify that primary
socialisation is important in regard to influencing individuals and what they perceive as
being norms or values of the society they are a part of.
Despite this, secondary socialisation such as media are factors that are just as important to
take into consideration. Postmodernists such as Pakulski and Waters believe that the media
can influence society due to there being globalisation through which individuals from all
different countries can influence others through the spread of the values of the different
cultures through the internet as people continue to become more connected with others.
This is emphasised by the fact that Gauntlett says that the media informs individuals on how
to act through the portrayal of celebrities that people may look up to. For example, David
Beckham is constantly used as an example of how men need to be muscular and sporty and
this depicts how individuals can learn society's culture through the process of secondary
socialisation. Constant exposure to media as individuals grow up can ensure that the
concepts learnt through primary socialisation continue to be reinforced. However, it also
gives people the opportunity to have their own interpretations of society’s culture therefore
showing how secondary socialisation can be more important.

Overall, despite primary socialisation being important, secondary socialisation has a

significantly more vital role in how an individual learns a society’s culture. This is due to the
fact that secondary socialisation takes into account even more of the agents of socialisation
such as media, religion, peers, work and education.