{"id":24748,"date":"2023-07-20T07:44:54","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T07:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/questions\/discuss-some-of-the-ways-in-which-the-ability-of-people-to-make-and-remake-their-lives-is-characterised-by-inequality\/"},"modified":"2023-07-20T07:44:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T07:44:54","slug":"discuss-some-of-the-ways-in-which-the-ability-of-people-to-make-and-remake-their-lives-is-characterised-by-inequality","status":"publish","type":"questions","link":"https:\/\/www.goodacademic.com\/blog\/questions\/discuss-some-of-the-ways-in-which-the-ability-of-people-to-make-and-remake-their-lives-is-characterised-by-inequality\/","title":{"rendered":"Discuss some of the ways in which the ability of people to make and remake their lives is characterised by inequality."},"content":{"rendered":"

Orginal Assignment Instructions:  write one essay, drawing on material from two out of the three strands. You are able to choose which two out of the three strands you want to focus on: \u2018Making lives\u2019 (Book 1, Chapters 5\u20139), \u2018Connecting lives\u2019 (Book 2, Chapters 1\u20135) and \u2018Ordering lives\u2019 (Book 2, Chapters 6\u201310). All three of these strands contain material relevant to the essay question.<\/span><\/p>\n

The essay question asks you to discuss some of the ways in which the ability of people to make and remake their lives is characterised by <\/span>inequality<\/a>. On the one hand, this suggests that individuals\u2019 lives are not fixed or given, but that they are produced in active ways by individuals and society. In short, individuals have <\/span>choices<\/a> <\/span>in <\/span>making and remaking<\/a> <\/span>their lives. On the other hand, this also suggests that different people have more or less freedom to make their own choices depending on a variety of factors, for example, class and <\/span>socio-economic position<\/a>, gender, race and ethnicity, disability and sexuality. The key point, then, is the relationship between <\/span>difference<\/a> <\/span>and inequality and the ways in which some differences become inequalities. Therefore, the ways in which the different strands tackle the second module question \u2018How are differences and inequalities produced?\u2019 will be a helpful guide in exploring how some, but not all people\u2019s ability to make their lives in characterised by inequality. This second module question shows how people respond to difference and inequality in their own way, but are affected by wider social expectations, <\/span>constraints<\/a> <\/span>and possibilities.<\/p>\n

Below are some possible areas to focus on, but they are only indicative. There are other possible areas to focus on.<\/p>\n

Remember that you cannot cover everything in this essay. Choose material from only two out of the three strands of DD102 study materials.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making lives<\/span> <\/span>frames the discussion of the ways in which the ability of individuals to make and remake their lives is characterised by inequalities through the idea that people in the contemporary UK live in a <\/span>consumer society<\/a>. A good starting point is to discuss Bauman\u2019s concepts of the seduced and the repressed (Understanding Social Lives, Part 1<\/i>, Chapter 5) which illustrate how inequalities are as much a feature of consumer society as they were of <\/span>industrial society<\/a>. Chapter 6 discusses how big retail <\/span>power<\/a> <\/span>can lead to inequalities in the choices some people have, both in the UK and abroad. Zukin\u2019s claim, that <\/span>consumption<\/a> <\/span>allows people to be both creative and controlled (Chapter 7), points to both differences in consumption and inequalities. Finally, Chapter 8 looks at how the application of nudge theory is limited in its ability to influence people to make particular choices because people are both different and unequal.<\/p>\n

Connecting lives<\/span> <\/span>frames the discussion of how the ability of people to make and remake their lives is characterised by inequality through the idea of connections and disconnections. People are not all connected in the same ways and to the same extent, and disconnection is a feature of many people\u2019s lives. The discussion of collective <\/span>identities<\/a> <\/span>in <\/span>Understanding Social Lives, Part 2<\/i>, Chapter 1, shows how these refer to difference as well as similarity, and this would be a good starting point. The chapter explores gender identities, identities based on race and ethnicity and class identities and looks at how the intersection of identities can lead to inequalities. Although gender and race and ethnicity are often assumed to be fixed identities of the body, the chapter shows how they are also produced socially and how some identities, but not all, have different meanings and values attributed to them subject to the situation or context. Chapter 2 continues the discussion of class, gender, race and ethnicity but adds disability into the mix to show how these different identities interact in ways that can produce inequalities in sport and wider society. Issues of residential segregation, and the ways in which this can create unequal connections and disconnections, are explored in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 looks at how migration can also produce unequal connections and disconnections.<\/p>\n

Ordering lives<\/span> <\/span>frames the discussion of ways in which the ability of people to make and remake their lives is characterised by inequality through the issue of <\/span>social order<\/a> <\/span>and its relationship to disorder. Of importance here is the inequality present in regards to which groups in society have the power to define social order and disorder in ways that stick, and which groups lack this power. A good starting point would be the approaches to homelessness in <\/span>Understanding Social Lives, Part 2<\/i>, Chapter 6. One perspective suggests that homelessness and therefore homeless people are a problem population and need to be \u2018ordered\u2019 while a different perspective sees homeless people as people who are at risk and vulnerable and homelessness as a social issue. Chapter 7 examines the contrasting approaches to understanding crime and deviancy, whether crime arises from nature or nurture, or the extent to which the key to understanding crime is to be found in questions of power and social control. Chapter 8 continues a focus on questions of power and social control in its discussion of two contrasting approaches to understanding <\/span>riots<\/a>. The conservative ideological approach sees riots as destructive and <\/span>disorderly<\/a>, while the radical approach sees riots as having a transformative potential. Chapter 9 is also important because it discusses the issue of social inequality directly; what kind of problem it is, and two different views on its causes and solutions to it.<\/p>\n

Writing tips<\/h2>\n

This question requires you to write an academic essay by drawing on material from two out of the three strands of DD102 study materials: \u2018Making lives\u2019 (Book 1, Chapters 5\u20139), \u2018Connecting lives\u2019 (Book 2, Chapters 1\u20135) and \u2018Ordering lives\u2019 (Book 2, Chapters 6\u201310).<\/p>\n

Although there is no one right way of approaching this essay, we suggest that several key points need to be borne in mind:<\/p>\n