Agriculture Reference
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his subjects related 'narratives of boundaries' he was able to analyse processes of
identification.
Yate proved a salient geographical location precisely because it allowed
Southerton to engage with current debates which surround the changing character
of social bases of identification. A feature of the town's fast development meant
that many residents had geographical mobility and owned their homes - factors
which potentially encourage identification with neo-tribal lifestyles whilst lowering
feelings of attachment to the locality. Furthermore, Yate's 'north-south status divide'
(2002, 174) gave residents a signifying tool for demarcating boundaries between
class groups.
Southerton's data revealed that three groups invariably differed in terms of their
hobbies, consumption practices and narratives of identification. For example, the
'Bowland Road' respondents lived in South Yate, had a paucity of economic, cultural
and social resources and low levels of geographical and social mobility. This group
were characterised by their valuing of the economy of their housing - 'us' - as opposed
to the extravagance of the more expensive houses belonging to 'them' in north Yate.
As a result of their low levels of cultural resources, they further signalled their sense
of 'us' by disparaging the extravagance of 'them' through anti-cosmopolitanism and
the denigration of cultural experimentation, especially in relation to food and travel.
Their moral outlook was also significant: they valued 'down-to earth' people who
were honest, hard-working and who lacked pretension - declarations which provided
a demarcation between themselves and the people of north Yate who were described
as materialistic, and labelled 'cultural snobs'. By contrast, those from 'Lonsdale
Avenue' - the most affluent group identified by Southerton - had high capital levels
and marked their socially superior distance through reference to their housing status,
often by marking a distinction between themselves and the people of north and south
Yate. These residents tended to demonstrate their success by foregrounding their
material possessions and their status as 'professionals' became a pivotal point of
identification. While all respondents had high rates of geographical mobility, this
group was divided into long-standing residents and newcomers. Long-standing
residents spoke of 'we' in relation to their refined cultural tastes, newcomers used
'I': both were concerned to display their consumption of things traditionally enjoyed
by the middle-class, to quote one respondent: '“I love good food, I love good wine,
I love good holidays, theatre, cinema, good books and music”' (2002, 184). Unlike
Bowland Road occupants, Lonsdale residents had no staunch moral code but they
were conscious of personal values and stressed community responsibilities. Largely
however, this group's key form of identification was cast around professional middle-
class categories which were expressed as tacit cultural preferences shared with other
Lonsdale residents.
Based on the volume of capitals owned by each group and on shared themes of
boundary identification, Southerton's main conclusion is that, 'class formed the most
significant social basis of identification for respondents interviewed in this research'
(2002, 186). In this way, Southerton's empirical work shows that diagnostic theories,
propounded by critics like Chaney (1996), are at least partially premature in their
sceptical predictions about collective forms of identification and social change. On
the other hand, it would also be quite wrong to see social class as an all-encompassing
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