Examine the argument that places can be a source of inclusion and exclusion for specific communities.
Uploaded by mrsvigors on Feb 22, 2015
Place is generally described by geographical location, however the identity of a place and how it is socially perceived depends on how it has been designed, constructed and by the specific communities that use it and how they do so. The identities of a place may be perceived differently by specific individuals or social groups, resulting in a creation of differences and inequalities between social communities. This essay is in two parts, the first part will examine how places can be a source of social inclusion and exclusion by looking at social identities in detail, including how they are constructed, valued, connected and constantly changing with the moving picture of society with social order, in order to smoothly and successfully form complex personal identities (Taylor, 2009, p.173) The second part of this essay will use The Spectator article to examine how identities may be idealised and imagined to cause discourses and create social exclusion.
Places can have identities which evoke positive or negative feelings of belonging, memories and emotions which contribute to personal and social identities. However, places do not only have an identity, but they also play a part in the construction of social identities. Ways in which people, identities and places are connected form a situational identity of an individual or group, which then becomes one of the multiple identities brought together in order to create a complicated personal identity through identification referred to as subjectivity (Taylor, 2009, p. 171).These multiple identities can be group or collective, situated or relational and are often linked to one another. A group or collective identity is formed when a group of people share similarities such as social class or religious beliefs. Relational identities are formed by the relationships between people, such as the identity of being an employee, employer, father or son. Situated identities are created by being ‘in place’, such as when somebody visits a new city they assume the situational identity of a tourist. Association with places form and...