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Chapter 12:

Identity and Subgroups

What will you learn?

How do subgroups use language and how does subgroup argot impact subgroup identity?

How do subgroups use media and how does this usage mark subgroup values?

What are some notable example of subgroups?

Subgroups

Subgroups do not involve the same large numbers of people as cultures, and are not necessarily thought of as transmitting patterns of behavior over generations in the same way as cultures

Yet subgroups, characterized by an identifiable distinction and shared interests, have similar communication dynamics as cultures

Existing within cultures, subgroups share forms of language, media, and values, and do provide members with patterns of behavior

Argot

Language provides the conceptual categories that influence how its speakers’ perceptions are encoded and stored; for a subgroup, a specialized vocabulary identifies it and establishes its boundaries

Argot: specialized language of subgroups; also called jargon, cant, and slang

Jargon: technical language of professional groups

Cant: specialized language of nonprofessional groups

Slang: the specialized languages of stigmatized groups

Argot has specific, unambiguous meaning for a subgroup

Argot and Subgroup Identity

The study of argot originated with the work of David Maurer in the 1930s; before his work, observations of nonstandard language were limited to the study of regional dialects

Maurer, who had studied Sapir’s work, showed that individual criminals were not abnormalities but fully integrated and well-adjusted members of a subgroup

Maurer’s studies demonstrate that membership in the subgroup provides an identity and that the key to developing and understanding that identity is its language

A subgroup’s argot also defines the boundaries of the subgroup; if you don’t know the vocabulary, you’re obviously not a member; correct use of the argot establishes the subgroup’s boundary

Subgroup Media and Values

Media use and values contribute to defining subgroup identity and boundaries

Media distributed only to members can vary widely from graffiti to newsletters, but the subgroup’s argot and pictorial images will be used

Media help provide subgroups an outlet or way to propagate their values among members, increasing group cohesion and membership identity

Social media has also become important to help contribute to interaction and shared identity

Examples of Subgroups

Like with cultures, ethnographic and cultural approaches can be applied to subgroups

Observations of subgroups range in method from “insider” reports to participant observer ones

The Working Class as a Subgroup

Social class – one basis for a subculture

Working-class values include loyalty to one’s community even at the cost of self-advancement, lack of a sense of entitlement or privilege, and shared resentment of perceived arrogance in wealthier classes

Working-class people’s participation in social media is significantly less than others

Examples of Subgroups

British Punk

Dick Hebdige’s 1979 study of British punk youth culture: a classic cultural studies analysis now

The subgroup members develop a style through the intentional use of clothing, music, dance, argot

Use of random, mass-produced objects such as dog collars, safety pins, and school uniforms for a parody of consumerism

Repositioned and recontextualized commodities by subverting the conventional uses and inventing new ones

Provides an interesting example of cultural diffusion

Some bloggers suggest that social media is the punk of today

Examples of Subgroups

Corporate Cultures

Set of values, goals, and priorities encouraged through the policies and procedures of the organization

Elements of culture including symbols, heroes, rituals, and values, which can be cultivated in a corporation

Organizations can have their own symbols: argot, dress codes, and status symbols recognized by insiders only

Organizational heroes are those people, dead or alive, who serve as models of “ideal employee” or “ideal manager”

Corporate rituals can take the form of myths within organizations (e.g. Disney – “family”)

For many organizations, the value systems were established by personality of leader; socialization into organizational practices

Examples of Subgroups

Corporate Cultures – Case Studies

Southwest Airlines

Influenced by developer ( gregarious, self-deprecating, chain-smoking, whiskey-drinking Herb Kelleher)

Photos of most of company’s 35,000-plus employees cover the walls of its corporate headquarters in Dallas

A 100-member employee “Culture Committee” devises celebrations and incentives to keep Southwest Spirit alive

Google

founded in 1998 by two Stanford graduate students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin; Page and Brin’s outlook dominates “how things are done at Google”

Organized as a “flat” company with a small middle management and a hands-on upper management

core employees have autonomy, but work with a single unifying philosophy

Let’s Discuss!

Describe a subgroup you have identified with in terms of its argot, media use, and values

Should corporations that want to build a strong corporate culture require employees to wear uniforms and use a corporate vocabulary? What if employees object for reasonable personal reasons?

How will social media be used by subgroups?