Difference Matters: Communicating Social Identity – Brenda J. Allen
- Six categories of social identity: gender, race, social class, ability, sexuality & age
- Communication helps constitute social identity
- Relationships between discourse, social identity & power dynamics
Chapter 1: Difference and Other Important Matters
- We (subconsciously) expect certain types of people to be in certain roles based on a relationship
between context and expectations. We usually do not even realise we’ve assumed anything until
sth contradicts that assumption.
- We depend on stereotypes: oversimplified preconceptions & generalisations about members of
social groups that provide meaning and organise perceptions, inferences, and judgements about
persons identified as belonging to a particular social category
o We often draw on what we expect & assume about groups of people to form our attitudes
and to direct our behaviours
o Negative media stereotypes
o Personal experiences
- Complex history in the US of systemic, socially reproduced inequities (discrimination, prejudice)
- Critical thinking skills and effective, open communication for reflecting on difference matters
Difference Matters
- Dynamic principles of identity: similarity + difference
o ‘Different’ refers to how an individual/group varies from, or compares to, the unspoken
norm of the dominant group
o Difference = characteristic of identity (gender, race, age…)
- Dominant groups: tend to have more economic & cultural power than nondominant groups
Why Difference Matters
- Focus on relationships between social identity differences and communicating: society changes,
changing demographics, increasing demands for equality, interest in diversity…
- Think & talk about differences Productive & enjoyable interactions across our differences
Obstacles to Valuing Difference
- Dominant groups think that initiatives like affirmative action give minority groups unfair
advantages Again: dominant nondominant groups
- Societal norms & tendencies hinder efforts to deal with difference
o Political correctness; appear objective & rational
o “Stick with” our own groups
o Define ourselves in opposition to others: me you Polarise social identity groups
Attitudes about difference tend to focus on the nondominant “other”: either/or
Identify others and ourselves in limited, simplistic ways
Communicating Social Identity
Communicating
- Implicit and explicit messages about communication styles & norms of social identity groups and
dominant beliefs (incl. stereotypes) related to social identity groups
- Produce, interpret & share meaning in a complex, continuous and contextual way
- Focus on discourse between and within different social identity groups in different settings
o Discourse: systems of texts and talk
o Focus on (discourse in) organisations
1
, Big part of our day; prime sites of social identity construction
We identify ourselves based on organisational relationships and roles
Power dynamics drive communication processes
o Media portrayals of social identity groups can influence how we think
Social Identity
- Identity = individual and/or collective aspect of being
- Social identity: ways in which individuals & collectivities are distinguished in their social relations
with other individuals and collectivities; aspects of a person’s self-image derived from group-
based categories (i.e. in opposition to others)
o Multiple social identities linked to different social groups
- ≠ personal identity: one’s sense of self in terms of variables such as personality traits
Identity is relational and human beings develop their social identities primarily through
communicating Social constructivism
- Social constructivist: identity arises out of interactions with others and is based on language
- Socialisation: norms and expectations as to how you are supposed to act and that will mould
your self-perception Communicating to construct social identity
o Indoctrinated into social identity groups: internalise dominant values/norms of culture
o Receive information about other groups, including contrasts and “rules” for interacting
o Categories of identity and stereotypes influence the interaction
- Essentialism: assumes that social differences stem from intrinsic, innate, human variations
unrelated to social forces, making social identity groups fixed
- Social identity theory describes humans’ tendency to label self and others based on individual
and group identity when we meet sb from an ‘out-group’, we will tend to react more to
perceived group characteristics than to the other person as an individual
o Categorising can lead to in-group/out-group distinctions: comparing your group with others
- Privilege: differences in status based on social identity, giving advantages in society
o We’re mostly unaware of the privileges we have and of the fact that they tend to make life
easier. Privilege helps to construct and maintain inequalities: we don’t understand each
other’s perspectives & experiences.
- Internalised oppression: accepting the idea that a nondominant group is inferior to a dominant
group and believing negative stereotypes about one’s own group by internalising dominant
values and assumptions about social identity groups, e.g. colourism: believing in the hierarchy of
skin colour
- Context matters in communicating constructs of social identities (= artificial & changeable)
Chapter 2: Power Matters
- We enact power relationships in varying ways, for varying reasons. These behaviours might be
based in part on our social identities.
- When & where events occur, can affect those events
o Interdependent relationships between power dynamics & the sociohistorical contexts where
they occur
o Social construction theory to study ways that humans use communication to construct their
realities
- Hegemony and ideology are concepts within the ‘power matters’ premise. They establish and
maintain control and systems of domination. Critical theory is a useful framework for studying
these power dynamics. We enact power relations through communication.
Conceptions of Power
2
- Six categories of social identity: gender, race, social class, ability, sexuality & age
- Communication helps constitute social identity
- Relationships between discourse, social identity & power dynamics
Chapter 1: Difference and Other Important Matters
- We (subconsciously) expect certain types of people to be in certain roles based on a relationship
between context and expectations. We usually do not even realise we’ve assumed anything until
sth contradicts that assumption.
- We depend on stereotypes: oversimplified preconceptions & generalisations about members of
social groups that provide meaning and organise perceptions, inferences, and judgements about
persons identified as belonging to a particular social category
o We often draw on what we expect & assume about groups of people to form our attitudes
and to direct our behaviours
o Negative media stereotypes
o Personal experiences
- Complex history in the US of systemic, socially reproduced inequities (discrimination, prejudice)
- Critical thinking skills and effective, open communication for reflecting on difference matters
Difference Matters
- Dynamic principles of identity: similarity + difference
o ‘Different’ refers to how an individual/group varies from, or compares to, the unspoken
norm of the dominant group
o Difference = characteristic of identity (gender, race, age…)
- Dominant groups: tend to have more economic & cultural power than nondominant groups
Why Difference Matters
- Focus on relationships between social identity differences and communicating: society changes,
changing demographics, increasing demands for equality, interest in diversity…
- Think & talk about differences Productive & enjoyable interactions across our differences
Obstacles to Valuing Difference
- Dominant groups think that initiatives like affirmative action give minority groups unfair
advantages Again: dominant nondominant groups
- Societal norms & tendencies hinder efforts to deal with difference
o Political correctness; appear objective & rational
o “Stick with” our own groups
o Define ourselves in opposition to others: me you Polarise social identity groups
Attitudes about difference tend to focus on the nondominant “other”: either/or
Identify others and ourselves in limited, simplistic ways
Communicating Social Identity
Communicating
- Implicit and explicit messages about communication styles & norms of social identity groups and
dominant beliefs (incl. stereotypes) related to social identity groups
- Produce, interpret & share meaning in a complex, continuous and contextual way
- Focus on discourse between and within different social identity groups in different settings
o Discourse: systems of texts and talk
o Focus on (discourse in) organisations
1
, Big part of our day; prime sites of social identity construction
We identify ourselves based on organisational relationships and roles
Power dynamics drive communication processes
o Media portrayals of social identity groups can influence how we think
Social Identity
- Identity = individual and/or collective aspect of being
- Social identity: ways in which individuals & collectivities are distinguished in their social relations
with other individuals and collectivities; aspects of a person’s self-image derived from group-
based categories (i.e. in opposition to others)
o Multiple social identities linked to different social groups
- ≠ personal identity: one’s sense of self in terms of variables such as personality traits
Identity is relational and human beings develop their social identities primarily through
communicating Social constructivism
- Social constructivist: identity arises out of interactions with others and is based on language
- Socialisation: norms and expectations as to how you are supposed to act and that will mould
your self-perception Communicating to construct social identity
o Indoctrinated into social identity groups: internalise dominant values/norms of culture
o Receive information about other groups, including contrasts and “rules” for interacting
o Categories of identity and stereotypes influence the interaction
- Essentialism: assumes that social differences stem from intrinsic, innate, human variations
unrelated to social forces, making social identity groups fixed
- Social identity theory describes humans’ tendency to label self and others based on individual
and group identity when we meet sb from an ‘out-group’, we will tend to react more to
perceived group characteristics than to the other person as an individual
o Categorising can lead to in-group/out-group distinctions: comparing your group with others
- Privilege: differences in status based on social identity, giving advantages in society
o We’re mostly unaware of the privileges we have and of the fact that they tend to make life
easier. Privilege helps to construct and maintain inequalities: we don’t understand each
other’s perspectives & experiences.
- Internalised oppression: accepting the idea that a nondominant group is inferior to a dominant
group and believing negative stereotypes about one’s own group by internalising dominant
values and assumptions about social identity groups, e.g. colourism: believing in the hierarchy of
skin colour
- Context matters in communicating constructs of social identities (= artificial & changeable)
Chapter 2: Power Matters
- We enact power relationships in varying ways, for varying reasons. These behaviours might be
based in part on our social identities.
- When & where events occur, can affect those events
o Interdependent relationships between power dynamics & the sociohistorical contexts where
they occur
o Social construction theory to study ways that humans use communication to construct their
realities
- Hegemony and ideology are concepts within the ‘power matters’ premise. They establish and
maintain control and systems of domination. Critical theory is a useful framework for studying
these power dynamics. We enact power relations through communication.
Conceptions of Power
2
