Since the Currency Crisis in 1997, the phenomenon of social inequality has been embedded in Korean society, centered on the propositions such as 'Collapse of the middle class' and 'Expansion of the poor'. Until the mid-1990's, the percentage of the op...
Since the Currency Crisis in 1997, the phenomenon of social inequality has been embedded in Korean society, centered on the propositions such as 'Collapse of the middle class' and 'Expansion of the poor'. Until the mid-1990's, the percentage of the optimistic assessment on class identification was higher on the back of the economic boom. However, the ratio of individuals' perception as middle class dropped sharply while experiencing the rapid social changes. Therefore, when studying the inequality of Korean society, increasing social anxiety and sense of crisis raise the need for examining factors which affect class position and identification in both objective and subjective level.
Subjective class identification, described as the subjective aspect of the stratum, is the key link connecting the structure and an act. Despite the importance of discussion on subjective class identification, studies in sociology have focused mainly on the objective class position. Although there is a tendency to decide an act according to belongingness of the class that specific individual identifies subjectively, studies on class and stratum have shown limitations while neglecting factors of the subjective class identification. It is impossible to evaluate the meaning of the class if the individuals' class consciousness is not considered thoroughly. In this manner, it is suggested to conduct studies considering both objective class and subjective stratum. Yet, studies centered on discussion of both dimensions hardly can be found in the social science community up until now.
This study intends to investigate a mechanism forming the rank of the class and stratum, noticing the increasing percentage of non-correspondence between class position and class identification after the Currency Crisis in Korean society. This study is based on theoretical concept of capital by Bourdieu, who tried to find out the reasons of differentiation and reproduction of the class and stratum from the cultural and social processes. In addition, this study aims to analyze the psychological factors of values and satisfaction rate influencing the class and stratum based on the critical awareness that class identification – meaning cognitive belongingness formed through the differences of stratum in the social relations - is built up by individual attitudes and values. Bourdieu's idea of the forms of capital is applied along the process. Thus, this study intends to identify that difference between class position and class identification is created from a complex causal relationship through subjective factors including values, satisfaction rate, and economic, cultural and social capital in the Korean society.
Based on the data of large-scaled nationwide questionnaires for 2,000 adult men and women over the age of 19, the study drew a conclusion as follows. First, it shows that economic resources are considered preferentially when judging a stratum position. As economic factor played a fundamental role in basic living to cultural life, subjective dimensions of financial satisfaction along with the family income was defined by the difference between class position and class identification. Especially, as one has higher family income and economic satisfaction, one recognizes his stratum position higher rather than his objective class position. Therefore, it shows that economic factors act as important key in judging subjective class identification.
Second, it shows that cultural capital, cultural values and satisfaction of one's parents and family members function significantly in forming a gap between class position and class identification in addition to economic factors. The higher educational level and a stratum one's father has, the higher recognition one has on his subjective stratum compared with his objective class. Therefore, in Korean society, it is regarded that the backgrounds of one’s parents have an effect on the recognition of his subjective stratum. Furthermore, this study shows that the higher cultural attainments one has, the higher recognition one has on his stratum position in the social hierarchy than class position, while the higher cultural knowledge one has, the lower recognition one will have on class identification. That is, if one has higher cultural knowledge on the classical music, art and literature but can't practice it as the substantive cultural act, there will be few possibilities to operate the mechanism that judges a subjective stratum higher. Therefore, the study found that the cultural capital which is differentiated according to the axis of the class in Korean society act as the important element for 'subjective class identification' as a new axis of cultural differentiation to make distinction cultural attainments and knowledge. Cultural capital seems to be an important factor for explaining the discord of the class and stratum in the Korean social system.
Third, the study shows that the more an individual or one's family holds the social capital, the more one evaluates his or her stratum position higher. Regarding the social values, it indicated that as one has a conservative political inclination and higher trust in the society, he or she recognizes class identification higher than his or her objective class position. In conclusion, it can be seen that besides the social network, subjective dimension of individuals' values serves as one of the factors explaining the gap between class position and class identification in the extension of the social capital.
To summarize, this study examined the social structural factors specified into economic, cultural and social factors which are functioning in multi-dimensional ways. Also, the relationship between the class position and class identification was mutually considered in an exploratory manner. Especially, it organized each factor into the capital concept of Bourdieu and uplifted the relevance among the class position, class identification and the capital as the main topic. It made significance in that the study expanded the concept of capital to subjective dimension of the values and satisfaction rate. Finally, the study found the meaning in investigating the class and stratum structures based on multi-dimensional elements through the special hierarchical characteristics of Korean society – as the study have looked over the factors influencing the gap between class position and class identification examined from the phenomenon forming a causal relationship involving complex process of an individuals, parents and family backgrounds.