“‘Where we live should be seen as both site and signifier of social divisions’. Explain the sociological evidence for this statement, illustrating your answer with examples. TMA 03 DD201 Sociology and society”

This essay will explore the constitution of place as a site and signifier of social differences and divisions.

Place has many interchangeable meanings, it is a site embedded within the structure of society, it is socially constructed which as a site illustrates, produces and contributes to the structure of social division and differences and inequality. ‘Place constructs, maintains, changes and represents social differences and social divisions’. (Braham and Janes, pxv)

Place can be valued in many ways, you can be assessed in relation to where you live. Where you live can indicate your gender, class, ethnicity, religion and other social divisions and social differences, place can determine who you are. It also can determine you life chances a term defined by Max Weber in relevance to ‘class situations’, where the distribution of power in society can determine the individual’s …(short extract)