Blakeley And Bauman's Theory Of The Seduced

In this essay I will be looking at the claim that Individuals make their lives but not in circumstances of their own choosing. In order to do so I will be looking at how individuals are constrained by social ideas and practices that can affect these choices using differences, inequality, consumption, all of which will be defined later in the essay and Bauman’s theory of the seduced and the repressed. I will also be looking at how individuals do make their own lives as they choose using, consumption, and I will conclude that

An important starting point for this essay about the choices individuals have in making their lives, is society, and the role it has in constraining or enabling the ability of individuals to make their own lives. Societies
24). First, there is both continuity and change in the process of making and remaking social lives, making lives is two sided, people make society through their actions but in turn society makes peoples lives. Second, since making and remaking lives is an active process that involves people and their relationships and daily activities some individuals will have a more dominant role in making and remaking society, like the ways in which society is made and remade will support the concerns of some individuals over others. Another part of social lives are differences, meaning the contrasts between individuals based on gender, class, age and race or ethnicity (Blakeley and Staples, 2014, p. 25). These differences can be anything from behavioural and physical to personal preferences or attitudes. Inequality, meaning the unequal distribution of valued resources in society or between societies, is another part of social life and the resources that people value can change over time and differ from society to society but the term generally includes money, time and access to education. Differences and inequality are often linked, however they are not the same as a difference, such as an able-bodied person vs a
26). There are many different kinds of shops on City Road which attract different kinds of people, these differences could relate to inequalities in economic resources, for example different people may use the charity shop, Islamic Relief, compared to people who use Tesco (Blakeley and Staples, 2014, p. 26). People also use different types of transport and wear different clothes, sometimes these differences can be indicators of inequalities in wealth. John Arthur, a homeless man and the various people who use the food bank on City Road experience economic inequality. Economic inequality is a key constraint on the types of choices people have in making and remaking their lives, as the people who use the food bank have no choice in the food they receive, in contrast with those who go to Tesco and can choose the types of food they want to buy (Open University, 2014.b). They are also choosing a particular lifestyle and way of living in contrast to those who go to the food bank out of necessity. Stephan sweetman's story is also relevant here as the constraints of the street such as pavements, roads and buildings all designed with walking pedestrians in mind, placed on him and others limit the ability of some people to fully participate in the social life of the street because of their disability, these barriers may constrain the opportunities for where and