SOC210 chapter 7 Stratification, Class, and Inequality – Flashcards

Slavery Caste Class

ownership of certain people. Their legal rights are limited, certain relationships are prohibited, and, as you might imagine, social power is essentially nonexistent.

status for life, based on deeply held cultural ideals and boundaries. Characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers and are sanctioned by custom, law, and religion.

positions based on economics such as income, wealth, ownership, and so on. There are many different characterizations of what constitutes class

is structured (sig. patterned) inequality between groups. Inequality may be based on economics, gender, race, religion, age, or another factor.

Wealth Income Education Occupation

Class systems (modern) do allow for social mobility, but opportunities are not evenly distributed.

education occupation place of residence health marriage partner

Class was determined solely by one's relation to the means of production. Bourgeoisie (haves) and Proletariat (have nots) This determines life chances. Marx believed that the more numerous proletariat would eventually overthrow the few in power, once they realized how vastly the system disadvantages them.

Bourgeoisie (haves) and Proletariat (have nots) This determines life chances. Bourgeoisie (haves) and Proletariat (have nots) This determines life chances.

Max Weber, position not based on economics alone: social status was also significant. Weber thought social prestige and power can be independent of economics

Views inequality as keeping equilibrium. How can homelessness be functional? Davis and Moore (1945) argued that stratification benefits society - ensures talented people get important roles. What does this imply?

Though race is not an actual component of class, there is a clear intersection. Research shows that minority groups generally have less wealth and education than other social groups. Minority groups are also much more likely to experience discrimination when buying homes.

Social mobility: movement of people up or down the stratification system. Difficult to achieve upward or intergenerational social mobility. Some indication that we are doing worse than our parents.

The United States is seen as mostly middle-class. Fits with strongly held cultural ideologies: classlessness, meritocracy, work ethic.

Middle-class ideologies linking solely hard work to success tend to promote the reproduction of inequality.

The increase in subprime lending to minority communities led to disproportionate rates of default and foreclosure among those same groups, beginning in 2006. Following this, the real estate bubble burst, and recession set in.

College graduates earn approximately $20,000 more per year, $650,000 more over a 40-year work life, than nongrads. There is also stratification within college graduates: Degrees emphasizing numerical competency higher incomes Finishing high school is still critical

There is little overt support for rigid systems of inequality (in modern societies), but class boundaries hardening.

Despite the overall wealth of resources in the U.S., poverty remains a significant problem. Two types of poverty: absolute poverty (near starvation) relative poverty (no decent standard of living)

14.3% (2009) in poverty 44 million people highest rate among peer nations highest since '94 (U.S.) 19 million in extreme poverty—starvation level.

Wear a uniform (often pay for too) Infrequent breaks/Near constant work Oversight by management Physically/emotionally/mentally taxing No paid vacation or sick days Can be called in to work Must stand all day Loud, hot, hectic environment Work is repetitive, monotonous Little prestige/status/authority

Feminization of poverty" Of female-headed households 29.3% are poor (2009) In contrast, only 5.8% of married households are poor Divorce differentially affects men & women Less than half of fathers contribute any child support

Health care single biggest problem Changes in pension standards Vast differences based on gender/race/marital status Only 3.1% of married white men 37.5% of black women living alone 40.5% of Hispanic women living alone

15 million children lived in poor families 43% lived in "economically insecure" families (loss of two paychecks would equal financial devastation) Numbers are higher for minority children Effects of growing up poor are devastating & long-lasting

a. an the existence of structured inequalities among individuals and groups in a society b. a system in which success is based on who you know c. a system based on the simple fact that some people are lucky and others are unlucky d. a condition that results when people's social mobility is hindered, such as in caste or slavery systems

a. absolute poverty. b. relative poverty. c. downward mobility. d. structural mobility.

a. ans social mobility b. social exclusion c. social structure d. vertical advancement

a. Class is a by-product of the Industrial Revolution. b. ans Modern societies are divided into those who own the means of production and those who sell their labor. c. People with power will always use it to protect their material interests. d. Class is a transitory system of stratification between feudal estates and the classlessness of communist society.

a. increased. b. decreased. c. remained approximately the same. d. become more difficult to measure.

a. Weber argued that income was more important than property in determining class standing in modern society. b. Weber argued that marketable skills were as important as property in determining class standing and that status was as important as class as a dimension of stratification in modern society. c. Weber argued that society was much too complex for anything remotely resembling Marx's historical materialism (his theory of history). d. Weber understood the enduring significance of the middle class.

a. ans caste b. class c. slavery d. clan

Liz Murray's story, which is a very unusual exception, is a good example of intergenerational mobility, the form of social mobility that happens from one generation to another.

b. surplus value. CorrectFEEDBACK: Surplus value is what is left over after the employer has repaid the cost of the hired labor. In this example, it gets a bit more complicated, since the laborers (the proletariat, to use the Marxist term) are also the employers-the bourgeoisie, according to Marx.

a. Boundaries between castes are rigid, while those between classes are not. CorrectFEEDBACK: Class systems are fluid in that they permit movement between different classes; neither a slavery nor a caste system allows this. Class positions are often the result of individual achievement, but caste and slavery systems assign position at birth. Economic factors define class systems, but in both caste and slavery systems, noneconomic factors such as religion affect the process. . Caste systems are built around many noneconomic factors, whereas class systems are predominantly economic, with status and power being of secondary importance. CorrectFEEDBACK: Class systems are fluid in that they permit movement between different classes; neither a slavery nor a caste system allows this. Class positions are often the result of individual achievement, but caste and slavery systems assign position at birth. Economic factors define class systems, but in both caste and slavery systems, noneconomic factors such as religion affect the process. Achievement matters a great deal in a class system, it but does not and cannot matter in either a slavery or a caste system. CorrectFEEDBACK: Class systems are fluid in that they permit movement between different classes; neither a slavery nor a caste system allows this. Class positions are often the result of individual achievement, but caste and slavery systems assign position at birth. Economic factors define class systems, but in both caste and slavery systems, noneconomic factors such as religion affect the process.

d. aspirations are reproduced as a result of the way that parents and children share social location and ties. CorrectFEEDBACK: The complex process of how a child moves from one social class to another is not a simple one. Aspirations are intangible, and parents, teachers, employers, and others play a part in fostering such aspirations. It is these influences that are so often responsible for how a child moves from one class to another.

language ability CorrectFEEDBACK: Cultural capital consists of noneconomic and cultural resources, such as language and better schools, which confer economic advantages to the child. Not all dimensions of cultural capital are obvious. Citizenship, for example, is generally not a choice we make, but it may be a choice if parents make the decision to emigrate from their native home to a different country. Other factors such as being read aloud to can impart both knowledge and linguistic depth. Purely economic factors such as a stock portfolio, job guarantees, or taking over the family business are not strictly cultural. Ethnic background, while often a large factor in social status, is rarely something that can be altered.