global stratification and social class – Flashcards
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social stratification
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the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative power, property, prestige; applies to both nations and to people within a nation, society, or other group
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slavery
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a form of social stratification in which some people own other people
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bonded labor
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aka indentured service; a contractual system on which someone sells his or her body for a specified period of time in an arrangement very close to slavery, except that it is voluntarily entered into
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ideology
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beliefs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements
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caste system
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a form of social stratification in which ones status is determined by birth and is lifelong
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endogamy
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the practice of marrying within ones own group
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apartheid
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the separation of racial-ethnic groups as was practiced in South Africa
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estate stratification system
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the stratification system of medieval Europe, consisting of three groups or estates: the nobility, clergy, and commoners
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class system
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a form of social stratification based primarily on the possession of money or material possessions
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social mobility
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movement up or down the social class ladder
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means of production
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the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth
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bourgeoisie
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Marx's term for capitalists, those who own the means of production
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proletariat
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Marx's term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production
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class consciousness
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Marx's term for awareness of a common identity based on ones position in the means of production
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false class consciousness
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Marx's term to refer to workers identifying with the interests of capitalists
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meritocracy
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a form or social stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit
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divine right of kings
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the idea that the kings authority comes directly from God
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colonialism
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the process by which one nation takes over another nations, usually for the purpose of exploiting its labor and natural resources
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world system theory
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economic and political connections that tie the worlds countries together
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globalization of capitalism
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capitalism becoming the globes dominant economic system
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culture of poverty
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the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor are different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children
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neocolonialism
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the economic and political dominance of the Least Industrialized Nations by the Most Industrialized Nations
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multinational corporations
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companies that operate across national boundaries; also called transnational corporations
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social class
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according to Weber, a large group of people who rank close to one another in property, prestige, and power; according to Marx, one of two groups: capitalists who own the means of production or workers who sell their labor
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property
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material possessions
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wealth
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the total value of everything someone owns, minus the debts
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income
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money received, usually from a job, business, or assets
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power
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the ability to carry out your will, even over the resistance to others
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power elite
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C. Wright Mills term for the top people in U.S. corporations, military, and politics who make the nations major decisions
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prestige
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respect or regard
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status consistency
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ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class
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status inconsistency
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ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others, also called status discrepancy
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status
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the position that someone occupies in society or a social group
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anomie
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Durkheims term for a condition in which people become detached from the norms that usually guide their behavior
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contradictory class locations
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Erik Wright's term for a position in the class structure that generates contradictory interests
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underclass
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a group of people for whom poverty persists year after year and across generations
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intergenerational mobility
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the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next
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upward social mobility
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movement up the social class ladder
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downward social mobility
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movement down the social class ladder
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structural mobility
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movement up or down the social class ladder because of changes in the structure of society, not to individual efforts
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exchange mobility
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about the same numbers of people moving up and down the social class ladder, such that, on balance, the social class system shows little change
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poverty line
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the official measure of poverty; calculated to include incomes that are less than three times a low-cost food budget
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the feminization of poverty
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a trend in the U.S. poverty whereby most poor families are headed by women
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deferred gratification
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forgoing something in the present in the hope of achieving greater gains in the future
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Horatio Alger myth
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the belief that due to limitless possibilities anyone can get ahead if he or she tries hard enough
