Social Class Unit
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Social Class
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a large group of people who rank closely to one another in property, prestige, and power
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Property
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material possessions
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Wealth
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total value of everything someone owns (net worth)
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Income
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money received from job, business, or assets
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Power Elite
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top people who make nation's major decisions
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Prestige
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respect or regard
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Power
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the ability to carry out your will, even at the resistance of others
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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 both high and low on different dimensions of social class
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Status
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the position that someone occupies in society or a social group
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Underclass
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a group of people for whom poverty persists year after year and thru generations, 4% population
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Upper Middle Class
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15% population
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Lower Middle Class
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34% population
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Working Class
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30% population
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Working Poor
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16% population
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Social Mobility
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movement up or down the social class ladder
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intergenerational mobility
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the change in social class w/in a family from one generation to the next
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downward social mobility
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move down in social ladder
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upward social mobility
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move up in social ladder
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exchange mobility
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same numbers of people move up and down social class ladder, so the social class system shows little change
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Globalization of Capitalism
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capitalism becoming the globe's dominant economic system
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endogamy
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marriage within one's own group or class
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Horatio Alger Myth
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the belief that anyone can get ahead if he/she tries hard enough due to limitless opportunities
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Poverty Line
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the official measure of poverty, calculated to include incomes that are less than 3x a low-cost food budget
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Meritocracy
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a form of social stratification where all positions are awarded on the basis of merit
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Social Stratification
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the division of a large number of people into layers according to their relative property, power, and prestige
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Sructural Mobility
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movement up/down social ladder b/c of changes in structure of society (not b/c of an individual's efforts)
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World Systems Theory
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economic and political connections tie the world's countries together
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Means of Production
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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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Caste System
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people are born into a social status and cannot leave it
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Class Consciousness
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Marx's term for awareness of a common identity based on one's position in 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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K. Davis and W. Moore
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developed functionalist view of social stratification
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W. Domhoff
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\"power elite\" is so powerful that no major US Gov't decision is made w/out their approval
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J.K. Galbraith
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culture of poverty theory - poverty lasts thru generations
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D. Gilbert and Joseph Kahl
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social class model w/ six social classes: Capitalist, upper middle, lower middle, working poor, underclass
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Ray Gold
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janitor study of status inconsistency
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Karl Marx
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tied social class to the means of production, capitalists vs. workers
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Max Weber
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linked social class to property, prestige, and power
