Social Inequality Chapters 1-4 – Flashcards
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Social Inequality
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The condition whereby people have unequal assess to valued resources, services, and positions in society
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Social Stratification
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Social ranking, system of social relationships that determines who gets what and why- social inequality becomes institutionalized
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Karl Marx
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Conflict theorist: -1818-1883 (Lived during French Revolution -Means of production leads to understanding of social order -Feudalism to a class system -Two classes: Bourgeoise (owners) and Proletariat (working class, non-owners) -"History of class struggles" -Everything is tied to production -Too simplistic- all economy based -Class conflict affects social change -Internal homogeneity within groups -Feudalism, Capitalism, and Communism -Capitalist system unstable
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Superstructure
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The cultural or ideological aspect of society: -Dominant political institutions and ideology of a society -Government, culture, institutions -Means of how the ruling class controls a society
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Substructure
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The base: -Means and relations of production -Technology, economy -Changes in this affect superstructure
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Class Consciousness
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Members share an identity and grievances, unite to affect social change that would reflect their interests, preconditions to develop it: -Growing class order -Geographic concentration of members of the working class -Living conditions of members of the working class -Increased participation on political organizations like unions
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Bourgeoise
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Owners, controllers of production and thus power
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Proletariat
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Workers
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Max Weber
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Another conflict theorist: -1864-1920 (about 25 years behind Marx) -IMPORTANT: Multidimensional view of stratification, analysis of bureaucracy -Life chances -More than 2 social classes: Highly differentiated groups of people -Social class is a group of people who share the same life chances -Class and status not the same thing
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Bureaucracy
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Nonelected, administrative policy making authorities
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Life chances
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Fundamental aspects of an individual's future possibilities that are shaped by class membership
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Status
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Weber, Ranking by social prestige, this is SUBJECTIVE and in people's minds, who is "better" than others
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Class
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Weber, OBJECTIVE economic fact
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Status Groups
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Tend to view themselves as a social community due to their similar lifestyles, restrictive to keep advantages to themselves in society
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Power
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Weber, the ability to influence others (even against their will), bureaucracy is key to keeping power, separate from prestige and class
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Three Broad Issues, Ten Variables
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Weber/Marx 1. Economic- "class", occupation, wealth, income, poverty 2. Social- "status", prestige, association, socialization, social mobility 3. Political- "power", power, class consciousness
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Social Class
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Groups of families, more or less equal in rank and differentiated from other families above and below them with regard to characteristics such as occupation, income, wealth, and prestige- Gilbert
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Gilbert-Kahl Model
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Teardrop- Underclass, Working Poor, Working Class, Middle Class, Upper-Middle Class, Capitalist Class -Strictly economic
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Blue vs. White Collar
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Manual vs. nonmanual
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W. Lloyod Warner
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Yankee City study, old money vs. new money, upper upper, lower-upper, upper-middle, lower-middle, upper-lower, lower-lower classes (most were upper-lower)
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Coleman and Rainwater
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-Boston and Kansas City -900 interviews -Social Standing in America -Old Money vs. New Money -7 classes
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Prestige of Occupation
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-On NORC Scale -High, middle, and low -0-100
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Davis, Gardner, and Gardner
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-Deep South -Number of classes, perception and distance (more distinctions when closer to self), coincidence of cleavages, basis of class distinctions
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Gilbert's 7 Principles
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1. People perceive rank order 2. Greater agreement about the extremes than about the middle of the prestige range 3. Agreement about top and more distinctions made about top than bottom 4. People lump groups farthest from them 5. People in middle class or bottom look at finances more 6. Top conscious of prestige based on lineage and style of life 7. Mobility is source of ambiguity in perception of prestige order
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Social Register
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1887, 881 elite families of New York
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Alba Edwards
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-U.S. Census Bureau official -Socioeconomic hierarchy of earnings, education, and prestige -Always ranked white collar above blue collar -Lump diverse occupations into broad categories
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Growing wage inequality
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1. Economic restructuring 2. Globalization- we victimize weak countries 3. Technological Change 4. Weakened Wage-Setting Institutions 5. Deregulation
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The Parade
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-Many poor, few rich -Living standards -Jobs -Sources of income -Occupation -Women's Shifting Role -Minorities -Income and the class structure
