Transcript Chapters 8, 9, & 10

Chapters 8, 9, & 10
Stratification
Social Inequality
• Members of a society have different
amounts of wealth, power, and prestige.
– Some degree of inequality in every society
Social Stratification
• System by which society ranks categories
of people in a hierarchy
– Stratification is a trait of society, not simply a
reflection of individual differences.
– Stratification persists over generations.
– Stratification is universal but variable.
– Stratification involves not just inequality but
beliefs.
Social mobility
• Change in one’s position in the hierarchy
• Vertical mobility – up or down in the hierarchy
• Horizontal mobility – lateral movement
• Intergenerational mobility – changes in the
social position of children relative to their
parents.
• Intragenerational mobility – changes within a
person’s adult life
Systems
• Open systems – permit some social
mobility
• Closed systems – allow for very little
change in social position
Karl Marx
• Stratification gives some people
advantages over others.
– Classes defined by relationship to the means
of production
– Bourgeoisie – people who own factories and
other productive businesses
– Proletariat – sell their productive labor to the
capitalists
• Alienation – experience of isolation and
misery resulting from powerlessness
Max Weber
• 3 components of stratification
1. Class – similar level of wealth and
income
2. Status – people who rank the same in
prestige and lifestyle
3. Power – ability to exercise one’s will over
others
• Position in stratification reflects a
combination of all 3.
Social Classes in the U.S.
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Upper class
Upper-uppers – less than 1% of the population
Lower-uppers – “working rich” – rely on earnings rather
than inherited wealth – 3 to 4% of population
Middle class – 40 to 45% of pop.
Upper middles - $80-100K
Average-middles - $40-60K – less prestigious white or
highly skilled blue
Working class - $20-40K – blue collar jobs, 1/3 of pop.
Lower class – lives unstable and insecure, 20% of
pop.
Poverty
• Relative poverty – deprivation of some
people relative to those who have more
• Absolute poverty – deprivation of
resources that is life-threatening
Who are the poor?
• Stereotype – unmotivated individuals who
are unwilling to work
• Reality
– 40% are children
– Of poor adults, roughly 60% are not able to
work due to illness, disability, age, or
homemaker status
– 2/3 are women, many which are in transition
due to departure, disability, or death of spouse
A New Look at Poverty in America
• Whites are the most numerous welfare
recipients
• Roughly 3 times as much federal money is
spent on Social Security and Medicare as
is spent on welfare
• 90% of people classified as poor move out
of poverty within 5 years
• Over half live in suburbs and rural areas
Global Inequality
• High-income countries – rich,
industrialized nations
• Middle-income countries – some
industrialization but primarily agriculture
• Low-income countries – primarily agrarian
with little industry
Modernization Theory
•
Model of economic and social development
that explains global inequality in terms of
technological and cultural differences among
nations.
-Technology raises standard of living
-Tradition greatest barrier to economic development
1. Rich nations play important roles in economic
development.
2. Helping control population
3. Increasing food production
4. Providing foreign aid
Dependency Theory
• Model of economic and social
development that explains global
inequality in terms of the historical
exploitation of poor societies by rich ones
– Economic success of rich societies achieved
at the expense of poor ones
Gender Stratification
• Unequal distribution of wealth, power, and
privilege between men and women.
• Patriarchy – a form of social organization
in which males dominate females
• Matriarchy – a form of social organization
in which females dominate males
• Sexism – belief that one sex is innately
superior to the other
Gender and Socialization
• Gender roles – attitudes and activities that
society links to each sex
• Family
• Peer groups
• Schooling
Second shift
• Entry in labor force has not substantially
reduced involvement in housework
Violence against women
• Domestic violence
• Rape
• Sexual harassment – comments, gestures,
or physical contact of a sexual nature that
are deliberate, repeated, and unwelcome
Feminism
• Advocacy of social equality for men and
women, in opposition to patriarchy and
sexism
• Basic feminist ideas
– Importance of change
– Expanding human choice
– Eliminating gender stratification
– Ending sexual violence
– Promoting sexual freedom