Transcript Slide 1 - Bakersfield College

Chapter 7
Global Stratification
Systems of Social Stratification Slavery
• Causes
• Conditions
– Temporary
– Not Necessarily: Inheritable, Powerless, Poor
• Bonded Labor in the New World
• Slavery in the New World
• Slavery Today
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Module 26
Systems of Stratification
█
Social inequality: Situation where
members of society have different
amounts of wealth, prestige, or power
– Ascribed status: social position assigned to
person by society without regard for the
person’s unique talents or characteristics
– Achieved status: social position
that person attains largely
through his or her own efforts
Module 26
Four Forms of Stratification
█
Slavery: Individuals owned by other
people, who treat them as property
Castes: Hereditary ranks that
are usually religiously dictated
and tend to be fixed and immobile
█ Estates (feudalism): Peasants worked
land leased to them in exchange for
military protection and other services
█ Social Classes
█
Module 28
Life Chances
█
Max Weber saw class closely
related to people’s life chances
– Life chances: Opportunities to
provide material goods, positive living
conditions, and favorable life experience
Digital divide: Poor, minorities,
and those in rural communities not getting
connected at home or work
Module 28
Social Mobility
█
Social mobility: Movement of individuals
or groups from one position in a
society’s stratification system to another
Module 28
Types of Social Mobility
█
█
█
Horizontal mobility: Movement
within same range of prestige
Vertical mobility: Movement from one
position to another of a different rank
Intragenerational mobility: Social
position changes within person’s adult life
Module 28
Open Versus Closed
Stratification Systems
█
█
Open system: Position of
each individual influenced
by the person’s achieved status
Closed system: Allows little
or no possibility of moving up
Module 28
Social Mobility
in the United States
█
█
█
█
Occupational Mobility
The Impact
of Education
The Impact
of Race and Ethnicity
The Impact
of Gender
Caste System
• Status is determined at birth based on
parents’ ascribed characteristics.
• Cultural values sustain caste systems and
caste systems grow weaker as societies
industrialize.
• Vestiges of caste systems can remain for
hundreds of years after they are “officially”
abolished.
India’s Former Caste System
• Brahman (bra men) were at the top of
the social structure who ruled with
divine guidance.
• Kshatriyas (kshat rēs) were second
and formed the military aristocracy.
• Vaisyas (vīs yăs) were third as
craftsmen and merchants.
India’s Former Caste System
• Sudras (soo drăs) were forth and
were the servants to the Brahman.
• Untouchables were a final layer that
was not even considered to be a part
of the caste systems.
Module 26
Social Classes
█
█
Class system: Social ranking based
primarily on economic position
in which achieved characteristics
can influence social mobility
Rossides (1997) uses five-class
model to describe U.S. class system:
– Upper class
– Upper-middle class
– Lower-middle class
– Working class
– Lower class
Module 26
Social Classes
█
Factors contributing to
shrinking size of middle class
– Disappearing opportunities for
those with little education
– Global competition and
advances in technology
– Growing dependence on
temporary workforce
– Rise of new growth industries
and nonunion workplaces
Module 26
Sociological Perspectives
on Stratification
█
Sociologists hotly debate
stratification and social inequality
and reach varying conclusions
No theorist stressed
significance of class for society
more strongly than Karl Marx
Module 26
Karl Marx’s View of
Class Differentiation
█
Social relations depend on who
controls the primary mode of production
– Capitalism: Means of production held largely
in private hands and main incentive for
economic activity is accumulation of profits
– Bourgeoisie: Capitalist class; owns the
means of production
– Proletariat: Working class
Module 26
Karl Marx’s View of
Class Differentiation
█
█
Class consciousness: Subjective
awareness of common vested interests
and the need for collective political action
to bring about change
False consciousness: Attitude held by
members of class that does not accurately
reflect their objective position
Module 26
Max Weber’s View
of Stratification
█
No single characteristic totally
defines a person’s position
within the stratification system
– Class: Group of people who have
similar level of wealth and income
– Status group: People who
have the same prestige or lifestyle
– Power: Ability to exercise
one’s will over others
Module 26
Is Stratification Universal?
█
Functionalist view: Social inequality
necessary so people will be motivated
to fill functionally important positions
Does not explain the wide disparity
between the rich and the poor
Module 26
Davis and Moore
█
█
█
Society has some positions that are
functionally more important than others
These positions require a greater degree
of effort and ability to fill them
Society must attach sufficient rewards to
these positions so enough people will
seek to occupy them.
Module 26
Is Stratification Universal?
█
Conflict view: Human beings prone to
conflict over scarce resources such as
wealth, status, and power
– Stratification is a major source of societal
tension
– Leads to instability and social change
Module 26
Is Stratification Universal?
█
Lenski’s viewpoint: As a society
advances technologically, it becomes
capable of producing surplus of goods
– Emergence of surplus resources
expands possibilities for inequality
– Allocation of surplus goods and
services reinforces social inequality
Classless Societies: The Former
Soviet Union
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
– Boasted of being a classless society
– Actually stratified into four unequal categories
• High government officials
• Soviet intelligentsia and lower government officialscollege professors, scientists, physicians, and
engineers
• Manual workers
• Rural peasantry–lowest level
Module 17
Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution
Approach
█
Preindustrial Societies
– Hunting-and-gathering society:
People rely on whatever foods and fibers are
readily available; there is no surplus
– Horticultural societies:
People plant seeds and crops; minimal
surplus allows for some stratification
– Agrarian societies: People are primarily
engaged in production of food; significant
surplus allows for feudalism
Module 17
Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution
Approach
█
Industrial societies: societies
that depend on mechanization to
produce its goods and services
– People depend on mechanization to produce
goods and services
– People rely on inventions and energy sources
– People change function of family as a selfsufficient unit
Module 17
Lenski’s Sociocultural Evolution
Approach
█
Postindustrial and Postmodern Societies
– Postindustrial society:
Economic system engaged
primarily in processing and
controlling information
– Postmodern society:
Technologically sophisticated
society preoccupied with
consumer goods and media
images
Figure 8.2 (p. 222)
Social Stratification
and Technological
Development: The
Kuznets Curve
The Kuznets curve shows
that greater technological
sophistication generally is
accompanied by more
pronounced social
stratification. The trend
reverses itself as industrial
societies relax rigid, caste
like distinctions in favor of
greater opportunity and
equality under the law.
Political rights are more
widely extended, and there is
even some leveling of
economic differences.
However, the emergence of
postindustrial society has
brought an upturn in
economic inequality, as
indicated by the broken line
added by the author.
Source: Created by the author, based on
Kuznets (1955) and Lenski (1966).
Module 26
Table 26-1: Sociological
Perspectives on Social Stratification
Module 27
Stratification by Social Class
█
Objective Method: Class largely viewed
as a statistical category
•
•
•
•
Education
Occupation
Income
Place of
residence
Prestige: Respect and
admiration an occupation
holds in society
Esteem: Reputation a
specific person has
earned within
an occupation
Module 27
Measuring Social Class
█
Gender and Occupational Prestige
– Studies of social class tended to
neglect the occupations and incomes of
women as determinants of social rank
█
Multiple Measures
– Socioeconomic status (SES):
Measure of social class based
on income, education, and occupation
Module 27
Table 27-1: Prestige Rankings of Occupations