Transcript Thio Sociology: A Brief Introduction, 5/e Chapter Three

Chapter Seven
U.S. and Global Stratification
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The Bases of Stratification
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Social Stratification—a system in which some
people get fewer or more rewards than others.
The three most important bases of stratification
are wealth, power, and prestige.
Wealth –Marx divided industrial society into 2
major classes and one minor class:
Bourgeoisie- those who own the means of
production.
Proletariats – the workers
Petite Bourgeoisie- small capitalists
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The Bases of Stratification
Power – Ability to control the behavior of
others, even against their will.
Power Elite – small group of top leaders
from corporations, politics, and military.
 Prestige – is subjective, depending on how
the individual is perceived by others.
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Stratification Systems:
A Global View
Egalitarian System
 Master-Slave System
 The Feudal System
 The Caste System
 The Class System
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Stratification Systems:
A Global View
Egalitarian Societies
o Hunter-Gatherers are most egalitarian.
o Large-scale societies without wealth
accumulating opportunities tend to be more
egalitarian than capitalists societies.
Master-Slave
o Some people are held in servitude as
someone else’s property.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
Stratification Systems:
A Global View
Feudal System –Stratified into 2 groups:
Serfs - those who worked the land
Landlords – those who appropriated some of
the produce and labor of the workers.
Caste System –A rigid system in which
positions are ascribed and fixed.
Indian caste system is most prominent
example.
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Stratification Systems:
A Global View
Class System – relatively open stratification
system in which people’s positions are
achieved and changeable.
Kuznets Curve
 Curvilinear , inverted –U relationship between
development and equality.
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Types of Social Stratification
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New Approaches to Stratification
Only recently have Sociologists begun to take
into account feminist and multicultural thinking
when investigating social stratification.
Feminist Perspective – To feminists, gender
inequality should be considered a key part of a
society’s social stratification.
Social Diversity – Race and ethnicity are
important to consider when analyzing
stratification in a multicultural society.
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The U.S. Class Structure
Social Class – category of people with the
same amount of income, power, and prestige.
How do we know who is in which class?
• Reputational model—asking people to rank
others.
• Subjective model—asking people to rank
themselves.
• Objective method—identifying classes
through analysis of income, occupation,
and education .
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The U.S. Class Structure
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
Sociological Frontier:
How Social Classes Have Changed
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It is harder today than 30 years ago for Americans
to move from a lower to a higher social class.
Most Americans think that their own standard of
living is better than their parents’ and expect their
children to do even better.
Why can’t they see the increased inequality?
One reason could be the spreading of material
comfort
Class still influences the lives of Americans in
many ways.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
Poverty in the U.S.
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Strong political debate over how poverty is
defined and assessed
The relative definition of poverty says that
those who earn less than half of the nation’s
median income are poor
By the time they are 75 years old, 70% of
all Americans will have experienced a year
of poverty
Feminization of poverty refers to a huge
number of women living in poverty as single
mothers or head of households.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
Explanations of Poverty
Blame-the-Poor Theories
Poor are believed to have failed to grab
opportunities by not working hard.
Oscar Lewis used “culture of poverty” to
explain how the poor had debilitating values
and attitudes that are passed from generation
to generation.
There are holes in these theories since poor
people are not necessarily averse to working.
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Explanations of Poverty
Sociological Theories
Poverty is assumed to perform positive
functions for society:
Poverty makes it possible for society’s dirty work to
be done
 By working as maids and servants, poor people
make it easier for affluent to pursue professional
careers.
 Poverty creates jobs for social workers and other
professionals who serve the poor.

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Social Mobility in the U.S.
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Social Mobility –
movement from one
social standing to
another.
Structural mobility—
people can move up or
down the social ladder
depending on changes in
society (e.g. declining
manufacturing base,
globalization,
immigration).
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Individual mobility—
social mobility
dependent on a
person’s personal
achievement. Race,
gender, access to
education, and
individual opportunities
play a part.
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Global Stratification
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In the social system called global stratification
some nations are in higher or lower classes.
The consequences are poverty, inequality, child
exploitation, and slavery.
The disparity between rich and poor countries is
extreme.
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Dependency Theory
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Dependency Theory—rich nations exploit poor
ones for power and commercial gain.
A legacy of colonialism
Western banks don’t lend enough money and
when they do it’s on bad terms.
Poor countries contribute to the problem
themselves through corruption.
Theory fails to explain economic boom in East
Asian countries.
Copyright © Allyn and Bacon 2009
Today’s Controversy: Is it Really
Easy to End World Poverty?
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Economist Jeffrey Sachs claims that 1.1 billion
people in the world are extremely poor,
struggling to survive with an income of less than
$1 a day.
Says this extreme poverty can be eradicated
through “the Big Five development interventions”
Argues that extreme poverty can end if these
strategies were followed.
Critics, however, don’t think it is this easy to end
global poverty.
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Theoretical Thumbnail: What
Stratification Does to Society
Perspective
Focus
Insights
Functionalist
How
stratification
benefits
society
The more rewarding a position is, the more
motivated people are to work hard to acquire the
education and skill it requires.
Conflict
How
stratification
harms society
Stratification limits opportunities for the
underprivileged, preserves injustices, and
provokes unrest.
Symbolic
interactionist
How
stratification
influences
interactions
In their interactions, higher-status people show
off power while lower-status ones appear polite
or respectful.
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Chapter Review
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What are the bases of stratification?
How equal is the distribution of wealth in the
U.S?
How does social stratification vary from one
society to another?
What is poverty?
What is global inequality?
Why do functionalists think that social
stratification is useful to society?
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