Structured Status Inequality SOCIETY CULTURE Social relations are to culture what institutional structure is to society Civilization == 10,000 years old Mostly in the Nile Region Succession of Dominant and Subdominant Societies {Cultural Change Theory == Discovery, Invention, Diffusion} Kushites (HOE) We are mix of English and American US Military Might VS Historical and Cultural Progress INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE SOCIAL INTERACTION

THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIETY AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY SOCIETY IS A “HIERARCHY” OF GROUPS. INDIVIDUALS ARE POSITIONED AT VARIOUS LEVELS IN THE HIERARCHY – THAT IS, “SOCIAL STRATIFIED” – DEPENDING ON THERE MEMBERSIP IN GROUPS. BECAUSE SOCIETY IS HIERARCHICAL IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY DIFFERENTIAL POWER AND STATUS. BECAUSE GROUPS HAVE DIFFERENTIAL POWER AND STATUS THEY ARE SOCIALLY UNEQUAL (THAT IS, THEY STAND IN INEQUITABLE RELATIONS TO SOCIETY’S RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES). BECAUSE SOCIETAL GROUP RELATIONS ARE UNEQUAL – THAT IS, CHARACTERIZED BY “STRUCTURED SOCIAL INEQUALITY” – SOCIOLOGISTS EXAMINE SOCIETY AS A STUDY IN STRUCTURED PATTERNS OF DOMINANT AND SUBDOMINANT INTERACTION.