Inequality & Stratification Sociology 1301: Introduction to Sociology

Inequality & Stratification Plato: Every culture considers some type of inequality just. Social Inequality: uneven access to resources. Stratification: structured social inequality Four Principles: Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences Social Stratification carries over from generation to generation Social stratification is universal but variable - found everywhere yet what is unequal and how unequal it is varies from one society to another Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well

Equality 5 Types of Equality Social Equality Ontological Equality Equality of Opportunity Equality of Condition Equality of Outcome

Types of Social Stratification Estate System (politically based) Caste System (religion based) Class System (family & economic based) Status Hierarchy System (prestige based) Elite-Mass Dichotomy System (governing elite) Meritocracy (personal merit)

Capital Economic Capital (money) Social Capital (relationships) Cultural Capital (knowledge) Human Capital (personal qualities)

Conflict Theory This is the macro level theory that inequality exists as a result of political struggles among different groups in a particular society.

Privilege & Oppression Privilege: unearned access to resources (social power) only readily available to some people as a result of their advantaged social group membership. Oppression: the grouping of discrimination, personal bias, bigotry, and social prejudice in a complex web of relationships and structures that shape most aspects of life in our society.

American Social Compact Every society and culture posses a Social Compact, which is a combination of implicit and explicit sets of obligations of members of that society toward one another. The American Social Compact – has been slowly falling apart Provision #1: As companies in the private sector do better, workers should as well. Provision #2: Social Insurance through which Americans pooled their resources against the risk that any one of us - through illness or bad luck - might become impoverished. Provision #3: Promotion of good education. Why & how has the American Social Compact fallen apart?

Theories of Inequality Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Inequality is bad Adam Ferguson & John Millar: Inequality is good Davis-Moore: Social stratification is beneficial Thomas Robert Malthus: Inequality is necessary to survival George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Inequality brings us together and will ultimately go away

Social Mobility Social Mobility: A change in position within the social hierarchy Status Consistency: The degree of uniformity in a person’s social standing across various dimensions of social inequality Systems of Social Mobility: Closed Systems: little change in social position Ex: Caste System Open Systems: Permit much more social mobility Ex: Meritocracy

Social Justice vs. Diversity Diversity: the state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness. Social Justice: the process of examining the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society and the goal of equality. What does this have to do with Sociology?

Works Cited Conley, D. (2008). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Henslin, J. M. (2008). Sociology: A down-to-earth approach (9th Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Macionis, J. J. (2010). SOC100: Sociology: 2011 custom edition (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Custom Publishing. Massey, G. (Ed.) (2006). Readings for sociology (5th Ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.