Chapter 9 Concepts and Theories of Stratification Key Terms

 Means of production Everything, except human labor, that is used to produce wealth.  Bourgeoisie Marx’s name for the class made up of those who own the means of production; the employer or owner class.

 Proletariat The name that Marx applied to the class made up of those who do not own the means of production; the employee or working class.  Lumpenproletariat Literally, the “ragamuffin proletariat”; the people on the very bottom of society, whom Marx labeled “social scum.”

 Class consciousness The concept Marx used to identify the awareness of members of a class of their class interests and enemies.  False consciousness A term that Marx applied to members of one class who think they have common interests with members of another class.

 Property The term many sociologists use to identify what Weber called class. Property includes all economic resources and opportunities owned or controlled by an individual or a group.  Prestige Social honor or respect; synonymous with Weber’s term status.

 Power The ability to get one’s way despite the opposition of others.  Status inconsistency A condition in which a person holds a higher position (or status) on one dimension of stratification than on another. For example, an uneducated millionaire displays status inconsistency.

 Status inconsistency theories Theories built on the proposition that persons who experience status inconsistency will be frustrated and will therefore support political movements aimed at changing the stratification system.  Structural mobility Mobility that occurs because of changes in the relative distribution of upper and lower statuses in a society.

 Exchange mobility Mobility that occurs because some people fall, thereby making room for others to rise in the stratification system.  Cultural capital Assets based on knowledge, style, speech, tastes, and the like, which can be used to “purchase” privileges and power.

 Utopian One who tries to design a perfect society.  Anarchists Followers of a political philosophy that regards the state as inevitably repressive and unjust and who therefore propose to destroy the state and live without laws or government.

 Functionalist theory of stratification A theory that holds that inequality is built into the roles of any society because some roles are more important and harder to fill, and to ensure that the most qualified people will seek to fill the most important positions, it is necessary to reward these positions more highly than others.

 Replaceability A measure of the functional importance of a role based on the extent to which other roles can substitute for or take on the duties of that particular role. For example, a doctor can easily substitute for an orderly, but the reverse is not so.

 Evolutionary theory of stratification A theory that holds that because culture accumulates in human societies, eventually it happens that no one can master the whole of a group’s culture. At that point cultural specialization, or a division of labor, occurs. Since some specialties will be more valued than others, inequality, or stratification, will exist.

 Conflict theory of stratification A theory that holds that individuals and groups will always exploit their positions in an effort to gain a larger share of the rewards in a society, and therefore societies will often be much more stratified than functionalism can explain. Put another way, this theory holds that the stratification system of any society is the result of conflicts and compromises between contending groups.

 Exploitation All profit in an exchange in excess of the minimum amount needed to cause an exchange to occur.  Professions Occupational organizations that can prevent their functions from being performed by those not certified as adequately trained and qualified in an extensive body of knowledge and technique.

 Unions Occupational organizations that can prevent their functions from being performed by others on the basis of contractual rights.