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Sociology in Modules Richard T. Schaefer
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Systems of Stratification
Social inequality: situation in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power Stratification: structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society Income: salaries and wages Wealth: inclusive term encompassing all a person’s material assets
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Figure 26-1: The 50 States: Contrasts in Income and Poverty Levels
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Systems of Stratification
Four general systems of stratification—slavery, castes, estates, and social classes—as ideal types useful for purposes of analysis Ascribed status: social position assigned to person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics Achieved status: social position that a person attains largely through his or her own efforts
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Four Forms of Stratification
Slavery: individuals owned by other people, who treat them as property Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits slavery in all forms More people enslaved today than in world history
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Table 26-1: Human Trafficking Report
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Castes Castes: hereditary ranks that are usually religiously dictated and that tend to be fixed and immobile An ascribed status Generally associated with Hinduism in India Varnas
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Estates Estate system, or feudalism: peasants worked land leased to them in exchange for military protection and other services
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Social Classes Class system: social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility Class standing heavily dependent on family and ascribed factors Race, ethnicity
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Social Classes Rossides (1997) uses five-class model to describe U.S. class system: Upper class Upper-middle class Lower-middle class Working class Lower class
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Social Classes Upper and Lower Classes Middle Class
Upper class: 1% to 2% of U.S. Very wealthy Lower class: 20% to 25% of U.S. Lacks wealth and income and politically weak Middle Class Upper-middle class: 10% to 15% of U.S.; includes professionals Lower-middle class: 30% to 35%; includes less affluent professionals
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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
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Social Classes Working Class 40 to 45% of U.S. population
People who hold regular manual or blue-collar jobs Some may have income above those of the lower-middle class
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Social Classes Class Warfare Occupy Wall Street
Political leaders began to speak of class conflict Gulf between rich and everyone else in U.S. grew over last 50 years Rich just as likely as poor to say class conflict exists
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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
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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; own the means of production Proletariat: working class
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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
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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
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Interactionist Perspective
Interactionists interested in importance of social class in shaping a person’s lifestyle Veblen: top of the social hierarchy typically convert part of their wealth into conspicuous consumption—purchasing goods not to survive but to flaunt superior wealth and social standing
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Is Stratification Universal?
All societies maintain some form of social inequality among their members Functionalist Perspective Social inequality necessary so people will be motivated to fill functionally important positions Does not explain the wide disparity between rich and poor
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Is Stratification Universal?
Conflict Perspective Human beings prone to conflict over scarce resources such as wealth, status, and power Stratification major source of societal tension Leads to instability and social change Dominant ideology: set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests
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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 by holders of power and wealth reinforces social inequality
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Table 26-2: Sociological Perspectives on Social Stratification
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Stratification by Social Class
Sociologists generally rely on the objective method to determine a person’s class position Prestige: respect and admiration an occupation holds in society Esteem: reputation a specific person has earned within an occupation
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Objective Method of Measuring Social Class
Researcher, not person being classified, identifies the person’s class position Class largely viewed as a statistical category Occupation Education Income Place of residence
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Objective Method of Measuring Social Class
Gender and Occupational Prestige Past studies of social class tended to neglect 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
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Table 27-1: Prestige Rankings of Occupations
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Income and Wealth Income in U.S. distributed unevenly
Modest redistribution of income past 80 years Redistribution has not always been to the benefit of poor or middle class Past 30 years of tax policies tended to accentuate trend toward income inequality Wealth in U.S. much more unevenly distributed than income White households now have 18 times the median wealth of Latino households and 20 times that of Blacks
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Figure 27.1: Mean Household Income by Quintile
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Figure 27-2: Distribution of Wealth in the United States
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Poverty and Social Mobility
Studying Poverty Absolute poverty: minimum level of subsistence that no family should live below Relative poverty: floating standard by which people at the bottom of a society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison to the nation as a whole
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Studying Poverty Who Are the Poor? Feminization of Poverty
Many poor adults do work outside the home Majority live outside of urban slums Feminization of Poverty Since World War II, increasing proportion of poor in U.S. have been women The Underclass Long-term poor who lack training and skills
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Table 28-1: Who Are the Poor in the United States?
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Explaining Poverty Gans: poverty and the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor groups Society’s dirty work performed at low cost Creates jobs that serve the poor Upholds conventional social norms Guarantees higher status of more affluent Poor absorb costs of social change
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Figure 28-1: Poverty in Selected Countries
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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 Wealth, status: provide additional ways of coping with problems and disappointments
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Social Mobility Social mobility: movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another
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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 Slavery and caste systems
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Types of Social Mobility
Horizontal mobility: movement within same range of prestige Vertical mobility: movement from one position to another of a different rank Intergenerational mobility: changes in children’s position relative to their parents Intragenerational mobility: social position changes within person’s adult life
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Figure 28-2: Intergenerational Income Mobility
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Social Mobility in the United States
Occupational Mobility The Impact of Education The Impact of Race and Ethnicity The Impact of Gender
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Social Policy and Stratification: Minimum Wage Laws
Looking at the Issue Minimum wage not high enough to support workers Contributes to a high poverty rate and a larger underclass Minimum wage shrinks in value over time Federal minimum wage does not apply to many jobs, such as tip-based jobs
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Social Policy and Stratification: Minimum Wage Laws
Applying Sociology Conflict theorists: low-wage workers vulnerable in multiple ways, such as lack of enforcement of minimum wage laws Workers vulnerable to wage theft Interactionists focus on social contact benefits of low-wage workplace Many low-wage workers also report extreme alienation
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Social Policy and Stratification: Minimum Wage Laws
Initiating Policy Difficult for researchers to measure the impact of increases in minimum wage Opponents charge it will cause higher labor costs and reduction in jobs Economists cannot agree on variables to be measured Many advocate for establishment of a living wage, which meets quality of life standards
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Table 28-2: Minimum Wage Rates by State
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Research Today 28-1: Precarious Work
Has the trend toward increasing reliance on precarious work touched your family or friends? Has anyone you know been unemployed longer than six months? Looking forward to your own career, can you think of a strategy for avoiding precarious work, frequent job loss, and long-term unemployment?
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Sociology on Campus 28-2: Social Class and Financial Aid
How important are student loans to you and your friends? Without them, would you be able to cover your college expenses? Aside from a reduction in individual social mobility, what might be the long-term effects of the shortage of need-based financial aid? Relate your answer to the trend toward globalization.
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