1. Chapter 9: Stratification and Social Mobility in the US

2. Stratification and Social Mobility in the US  Stratification: structured ranking in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, and power Social Inequality : Condition in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, and power

3. Systems of Stratification  Ascribed Status  Achieved Status  Income and Wealth

4. Systems of Stratification  Slavery: Individuals are owned by other people, who treat them as property  Caste System : Hereditary ranks usually religiously dictated and tend to be fixed and immobile  Feudalism : peasants worked in exchange for land and military protection and other services  Open and Closed Systems

5. The U.S. Class System  Class system: Social ranking based primarily on economic positions in which achieved characteristics can influence mobility  Upper Class  Upper-Middle Class  Lower-Middle Class  Working Class  Lower Class

6. The US Class System  The Shrinking Middle Class  Disappearing opportunities for the uneducated  Outsourcing  Growing dependence on a temporary workforce and part-time positions to reduce costs  Decline in union membership  TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_hanauer_beware_fellow_plutocrats_the_pi tchforks_are_coming?language=en https://www.ted.com/talks/nick_hanauer_beware_fellow_plutocrats_the_pi tchforks_are_coming?language=en

7. Functionalist View of Stratification  Stratification keeps people motivated and rewards innovators in society  Stratification fills the roles that need to be filled in Society

8. Conflict View of Stratification  Social relations depend on who owns the primary modes of production  CapitalismClass Consciousness  BourgeoisieFalse Consciousness  Proletariat

9. Interactionist View of Social Stratification  No single characteristic totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system Max Weber  Class  Status  Power  Jon Stewert  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/06/jon-stewart-chris- christie_n_6628364.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/06/jon-stewart-chris- christie_n_6628364.html

10. Interactionist View  Conspicuous Consumption Conspicuous Leisure Stigma is placed on behavior typical of the lower class also often criminalized

11. Is Stratification Universal?  Inequality exists in all societies  Stratification is a major source of societal tension  Leads to instability and social change  Dominant Ideology: set if cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests  Lenski’s View- as society advances technologically, it becomes capable of producing a surplus of goods

12. Who are the Poor? Poverty and the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor groups  Feminization of Poverty  The Working Poor  The Underclass  Weber: class is closely related to people’s life chances

13. Who are the poor?