Social Stratification

January 27, 2018 | Author: Anonymous | Category: Social Science, Sociology, Globalization
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CHAPTER SIX Social Stratification Harvey Krahn

INTRODUCTION • Will examine:  Types of stratification systems  Explanations of social stratification

 Occupations, social class, and inequality in Canada Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

 Occupational mobility in Canada

 Distribution of wealth in Canada  Material inequality and the poor in Canada* 6-3

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION • Social stratification:  Refers to persistent patterns of social inequality in a society

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 Is perpetuated by the way wealth, power, and prestige are distributed and passed on from one generation to the next  Exists in all societies*

6-4

FEATURES OF SOCIAL HIERARCHIES • Status: Rank or position in a social hierarchy • Statuses may be: Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

i. Ascribed (assigned at birth), or ii. Achieved (earned by performance)*

6-5

TYPES OF STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS 1. Open stratification system:  Stratification system in which merit rather than inheritance (ascribed characteristics) determines social rank  Allows for social change Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Is reflected in a meritocracy:  Positions are achieved, not ascribed  Characterized by equal opportunity and high social mobility (movement up or down a social hierarchy)* 6-6

TYPES OF STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS 2. 

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Closed stratification system Stratification system in which inheritance rather than merit determines social rank Little social change possible

•  

Reflected in a caste system: Positions are ascribed, not achieved Characterized by little social mobility



Although Canada is in principal a meritocracy, ascribed statuses still play an important role*

6-7

CLASS AND CLASS STRUCTURE • Class: Position in an economic hierarchy occupied by individuals or families with similar access to, or control over, material resources (e.g., working class, professional class) • Class structure: Relatively permanent economic hierarchy comprising different social classes Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Socioeconomic status: Person’s general status within an economic hierarchy, based on income, education, and occupation*

6-8

EXPLANATIONS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION • Several theories or explanations of social stratification

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• Accounts offered by Marx, Weber, Davis and Moore, Lenski, Wright, and Parkin  Understandings are mediated by time and place in which social theories developed* 6-9

MARX ON STRATIFICATION •

Writings focus particularly on 19th century European world rapidly being changed by industrial capitalism  Industrial Revolution: Tremendous increase in level of economic production and degree of inequality Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd



Key concepts in Marx’s theory:

 Mode of production: Overall system of economic activity (e.g., slavery, capitalism)…* 6-10

MARX ON STRATIFICATION •

Mode of production comprises:

i.

Means of production: Technology, capital investments, raw materials used in production

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ii. Social relations of production: Relationships between main classes involved in production* 6-11

MARX: SOCIAL CLASSES

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Two major classes within industrial capitalism:

i.

The bourgeoisie: Owners of the means of production

ii.

The proletariat: Workers who exchange their labour for a wages

• 

Secondary class: The petite bourgeoisie: Independent owners/ producers (e.g., farmers) and small business owners* 6-12

MARX: EXPLOITATION • Exploitation of wage labourers was result of surplus value:

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When proceeds from sale of goods produced by wage-labourers far exceed cost of wages, raw materials, etc. Surplus value then turned into profits for owners (i.e., capitalists)* 6-13

MARX: CLASS CONFLICT • Class conflict: Conflict between major classes within a mode of production  Is driving force behind social change  Eventually leads to evolution of new mode of production

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• Envisioned capitalism being replaced with socialist mode of production (i.e., no private property with its attendant exploitation and inequality)*

6-14

MARX: CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS AND REVOLUTION • Theorized workers would develop classconsciousness:

 Recognition by members of a class of their shared interest in opposition to members of another class Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

 Would lead to revolutionary upheaval and eventually classes society based on collective ownership of means of production (e.g., communism)* 6-15

RESPONSES TO MARX •

Criticized for predictions not finding support in:

i.

Later capitalist societies, which were characterized by absence of widespread class conflict, growth of the middle class, and relative decline in material inequality in 20th century Example: Western Europe and North America

 Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

ii.



Later socialist systems of government, which were characterized by persistent inequality, and new hierarchy that controls political and bureaucratic apparatus Example: Russia* 6-16

WEBER ON STRATIFICATION •

Focused on determinants of power: Ability to impose one’s wishes on others

• i. Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

Structural basis of power: Class (power derived from position in economic hierarchy) ii. Status (power derived from culturally and socially defined position that person occupies in a group) iii. Party (political power) •

Power depends on one’s location in these three structures* 6-17

WEBER: SOCIAL CLASS AND LIFE CHANCES • Gave primary emphasis in social stratification to economic underpinnings • Claimed there was larger variety of class positions than found in Marx’s theory Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Emphasized life chances:  Opportunities (or lack thereof) for higher standard of living and a better quality of life that are available to members of a given class*

6-18

DAVIS AND MOORE: FUNCTIONAL THEORY OF STRATIFICATION • Inequality exists in all societies  Must be necessary • All societies have occupational roles that need to be filled, with some roles requiring more training than others (e.g., the more important roles) Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Greater rewards (e.g., money, prestige) necessary to encourage people to undertake extended training and fill these important roles • Social inequality is therefore necessary and inevitable* 6-19

CRITICISMS OF DAVIS AND MOORE

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• Theory does not account for the following:  Huge income and wealth inequalities  Gender differences in income even if same type of work undertaken  Inherited wealth  Arbitrariness of denoting most important roles (e.g., movie stars, nurses, daycare workers) • Criticized as justification for large inequalities*

6-20

LENSKI: TECHNOLOGY AND STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS • Society’s technological base largely determines degree of inequality within it

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• Owners of means of production need to rely on well-educated managerial and technical workers  Reliance gives rise to workers’ demands for greater portion of the growing wealth in industrial society  Employers give in to demands because they cannot produce wealth without these workers • Envisioned movement towards more equal distribution of wealth* 6-21

WRIGHT’S NEO-MARXIST THEORY OF CLASS • Recognized that as industrial capitalism matured, the middle class had grown and become more diverse

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• Emphasized “contradictory class locations”:  An occupational grouping with divided loyalties • Also identified three classes of owners and nine classes of wage labourers* 6-22

ERIC OLIN WRIGHT’S TYPOLOGY OF CLASS LOCATION IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY

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6-23

WRIGHT’S NEO-MARXIST THEORY OF CLASS • Argued exploitation of one class by another can occur through:  Control of property or means of production (as Marx insisted) Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

 Ownership of skill or credential assets, and  Control of high positions within organizations* 6-24

PARKIN’S NEOWEBERIAN APPROACH

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• 

Developed Weber’s concept of social closure: Methods used by more powerful groups to maintain their unequal access to status and resources, and to exclude others from such access

• i.

Two types of closure strategies: Exclusion: Organized effort of the privileged, more powerful groups to maintain their advantaged position (e.g., lawyers, members of trade unions) Usurpation: Effort of excluded groups to gain advantages and power at expense of more powerful groups (e.g., women)*

ii.

6-25

OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL CLASS, AND INEQUALITY IN CANADA • Most prominent occupational shift over 20th century was decline in agricultural occupations • Also decline (albeit less) in other natural resourcebased occupations (e.g., forestry, fishing, mining) Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Increase in white-collar occupations (e.g., managerial, professional, clerical [office jobs], sales, and service categories)  Have come to greatly outnumber blue-collar occupations (e.g., manufacturing, construction, transportation, and resource-based operations)* 6-26

OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL CLASS, AND INEQUALITY IN CANADA • Increase in proportion of occupations requiring higher education

• Rise in average incomes (until early 1980s) Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Occupational shifts suggest:  Greater class diversity, not polarization of classes  Rising standard of living for Canadian workers, not increasing poverty and exploitation*

6-27

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OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPANTS,* CANADA, 1911, 1951, 2006

6-28

OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL CLASS, AND INEQUALITY IN CANADA

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• Gender-based labour market stratification has continued:  Since middle of last century, proportion of women in labour force has risen  But mostly in low-paid, low status “pink-collar” sector (clerical, sales, and service occupations) •   

Large class of paid workers differentiated by: Decision-making authority Income status Occupational power* 6-29

OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL CLASS, AND INEQUALITY IN CANADA • Dramatic decrease in proportion of self-employed Canadians over past century • Increase in unemployment Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Part-time and temporary work more common • Income growth has stopped • Increase in income and wealth inequality* 6-30

OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY AND STATUS ATTAINMENT • Occupational mobility: Moving up and down occupational and income ladders

• Intragenerational occupational mobility: Mobility within an individual’s lifetime Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Intergenerational occupational mobility: Process of reaching occupation location higher or lower than location held by parents • Occupational status attainment: Main determinant of status of a person’s current job is status of first job (dependent on educational attainment)* 6-31

OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY IN CANADA

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Globally, one of highest rates of upward mobility



More upward than downward intergenerational mobility



Relatively open stratification system (especially during 1970s and 1980s)



Yet intergenerational transfer of advantage persists*

6-32

THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN CANADA • Limited number of people continue to own or control very large portion of wealth • Concentration of ownership and wealth inequality continue to increase: Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

 Wealthiest 10% of families holds almost half of all wealth in Canada  CEO’s multimillion dollar compensation packages versus 11% of Canadian families with no net worth* 6-33

INCOME DISTRIBUTION: HIGHPAYING AND LOW-PAYING OCCUPATIONS • Upper middle class: Those with well-paid managerial and professional occupations (e.g., lawyers, dentists)

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• Lower working class: Retail workers and those employed in service occupations (e.g., childcare and home support services) • Gender differences hidden in occupational earning patterns:  Females earn less than males in all occupations but earnings ratio varies considerably by occupation* 6-34

AVERAGE EARNINGS IN SIX OCCUPATIONS MOST COMMONLY HELD BY 15- TO 24-YEAROLDS WITH A UNIVERSITY DEGREE/ DIPLOMA AND WORKING FULL-TIME, FULL YEAR BY SEX, CANADA, 2006

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6-35

INCOME INEQUALITY • Since mid-20th century, little change in distribution of total income across households • But increase in income inequality  Decline in share of total income received by the three middle quintiles Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Immigrants significantly overrepresented among Canada’s working poor despite higher education and training • Since 1990, average family income increased by 1%, versus 40% increase in average family debt* 6-36

THE POOR: DEFINING AND MEASURING POVERTY • Various ways of defining poverty:  Absolute poverty: Those with so little income that survival is difficult

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 Relative poverty: Those with significantly less income than others in their society • Canada’s low-income cut-off (LICO) or poverty line:  Those who spend more than 55% of gross income on basic necessities* 6-37

WHO ARE THE POOR? • Proportion of poor Canadians in 2001: 14.4% • Only minority unemployed or out of labour force • Working poor (those employed in low wage jobs) make up large proportion of the poor Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Aboriginal Canadians among poorest citizens • Poverty rate for single-parent families and seniors (aged 65+) living alone: Both 42% in 2001 • Poverty not a static status: Sizable number move in and out of poverty each year* 6-38

INCIDENCE OF LOW INCOME FOR SELECTED FAMILY UNIT TYPES, CANADA, 1980, 1990, 2004

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6-39

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE POOR • Misconception that level of social assistance provides disincentive to work • Ontario social assistance provides:

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 Income of only 34% of poverty line for single employable adults

 Income of only 56% of poverty line for single parents  Income of only 59% of poverty line for those with disabilities* 6-40

TOTAL WELFARE INCOME ($), AS PERCENTAGE OF (PRETAX) POVERTY LINE AND OF MEDIAN INCOME

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6-41

MATERIAL INEQUALITY IN CANADA: A SUMMARY • Level of material inequality is relatively low compared with many other countries and with a century ago

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•       

But have witnessed increases in: Corporate concentration Wealth inequality Income inequality Number of working poor Unemployment rates (long-term trend) Part-time and temporary employment Inequality in earnings (re: polarization in hours worked)* 6-42

MATERIAL INEQUALITY IN CANADA: A SUMMARY • Reduction in employment opportunities • More competitive economic environment (due to globalization)

• Routine layoffs and downsizing Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

• Replacement of full-time permanent jobs with parttime and temporary positions

• Weakened labour movement • Decrease in state efforts to reduce material inequalities* 6-43

CONSEQUENCES OF MATERIAL INEQUALITY • Position in class structure has effect on belief systems, behaviours, voting patterns, lifestyles, and, most importantly, life chances (e.g., health, longevity, educational attainment, criminality)

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• Increasing inequality may mean more social unrest among the poor  But more opposition today from better-organized, better-funded middle class*

6-44

RESPONDING TO INEQUALITY

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Two views:

1.

Inequality is inevitable and need not be addressed (tends to be espoused by the well-off)

2.

Inequality is unjust and needs to be addressed (tends to be espoused by the poor):

i.

Socialist response: Overthrow capitalism

ii.

Reformist response: Government redistribution of wealth to the poor (e.g., through pensions, minimum-wage legislation, unemployment insurance, etc.)* 6-45

RESPONDING TO INEQUALITY: CANADA’S RESPONSE? • Canada’s “liberal” welfare policies espouse faith in power of free market to produce wealth and improve condition of poor (despite little evidence of success) Copyright © 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd

 Priority today given to deficit-reducing initiatives rather than reduction of material inequality • Responding to inequality effectively will require willingness on part of many to accept less so that others can have more** 6-46

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