Stratification - Lone Star College System

Richard T. Schaefer

Sociology Matters Fourth Edition

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 2

Stratification in the United States and Global Inequality █ █ █ █

Understanding Stratification Stratification by Social Class Social Mobility The Global Divide

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 3

Stratification and Social Mobility in the United States █

Social inequality: condition 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: encompasses all of a person’s material assets © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 4

Systems of Stratification █

█

Ascribed status: social position “assigned” to a person by society without regard for that person’s unique talents or characteristics Achieved status: social position attained by a person largely through his or her own efforts

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 5

Systems of Stratification █

Slavery: individuals owned by other people who treat them as property

Castes: hereditary ranks usually religiously dictated and tend to be fixed and immobile █ Estate system (feudalism): required peasants to work land leased to them in exchange for military protection and other services █

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 6

Social Classes Class system: social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility █ Rossides (1997) uses five-class model to describe U.S. class system: █

– Upper class – Upper-middle class – Lower-middle class

– Working class – Lower class

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 7

Sociological Perspectives on Stratification █

Sociologists have debated stratification and social inequality and reached varying conclusions Marx: plight of working class made him feel it was imperative to strive for changes in social class structure

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 8

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; owns the means of production – Proletariat: working class © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 9

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 © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 10

Max Weber’s View of Stratification █

No single characteristic totally defines 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 © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 11

Interactionist View of Stratification █

Interactionists interested in importance of social class in shaping person’s lifestyle Veblen: those at top of social hierarchy typically convert pat of wealth into conspicuous consumption or leisure

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 12

Is Stratification Universal? █

Functionalist view: social inequality necessary so people will be motivated to fill functionally important positions Does not explain the wide disparity between the rich and the poor

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 13

Is Stratification Universal? █

Conflict view: 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

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 14

Is Stratification Universal? █

Lenski’s view: 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 reinforces social inequality

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 15

Table 5-1: Three Major Perspectives on Social Stratification

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 16

Measuring Social Class █

Objective Method – Class largely viewed as a statistical category • Education • Occupation • Income • Place of residence

Prestige: respect and admiration an occupation holds in society Esteem: reputation specific person has earned within an occupation © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 17

Measuring Social Class █

Multiple Measures – Socioeconomic status (SES): measure of social class based on income, education, and occupation

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 18

Wealth and Income █

Income in U.S. distributed unevenly – Wealth in the U.S. is much more unevenly distributed than income – Americans do not appear to be seriously concerned about income and wealth inequality in the U.S. In 2001, the richest fifth of the population held 84.5% of nation’s wealth © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 19

Table 5-2: Prestige Rankings of Occupations

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 20

Figure 5-3: Distribution of Wealth in the United States

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 21

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 © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 22

Poverty █

Who Are the Poor? – Sizable number of poor live in urban slums, but majority live outside those areas – Feminization of poverty: trend since World War II of women constituting increasing proportion of poor people of U.S. – Not a static social class

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 23

Poverty █

Who Are the Poor? – In Gans’s view, poverty and 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 Absorb costs of social change

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 24

Table 5-3: Who Are the Poor in the United States?

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 25

Social Mobility █

Social mobility: movement or individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 26

Open versus Closed Stratification Systems █

█

Open system: position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved position Closed system: allows little or no possibility of moving up

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 27

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: social position changes of children relative to their parents █ Intragenerational mobility: social position changes within person’s adult life █

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 28

Social Mobility in the United States Occupational Mobility █ The Impact of Education █ The Impact of Race and Ethnicity █ The Impact of Gender

█

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 29

The Global Divide █

█

Inequality significant determinant of human behavior Divides in global wealth emerged as result of Industrial Revolution and rising agricultural productivity Sharp divide between industrial and developing nations © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 30

Legacy of Colonialism █

█

Colonialism: foreign power maintains political, social, economic, and cultural domination for an extended period Neocolonialism: continued dependence on more industrialized nations for managerial and technical expertise by former colonies

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 31

The Legacy of Colonialism █

Wallerstein’s World Systems Analysis – Unequal economic and political relationships in which certain industrialized nations and their global corporations dominate core of the world’s economic system Dependency theory: even as developing countries make economic advances, they remain weak and subservient to core nations and corporations © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 32

The Legacy of Colonialism █

Globalization: worldwide integration of government policies, cultures, social movements, and financial markets through trade and exchange of ideas

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 33

Multinational corporations █

Multinational corporations: commercial organizations headquartered in one country but doing business throughout the world – Total revenue of multinational businesses on par with total value of goods and services exchanged in entire nations – Over one-fourth of U.S. goods and services has to do export or import of goods © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 34

Functionalist View █

Multinational corporations help developing nations of the world – Bring jobs and industry – Take maximum advantage of technology while reducing costs and boosting profits – Make nations more interdependent and less likely to enter conflicts © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 35

Conflict View █

Multinational corporations exploit local workers to maximize profits – Investment by multinationals initially contributes to host nation’s wealth – Eventually increases economic inequality within developing nations © 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 36

Modernization █

Modernization: process by which peripheral nations move from traditional institutions to those characteristic of more developed societies – Modernization theory: functionalist view that modernization and development will gradually improve lives of people in developing nations

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 37

Table 5-5: Sociological Perspectives on Global Inequality

© 2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.