-
Social stratification
refers to how individuals and groups are layered or ranked in society according o how many valued resources they possess
-
Three main assumptions underlie the concept of stratification
People are divided into ranked categories
There is an unequal distribution of desired resources
- The criteria societies uses to rank others depends on:
- •The society’s history
- •Its geographic location
- •Level of development
- •The society’s political philosophy
- •The decisions of those in power
-
Cultural capital
knowledge and access to important information in society
-
Social capital
networks with others who have influence
Individual qualities also influence cultural and social capital
-
Meso-Level Access to Resources
The family reinforces status though the socialization process
Educational organizations treat children differently according to their social status
- Religious affiliation reflects one’s social status
- Political systems reinforce the stratification system thought laws, courts, and policing
Access to healthcare depends on one’s position in the stratification system
-
Macro-Level Factors Influencing Stratification
- The economic system
- The geographic location of nations
- Resources
- Strong educational system
- Well-paying jobs
- Productive land
- Ample supply of water
- Access to technology
-
Symbolic Interaction (micro)
- Individuals learn their social position through socialization
- •Cultural capital influences children’s school and home environments
- •Symbols also often represent social positions
-
Conspicuous consumption
is displaying goods in a way that others will notice and that will presumably earn the owner respect
-
Structural-Functional Theory
- Stratification within societies is an inevitable—and probably necessary—part of the social world
- The stratification system provides each individual a position in the social world
- The stratification system motivates individuals to carry out their roles
-
The Davis and Moore Thesis
- Some positions are more highly valued because people feel they are very important to society
- •Societies must motivate talented individuals to occupy the most important positions
- •Differential rewards must be offered to attract the most qualified individuals into the most valued positions
- –As a result, stratification is inevitable
-
Marxism
- Marx saw four possible ways to distribute wealth:
- •According to each person’s needs
- •According to what each person wants
- •According to what each person earns
- •According to what each person can take
-
marxism part 2
Marx thought there were two economically-based social classes
-
bourgeoisie
- are the capitalist class; the haves
- •Control the means of production, or the necessary resources to create capital
- •Control the norms and values of society
- •Use their power to make the distribution of resources seem “fair” and justified
- •Use social control to maintain their control in society
-
proletariats
- are the working class; the have-nots
- •The proletariats will remain exploited as long as they do not develop a class consciousness, or a shared awareness of their poor status in relation to the means of production
- •Intellectuals in society could help the proletariat develop a class consciousness and to mobilize to overthrow the bourgeoisie to create a classless society where all wealth is shared
-
Recent conflict stratification theorists argue that there are 5 social classes
- Capitalists – own the means of production
- •Managers – sell and manage their labor to capitalists
- •Petty bourgeoisie – own some means of production but control little labor of others
- •Workers – sell their labor to capitalists; low in all three Ps
- •Underclass – virtually no property, power, or prestige
-
Evolutionary Theory of Stratification: A synthesis
- The basic assumptions of evolutionary theory are:
- •To survive people must cooperate
- •Conflicts of interest occur over important decisions that benefit one over another
- •Valued items are always in demand and in short supply
- •There is likely to be a struggle over these scarce goods
- •Customs and traditions determine the distribution of scarce resources
-
Evolutionary Theory of Stratification: A synthesis (part 2)
- Evolutionary theory draws from:
- •Structural functionalism
- –Talented individuals need to be motivated
- •Conflict theory
- –Individuals will attempt to control as much wealth, power, and prestige as possible, resulting in potential conflict
- –The importance of exploitation in creating inequality
- It posits that only some amount of inequality may be useful in highly complex societies. Extraordinary amounts of differential access to resources may undermine productivity.
-
Individual Life Changes and Lifestyles:
- Life chances refer to one’s opportunities, depending n their achieved and ascribed status in society
- Important institutions that impact life chances are:
- •Education
- •Health, social conditions, and life expectancy
- •Family life and child rearing patterns
- •Lifestyles
- •Attitudes toward Achievement
- •Religious membership
- •Political behavior
-
Social mobility
refers to the extent and direction of individual movement in the social stratification system
- Four issues dominate the ability of mobility:
- Types of social mobility
- Methods of measuring social mobility
- Factors that affect social mobility
- Whether there is a “land of opportunity”
-
Intergenerational mobility
refers to change in status compared to your parents’ status, usually resulting from education and occupational attainment
-
Intergenerational mobility
refers to the change in position in a single individual’s life
-
Vertical mobility
refers to movement up or down in the hierarchy, which sometimes involves changing social classes
-
Factors Affecting an Individual’s Mobility
- Mobility depends on micro-level factors
- Socialization
- Family background
- Education
- Mobility depends on macro-level factors
- Occupational structure and Economic Vitality
- Population Trends
- Gender and Ethnicity and other ascribed status’
- Interdependent Global Market and International Events
-
Opportunities for upward mobility have changed significantly with globalization
- •Manufacturing jobs have moved to developing countries
- •Upward mobility is taking place among those who come from small, highly educated families with “get-ahead” values
-
What are your chances of mobility
- College education is the most important factor in moving up
- •The value of education increases as the new jobs are created
-
ascribed stratification systems
characteristics individuals are born with determines ones position in society
-
achieved stratification systems
individuals are allowed to earn positions through their ability and effort
-
Caste systems
- are the most rigid ascribed systems and are maintained by cultural norms and social control mechanisms that are deeply imbedded in religious, political, and economic institutions
- Importance of socialization
- Stability maintained by ideology
-
Castes predetermine
occupational positions, marriage partners, residences, social associations, and prestige levels
-
Castes are recognized though
Clothing, speech patterns, family name and identity, skin color, r other distinguishing characteristics
-
Estate systems
- are ascribed systems characterized by the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a small minority of political-military elite, with the peasantry tied to the land
- Peasants receive protection and enough food to survive from the nobility
- Estate systems are based on:
- •Ownership of land
- •Position one is born into
- •Military strength
-
Social class systems
- of stratification are based on achieved status
- Members of the same social class have similar income, wealth, and economic position
- They share comparable styles of living, levels of education, cultural similarities, and patterns of social interaction
Social class position is based on three main factors: property, power, and prestige
-
Power
- is the ability to control or influence others
- •Power elite – power is held by top leaders in corporations, politics, and military
- •Pluralism – power is not held exclusively by an elite group but shared among many power centers, each having its own self-interests
-
Prestige
involves the esteem and recognition one receives, based on wealth, position, or accomplishment
-
Characteristics of the middle class
- Makes up about 30% of the population
- Wages and salaries in the middle class have declined since the 1980s
- Upper-middle class families have high income, high education, high occupational level, and high participation in political life and voluntary associations
- Lower-middle class families include small businesspeople and farmers; semi-professionals; middle management personnel; and sales and clerical workers
-
Absolute poverty
or not having resources to meet basic needs, means no prestige, no access to power, no accumulated wealth, and insufficient means to survive
-
Relative poverty
refers to those whose income falls below the poverty line, resulting in an inadequate standard of living relative to others in a given country
-
The feminization of poverty
single females, increasingly younger and with children, make up a growing proportion of those in poverty
-
Individual consequences of poverty include
poor physical and mental health, inadequate nutrition, higher mortality rates, obesity, low self-esteem, feelings of hopelessness, daily struggle to survive, dependence on others
-
Social costs of poverty to larger society
- Loss of talent and abilities
- •Financial cost of addressing needs of and regulating the poor
- •Cultural contradiction of values
|
|