soc 134 Ch. 10

• One of the most persistent forms of stratification. 
• an economic form of inequality in which some people are the property of others . 

• A form of stratification 
• One's caste determines lifestyle, prestige and occupational choices, which are fixed at birth and cannot be changed.

little movement allowed across strata

• Form of stratification 
• develops when high-status groups own land and have power basd on their noble birth.

Little social mobility

• group of people who share a similar economic position in society based on their wealth and income. 
• essentially an economic stratification system
• only stratification that does not have legal barriers, but actual mobility is limited

The movement of people or groups from one level to another

land, commercial enterpriseds, factories, and wealth

is the possesion of some status or quality that compels othes to obey. 

the prestige, honor, respect, and power associated with different class positions in society

• a person's ability to affect decisions in ways that bewnefit him or her
• Generally related to wealth and prestige but does not have to

• the reverence and admiration given to some people in society 
• obviously derived from wealth and inco me but can also be derived from characteristics such as education, occupation (archived characteristics) or Ascribed characteristics

Usually believed to include owners of vast amounts of property and other forms of wealth, major shareholders and owners of large corporations top financiers, rich celebrities and politicians, and members of prestigious families

likely to include college educated managers, supervisors, executives, owners of small business and professionals. 

typically includes industrial and factory workers, office workers, clerksand farm and manual laborers. 

• people who work for minimum wage or who are chronically unemployed. 
• Sometimes referred to as underclass or lower class

minimal requirements a human being needs to survive

refers to one's economic position compared with the living standards of the majority in a given society

identifies the amount of yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs

the U.S. Bureau of the Census defines individuals or families who earn up to 25% more than the official poverty line amount

• the percentage of residents whose income falls below the official poverty line
• The measure that the U.S. uses to track success of the its efforts to reduce poverty

The way to be successful is hard work, strive toward goals, and compete well against other. We are fully responsible for our own economic fates. 

poor people resigned to their position in society, develop a unique value structure to deal with the unlikelihood that they will ever become successful by the standards of the larger society

• invading and establishing control over a weaker country and its people in order to expand the colonizer's markets. 
• one way for a country to use its power to control another, stratification between societies

ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society

• race, class, and gender
• income/ wealth, prestige and power

your place in stratification system may not determine your access to valued resources, but it affects your chances

Max Weber's Idea 

movement of people or groups from one clas to another

upward or downward

social system in which individuals earn rewards in direct proportion to their individual efforts and abilities; everyone has an eqal chance to succeed and success is determined by individual merit

• Home ownership
• better opportunities for the next generation
• chance to get rich
• secure and comfortable retirement

• fill difficult jobs with more talented people
• if all jobs had the same rewards people would take the easy way out
• better rewards= more training

• assumes better paying jobs are more important
• assumes training for top jobs is undesirable
• stratification involves ascribed characteristics

• economic
• social 
• cultural

resources linked to social networks

knowledge of cultural norms, values and beliefs

• greater opportunity for cognitive develpment
• greater access to cultural and social capital
• access to better school
• positive labels and tracking placements 

Recieve better and more schooling

• =fee markets/free enterprise
• historical system

Adam smith thought that the economy should be organized so that if each person follows their individual self-interest, others will benefit

• corporate welfare
• speculation
• fraud

• rising salaries for wall street and other corporate executives
• growing gap between people with and without college educations
• decline in labor movement
• tax rates and other government policies

corporations can manipulate stock prices through mergers, internal reorganizations, lay-offs, etc. that damage long-term profitaility