explanations of social class inequality Flashcards
(26 cards)
Functionalism
Society requires co-operation and together ness.
-It is a structural, consensus theory that uses a macro approach.
-All parts of society are interdependant on eachother, like the human body- Organic analogy
-Value consensus, keeps society together- social solidarity.
-All the institutions in society function to socialise people into the norms and values of society.
Key thinkers- Durkheim, Parsons, Davis and Moore
-Source of inequlity= A fair meritocratc system.
Functionalist Durkheim
-Social order= Class stratification existed because it was functional or beneficial to social order.
-Specialised division of labour= Modern society is characterised by a specialist division of labour in which people have different functions, skills and abilities. It is characterised by social division, people are content to take their position in the division of labour because they believe in its moral worth
-Value consensus and legitimacy of stratification= This value means people accept the legitimacy of stratification. Stratification is beneficial because it sets limits on competition and aspirations
-Ascription and recession= Ascription would lead to conflict as people have no say in the matter. Moral order could be disturbed by sudden shifts in society- recession
What was the issue with Durkheim’s ideas?
-Durkheim acknowledges that there are problems with these systems that might cause conflict and social order to breakdown
-If people are unable to complete freely for jobs and are forced into types of work then consensus and solidarity could break down, so ascription would lead to conflict.
-Moral order could also be disturbed by sudden shifts in a society, recession could lead to a sudden rise in unemployment and deflation wages.
Functionalist Parsons
-Argued that social inequality and difference are inevitable, as they are functional features of social systems which need to e hierarchal to achieve social order and ranking
-This ranking is based on a consensus about what society values such as: Kin ship(family status); Personal qualities( age, beauty, intelligence); Achievement(qualification and skills); Possessions(status symbols); Authority( the ability to get way regardless of resistance)
-Therefore meaning that the less of the above attributes a person has, the more likely they are to face inequality
The meritocracy thesis (parsons)
-Firstly social inequality is assumed to be an inevitable outcome of individual differences in intelligence or talent, given the need in industrial societies to offer incentives to those of higher ability to finish…..
Elistist britain
Davis and Moore
-They debate the functions of stratification and contend that stratification is a permanent and universal feature of human society, It is functionally necessary. Stratification is inevitable as every society faces the task of placing people into certain positions they are suitable for. Motivates people as they must perform their duties in a responsible manners- in order to achieve tis, societies offer higher rewards for the most important jobs.
Davis and Moore evaluation- Tumin
Melvin Tumin criticises Davis and Moore ideology-
-Is it possible to determine the functional importance of a position? cleaner jobs are perhaps just as important as medical jobs- which positions are the most important are a matter of opinion rather than fact.
-Is there consensus about rewards? Considerable conflict and resentment about the unequal distribution of rewards such as incomes.
-Power and rewards- argued that the high pay of some jobs such as top business executives reflects their power rather than agreement among the rest of society that they deserve it.
-The pool of talent- Davis and Moore seem to assume that only a small number of ppl have talent to perform top jobs. In reality many more people may have the ability but never had the opportunity.
-Is training a sacrifice? Davis and Moore suggest that higher rewards are needed to motivate people to undergo the long training needed for top jobs. however going to university habits own rewards, such as freedom and the chance to learn what we are interested in.
-Motivation- They seem to assume that only monetary rewards motivate people to do demanding jobs. this does not account for people who may be motivated by altruism or a sense of service.
-The dysfunction of stratification- Tumin points out that, far from stratification helping society to run smoothly, it often creates hostility, suspicion and mistrust between different sections of society.
New Right
-The new right suggests that society is meritocratic but that some people re too lazy and work-shy to reap the rewards
-Ability is innate so in a fair meritocracy, higher class children go on to get better paid jobs because ability is genetic
-Believe individuals operate on system of rationality and will only take up employment if the economic benefits are worth their while. If they can be economically better off depending on the state then they will
-Key thinkers: Saunders, Murray
Saunders- New right
-Saunders- (maintains Davis and Moore’s Arguments) saying that stratification serves important functions, he sees a degree of inequality as desirable and functional in order to encourage competition. He believes that economic growth has raised the standards of living for everyone (social mobility)
-Inequality is justified beacuse it promotes economic growth, encouraging people to pursue their own self-interest. Competition ensures that goods and services increse in quality and fall in price, available to wider section of the population. The efforts of entrepreneurs make some rich, but at the same time the rest of society grows more affluent as it gains from their efforts (trickle down theory)
-Saunders talks of the idea of opportunity and inequality. Britain is close to being a meritocratic society. Inequality of opportunity between classes in a capitalist society re due to the unequal distribution of innate ability and effort.
-children of the middle class deserve to be more succesful, as they tend to have greter generally inherited anility as they work harder.
Charles Murray- New right
-The underclass
-in the 1980s Murray argued that there was an underclass in the USA and a similar group was developing in the UK
-The underclass promotes a ‘dependency culture’ meaning that they choose to be dependant on benefits and the state instead of working.
Murray blamed the welfare system for causing this group to emerge as it meant that there was no incitive to work. The culture that developed led to a number of social problems such as single motherhood, crime, unemployment and illegitimacy.
-Underclass drain taxpayers and also poorly socialise their children, meaning that they generally underachieved at school and turned to crime.
New right evaluation- neo marxists
-The structural underclass
-Neo Marxists argue that the class structure has polarised, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer
-Unlike new right thinkers who argue an underclass has developed because of their culture of dependence, Marxists argue that an underclass exists because society is unequal and rising unemployment means there are not enough jobs to go around.
Marxism
Key thinkers- Marx, Westergaard, Scott
-Discuss capitalist societies and stated that the structure of these were divided into 2 major parts. The first and most important is the economic base or infrastructure. The second part known as the superstructure consists of the institutions of society such as the political, legal and educational system, beliefs and ideas.
Infrastructure shapes the superstructure- for example the education system being shaped by the requirements of a capitalist economy for literate and disciplined workers
Bourgeoisie own majority of wealth in society, therefore they have designed education in a way to keep them in power.
Marx
-society is stratified, capitalist society, there are 2 major social groups: a ruling class and a subject class
-the power of the ruling class comes from its ownership of the means of production. The ruling class exploits and oppresses the subject class. For Marx, a class is a social group whose members share the same relationship to the means of production.
Dependency and conflict- capitalism
Relationship between major classes is one of mutual dependencr and conflict. The proletariat must sell their labour power in order to survive since they do not own the means of production to produce goods independently. The capitalists are dependent on this labour power otherwise there would be no production.
Ruling class ideology
Dominant beliefs and values from the ruling class form a ruling class ideology. This produces a false class consciousness amongst the proletariat which prevents people from seeing the reality of their situation. However, Marx believed that ruling class ideology can only slow down the eventual overthrow of capitalism. The conflict of interests within the capitalist system will inevitably lead to its downfall. Marx believed that this conflict could not be resolved within the framework of capitalist society. He argued that the proletariat would eventually stage a revolution
Marxist concepts- Revolution
Revolution would then lead to a communist society in which the means of production would be owned by everyone, the classes would dissapear and exploitation and oppression would end. This was more of an ideal society in Marx’s mind than that of capitalism. marx explained that this workers revolution would only happen when they became fully aware of their exploitation.
Marxism concept-Alienation
The process whereby people become foreign to the world they are living in the worker is made to feel foreign to the products of their own labour and are kept from communicating with their coworkers- unable to unite, meaning aand revolution is prevented
Marxism concept- Objectification
The nature of capitalist work means that workers do not feel passionate about the tasks they need to complete, this prevents free and creative thinking and makes workers not overthink the process of capitalism, they therefore do not fully understand the extent of their exploitation.
Marxism concept- Polarisation
Marx believed that the divide between the working class and capitalists would grow steadily wider as the bourgeoisie try to drive down wages and increase profits, intermediate classes such as small business owners would be driven out of business by increasingly powerful big businesses, further widening the divide between the 2 main classes
Westergaard- Capitalism on social class inequalities
Argues polarisation is occurring, where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer or staying stagnant
Top 10% of the population have had income rises and those on lowest incomes have seen no rise
the underclass is an example, the way they are negatively portrayed in the media
Between 1979 and 1990 privatisation and the decline in union influence led to a widening gap between rich and poor
Rise in charities for homelessness shows the widening gap
He argues that polarisation is occurring where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
Marxism and the changing class structure- Scott social closure
-The upper class still inherits most of the nation’s wealth: 2003 the ONS found that the wealthiest 1% of the uk owns 21% of the nation’s wealth, wealthiest 25% owns 72%, leaving 28% for the rest of the 75% of the population
-Supports Marxists views that the social class groups polarisation and can be supported by the work of Scott and his ideas on social closure- Upper class are exercising social closure, they are able to maintain their wealth.
-refer to article Toffs and Snobs by Chapman
Karl Marx
Historical materialism- is the basic needs for food shelter and the need to meet these which was named as the means of production
The working class create and work this mean of production whereas the bourgeoise and ruling classes own it
The proletariat sell their labour to bourgeoise who give them little wage to make higher profit in which they get exploited
Neo Marxism
Key thinkers: Erik Olin Wright; Gramsci, Braverman
-‘New Marxist’
-See that the source of inequality stems from capitalism
-See Marxism as a method that provides us with a set of relevant concepts and some useful guidelines to explain society today however they attempt to revise, modify and update traditional Marxism to explain why the proletariat has not overthrown the capitalist system
-Focus largely on explaining how there has been a growth in the middle class and changing nature of the class struggle, draw upon economic and cultural differences
-They all agree with traditional Marxism that the principle f exploitation, oppression, class conflict and class struggle remain highly relevant in explaining social inequality in he Uk
