lecture 9 - social class inequality

Question 1

social inequalities throughout history

Answer 1

hunting and gathering societies: minimals inequalities, only based on age and gender
agricultural: gender, class, and ethnic inequalities. slavery became and they became property of their owners.
feudal societies: caste systems where some people were ascribed their statuses and not able to move away
capitalist: workers are free in a dual sense. could enter contract where they could sell their labour freely

Question 2

social inequality

Answer 2

differences that become socially constructed
- reflects the characteristics of the society ‘
- it is structured

Question 3

structure of inequality

Answer 3

• not random but follows a pattern
• displays relative constancy and stability
• backed by ideas that justify and legitimize it

Question 4

social differentiation

Answer 4

• refers to separation of roles, and positions, divisions of functions of labour in society.
• does not require or lead to social stratification

Question 5

class

Answer 5

a group of people with a common relation to the means of production
- marx argues that society is best characterized by class conflict

Question 6

class categories in capitalist societies

Answer 6

bourgeoise: capitalists, owners of means of production
petit bourgeoise: owns some means of production but not enough to survive on that alone. also farm, fish, small business..
proletariat: working class, sell their labor to survive
lumpenproletariat: underclass, class of dispossessed who are marginal to the production process

Question 7

marx’s opinions

Answer 7

• thought class conflict between bourgeoise and proletariat would be inevitable as inequalities increased.
• he predicted a socialist revolution, the eradication of capitalist economies and a new mode of production.

Question 8

class awareness (subjective/objective)

Answer 8

often people are unaware that they belong to a certain social groups. sociologist can see their class (objective) but they perceive it in their own way (subjective)

Question 9

class consciousness

Answer 9

an awarness of workers shared interests and their ability to react to those interests

Question 10

class in itself

Answer 10

a group of people who share a common relationship to the means of production

Question 11

class-for-itself

Answer 11

a social class is aware of their common interests in the production and circulation of commodities and who are organized socially and politically to defend such interests

Question 12

Neo-marxist approaches

Answer 12

eric olin wright
weber
dahrendorf

Question 13

Wright’s expansion of marx

Answer 13

eric olin wright distinguishes 12 classes and contradictory class location using three dimensions:
1. ownership of means of production
2. organizational assets
skill/credential assets

Question 14

dahrendof

Answer 14

• conflict perspective
  dahrendorf acknowledges that power is an important element of stratification (not only ownership of means of production but control)

Question 15

weber

Answer 15

adopted multidimensional approach to stratification, focusing on the interplay among wealth, prestige and power in identifying class
- can be high in one and low in another

Question 16

wealth

Answer 16

the value of all of a persons or familys economic assets, including income and personal property

Question 17

prestige

Answer 17

resect or regard with which a person or status position is regarded by others and those who share similar levels of social prestige belong to the same status group regardless of their wealth

Question 18

power

Answer 18

ability of people or groups to carry out their own goals despite opposition from others
- gives some people the ability to shape society in accordance with their interests

Question 19

feminist approach to class

Answer 19

argue that gender relations are intertwined with class relations
- not only is inequality impacted by gender, it is furthered by other social factors
- intersectionality (gender, race, sexuality can all go together)

Question 20

structural functionalist approach

Answer 20

• emile durkheim
• consesus approach
• davis and moore

Question 21

david and moore thoughts

Answer 21

• functionalists
• view inequality are vital, functional and inevitable
  0 social positions have varying social importance
• talented and skilled people to fill most important positions is rare
• unequal rewards will make most talented people fill these

Question 22

symbolic interactionist views on class inequality

Answer 22

• less interested in how it is created and more about how it is experienced
• how symbols enable people to carry out uniquely human actions and interactions
• social inequalities in everyday human interactions
• bourdieau (how people learn about symbols that are associated to their class)(being a part of a class is learning about its distinctions)

Question 23

absolute poverty

Answer 23

people living off the minimum level of subsistence no family should be expected to live below

Question 24

relative poverty

Answer 24

floating standard of deprivation by which people at the bottom of a society are judged as disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole

Question 25

societal benefits of the poor (gans)

Answer 25

• dirty, dangerous jobs performed at low cost
• poverty creates legal/illegal jobs
• identification/punishment of poor reinforces societal norms
• poverty guarantees high status for affluent
• poor absorb costs of social change

Question 26

social mobility

Answer 26

movement of individuals or groups from one position of a society’s stratification system to another

Question 27

open stratification system

Answer 27

• social position of each individual is influenced by the achieved status

Question 28

closed stratification system

Answer 28

allows little to no possibility of moving up
- like in slave or caste system

Question 29

power elite

Answer 29

• c. wright mills argued against functionalists
• the power elite in dominant institutions (military,politics) in a dominant country have enormous consequences, not just for us population but whole world

Question 30

vertical mosaic

Answer 30

• book by john porter that looked at canadas first systematic, empirical sociological analysis of class and status
• said that wealth was surprisingly concentrated in canada and connected to gender and ethnicity.