Midterm #2 Flashcards
What is a market?
Places where buyers, sellers and producers engage in exchange of commodities and services, means by which to organize social behavior
What is a sociological perspective on markets?
Sociologist view markets as social institutions that are constructed in a socially specific way.
For example markets are often controlled or organized by particular social groups or classes and have specific connections to other institutions,social processes and structures
How are market exchanges shaped by social networks?
Ties between people, connectivity between people is an important part of how market exchange happens. Economic action is often imbedded in social interactions
How are market exchanges shaped by power/status?
People’s biases impact how they will behave in the market (age, gender, race, ethnicity).
How are market exchanges shaped by culture?
Informal rules that govern how people behave in markets are key to understanding how they work.
Participating in a market requires knowing both informal and formal rules
What is the “gig economy?”
A labor market characterized by the prevalence of short-term contracts or freelance work as opposed to permanent jobs.
What is meant by the term “new precariat”?
New precariat refers to:
- The large increase in part time jobs
- Little/No job security
- Americans work more hours and take fewer vacations
What is Specialization?
Increase division of labor (ex: motor vehicle assembly line)
What is De-skilling?
Jobs made simpler and workers become interchangable (ex: children in factories)
What are the four ways in which we can measure inequality?
- Consumption Inequality
- Wealth Inequality
- Income Inequality
- Pay Inequality
What does the “intergenerational correlation of earnings” in a country tell us about its mobility level?
It looks at the correlation between the earnings of a child compared to their parents. If there is a lower mobility that means that there is a high correlation so they’re related. And if there is a higher mobility that means that there is a lower correlation so it’s not as related to one another.
Explain two ways in which sociologists measure mobility.
- If someone can move up or down in their lifetime
2. If parents status has any impact on their child’s ability to move
Define mobility. What is the difference between mobility and inequality?
Mobility is the ability of groups to move up or down in the class structure within their lifetime.
The difference between mobility and inequality is that mobility is about the potential to move to different classes while inequality is measuring the difference between the richest and poorest members of a society.
How did Max Weber define race and ethnicity? How did these definitions differ?
Weber said that racial group membership is based on “inherited”/innate and physical/biological traits.
How did W.E.B. Du Bois define race? How did this definition differ from Weber’s?
Du Bois said that racial group membership is based on perceived physical/biological similarities.
