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Sociology > Paper 2 Social Class > Flashcards

Paper 2 Social Class Flashcards

(79 cards)

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1
Q

What is income

A

The flow of money to a person

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2
Q

How is information on income gathered

A

Family resources survey- ran by government on living conditions
Annual survey of hours and earnings- shows hours worked by employees in all jobs
British household survey- interviews every adult in the household that works

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3
Q

What did the High pay centre find in 2012

A

Found companies on the London stock exchange has increased wages by 49% compared to the 3% increase their employees received

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4
Q

What do functionalists and new right say about social class and income

A

Say unequal rewards are beneficial for society to ensure most talented are encouraged to work hard and use their abilities

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5
Q

What do Marxists and weberians say about social class and income

A

Believe company owners choose their own salary

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6
Q

What is wealth

A

A stock concept

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7
Q

How does the ONS define wealth

A

Physical wealth
Property wealth
Financial wealth
Private pension wealth

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8
Q

What did the annual Sunday times rich list say in 2012

A

The richest 200 families had between them a total wealth averaging £225 billion

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9
Q

Why is wealth difficult to measure

A

Defying what should be counted as wealth is difficult
Calculating value difficult
People hide their wealth

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10
Q

How much wealth do the poorest 50% have between them

A

10%

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11
Q

What did Atkinson say in 2013

A

Found that lots of incomes comes from inherited wealth
Shows that wealth doesn’t come from working

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12
Q

What do weberian sociologists say about social class and work

A

Believe more privileged workers tend to be in more skilled/high status occupations

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13
Q

What do Marxist sociologists say about social class and work

A

Believe inequalities come from employers keeping wages down and profits up

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14
Q

What does white the child poverty action argue

A

3.5 million in poverty today

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15
Q

What is absolute poverty

A

Lack of basic essentials needed to survive

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16
Q

What is relative poverty

A

So little money they are excluded from a normal lifestyle

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17
Q

What did Mack and Lansley do in 1985

A

Measured poverty by asking different groups what they regarded as necessities in their lives
Items rated 50% or more were seen as necessities
Over time this list has gotten bigger

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18
Q

In 2012 how many households were in poverty

A

33% compared to 14% in 1983

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19
Q

What is social mobility

A

Movement up or down a social class

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20
Q

What is inter generational mobility

A

Between generations

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21
Q

What is intragenerational mobility

A

Between social class during their working life

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22
Q

What does lots of social mobility suggest

A

An open society
Those with talent and if they work hard can move up a social class

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23
Q

What does a little amount of social mobility suggest

A

A closed society
If you are born into a social class there is no way of getting out of it

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24
Q

Why is it hard to research social mobility

A

People do not agree on what occupation is what social class
Very wealthy may not even work e.g royal family
Women used to be ignored from studies in the past

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25
What was Goldthorpes study in 1972
He sampled 10000 men and he found that after ww2 there had been lots of upward social mobility
26
How was Goldthorpes study criticised
Saunders and new right sociologists said everyone had the opportunities to achieve Feminists said that Goldthorpes study had far too much focus on men
27
What were the results of Savage and Egerton study
Involved women - working class comities to get smaller giving more opportunity to them - however 55% of men who originated from working class stayed there - women from working class are more likely to move up compared to men
28
Why is functionalism a consensus theory
It suggests society works best when there is an agreement
29
What does Parsons believe
Believe that social stratification reflects this consensus value
30
What is social stratification
The way different people are placed within a society usually based on wealth and income
31
What does Parsons say about individuals in society
Some individuals are better than others at achieving things
32
Why does Parsons say CEOs and owners should deserve the highest rewards
They contribute to the smooth running of society by creating jobs
33
What do Davis and Moore say the main function of social stratification is
Ensure right role allocation and performance of people
34
What is functional uniqueness
Only one person or a small number can carry out that role
35
What is the degree of dependence of others
Someone who makes lots of decisions, gives orders to staff
36
Who does Tumin critique
Davis and Moore
37
Why does Tumin critique Davis and Moore
How can you say one position is more important Power and rewards- some people get paid due to their power not because they deserve it Pool of talent- others may not have had the opportunity to do top jobs
38
What does Tumin believe about social stratification
Causes problems as not everyone has the same life chances
39
Saunders argued a society based on social equality would only be possible if….
Force is used E.g threat of death or imprisonment as this would ensure people did their job properly
40
Why is Saunders critical of left wing governments (labour)
Thinks they are misguided E.g taxing the rich to pay for benefits from the poor reduces the drive for rich people to work hard
41
What do critics of Saunders say
Say we cannot assume a free market (less controlled by the government) even offers everyone more freedom Social groups will still be excluded
42
What did Murray call the people trapped at the bottom of society
The underclass
43
What created a dependency culture
Government who provided welfare benefits for groups such as the unemployed and lone parent families
44
What did Murray want to happen to the benefits
Wanted them to reduced as they were doing more harm than good
45
What do critics of Murray say
Murray is victim blaming- majority of the underclass want to do well
46
What is the bourgeoise
Those who invested their wealth into industries Owns means of production
47
What is the proletariat
Working class who owned no wealth and forced to work for wages
48
What is surplus value Marx
Workers create the wealth but only a fraction of what they create comes back to them in wages
49
How does Marx believe workers are exploited by employers
Wages are low and profits high
50
What is the polarisation of social classes
The divide between the working class and capitalists would grow wider as the bourgeoisie tried to keep wages low and profits high This means small businesses would be driven out of business by increasingly powerful big businesses which widens the divide
51
What is alienation
Workers would not be able to find any satisfaction because they have no control over their own work
52
What is economic crisis
Marx argued that capitalist economies tend to suffer Eventually a crisis would lead to collapse of the whole capitalist system
53
How would capitalism be overthrown
When the working class realise they are being exploited they would rise up and overthrow capitalism
54
What system did Marx believe wold replace capitalism
Communism
55
What is communism
Production would be shared by the whole community Instead of wages everyone would receive what they needed This means social classes would disappear (classless society)
56
Criticism of Marxism Economic determinism
People may think in a certain way for cultural reasons therefore religious beliefs may be more important for someone than their economic position Marx’s tend to ignore other inequality such as gender and ethnicity
57
What is class consciousness
When you don’t know you are being exploited
58
Criticism of Marx Success of capitalism
Despite what Marx says capitalist societies have actually flourished In western societies the working class have enjoyed the rise of living standards and allows everyone to elect their own government and encourage freedom
59
Criticism of Marxism The middle class
Marx ignored the classes in between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat Critics say these groups have grown in size and are important so cannot be ignored
60
In defence of Marxism Continuity of social classes
Westergaard and Resler argued there was little evidence of class divisions disappearing Class divisions have actually widened more
61
In defence of Marxism The proletarianisation of middle classes
The gap between the rich and poor widens, Marx prediction of polarisation has come true Working class have been de skilled as jobs are taken over by machines
62
In defence of Marxism Neo Marxists
Gramsci developed the concept hegemony to explain why working class in Western Europe countries had not risen up He believes ruling class do not need to use force to exert power they rule through persuasion They use institutions such as media and education to control people
63
In defence of Marxism Globalisation and transnational corporations
TNCs e.g Coca Cola have annual profits which are more than the national income of many poor countries Sklair says TNCs have greater power than some governments
64
How does weber define social class
A group who share a similar market situation
65
What did Weber say are the four main social classes
Propertied upper class- owners of big businesses Property less white collar workers- better market situation than manual workers due to qualifications Petty bourgeoisie- owners of small businesses Manual working class- poorest market situation
66
What did Weber say status is
Refers to the distribution of social honour How much respect a person receives from others and whether they are seen as superior or inferior to others
67
How is status linked
To a persons economic or class position Also ethnicity religion or lifestyle
68
How does Weber define party
Groups who were concerned with exercising power
69
Parties might include groups such as
Trade unions that seek to improve the wages and conditions of specific groups
70
Criticism of Weber
Marxists argue focussing on multiple social classes masks the importance of class divisions
71
How has weber had a big influence on modern sociologists
Most sociologists take on a multi class model rather than Marx’s two classes The idea that social class affects life chances New social movements e.g women’s movements
72
Why does Abbot criticise Goldthorpes study of social mobility
He completely ignored women
73
Social classifications are based around men’s occupations which led to the development of new classifications such as
The Surrey scale
74
Why do women have lower rates of absolute mobility
They have less chances of reaching top jobs
75
What do postmodernists argue about class
They are losing their significance in a contemporary society
76
What do pakulski and waters argue
That people are not stratified by cultural rather than economic differences
77
What does Beck argue
That the class conflicts of early industrial societies concerned the distribution of wealth
78
What does Becks term risk society mean
The central problem is no longer creating and distributing wealth but is managing the risks created by science and technology
79
What does individualism mean
People’s willingness to act together has diminished, instead people become individualised and more concerned with personal interests

Sociology (6 decks)

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