SOCIOL Final Flashcards Chapter 11
(65 cards)
Inequality
The unequal distribution of valued goods and opportunities
Big Men
Someone who, whether because of physical strength or cunning, is able to hoard desirable goods and accumulate more status and power within the tribe or community.
Primitive Communism
Survival required community members to work together and share whatever they had.
Colonialism
The conquering and control of foreign lands by the rich countries of Western Europe.
Feudalism
Feudalism refers to an economic system based on agriculture in which those who own land (landlords) are entitled to receive the products of the laborers.
The serfs
The laborers in Feudalism
The welfare state
The bundle of programs that provide social insurance and social assistance for people falling into one or another category of attributes (such as old age, disability, or poverty). The most important types of welfare-state programs are old-age pensions (known in the United States as Social Security), health insurance programs, unemployment insurance, job training programs, and general welfare assistance for the very poor.
High-end inequality
The process by which the very wealthiest individuals and families have been able to use their surplus income and wealth to acquire even more wealth.
Income
Refers to the receipt of money or goods over a particular accounting period (such as hourly, weekly, monthly, or yearly).
Consumption
How much an individual or family actually consumes in a month or a year, which may not directly correspond to their income if they are able to borrow money.
Wealth
Net value of assets (assets minus debts)
Net Financial Assets
These include the total value of savings, investments, retirement accounts, and other convertible assets (less outstanding debts).
Middle Class
A group of people who occupy the middle positions in terms of income and status in an economic system.
Class
Used to identify groups of people in similar social and economic positions.
What are the 4 factors that make up a class ?
1) Conflicting economic interests with other classes
2) Share similar life chances
3) Similar attitudes
4) Have the potential to engage in collective action
Life chances
An individual’s long-term possibilities and potential, including future income and opportunities, given their current attributes such as level of education, social networks, and possession of marketable skills or assets.
Class Analysis
The sociological study of how, when, and to what extent classes exist in any society at any point in time, and how these classes have changed over-time.
What did marx believe about class ?
Marx’s concept of class built on the idea that as a result of its economic system, every society has a single, critical division between two classes (one dominant, one subordinate), based on their economic position.
Socioeconomic status
The basic premise of the SES approach is that by combining a number of different attributes of any individual, we can properly place him or her in relation to others and assign him or her to a class; someone scoring high on all three dimensions (income, education, occupation) is “high SES,” someone scoring low on all three is “low SES,” and everyone else is somewhere in the middle (or “middle SES”).
The Erikson–Goldthorpe scheme
Occupation-based approach that divides different occupations into a small group of distinct classes that have similar kinds of life chances, organizations, and (less often) social and political viewpoints.
Salariat/Service Class
Professionals, managers, and administrators; higher grade technicians; supervisors of nonmanual workers
Routine Nonmanual Workers
Nonsupervisorial employees in administration and commerce positions; sales workers; secretaries, clerks, and other rank-and-file white-collar workers
Petty Bourgeoisie/Self-Employed
Business owners (other than farm), self-employed workers and consultants, artisans
Farm Owners
Farmers and ranchers (landowners)
