USI Ch 1-4 Flashcards
(55 cards)
Define social inequality
-relatively long lasting differences among people that have implications
Define structures of inequality
-patterns of advantage and disadvantage that are durable but penetrable
Define privilege
-those in positions of power act to maintain their advantage and reproduce the structures of inequality
Define social time
-issues of generation and the life course
What does the book’s perspective say we need to understand social inequality? (3)
- social structure
- human agency
- social time
Define social structure
-long lasting patterned relationships among the elements of society
What do structural functionalists see society as?
- all-encompassing social structure
- can be decomposed into substructures
Define stratification
-individuals can be ranked according to socially desirable traits
Define critical approaches (3)
- assume that social relations, especially class relations, are the fundamental element of the social structure
- characterized by conflict more than consensus
- sometimes informed by Marx
Define low-income cut offs (LICO)
-level at which a family spends 63.9% or more of there income on food, shelter and clothing
Define low-income measure (LIM)
-relative measure of low income set at 50% of the adjusted mean household income
Define market-based measure (MBM)
-absolute measure of poverty showing the level of income where a household can’t purchase goods or essential services
Define social relations
- fundamental elements of the social structure
- structural relations and reflect power differences among groups
Is Marx more concerned with the relationships among people or resource distribution?
-relationships
How does Marx define class?
-social relations that connect people to resources associated with means of production
What themes does Erik Wright help us identify within Marx’s work?
-social class is based in productive relations and conceptualized in relational terms
What is a central dimension of Wright’s approach to class analysis?
-exploitation
What principles does Wright say form the basis of class exploitation?
- inverse interdependence principle
- exclusion principle
- appropriation principle
According to Wright, when did exploitation exist?
-when all three principles happened simultaneously
If one of the principles but not all were met, what did Wright say was happening?
-non-exploitative economic oppression
What two key concepts did Wright integrate to deal with the problem of the middle-class?
- authority and skill
- emphasis on wage within both
How did Weber feel about Marx?
- some say he rejected all his ideas
- some say he grew off some of the ideas and rejected others
What central Marx ideas are found in Weber’s writing?
- class consciousness
- class conflict
- class interest
- importance of property ownership in assessment of class
What three types of classes did Weber see?
-property, income and social classes
