What is stratification Flashcards
(23 cards)
Q: What is social differentiation?
A: It is the condition where people have distinct individual qualities and social roles that are different but not ranked.
Q: What is social inequality?
A: It is the condition where people have unequal access to valued resources, services, and positions in society, representing vertical divisions.
Q: What is social stratification?
A: Social stratification is institutionalized inequality, where a system of social relationships determines the distribution of resources and social positions.
Q: Define scarce resources in sociology.
A: Scarce resources are items of value that are limited in availability, requiring effort, time, or money to obtain, such as income, status, and power.
Q: What are ascribed characteristics?
A: Traits or statuses individuals are born with or assigned, such as race, gender, or family background, which cannot easily be changed.
Q: What are achieved characteristics?
A: Traits or statuses individuals acquire through their own efforts, such as skills, education, and abilities.
Q: Explain “opportunity hoarding.”
A: Opportunity hoarding is when one social group restricts access to valuable resources, often through closed networks and control over resources, leading to exclusion.
Q: What is human capital?
A: Human capital consists of skills and education that increase a worker’s productivity, often seen as a key factor in labor market success.
Q: Describe exploitation in the context of social stratification.
A: Exploitation occurs when one group expropriates resources or benefits from the labor of another group, often limiting their potential earnings or rewards.
Q: What are the four basic systems of stratification?
A: The four systems are Foraging and Agrarian, Caste, Estate, and Class.
Q: How does the caste system function?
A: The caste system has rigid, normatively closed ranks where individuals cannot move between castes, often based on ascribed characteristics.
Q: How does the class system differ from the caste system?
A: The class system is open, with individuals moving up or down based on achieved characteristics, often linked to meritocracy.
Q: What is social capital?
A: Social capital is the benefit individuals gain from social connections and networks, which can help in achieving material or emotional resources.
Q: What is cultural capital?
A: Cultural capital includes knowledge, skills, and behaviors that help individuals succeed in elite or upper social settings.
Q: What role does social cognition play in stratification?
A: Stratification begins with cognitive categorization, where people use schemas to classify others based on traits like race and gender, which can lead to stereotypes and prejudice, reinforcing social boundaries(Categorically Unequal).
Q: What are the main mechanisms of stratification according to Tilly?
A: The two main mechanisms are exploitation, where one group expropriates resources produced by another, and opportunity hoarding, where access to resources is restricted to certain groups(Categorically Unequal).
Q: Define categorical inequality.
A: Categorical inequality occurs when certain social groups systematically gain more access to resources over others, often becoming institutionalized and persistent over time(Categorically Unequal).
Q: What is the “stereotype content model” in social cognition?
A: It is a model that categorizes social groups based on perceived warmth and competence, influencing stereotypes and emotions like pride, pity, envy, and disgust(Categorically Unequal).
Q: How do “social closure” and “boundary work” affect social stratification?
A: Social closure restricts access to resources within elite networks, while boundary work defines social categories, reinforcing group distinctions that affect access to resources like jobs and education(Categorically Unequal).
Q: What types of capital influence social stratification?
A: Key forms of capital are human capital (skills and education), social capital (network connections), and cultural capital (knowledge of elite manners and tastes)(Categorically Unequal).
Q: How does spatial segregation contribute to stratification?
A: Spatial segregation enables exploitation and opportunity hoarding by concentrating resources in certain areas, thereby disadvantaging segregated groups(Categorically Unequal).
Q: How do markets influence stratification?
A: Markets increase resource accumulation and differentiation, potentially deepening stratification, especially when structured to favor certain groups through exploitation and opportunity hoarding(Categorically Unequal).
Q: What is the “fundamental attribution error” in the context of social stratification?
A: It is the tendency to attribute others’ struggles to personal flaws rather than structural factors, reinforcing blame on marginalized groups for their socioeconomic position(Categorically Unequal).
