Ch. 8 Social Stratification

Ch. 8 Social Stratification

1. Open Stratification System

   • A system that is based on individual achievement and allows movement up or down. 

2. Closed Stratification System

   • A system in which movement from one social position to another is limited as ascribed statuses such as one's sex, skin color, and family background. 
   • Slavery
     • An extreme form of inequality, people own others as property and have almost total control over their lives. 
   • Chattel Slavery
     • People are bought and sold as comodities, sometimes multiple times. 
   • Castes
     • Social categories based on heredity.

3. Social Class

   • A category of people who have similar standing or rank in a society based on wealth, education, power, prestige, and other valued resources. 

4. Dimensions of Stratification

   • Wealth
     • The money and other economic assets that a person or family owns, including property and income. 
     • Income
       • Money a person receives regularly, usually in the form of wages or a salary but also as rents, interests on savings accounts, dividents on stock, royalties, or the proceeds from a business. 
     • 1. Cummulative
     • 2. Passed on to next generation
     • 3. Produces Income
   • Prestige
     • Respect, recognition, or regard attached to social positions. 
     • Require more formal eduacation
     • Pay more
     • Seen as more socially important
     • Involve more abstract thought and mental activity
     • Offer greater expression, autonomy, and freedom from supervision.
   • Power
     • The ability of individuals or groups to achieve goals, control events, and maintain influence over others despite opposition. 
     • Power Elite
       • Small tightly knit group of white men. 

5. Socioeconomic Status

   • An overall ranking of a person's position in the class hierarchy based on income, education, and occupation. 
   • Upper Class
     • Upper-upper Class
     • Lower-upper Class
       • Conspicuous Spending
         • Lavish spending on goods and services to display one's social status and to enhance one's prestige. 
   • Middle Class
     • Upper Middle Class
     • Lower Middle Class
   • Lower Class
     • Working Poor
       • People who work at least 27 weeks a year but receive such low wages that they live in or near poverty.
     • Underclass
       • People who are persistently poor and seldom employed, segregated residentially, and relatively isolated from the rest of the population. 
   • Working Class
   • Life Chances
     • The extent to which people have positive experiences and can secure the good things in life because they have economic resources. 

6. Poverty in America

   • Absolute Poverty
     • Not having enough money to afford the most basic necessities of life. 
   • Relative Poverty
     • Not having enough money to maintain an an average standard of living 
   • Poverty Line
     • The minimal level of income that the federal government considers necessary for basic subsistence. 
   • Feminization of Poverty
     • The higher likelihood that female heads of households will be poor. 

7. Social Mobility

   • A person's ability to move up or down the class hierarchy. 
   • Horizontal Mobility
     • Moving from one position to another at the same class level. 
   • Vertical Mobility
     • Moving up or down the class hierarchy.
     • Intragenerational Mobility
       • Moving up or down the class hierarchy over one's lifetime. 
     • Intergenerational Mobility
       • Moving up or down the class hierarchy relative to the position of one's parents. 
   • Factors
     • Structural Factors
       • 1. Changes in the Economy
       • 2. Number of available positions
       • 3. Immigration
     • Demographic Factors
       • 1. Education
       • 2. Gender
       • 3. Race & Ethnicity
     • Individual Factors
       • Habitus
         • The habits of speech and lifestyle that determine where one will fell comfortable and knowledgeable.

8. Functionalism (stratification benefits society)

   • Davis-Moore Thesis
     • The functionalist vie that social stratification benefits society. 
   • Metiocracy
     • A belief that individuals are rewarded for what they do and how well rather than on the basis of their ascribed status. 

9. Conflict Theory (stratification hurts society)

   • Bourgeoisie
     • Those who own the means of production and can amass wealth and power. 
     • Corporate Welfare
       • An array of direct subsidies, tax breaks, and assistance that the government has created for business. 
   • Proletariat
     • Workers who sell their labor for wages. 

10. Universal Inequality

    • Modernization Theory
      • Low income countries are poor because the leaders don't have attitudes and values that lead to experimentation and the use of modern technology. 
    • Dependency Theory
      • Contends that low income countries are pawns that that high-income countries exploit and dominate. 
    • World-system Theory
      • The economic realities of the world system help rich countries stay rich while poor countries stay poor.