Ch 11 sociology

What did Barbara Ehrenreich find in her research (described in her book Nickel and Dimed) on minimum-wage service jobs?

Low wages, lack of benefits, and grueling hours often make it difficult for these workers to pay even basic bills.

Bonnie does freelance work from home. What is most likely the best benefit she derives from this arrangement?

flexibility

How are strikes different from acts of resistance like daydreaming on the job?

they are collective

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for many soup kitchens and other groups that provide food to the homeless and the poor. It is also one of the biggest days of the year for volunteers, as many more people decide to donate their time and efforts, making them, even if just for the day, part of the

third sector

What term is used for the group of nonprofit organizations that are designed to run as cost-effectively as possible and to direct any earnings back into the causes they support?

third sector

New innovations in farming like mechanized seed spreaders and new techniques of crop rotation were part of what macro-level social change?

Agricultural Revolution

How could the Information Revolution affect urbanization?

Cities might shrink because people can live anywhere and still work at the same job.

According to the text, what is the MOST extreme form of socialism called?

Communism

Which revolution shifted work away from the home and led to the large-scale movement of people from rural areas into cities?

Industrial Revolution

William is a young boy living in London, England, in the late 1700s. He is amazed by the new steam-powered machines he sees being introduced and used in the city to make textiles, as well as the factories popping up seemingly everywhere. William is witnessing the __________,

Industrial Revolution

Which of the following statements best exemplifies the argument that transnational corporations (TNCs) hold a great deal of power and wield enormous influence in global governance?

Many transnational corporations are economically larger than some small nations.

Jared runs a company in Oakland, California, that produces mobile games for Android and Apple phones. He has found that he can increase company profits by contracting freelance coders and developers in India rather than in the United States to do most of the work. This is an example of

Outsourcing

While there have always been "gig" workers, what has recently changed about this kind of labor?

Technology facilitates connections between workers and clients and modulates pricing.

These days, many customer service representatives with whom we talk over the phone are based in India. Which of the following terms applies to this phenomenon?

The death of distance

How has the Information Revolution changed the nature of work and the economy?

The importance of the physical space in which work is done has been greatly diminished

Why did Karl Marx believe that workers in a capitalist economy experience alienation?

They are paid for their labor but do not own the things they produce.

Why did so many people feel dissatisfied working on assembly lines?

Workers never had the satisfaction of seeing the finished product.

Which change was associated with the Industrial Revolution?

a significant population boom

The cultural and economic changes that result from dramatic increases in international trade and exchange are called:

globalization

The fact that almost all of the small electronics used in the United States are made in Asia is an illustration of

globalization

The Agricultural Revolution had many benefits, such as allowing for greater food production and for groups to better sustain themselves and develop more permanent settlements. However, it also had some downsides, such as

increasing the necessary amount of daily labor

Fran is a call center customer-service worker who has a script she's supposed to strictly follow when she responds to customer complaints. One day, a customer is extremely rude to her and Fran departs from the script and asks her to be more polite and respectful. What kind of strategy is this is an example of?

individual resistance

What technological development is MOST associated with the Information Revolution?

microchip

In Great Britain, the government owns the British Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC, which is the world's largest television and radio broadcasting service. This tells you that Great Britain is

partially socialist.

Which of the following social problems might be alleviated if more Americans were encouraged to telecommute?

pollution

Which of the following is one of the primary principles of capitalism?

privatization of the means of production

What is it called when nations compete to attract transnational corporations by undercutting their citizens' wages or offering tax incentives?

race to the bottom

Tactics that are used by workers to take back some degree of control over the conditions in which they work are called

resistance strategies

Publicly owned and operated schools, federally mandated health care coverage, and tax incentives for business are all examples of what?

socialist elements in the U.S. economy

Ngan works in a factory that offers below-standard wages, demands long hours, and has very poor working conditions that may pose health or safety hazards. This work environment is referred to as __________.

sweatshop

When he worked in the office alongside his co-workers and supervisor, Nikola just had to show up for eight hours and everyone thought he was productive. However, now that he works remotely, he feels he has to prove he's been working by getting projects done and sending them to his boss, and he has actually become more productive as a result. Nikola's experience is an example of one of the benefits of __________.

telecommuting

What economic change has made it more difficult for workers to strike effectively?

the ease with which manufacturing firms can move operations to another country

The economy is not only about money but also about

the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services

In a capitalist system, what do workers have available to sell?

their own labor

An association of workers who organize to improve their economic status and working conditions is called

union

Who led campaigns to end child labor and increase workplace safety?

unions

Jonas works at a software development company and gets paid well, but he doesn't find his work fulfilling or satisfying. He feels as if he is just following orders and doing the same things over and over. He also doesn't feel a sense of connection with his co-workers and resents the power that the company owners have over him. A sociologist would most likely say that Jonas is experiencing __________.

alienation

What serious social problem might be made worse if more people were encouraged to telecommute?

alienation and loneliness

In 2008 and 2009, under the Obama administration, the United States government initiated a large-scale economic bailout of the banking and auto industries. The government invested enormous amounts of money and, as a result, became the majority shareholder in some corporations. According to the text, this means that the United States

is a mostly capitalist nation, but it also has a degree of socialism in government subsidies to businesses.

Advertising, engineering, marketing. product design, and web design are all examples of _____ work

knowledge