Social Stratification and Inequality (week 5)

In Immanuel Wallerstein's terms, France might be classified as which kind of nation?

core

global stratification:

compares the unequal wealth, economic stability, status, and power of countries across the world

social mobility:

the ability to change positions within a social stratification system

What factor makes class systems open?

They allow for movement between the classes.

________ means an improvement in social class, like a "rags-to-riches" story while ________ refers to a decrease in social class as when problems arise that reduce income or prestige.

Upward mobility; downward mobility

intergenerational mobility:

a difference in social class between different generations of a family

intragenerational mobility:

a difference in social class between different members of the same generation

Structural mobility occurs when

a large group moves up or down the class ladder due to societal changes

downward mobility:

a lowering of one's social class

structural mobility:

a societal change that enables a whole group of people to move up or down the class ladder

social stratification:

a system of ranking individuals and groups within societies

modernization theory:

a theory that low-income countries can improve their global economic standing by industrialization of infrastructure and a shift in cultural attitudes towards work

dependency theory:

a theory which states that global inequity is due to the exploitation of peripheral and semi-peripheral nations by core nations

The standard of living is based on

income, employment, class, poverty rates, and housing affordability

Functionalist theory would describe social stratification as something that

is necessary to promote excellence, productivity, and efficiency, thus giving people something to strive for.

social inequality:

is the state of unequal distribution of valued goods and opportunities

If a sociologist says that nations evolve toward more advanced technology and more complex industry as their citizens learn cultural values that celebrate hard work and success, she is using ________ theory to study the global economy.

modernization theory

One method for measuring global stratification divides countries into two groups simply based on how wealth is distributed. These two categories are described as

more developed and less developed.

peripheral nations:

nations on the fringes of the global economy, dominated by core nations, with very little industrialization

When reference is made to the ________, it means the specific amount of income needed for a basic standard of living.

poverty line

Which graphic concept best illustrates the concept of social stratification?

pyramid

Social stratification is a system that

ranks society members into categories

The Davis-Moore thesis states that the unequal distribution of rewards in social stratification

serves a purpose in society

Because ________ is closely related to quality of life, it can represent factors such as the ability to afford a home, own a car, and take vacations.

standard of living

Elements of personal style such as hairdos, fashion accessories, and transportation, any of which might indicate social status within a stratified society, would be of interest to sociologists working from the perspective of

symbolic interactionism

Which theory focuses on everyday interactions to explain people's social standing in society?

symbolic-interactionist theory

Which theory would study the day-to-day impact of global inequality and the subjective nature of poverty?

symbolic-interactionist theory

One flaw in dependency theory is the unwillingness to recognize ________.

that previously low-income countries such as China have successfully developed their economies and can longer be classified as dependent on core nations

A sociologist working from a Marxist perspective would likely attribute the causes of the 2008 global recession to

the class standing and power of the owners of the means of production. (A Marxist conflict theorist would look to class power and control over economic apparatuses as causes of the recession.)

The most significant threat to the relatively high standard of living in the United States is

the decline of the middle class. (America is primarily a consumer economy, and because the middle class accounts for most of this spending, a shrinking middle class will steadily undermine the entire system.)

gross national income (GNI):

the income of a nation calculated based on goods and services produced, plus income earned by citizens and corporations headquartered in that country

deindustrialization:

the loss of industrial production, usually to peripheral and semi-peripheral nations where the costs are lower

The GNI PP figure represents:

the mean annual income of a country's citizens

According to the Davis-Moore thesis,

the more society values a particular profession, the more the people in that profession will make. (The thesis argues that without such value-based stratification certain important jobs would not be filled, and society would suffer without these crucial components of the economic and social system.)

capital flight:

the movement (flight) of capital from one nation to another, via jobs and resources

People are said to experience social mobility when

they improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects their social class.

One of the ways that global stratification is defined is through the calculation of gross domestic product (GDP). This method works by

totaling either the income of all citizens or the value of all goods and services produced by the country during the year.

Social stratification is based on categories of

wealth, power, income, and race.

According to a recent study, the richest ________ of the world are worth more that the poorest 3.5 billion people, combined.

85 people

Which trend has the World Bank seen in its study of poverty in low-income nations?

More women live in poverty than men.

What factor makes caste systems closed?

People cannot change their social standings.

The situation where one feels poor and must do without the "extras" in life in order to make ends meet is referred to as

Possible answers: -subjective poverty.X -relative poverty. -feminized poverty. -absolute poverty.

How is global stratification different from social stratification?

Possible answers: -Global stratification only examines environmental inequalities among nations while social stratification examines inequalities among people. X -Global stratification can only measure the inequalities among purely democratic states, while social stratification can be expanded to apply to people in any country in the world. -Countries cannot move up and down the global stratification ladder, unlike people who can use social mobility to climb or fall down the social stratification ladder. -Global stratification examines different types of prejudice and inequality among nations, while social stratification looks at the social class and standing of individuals in a society.

A state of living where people lack even the basic necessities, which typically include adequate food, clean water, safe housing, and access to healthcare is known as

absolute poverty

upward mobility:

an increase—or upward shift—in social class

In the past, the United States manufactured clothes. Many clothing corporations have shut down their U.S. factories and relocated to China. This is an example of ________.

capital flight

Tamir grew up in India in a closed society, where marriage was pre-arranged with someone of his same station in life. Tamir is an example of someone living under a/an ________.

caste system

Larger social patterns based on systemic inequalities tend to produce a person's social standing through

categorization into ranked groups based on things like wealth, race, education, gender, or power.

Slavery in the pre-Civil War U.S. South most closely resembled________.

chattel slavery

A/an ________ is based on both socioeconomic factors and individual achievement while a ________ is one in which people are born into their social standing and no status mobility is allowed.

class system; caste system

Jamila, a sociologist, is interested in studying how large American corporations exploit the labor of international workers in companies without labor laws. Her research about worker exploitation best coincides with which sociological perspective?

conflict theory

Dependency theory suggests that

core nations choose which countries to loan money to and decide which labor markets will benefit the dominant countries with less thought given to the country targeted for development.

In a U.S. town, a mining company owns all the stores and most of the houses. It sells goods to the workers at inflated prices, offers house rentals for twice what a mortgage would be, and makes sure to always pay the workers less than needed to cover food and rent. Once the workers are in debt, they have no choice but to continue working for the company, since their skills will not transfer to a new position. This situation most closely resembles ________.

debt slavery

Terms such as "first world, second world, and third world" have come to be considered politically insensitive although they are often still used. Today, these are more frequently referred to as

developed and undeveloped countries.

core nations:

dominant capitalist countries

Marissa, the child of immigrant parents and a first-generation college graduate, goes to work as an entry-level manager at a small firm. At her first annual performance review, as she is attempting to negotiate a raise, she realizes she is being paid less than her otherwise equal male colleagues who fill the same position. This scenario would be of particular interest to a sociologist working from the perspective of

feminist theory

The rise of technology, which has contributed to increasing inequalities between countries, is referred to as

global stratification.

The size, income, and wealth of the middle class

have been declining since the 1970s.

semi-peripheral nations:

in-between nations, not powerful enough to dictate policy but acting as a major source of raw materials and an expanding middle class marketplace

The causes and consequences of poverty are similar due to the cyclical nature of poverty. Common consequences include

inadequate healthcare, limited education, inaccessibility of birth control.