Sociology chapter 8
For basic principles of social stratification
1. A traitof society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. 2. Carries over from generation to generation. 3. Universal but variable. 4. Involves not just any quality but the lease as well.
Social mobility
A change in position within the social hierarchy.
Meritocracy
Social stratification based on personal merit. Knowledge, abilities, and effort.
Why does social stratification exist according to a structural functional approach?
Social stratification plays a vital part in the operation of society.
What are three types of social mobility?
Upward: success Downward: failure Horizontal: stay on the same level
Middle class
$48k - $116 Upper middle - $116k - $205k
List the four key points that conflict theorists point to in their defense of Marx's Analysis of capitalism
1. Today, millions of stockholders, rather than single families, own most large companies. 2. Back in the day the standard of living was blue - collar occupations. Today most workers are in the white - collar occupations. 3. Workers today have the right to form labor unions and other organizations that make demands of management, backed by threats of work slow downs and strikes. 4. Greater legal protections. Over the past century you laws made the workplace safer.
Intragenerational social mobility
A change in social position occurring during a persons life time.
Absolute poverty
A lack of resources that is life threatening.
Social mobility
A shift in the social position of large numbers of people due more to changes in society itself than to individual efforts.
Social stratification
A system by which a society of ranks categories of people in the hierarchy.
Caste systems
Also known as closed systems, which allow little change in social position. Social stratification based on ascription or birth.
What is defining social class in the United States difficult?
Because of the relatively low level of status consistency. People's social positions of one dimension may not be the same as their standing on another.
Conspicuous consumption
Buying and using any products because of the statement they make about social position.
Max Weber claimed that social stratification involves three distinct dimensions of inequality, what are they?
Class position: continuum ranging from high to low. Status Power
Ideology
Cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of any quality.
Relative poverty
Do you lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more.
What are the three criticisms of the Davis- Moore Thesis?
How do we assess the importance of a particular occupation? Do rewards actually reflect the contributions someone makes to society? Davis and Moore ignored how the caste elements of social stratification can PREVENT the development of individual talent. We tend to overestimate the importance of high paying work.
What was a criticisms of Marx?
It ignores is central idea of Davis -Moore thesis - that a system of unequal rewards is needed to place people in the right job and to motivate people to work hard. Marx separated reward from performance.
How did Marx view social stratification?
It is rooted in peoples relationships to the means of production. People either own productive property or sell their labor to others.
Cast system
Open system. Social stratification based on both growth and individual achievement.
Capitalists
People who own and operate factories and other businesses in pursuit of profit.
Proletarians
People who sell their labor for wages.
Status consistency
The degree of uniformity in a personal social standing across various dimensions of social inequality.
Davis-Moore thesis
The functional analysis claiming that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society. The greater the functional importance of a position, the more for awards a society attaches to it. Thisstrategy promotes productivity and efficiency.
Intergenerational social mobility
Upward or downward Social mobility of children in relation to their parents.