Sociology Showcase 3

Minority

Any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates

Describe the regional patterns of various minority groups. In other words, list the various regions in the US where each minority group is most likely to live.

- Black/African American pop. lives in South - Hispanic pop. lives in Southwest - Asian pop. lives in the islands and Coast (West) - White pop. lives everywhere - Minorities live along the Southern coast

Research Conclusions about US Social Mobility

- Social mobility has been fairly high - Long term trend has been upward - Intergenerational mobility is small, not large - Social mobility since the 1970s has been uneven

Six Types of Slavery

1. Descent-Based Slavery - Where one person owns another and her offspring 2. Forced Labor Imposed By State - A government imposes forced labor on people convicted of criminal convictions or on others because they need the labor 3. Child Slavery - Where poor families send their children out to beg, steal, or do whatever they can to make money 4. Debt Bondage - Practice where an employer pays wages to workers that are less than what the employer charges for company-provided food and housing 5. Servile Forms of Marriage - Where a woman is married off against her will and often ends up working as a slave for her husband's family 6. Human Trafficking - The moving of people to a place for the purpose of forced labor

How does the world economy make poor countries dependent on rich countries?

1. Narrow, export-oriented economies 2. Lack of industrial capacity 3. Foreign debt

How does birth determine your social position in a caste system?

1. Occupation 2. Marriage within caste 3. Social life restricted to "own kind" 4. Belief systems are often tied to religious dogma

Social Stratification Principles

1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences 2. Social stratification carries over from generation to generation 3. Social stratification is universal but variable 4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well

Explanations of Global Poverty

1. Technology 2. Population growth 3. Cultural patterns 4. Social stratification 5. Gender inequality 6. Global power relationships

Rostow's Stages of Modernization

1. Traditional Stage 2. Take-off Stage 3. Drive to technological maturity 4. High mass consumption

Extent of US Poverty

12.5% are in poverty

Income Wage Gap Between White and Black Households

1967 Wage Gap - $19,360 2011 Wage Gap - $27,415

What did Marx want to replace Capitalism with?

A socialist system that would meet the needs of all rather than the needs of the elite few.

Poverty Line

About three times what the government estimates people must spend for food

Intersection Theory

Analysis of the interplay of race, class, and gender, which often results in multiple dimensions of disadvantage.

Inequality in Titanic survivors

Approximately 1/3 of the passengers survived, but the majority of them were first class 1st Class Survival - 63% 2nd Class Survival - 43% 3rd Class Survival - 25% Women Survival - 72% Children Survival - 50% Men Survival - 20%

Social Conflict Analysis

Argues stratification provides some people with advantages over others

Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin

Asian - $74,297 White, Not Hispanic - $60,256 All Races - $53,657 Hispanic (Any Race) - $42,491 Black - $35,305

Gender Roles

Attitudes and activities that a society links to each sex

Pros and cons of Caste Systems

Because they assign jobs before people know their talents, they waste human potential Because they assign everyone a "place" and job, they are stable and orderly

Karl Marx - Capitalism

Believed that capitalism created great inequality in power and wealth. Also believed that eventually, this oppression would drive the working majority to organize and overthrow capitalism.

Institutional Prejudice and Discrimination

Bias built into the operation of society's institution

Miscegenation

Biological reproduction by partners of different racial categories

Janet Lever

Boys favor team sports with complex rules and clear objectives. Girls' sports teach interpersonal skills and the value of sharing and cooperation.

Conspicuous Consumption

Buying and using products because of the "statement" they make about social position

Briefly describe the main characteristics of caste systems and class systems. How are these types linked to different systems of economic production (agrarian versus industrial technology)? What part does meritocracy play in each type of stratification? How does each type of stratification justify inequality?

Caste systems are social stratification systems based on your birth. They have little social mobility and shape a person's entire life. They're common in traditional, agrarian societies. Caste systems justify inequality by using your birth against you. For example, India believes that how you behaved in your past life affects what caste you are born into. Class systems are social stratification systems based on both birth and meritocracy. They allow for more social mobility, and are common in modern industrial and postindustrial societies. Class systems justify inequality by using meritocracy and hard work. They say that if you work hard enough and have enough talent, you will do well in society, even if that's not true.

Use of Contraception by Married Women of Childbearing Age

China - 84% Sudan - 12%

Karl Marx - Class Ideology

Class consciousness and false consciousness in capitalist societies

Discrimination

Closely related to prejudice, unequal treatment of various categories of people. Prejudice is attitude while discrimination is action.

Explain the difference between sex and gender. How are these concepts changing in modern society?

Gender is the personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to being female or male. Sex is male and female biological differences. The concepts have been changing in modern society since more and more often, typical gender roles are reversed, as well as people identifying differently.

How does neocolonialism differ from colonialism? Describe the operation of each system. How does dependency theory/world systems theory use these terms?

Colonialism is where some nations choose to enrich themselves through political and economical control of other nations. Neocolonialism is a new form of global relationships involving economic exploitation instead of direct political control. The dependency theory states that the colonial process that helped develop rich nations also underdeveloped poor nations. It also states that neocolonialism is the heart of the capitalist world economy.

Class Ideology

Cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequality

Social Distance Scale

Developed by Emory Boguardus and used to measure prejudice.

Osagie Obasogie

Did research on blind people and how they saw race, concluded that rather than "seeing" race, we learn what to think about race from society

Plato - Class Ideology

Every culture considers some type of inequality just

Gender and Education

From 1970-2012 the percentage of: - Bachelor's degrees earned by women rose from 45% to - Master's degrees earned by women rose from 45% to 59% - Doctoral degrees earned by women rose from 15.5% to 50%

Why was Weber against socialism?

He didn't believe that overthrowing capitalism would lessen social stratification, but actually increase inequality by expanding government and concentrating power in the hands of a political elite.

Global Population Share vs Income Share

High-Income Countries Population Share - 28% Low-Income Countries 20% Population Share - 14% High-Income Countries Income Share - 62% Low-Income Countries Income Share - 2%

Which minority group has historically been the largest, and which is now the largest? Approximately when did this occur?

Historically, the largest minority group in the US was African Americans. Now, the largest minority group in the US is Hispanic Americans, as recorded in 2015.

Social Distance

How closely some people are willing to interact with members of some category

Discuss the findings of George Murdock's cross-cultural research of 221 pre-industrial societies regarding the gender distribution of work.

Hunting and warfare generally fall to men while more home-centered tasks fall to women. This is because preindustrial societies assign roles reflecting men and women's physical characteristics.

Margaret Mead's Research

If gender is based on biological differences people everywhere should define "feminine" and "masculine" in the same way; if gender is cultural, these concepts should vary.

Land Controlled by Native Americans, 1784 to Today

In 1784, Native Americans controlled 3/4s of the land that eventually became the US. Today, they control just 5.3% of that same land.

Per Capita Economic Output

In 1900, the richest 25% of the world was making $3,098, and the poorest 25% was making $621. In 2005, the richest 25% was making $27,816 while the poorest 25% was just making $1,439.

Mikhail Gorbachev

In 1985, he came to power with a new economic program essentially known as "restructuring." Tried to generate economic growth by reducing centralized control of the economy. This then turned into one of the most dramatic social movements in history, eventually leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Coming Minority-Majority

In 2015, White, non-hispanic people were the majority in the US at just over 60%. However, it is estimated that by 2044, the US will have a minority majority

Russian Great Depression

In the 1990s, Russia experienced something similar to the Great Depression that the US went through in the 1930s. The poverty rate grew 25% and the average life span for men dropped by five years and for women dropped by two years.

CEO Earnings Now vs 1970s

In the 70s CEOs earned forty times more than the average company worker. In 2015, they earned 300 times more than the average company worker.

Describe the distribution of income for the world as a whole. How does this distribution compare to income inequality in the US?

In the US, the richest 20% of the population earn 47% of the national income. However, the richest 20% of the global population receive about 67% of the world income. On the other side, the poorest 20% of the US population earned about 4% of the national income, and the poorest 20% of the global population earn just 2% of the global income.

Percentage of global wealth

In the US, the richest 20% of the population had about 90% of the national wealth, while the poorest 20% had -1.4%. Looking at the global wealth, the richest 20% have almost 96% of the global wealth, with the poorest 20% having -.4%.

What is the difference between income and wealth?

Income is money earned from work or investments; wealth is the total value of money plus other assets, like real estate, stocks, and bonds.

Intragenerational vs Intergenerational Mobility

Intragenerational Mobility is a change in social mobility occurring during a person's lifetime. An example of this would be someone being born into a working or lower class family and becoming a superstar. Intergenerational Mobility is upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents. An example of this would be a child being born to a family of blue collar workers, and then taking a white collar job.

What are the advantages of the High/Middle/Low Income Country model over the Three Worlds model?

It focuses on economic development over political structure It gives a better picture of the relative economic development of various countries since it doesn't lump all the less developed nations into a single "Third World."

Prejudice vs Stereotype

Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people. A Stereotype is a simplified description applied to every person in some category.

What countries represent the periphery and semi periphery of the world economy?

Low-income countries represent the periphery while the remaining countries represent the semi-periphery of the world economy.

According to Karl Marx, what are the two major classes in industrial-capitalist societies? How did Marx describe the relationship between the two classes?

Marx believed that social stratification was rooted in one's relationship to the means of production. Basically, you either owned productive property, which was the Capitalist class, or you sold your labor to others, which was the Proletarian class.

Who had a multidimensional view of social stratification?

Max Weber

Israeli Kibbutz

Men and women share work and decision making, social equality existed, girls and boys were brought up in that manner.

The Role of Rich Nations

Modernization theory says that rich countries produce wealth through capital investment and new technology. Dependency theory views global inequality in terms of how countries distribute wealth and argue that rich countries have overdeveloped themselves as they have underdeveloped the rest of the world.

Describe the unequal gender patterns in domestic household work.

On average, women spend considerably more time doing household work than men, no matter if they're employed, married, and/or have kids, with the overall woman averaging 16.2 hours of housework to the overall man averaging 9.4.

Culture of Poverty

Oscar Lewis's theory that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies, but of larger social and cultural factors. Poor children are socialized into believing that they have nothing to strive for, that there is no point in working to improve their conditions. As adults, they are resigned to a life of poverty, and they socialize their children the same way. Therefore poverty is transmitted from one generation to another

Percentage of all US Income vs Percentage of all US Wealth

Percentage of all US Income - Richest 20% of all families - 49% - Poorest 20% of all families - 4% Percentage of all US Wealth - Richest 20% of all families - 90% - Poorest 20% of all families - -1.4%

Plato and Marx on Ideology

Plato believed that every culture believes that some type of inequality is fair. While Marx understood this, he was more critical of inequality than Plato.

List and define five patterns of minority and majority interaction. Provide an example of each from US history or events in other parts of the world.

Pluralism - A state in which people of all races and ethnicities are distinct but have equal social standing ~ Some cities in the US like Little Italy and Chinatown Assimilation - The process by which minorities gradually adopt patterns of the dominant culture ~ Changing modes of dress, values, religions, and languages Segregation - The physical and social separation of categories of people ~ Caste societies Genocide - The systematic killing of one category of people by another ~ The Holocaust Expulsion - The systematic removal of one group from a society ~ Trail of Tears (could be argued as Genocide as well)

Define race and ethnicity. How do they differ?

Race is a socially constructed category of people who share biologically transmitted traits that members of a society consider important. Ethnicity is a shared cultural heritage. The two differ because while ethnicity is constructed from cultural traits, race is constructed from biological traits.

Relative Poverty vs. Absolute Poverty

Relative Poverty - The lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more Absolute Poverty - A lack of resources that is life threatening

What is the difference between relative poverty and absolute poverty? Which is a more dangerous type? Why?

Relative poverty is the lack of resources of some people in relation to those who have more. Absolute poverty is a lack of resources that is life threatening. Of the two, absolute poverty is more dangerous because you lack the nutrition necessary for health and long-term survival.

Why the vast difference between the wealth of the richest 20% and the poorest 20%?

Remember that wealth isn't just your income, but the total value of your money PLUS other assets. It reflects the total value of your homes, cars, investment policies, retirement funds, insurance policies, and more. That's why there's such a dramatic difference between the two groups, because the poorest 20% don't have most of these things. They don't have any assets to contribute to their wealth, while the richest 20% do.

The World's Increasing Economic Inequality

Richest 25% in 1900 - $3,098 Richest 25% in 2015 - $47,804 Poorest 25% in 1900 - $621 Poorest 25% in 2015 - $2,162

Primogeniture

Right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son

What is the scapegoat theory of prejudice? What is the conflict theory of prejudice?

Scapegoat Theory - Prejudice comes from people who they themselves are disadvantaged Conflict Theory - Prejudice is used as a tool by powerful people to oppress others.

Pattern of Median Annual Income Graph

Started between $30,000-$35,000 and rapidly grew to $55,000 in 1970. Fluctuated until 2000 where it reached $70,000 and dipped again before going back up in 2007. Dropped to below $65,000 after 2010, but going back up since then.

Define structural social mobility. How does it differ from individual/exchange social mobility?

Structural social mobility is changes in society or national economic trends. Exchange social mobility is the individual shift in class.

Herbert Spencer - Class Ideology

Survival of the fittest, social Darwinism

State the Davis-Moore Thesis. According to this theory, why is social inequality useful for society? Provide two criticisms for this theory.

The Davis-Moore thesis states that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society. It believes that the greater the functional importance of a job, the more rewards society attaches to it, encouraging productivity and efficiency, In this way, unequal rewards benefit society as a whole. One criticism of this theory is how we assess the importance of an occupation. Another is that the thesis ignores how the caste system can prevent the development of individual talent.

What is the Kuznets Curve? What does it tell us about how social stratification has varied over the course of human history as well as in the world today?

The Kuznets Curve shows that greater technological sophistication is usually accompanied by more pronounced social stratification, as well as what you would expect to see in different societies. In Hunter Gatherer societies, there is little inequality, most likely since the group's survival depends on everyone sharing what they have. In Agrarian societies, we see the most inequality as the nobility controls most of the surplus. The trend then begins to go back down with Industrial societies, as they value developing talent over the elites. When you look around the world, you see that most high-income countries have passed the industrial era, with lower income societies being closer to horticultural and pastoral.

Status Consistency

The degree of uniformity in a person's social standing across various dimensions of social inequality Caste systems have high-status consistency since there is little social mobility

What do you find to be the strengths of modernization theory? What about dependency theory? Also point to what are, in your opinion, the two biggest weaknesses of each theory.

The strengths of modernization theory are that it is characterized by high economic development, complex division of labor, innovative thinking, growth of education, and more. However, the two biggest weaknesses of it are that it is a "one-size-fits-all" that doesn't take into account the conditions of Europe and America at the time of their development and those in low-income countries. The other is that it usually leads to the decline in traditions. The strengths of dependency theory are that it analyzes the inequality between rich and poor countries, and breaks political bonds and explains reasons why wealthy nations are taking advantage of the poor. The weaknesses are over-generalization and over-simplification.

US Population By Race/Ethnicity

White - 65% Hispanic - 16.9% Black - 13% Asian - 5.1% Pacific Islander - .2% Other - 2.4%

How does the structural-functional approach lead us to view gender? How does the social-conflict approach differ?

The structural-functional approach views society as a complex system of separate yet integrated parts, with gender being a means to organize social life. Comparatively, the social-conflict approach views gender as a structural system of power providing privilege to some and disadvantages to others.

Gender Stratification

The unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between men and women.

Wallerstein's Ideas

The world economy benefits rich nations by generating profits and harms the rest of the world by perpetuating poverty; thus the world economy makes poor nations dependent on rich ones.

Four Rankings of Social Classes

Upper Class - Top 5% of US Population Middle Class - 40-45% of US Population Working Class - 30-35% of US Population Lower Class - 20% of US Population

Explain the assertion made in the text that race is socially constructed. That is, explain what biological traits may be used in defining race, but why a biological definition cannot explain the reality of race in the United States. Provide examples to illustrate your argument.

While human beings look different from each other, "race" doesn't exist until we start to decide that certain physical traits, like skin color, matter. This is especially prevalent in the US, where skin color matters quite a bit to a lot of people, despite only "seeing" three racial categories.

Describe the patterns of gender inequality in the US workforce. Based on the text, what are some reasons for this inequality?

Women tend to be in more administrative, or "pink-collar", or service work than any other. Out of 200 highest-paid CEOs, only 16 are women. Only 6% of the S&P companies have a woman as their CEO. These are just a few examples of gender inequality in the workforce. Some reasons for the inequality is by defining certain types of work as "men's work" and the glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is the barrier that keeps women from moving up in their careers, not easy to see but blocking all the same.