Chapter 8 Textbook Outline PDF

Preview

Summary

Textbook outline...

Description

Chapter 8   



Social stratification: existence of structured inequalities b/w groups in society in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards Intersectionality: the study of interacting effects of the different sources of inequality, & the resulting experiences of oppression Individuals & groups enjoy unequal access to rewards depending on their position w/in the larger stratification scheme  stratification can be defined as structured inequalities Structured inequalities: social inequalities (class, race, or gender) that result from patterns in the social structure; seen by sociologists as built into the economic & political system

Basic Concepts Systems of Stratification  Slavery: form of social stratification in which some people are owned by others as their property  Caste: a social system in which one’s social status is held for life  Class systems: system of social hierarchy that allows individuals to move among classes; chief bases of class are ownership of wealth, occupation, income, & education  Class: large-scale grouping of people who share common economic resources that strongly influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead     





 

  

Income: wages & salaries earned from paid occupations plus money received from investments; serves as important determinant of one’s social position Over the past century, there has been a rise in real income in the majority of the working population Blue-collar worker, who typically perform physical labor, now earn three to four times as much in real income in Western societies as their counterparts in the early 1990s Gains for managerial & professional workers, often known as “white-collar workers” have been higher still Americans today are more affluent that any people have previously in human history o “increasing productivity” – output per worker – through technological development in industry o Everything we consume is now made in countries where wages are extremely low, keeping costs, & prices, down  not good for American workers Income distribution has been growing more unequal  2013, the top 5% of households in U.S. received 22% of total income, the highest 20% obtained 51% while the bottom 20% received only slightly more than 3% B/w 2010 – 2013, the average income of the top-earning tenth of all American families increased, while that of everyone else declined, with the steepest declines being among those in the bottom half of the income distribution Wealth: all assets individuals own: cash, savings, checking accounts; investments in stocks, bonds, real estate properties, etc. Wealth is considered more important than income in social stratification, both b/c wealth is more predictable than income, & b/c wealth can be used to generate additional wealth Debt: everything one owes, such as home mortgages, unpaid student loans, medical bills, & credit card debt Net worth: difference b/w an individual’s wealth & their debt It is difficult to get a truly accurate measure of wealth in the U.S. b/c the wealthiest Americans have ways of effectively hiding their wealth through trusts & foundations



  

  

 



 

  

  

 

  

Some highly detailed efforts have recently been made to get a better picture of trends in wealth concentration  found that trends in wealth inequality parallel those w/ income inequality: the rich are getting much, much wealthier relative to everyone else The type of wealth one has also differs b/w the very rich & everybody else Although most people make money from work, the wealthy often derive the bulk of their money from investments, some of which may be inherited Some scholars argue that wealth, not income, is the real indicator of social class b/c it is less sensitive to fluctuations due to shifting hours, health, & other factors that might affect one’s income in a given year Average net worth of bottom 90% of American families is $84,000 while average net worth or top 1% has grown to $13.8 million, & of the top 0.1%, $72.8 million Median net worth of white households was 110,500 in 2011, compared to $89,400 for Asians, $7,700 for Hispanics, & $6,300 for blacks If one excludes the equity in one’s home, the median household net worth of whites drops to $33,400 compared to $29,300 for Asians; $4,000 for Hispanics; & $2,100 for blacks “It takes money to make money” is a fact of life for those who start w/ little or no wealth B/c many whites, on average, have enjoyed higher incomes & levels of wealth than blacks, many whites can accrue even more wealth, which they pass on to their children Melvin Oliver & Thomas Shapiro argue that it is easier for whites to obtain assets, even then they have fewer resources than blacks, b/c discrimination affects the racial gap in home ownership Blacks are rejected for mortgages 60% more often than whites & are more likely to take “subprime” mortgage loans that charge higher interest rates Subprime loans are offered by only a few lenders, but those lenders focus on minority communities, whereas the prime lenders are unable or unwilling to lend in those communities Home ownership constitutes American families’ primary means for accumulating wealth Financial assets are important b/c they provide a major source of funding if one wants to start a business or pay for a college education In recent years, as credit has become more readily available, many Americans have gone increasingly into debt, using credit cards & refinancing their home mortgages to pay for their lifestyles rather than relying on their earnings Total household debt reached $11.7 trillion in early 2014, including $8.2 trillion for home mortgages, $659 billion in credit card, & $875 billion in automobile loans Fastest growing form of debt is student loans, which reached $1.1 trillion There are reportedly 1,645 billionaires in the world, w/ a combined net worth of $6.4 trillion  wealthiest 1% now account for nearly half of global wealth One thing that pays off in terms of income & wealth is a college education  strongest predictor of occupation, income, & wealth later in life 2012: the median income of millennials (25-32) with a BA degree & full-time jobs was $45,500, compared to $28,000 for those who only graduated from high school, a 63% gap 1996: income gap b/w those w/ a college degree & those w/ a high school diploma was 24% 2013, the hourly earnings of college graduates were nearly double that of people w/out a degree In one estimates the lifetime earnings of college graduates & subtracts the cost of going to college, on average the benefits outweigh the costs by half a million dollars







 

    



   

 

 

The median net worth of households headed by someone w/ a BA degree was $147,000 in 2011, compared to $44,000 for households headed by someone w/ only a high school diploma & less than $10,000 for college dropouts If you start college, it pays to finish your degree; median net worth of households headed by someone who dropped out of college was $49,000, only slightly higher than for those headed by someone w/ a high school diploma A recent study compared 171 college majors & found that petroleum engineering students had the highest median annual salary in 2009, $120,000, while counseling psychology majors earned the least, w/ a median of $29,000 per year Racial differences in levels of education also persist, partly explaining the racial differences in income & wealth 2011-2012, the highest high school graduation rates were among Asian Americans (93%), followed by whites (85%), Hispanics (76%) & American Indians & blacks (68% each) How much education one receives is often influenced by the social class of one’s parents Occupation is an important indicator of social standing In a study in which people rate jobs in terms of how “prestigious” they are, those requiring the most education are often ranked most highly The top-ranked occupations appear to share one of two characteristics: they either require a fair amount of education or a fair amount of public services Millennials seems more inclined than older Americans to value fame: Professional athletes, actors, & entertainers move up in the rankings Class location was traditionally measured on economic factors like wealth & income, but some recent authors seek to include cultural factors like lifestyle & consumption patterns Individual identities are structured more around life-style choices & less around traditional class indicators such as employment Pierre Bourdieu saw social class groups as identifiable according to their levels of “cultural & economic capital” Increasingly, individuals distinguish themselves not according to economic or occupational factors, but on the basis of cultural tastes & leisure pursuits Advertisers, marketers, fashion designers, style consultants, interior designers, personal trainers, & webpage designers are all involved in influencing cultural tastes & promoting life-style choices Stratification w/in classes as well as among classes now depends not only on occupational differences but also on differences in consumption & lifestyle Modern societies have become consumer societies, & in some respects a consumer society is a “mass society” where class differences are overridden; thus, people from differing backgrounds may all watch similar TV shows or shop for clothing in the same stores, but class differences can also become intensified through variations in lifestyle & “taste” We must not ignore the critical role of economic factors in the reproduction of social inequalities For the most part, individuals experiencing extreme social & material deprivations are not doing so as part of a lifestyle, but due to circumstances strained by factors relating to the economic & occupational structure

Theories of Stratification in Modern Societies Marx: Means of Production & the Analysis of Class  For Marx, the term class refers to people who have a common relationship to the means of production: the means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society



   





  



In modern societies, the two main classes are: o Bourgeoisie: capitalists; people who own the means of production o Proletariat: earn their living by selling their labor to the capitalists Marx stated that the relationship b/w classes is exploitative  workers produce more than employers actually need to repay the cost of hiring them Surplus value: value of a worker’s labor power left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker Marx believed that the maturing of industrial capitalism would create an increasing gap b/w the wealth of the minority & the poverty of the mass of the population The wages of the working class could never rise far above subsistence level, while wealth would pile up in the hands of those owning capital  laborers would daily face work that is physically tasking & mentally tedious At the lowest levels of society, particularly among those permanently unemployed, there would develop an “accumulation of misery, agony of labor, slavery, ignorance, brutality, moral degradation He concluded that the working class would eventually rise up & overthrow the capitalist system that was oppressing them  then would usher in a classless society in which technology replaced much of human labor, w/ everyone working together for the common good Communism: social system based on everyone owning the means of production & sharing in the wealth it produces Marx was right about the persistence of poverty in industrialized countries & in anticipating continued inequalities of wealth & income He was wrong in supposing that the income of most of the population would remain extremely low; most people in the Western countries today are much better off materially than were comparable groups in Marx’s day Marx was also wrong in believing that a classless society would inevitably result

Weber: Class & Status  Three main differences in Weber’s & Marx’s theory 1. Class divisions derive not only from control or lack of control of the means of production but also from economic differences that have nothing to do w/ property  resources like people’s skills and credentials 2. Status: another aspect of stratification; the social honor or prestige a particular group is accorded by other members of society  status distinctions can vary independently of class divisions & social honor may be negative or positive Pariah groups: negatively privileged status groups subject to discrimination that prevents them from taking advantage of opportunities open to others While classis an objective measure, status depends on people’s subjective evaluations of social differences  classes derive from the economic factors associated w/ property & earnings; status is governed by the varying lifestyles that groups follow 3. Weber recognized that social classes also differ w/ respect to their power, or ability to enact change, command resources, or make decisions; power is distinct from status & class, but these three dimensions often overlap  Other dimensions besides class strongly influence other people’s lives  Weber’s scheme offers a more flexible & sophisticated basis for analyzing stratification that that provided by Marx Davis & Moore: The Functions of Stratification  Kingsley Davis & Wilbert E. Moore provided a functionalist explanation of stratification, arguing that it has beneficial consequences for society

   

 

 



They claimed that certain positions in society are functionally more important than others & these positions require special skills Only a few individuals have the talents or experience appropriate to these positions & to attract the most qualified people, rewards need to be offered B/c the benefits of different positions in any society must be unequal, all societies must be stratified Concluded that social stratification & social inequality are functional b/c they ensure that the most qualified people, attracted by rewards, fill the roles that are most important to a smoothly functioning society Davis & Moore’s theory suggests that a person’s social positon is based solely on innate talents & efforts Melvin Tumin argued that the functional importance of a particular role is difficult to measure & that the social rewards bestowed on those in “important” roles do not reflect these people’s actual importance Also argued that Davis & Moore overlooked the ways in which stratification limits the discovery of talent in a society U.S. is not a meritocratic society  those at the top have special access to economic & cultural resources, like high-quality education, that help transmit their privileged status from one generation to the next For those w/out access to such resources, even those w/ superior talents, social inequality is a barrier to reaching their full potential

Erik Olin Wright: Contradictory Class Locations  Erik Olin Wright developed a theoretical position that owes much to Marx but also incorporated ideas from Weber  Three dimensions of control over economic resources in modern capitalist production, & these allow us to identify the major classes: 1. Control over investment or money capital 2. Control over the physical means of production (land or factories & offices) 3. Control over labor power  Members of the capitalist class have control over each of these dimensions of the production system, while members of working class have control over none  B/w the two main classes, lie the managers & white-collar members  Contradictory class locations: positions in the class structure, particularly routine white-collar & lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics w/ the class positions both above & below them  Large segment of the population – 85-90% - according to Wright, falls into the category of those who must sell their labor b/c they do not control the means of production  In the population, there is a great deal of diversity  To differentiate class locations w/in this large population, Wright considers two factors: the relationship to authority & the possession of skills or expertise 1. Many middle-class workers enjoy relationships to authority that are more privileged than those of the working class  such individuals assist capitalists in controlling the working class & are rewarded by earning higher wages & receiving regular promotions, but they remain under the control of capitalist owners 2. Middle class employees possessing skills that are in demand in the labor market have a specific form of power in the capitalist system: they can earn a higher wage; Wright argues that b/c employees w/ knowledge & skills are more difficult to monitor & control, employers secure their loyalty & cooperation by rewarding them accordingly

Research on Social Stratification Today A Contemporary Portrait of the U.S. Class Structure

...