Modern Sociological Theories and Social Stratification

Vocabulary flashcards covering modern sociological theories, key theorists, feminist frameworks, and models of social stratification based on the provided lecture transcripts.

Structural Functionalism

A sociological paradigm that became dominant in the United States and reached its peak popularity in the 1950s, viewing society as a complex social system where members take actions that maintain overall functioning.

Talcott Parsons

A leading structural functionalist sociologist (1902-1979) who proposed that people are actors making choices within a social system and developed a theory of social action.

Theory of Social Action

Talcott Parsons's theory explaining behavior as an automatic response to stimuli, whereas actions require inventive thinking and deliberation before acting.

Robert Merton

A leading structural functionalist sociologist (1910-2003) known for introducing the distinction between manifest and latent functions in institutions and organizations.

Manifest Functions

The intended consequences of an action or social pattern, such as universities providing degree programs to equip students with skills for professional occupations.

Latent Functions

The unintended consequences of an action or social pattern, such as universities serving as meeting places where friendships, romantic relationships, and career connections develop.

Symbolic Interactionism

A sociological perspective concerned with how people perceive each other in everyday life and respond to collectively applied meanings attached to cultural symbols.

Looking Glass Self

A concept created by Charles Horton Cooley (1884-1929) stating that self-identity is shaped by how we imagine others perceive us, making self-consciousness and social consciousness inseparable.

The 'I' and the 'Me'

George Herbert Mead's (1863-1931) division of human consciousness: the 'I' is the spontaneous, creative, and unpredictable self, while the 'me' is the socialized element aware of societal expectations.

Significant Others vs. Generalized Other

Mead's classification of social influences: significant others are close family members we seek to impress, while the generalized other encompasses people outside the family (peers, school, work) who shape broader social behavior.

Herbert Blumer

The sociologist (1900-1987) who coined the term 'symbolic interactionism' and posited that people negotiate reality by creating and modifying culture through shared meanings.

Erving Goffman

A sociologist (1922-1982) who authored 'The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life', comparing social life to a theater where individuals play specific roles across different settings.

Liberal Feminism

A branch of feminist theory focusing on female inequality within liberal democratic capitalist structures, aiming to eliminate social mobility barriers so women can enter leadership and executive roles.

Socialist Feminism

A branch of feminist theory linking capitalism to male domination, advocating for collective, cooperative, and less hierarchical societal structures to eliminate exploitation.

Eco-feminism

A branch of feminist theory connecting environmentalism and feminism, asserting that male dominance drives environmental degradation while women's socialized nurturing roles position them as better environmental stewards.

Radical Feminism

A branch of feminist theory seeking the revolutionary overthrow of patriarchal domination structures and viewing conservative political, religious, and cultural institutions as enemies to female equality.

Waves of Feminism

The historical stages of feminist movements: First wave (late 19th/early 20th centuries for voting and legal personhood), Second wave (1960s social movements challenging patriarchy), and Third wave (intersecting inequality with race, class, and sexual orientation).

Post-Structuralist Theory

A social theory holding that scientific knowledge or claims to 'truth' cannot exist independent of power relations, focusing on how knowledge is socially produced.

Michel Foucault

A scholar (1926-1984) who analyzed power relations and social control mechanisms, including the history of crime and punishment in his book 'Discipline and Punish'.

Critical Race Theory

A theoretical perspective holding that racism is institutionalized in North America, connected to historical events (colonialism, slavery, residential schooling), and best understood through minority lived experiences.

Queer Theory

A theory analyzing sexual desire, the linguistic labels used to accept or reject people, and the social construction of identity without establishing any single identity as 'normal'.

Closed Social Systems

Stratification systems based on ascribed social status fixed at birth, preventing social mobility, such as European feudalism or the Indian caste system.

The Caste System in India

A closed stratification system ranking groups into Brahmin (scholars/teachers), Ksharrya (warriors/politicians), Vashya (merchants/artists), Shudra (service workers), and Dahlit (working poor), strictly prohibiting intermarriage.

Open Social Systems

Stratification systems in capitalist industrial societies with worker mobility based on achieved social status, categorized by Class (property ownership) and Socioeconomic Status (income, occupational prestige, education).

Davis-Moore Thesis

Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore's functionalist theory stating that income inequality is necessary to incentivize individuals to attain the skill and education required for high-demand occupations like doctors.

Marxist Class Stratification

Karl Marx's model dividing capitalist society into the Capitalist class (employers owning the means of production) and the Working class (employees selling their labor power for wages).

Weberian Social Stratification

Max Weber's three-dimensional framework consisting of Class (economic status including middle-class professionals), Status group (social prestige/lifestyle), and Party (organizations exerting social power).

Status Symbols

Material objects evaluated within symbolic interactionism that indicate an individual's social position or class standing.

Conspicuous Consumption

The practice of buying expensive goods primarily because they are valuable, serving as a display of social status.

Conspicuous Leisure

Engaging in costly leisure time activities, such as taking long vacations to exotic locations, as a demonstration of high social standing.

Double Day Phenomenon

A feminist term describing women who hold jobs in the paid labor force while remaining responsible for unpaid domestic labor at home.

Pink Collar Jobs

Low-paying service sector positions historically and predominantly filled by women.

Pay Equity

The demand that women receive equal wages to men for performing work of equal value or the same kinds of jobs.

W. Lloyd Warner's Class Categories

A six-level social class division: Upper-upper (inherited rich), Lower-upper (new rich), Upper-middle (six-figure white-collar professionals), Lower-middle (teachers/police), Upper-lower (blue-collar workers), and Lower-lower (working poor/unemployed).

Erik Olin Wright's Class Analysis

A class typology based on control and ownership of means of production: Capitalists (own, not always control), Managers (control, don't own), Professionals (control own labor), Small business owners (own and control), and Workers (neither).

The Vertical Mosaic

John Porter's Canadian study demonstrating a strong historical connection in the early 20th century between socioeconomic status and ethnic origin, ranking groups with British at the top and Aboriginal peoples at the bottom.