soci 2265 ch 1: understanding global startification and inequality

why are some countries richer than others?

wealthier countries possess more resources, power, and income.

social class

how institutions like education, the justice sytem, or the labour matket serves certain demographics

how has globalization deepened inequality?

global stratification unequally distributes resources, wealth, power, and opportunities between countries and within them

is poverty a system failure or a personal failure?

it is both, but system failures include lack or minimal income, limited wealth, scarce opportunities, low education levels, and inferior social status

natural inequality

differences from physical and mental attributes (i.e. strength, health, intelligence)

moral/political inequality

inequalities created by human conventions and institutions (i.e., wealth power, privilege)

gdi

measures the total income of a country divided by its population. calculates the total value of goods and services produced in a country, indicating its economic strength

gini coefficient

measures internal income distribution. the higher score means more inequality

hdi

summary measure to assess and compare levels of human development across countries and goes beyone gdp

3 dimensions of hdi

health: life expectancy at birth

education: average years of schooling, expected years of schooling

standard of living: measured by gni per capita. shows income level and access to resources

forms of poverty

absolute poverty, relative poverty, social exclusion

absolute poverty

inability to meet basic necessities

relative poverty

inequlity compared to soical standards

social exclusion

being excluded from participation in society (resources, political voice, quality of life)

karl marx: stratification

conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat and the control of economic resources

weber: stratification

power derives from class, status, and political power

jean-jacques rousseau: origins of inequality

inequality is rooted from: emergence of private property, division of labour, and development of social institutions

immanuel wallerstein: world systemds theory

the world is a songle global system driven by capitalism. (core, periphery, semi-periphery

semi periphery countries

countries that possess both attributes of periphery and core countries that play a mediator role between the two

modernization theory

poor countries must adopt to western models to develop by means of industrialization and cultural change

dependency theory

suggests that rich countries maintain the underdevelopment of poor countries through exploitation

world systems theory

focuses on the global economic system and how historical colonialization and capitalism create and sustain inequality

core countries

developed countries with advanced instustries and high levels of wealth and power. they exploit resources and labour from other regions

periphery countries

less devoloped countries that provide raw materials and cheap labour for core countries

strucutral sources of inequality

education systems, legal systems, labor makrets, all reinforce power hierarchies and advantage dominiant racial, gender, or glass groups