Chapter 18 - Work & the Economy

Corn

An example of a commodity

When people began to grow crops & domesticate animals

When did the first economies begin to develop?

Information

Most important commodity in a postindustrial society

Quaternary sector

What sector of an economy would someone working as a software developer be?

Mercantilism

What economic policy is based on national policies of accumulating silver & gold by controlling markets with colonies & other countries through taxes & customs charges?

Karl Marx

The leader theorist on the development of socialism

Centrally planned socialism

Type of socialism now carried on by Russia

Secured workers’ rights

Among the reasons socialism never developed into a political movement in the U.S. was that trade unions ___

Singapore

This country is an example of convergence

Xenophobia (Example)

Luke lost his job when General Motors closed U.S. factories & opened factories in Mexico. Now, Luke is very anti-immigration & campaigns for large-scale deportation of Mexican nationals, even though, logically, their presence does not harm him & their absence will not restore his job. He is experiencing what?

Aspects of globalization

Integrating governments, cultures, & finance through international trade

Has negative impacts on the environment

One reason critics oppose globalization is that it:

Characteristics of global cities:

Headquarter multinational corporations

Excercise significant international political influence

Host headquarters of international NGOs

Characteristics of multinational corporations

A large share of their capital is collected from a variety of nationalities

Business is conducted without regard to national borders

Concentrate wealth in the hands of core nations

What evidence that the U.S. workforce is largely a meritocracy?

Job opportunities are increasing for highly skilled jobs

Absolutely

When someone does not earn enough money to pay for the essentials of life, he or she is considered ___ poor.

Polarization

The practice where the differences between low-end & high-end jobs become greater & the number of people in the middle levels decreases?

Functionalist Perspective

Economy keeps society stable & running smoothly.

If economy functions well, society remains balanced & orderly.

Work provides: Job & income, role allocation, & social integration

Conflict Perspective

Focuses on power & inequality in the workplace

Benefits the wealthy & powerful at the expense of workers.

Work is a site of struggle over resources & fairness

Exploitation of labor, class conflict, & global inequality

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Looks at day-to-day meaning of work & how people experience it

Emphasizes the micro-level meanings people attach to their jobs

Focuses on work place interactions, symbols of work, & identity