sociology paper 2 inequalities - perspectives (booklet 2s)

functional / new right - social class - Durkheim

class stratification existed because it was functional / beneficial to social order. modern societies are characterised by a specialised occupational division of labour / society is characterised by social divisions linked to occupations.

the ‘value consensus’ also means members of society accept the legitimacy of stratification e.g. they accept their occupations should be graded. this is as members of society believe society is meritocratic

Durkjeim saw the stratification as morals classification system embodyign and reflecting common values and beliefs, with it being seen as fair and just.

functional / new right - social class - Parsons

order, stability and cooperation in society is based on value consensus - an agreement by members of society concerning what is good and worthwhile. stratification systems are derived from common values

different societies have different value systems, such as American Societies (UK) having successful business executives

stratification is an inevitable part of all human societies, with rewards for members in societies reflecting their success within a meritocratic society

there is conflict between the higly rewarden and low incomes, with this conflict kept in check by the common value system which justifies the unequal distribution of rewards

functional - social class - Davis and Moore

there is a hierarchal system that attaches unequal rewards and privilages to the different positions in society. Thye further argued that all social systems share certain functional prequisites which must be met if the system is to operate efficiently. one of the prequisites is effective role allocation:

1. all roles to be filled

2. they must be filled by those best to perform

3. necessary training for them must be undertaken

4. roles perfomed conscientiously

people differ based on their innate ability and talent, with certain positions being more functionally important than others

most able people have the most functionally important positions, which is functioned by attaching high rewards to said positions to motivate people. with them taking long periods of training which involves sacrifices

the stratification system is a functional necessity for all societies. They argue that social inequality is inevitable. differential rewards are functional in society because they contribute to the maintenance and wellbeing of social systems. They also argue that society is meritocratic.

New Right- social class - Saunders

Saunders does not agree with functionalists that stratification systems are based on economic differences are inevitable, but he does agree with functionalists that they are desirable and positive, with beneficial effects:

1. formal equitiy or legal equality - everybody is subject to the same laws

2. equity of opportunity - individuals compete for success and those with greater merit achieve more. a society based on this type of equality is often call a meritocracy

3. equality of outcome - everybody is treated exactlyequally whatever they do, requring positive discrimination

this inequality is justified as it promotes economic growth, with the efforts of entrepreneurs using the trickle-down theory

New Right- social class - Murray

Britian is a meritocratic society where the best rise and be rewarded appropriately, with the unequal distribution of talent within society being on a biological bases where some people were genetically superior to others

USA - had a growing underclass, with government policies making people more dependent on benefits. In the 1960’s, welfare reforms linked to increase in never married black single parents and youths losing interests in getting a job.

UK - the disease had spread - there is a developing underclass. seen with rising crime and youth unemployment, with traditional beliefs within society and the family have been undermined, with a rise in children likely to take on underclass values of parents

The underclass overall has a culture of poverty, wit a dependency passed on from generation to generation, with it being the underclass to blame for their wone inequality

Marxist -social class - Marx part 1: class conflict

societies have 2 major classes: a ruling class / Bourgeoise and the subject class / proletariat, with ruling class owning subject class means of production (land, capital etc.) and exploit the working class, which creates conflict, making the conflict theory.

the ruling class exploit by:

1. capitalist pay wages to workers but make a profit: surplus value

2. owning the infrastructure ahs created a superstructure, using it to legitimise their position and reduce protests

3. the superstructure also controls the media, education systems and political systems, forming a false consciousness of their power (meaning now workers realise their exploitation)

Eventually, this idea will be replaced by a communist society in which means of production will be community owned, with the transition to communism needing revolutionary action

Marxist -social class - Marx: part 2 - class consciousness

class consciousness is when workers will realise their are being exploited and will rise to challenge society. This will happen when:

1. workers in large factories can organise resistance and skills divisions, resulting in a more homogenous and united working class

2. workers wages will decline to maintain capitalist profit, creating a polarisation of classes

3. capitalist economies are unstable, with periods of economic crises

4. workers join together to form unions, political parties and revolutionary movements

Marxist -social class - Neo-Marxism

Neo Marxists agree fundamentally with Marxists, but focus of the relationships between the infrastructure and superstructure

1. infrastructure - the capitalist economic and the social relationship of production characterised by class inequality and exploitation

2. superstructure - all major social institutions in society (education, media, law and politics etc.)

the Superstructure functions to reproduce and legitimise inequality through the transmission of ruling class ideology and superstructure operates through agencies such as the education system

Marxist -social class - Althusser (neo marxist)

call inequality still exists due to the education system being a ideological state apparatus and argues the education systems are Not meritocratic. those born into rulign class achieve better because the education system is based around the hidden curriculum e.g. middle class culture is rewarded

The superstructure is used by the ruling class to legitimise pre-existing inequalities and maintain their power and control by brainwashing working classes into accepting their exploitation and inferiror position

Marxist -social class - Bourdieu (neo-Marxist)

class inequality is reproduced by the superstructure, including the family and education system, with both systems transmitting meritocratic ideas, with success of upper classes rooted in economic, cultural and social capital for an advantage.

middle class children are ensured educational and economic success because of cultural capital, iwht norms and values putting them at an advantage and cultural advantaged reinforced with the economic capital / advantaged e.g. private education and social capital e.g. contacts and networks

the lack of these capitals means working class children struggle in school and often leave at 16, which the capitalist system aces them as failures rather than the system

Marxist -social class - Braverman

deskilling has taken place in many white-collar jobs, as skill content of work due to manual employees becoming proletarianized e.g. clerical working shared similarities with manual craft workers but as workforces expanded, so did computerisation, meaning clerical work had become deskilled

professions have weakened by deskilling so they cannot pursue their own interests, with now some middle class jobs becoming deskilled, as their wokr has become more routine due to specialist tasks. Meaning pay was worsened and the reserve army of labour allowed for their exploitaiton

Weberian - social class - Weber

Weberian - social class - Goldthorpe

embourgeoisement - the movement of individuals into the bourgeoisie as a result of their own efforts or collective action, known as the theses of the affluent worker

this was shown in how an experiment conducted with 200 manual workers and 54 white collar workers

• all the workers worked in cars, mechanical or chemicals

• all of them were married and 57% were homeowners or buyers

this shows a convergence, meaning social groups moving closer together and becoming more similar, showing inequality is based around working hard

Weberian - social class - Savage et al

1. status, prestige and power (in addition to economic wealth) shapes life chances

2. 3 types of assets which differentiate the middle class: property, organizational and cultural assets - inequalities are multidimensional and not just based on income

there are cultural differences in the middle class, including:

public sector professionals - health and educaiton / social workers. cultural ssets but not much money, middle class attributes such as less drinking and excersice

private sector professionals - paid professionals and specialists, involved appreciation of high culture and populaculture

he says we should refer to the middle classeS not the middle class

social inequality in the social aspect rather than the economic aspect, creating different middle classes creates a worse middle class, forming inequality

Weberian - social class - Lockwood

Market situation - wages, job security and promotion aspects

work situation - social relationships at work between employers and manger involving being monetised and their relationship with managers and employers

Status situation - the degree of prestige enjoyed by workers

social inequality is based on situation people are placed in, where these situations are exploited by higher classes to gain an advantage with prestige, monetisation and job security, something the lower classes cannot gain

Feminist - Gender - Firestone - biological family

biology is the key cause of inequality and formed a patriarchal society - the differences in the biological family are the differences between men and women, seen with:

1. biology disadvantage: menstruation, menopause and childbirth are physical burdens

2. pregnancy and breast feeding having social consequences as women become dependent on males for physical survival

3. interdependence of mother and child turns to dependence on men, creating an unequal power psychology

4. provides foundations for all types of inequality and stratification, with men wanting to dominate other women in multiple aspects, providing a base for the economic class system

Rad Feminist - Gender - Firestone - how women achieve equality

the only way for women to achieve equality is by biological equality, with physical aspects needing to be equal. This means equality would only be possible if babies could be conceived and developed outside the womb

yet, more changes in the economic class system and cultural superstructure would have ti be destroyed

Rad Feminist - Gender - Millet

politics is not just confined to political parties and parliaments, with people seeing one group controlling on another, it creates domination and subordination in other aspects of life e.g. work and household, with relationshops organised on the basis of patriarchy, where males dominate females

patriarchy is a rigid system of stratification: as sex is ascribed and almost impossible to change: factors which show the existence of patriarchy:

1. early socialisation encourages males to be aggressive and females to be passive

2. socialisation with men socialised to be dominent and given a higher social status

3. women have a caste-like status operating independently of social class, wit women in higher class backgrounds being subordinate to men

4. educational factors - economic dependency with women tending not to study high class subject such as sciences

5. myth of religion - ;Patriarchy has God on it’s side’

6. physical force - e.g. stoning women in Muslim countries and foot binding in China

Lib Feminist - Gender - Oakley - the history of women’s employment

the factory as the unit of production - early industrialisation showed the factory replacing the family for production, but when child labour was restricted in 1819, children became dependant on parents

restrictions with women’s employment - women were forced to stop working to look after children e.g. 1932 mines act banned employment of women. in 1851, 1 in 4 women worked but in 1911, 1 in 10. This was done to give women the mother housewife role

the return to paid employment - women from 1910 to 1950 showed growing employment from women due to gaining political and legal rights, but they still kept their mother housewife role

men are separated from the routine of domestic life, economic dependence of women and children on men and the isolation of housework and childcare

Lib fem - Oakley - Gender role socialisation

gender role socialisation largely determines women;s future roles within society, with 4 main ways gender is shaped:

1. children’s manipulation - e.g. mother paid attention to their girls’ hair and feminine clothes

2. canalisation - boys given more destructive direction and women given domestic roles

3. verbal appellations - boys called soldier and girls ; that’s a good girl’

   1. different acitives - girls in domestic tasks and boys getting physical tasks

Lib Feminist - Gender - Genderquake

female attitudes towards education marriage and family life has caused a genderquake, with the priority not being children but rather educational success. this has seen female career and economic independence within middle-class backgrounds, postponing their family life until education was finished