social stratification

What is social stratification

the hierarchy of power in society, where people at the top have the most money, influence, status, respect, land, etc, and therefore have the most privilege.

2 examples of a hierarchy

Caste system

Feual system

Social mobility

The ability to move up or down a social class

Ascribed status

status that someone is given through birth e.g. royal titles

achieved status

status that someone earned e.g. dr

Intra-generational mobility

movement of an individual between social classes over their lifetime, e.g through promotions

Inter-generational mobility

movement between the generations of a family, a child enters a different social class from their parents

What do functionalists believe about social mobility

Its functional and needed

Functionalists view of role allocation

Through role allocation, all jobs are filled in society. Jobs which are functionally important require higher levels of education or skill, and they are rewarded with higher pay and respect, e.g surgeons.

Karl Marx on strat

stratification focuses on the social relations of ownership and means of production

Marx on ruling class ideology

• there's a ruling class ideology, where the bourgeoisie use their power to further their own interests 

• this ruling class ideology leads to false class consciousness (where the working class are lead to believe in the capitalist system that oppresses them)

How does alienation work

Workers experience alienation under capitalism because they lack control over production and products of their labour

Ao3 on marx

outated, feminists would disagree as they believe people are stratified due to other reasons, social mobility does exist (Lord Alan Sugar)

webers 4 main classes

1. Property owners

2. Professionals

3. Petty bourgeoisie

4. Working class

Weber on strat

The different social classes have different positions because of their relation to the labour market (work), e.g because of opportunities in health, education, etc

Skilled people with qualifications are

More marketable and have more status and power because they are more desirable in the workplace and are more likely to be upper class

Examples of people with status but not others

• police officers have high status but are not a high social class typically

• disliked politicians are high social class but do not have respect or high status

AO3 of weber

cancel culture means that status for celebrities might not be permanent, for example J.K. Rowling, Ellen Degeneres

What are life chnaces are how are they distributed

are the chances people have of positive or negative outcomes (such as being healthy or ill) over their lifetime. They are distributed unequally and are influenced by factors such as social class, gender and ethnicity

What was the millenium cohort study

study into how poverty affects life chances, found that children’s development in the first five years of life had the strongest impact on life chances

• sample of babies born in 2000

• family background was particularly important, e.g the parent’s level of education, good parenting, etc

Ao3 of millenium cohort study

• quantitative data so doesn’t go into reasons why

• generalising that all working class children have worse life chances

Marmot review

found that people in higher social classes have better life chances, more opportunities and better health, e.g people with university degrees live longer on average. Health inequalities are as a result of avoidable inequalities in society, e.g housing, working conditions, income, standards of living, etc

Uk life expectancy

82

Which measure of social class came first

Registrars general classification

Registrars general classification ao3

No unskilled nonmanual jobs soemtimes theres a blur between manual and non manual

NS-SEC scale ao3

For catagory 8 some people are so affluent they don’t need to work and some are retired

It still doesn’t have a place for all jobs

Embourgeoisiement thesis

the working class are becoming more middle class: moving towards their norms and values, as income  has improved so better homes, lifestyles, etc

Affluent worker study Findingd

• rejected the embourgeoisement thesis, however, argued that workers could be part of a “new” working class

• found privatised, home centred lifestyles like the middle class, but still joined in collectivised activism (e.g trade unions) only if they benefited from them as individuals

• for example, campaigning to improve their own pay rather than changing society for everyone

• viewed work as the pathway to a comfortable lifestyle, not for satisfaction – instrumentalism

when was the affluent workers study revisited

20 years later in a recession

findings of affluent workers revisited study

• disagreed

• no new working class and they withheld traditional working class values and a dislike towards capitalism

• class dealignment

• found no privatised instrumentalism less communal but not as home based as expected

• involved in consumerism

• embourgeoisies thesis is false

AO3 affluent workers revisited

• overemphasis on continuity ignoring tech and globalisation

• limited sample size

• outdated

why are liberal feminists happy

• equal pay act

• equality act

• divorce reform act

who many female/male MPs

220 female 430 males

how many female judges

35%

whats an exception to equal pay act

salary

whats 1 of walbys 6 pillars

patriarchal culture - whilst women have gained more freedom they continue to be subject to social expectations which apply different standards to the behaviour of men and women

grenfeld tower

• social housing

• didng meet regulations

• cheaply made

• lots of BAME tenants bc of wealth and ethnicity connection

how much more likely are black caribbean student to get expelled

3x

why may minority ethnic groups struggle to get employed

• name bias

• accent bias

how many white / BAME students are employed

76

64

how many more applicants did minority ethnic groups have to send to get a positive response

60%

ao3 of ethnicity and inequality

positive discrimination

age stereotypes

• old people baf at tech

• old are conservative

• over 70 year olds have to retake their test every 3 years

• young can’t vote

types of age

chronological

biological

age as a social catagory

chronological age

time passed since your birth

biological age

aging that occurs as stages or physical changes that happen eg puberty

age as a social catagory

expectations based on age

change in role of children

medieval times - children were small adults

why and when did youth occurs

20th century

more disposable income tk make a youth subculture