Chapter 8 Social Stratification U.S and Global

Social Stratification

a society’s ranking of people based on their access to valued resources such as wealth, power, and prestige.

What is wealth?

 Money and economic assets that a person or family owns

What is income?

-the money a person receives usually through wages or salary; also includes rents and interest. 

What is absolute poverty?

not having enough money to afford the most basic necessities? “What I need”

Relative poverty

not having enough money to maintain an average standard of living ( what is perceived to be normal/ average at the place where a person or a family lives). “What I want”

What is social mobility

a person’s ability to move up or down in the stratification hierarchy(movement from one class to another) 

Types of Social mobility

Horizontal Mobility

Vertical Mobility

Intragenerational Mobility

intergenerational Mobility

Horizontal Mobility

moving from one position to another on the same level

Vertical mobility

moving up or down the stratification ladder

Intragenerational mobility

The extent to which an individual experiences upward or downward mobility. 

 intergenerational mobility

the degree to which one is better or worse off than one's parents. 

What are the 3 Thesis of Poverty

1. Cultural and Individualistic thesis

2. Joblessness thesis(structural)

3. Scarcity thesis (not individual or structural)

Cultural and Individualistic thesis

people are poor because they choose to be. Normalize being poor; our behavior and attitude determine who we become/are

 Joblessness thesis(structural) [3 Parts]

1. Large-scale economic changes(no more mixed neighborhoods).

2. Deindustrialization(factoriees moving from rich to cheaper countries).

3. Changing class composition(3 classes reduced to 1/larger numbers coming to certain classes due to job reduction)

Scarcity thesis (not individual or structural) [3 Parts]

1. 1: the most fundamental feature of poverty is having less.

2. 2-Focus on some problems more than others (lack of resources) 3.

3. Attention neglect-cause of lack of resources (poverty) and consequences of lack of resources(poverty)

Pier Bourdieu and his three types of capital

1. Economic Capital

2. Cultural Capital

3. Social capital

Economic capital

income and monetary assets ( How much money/wealth a person has)

Cultural capital

social assets such as education and attitudes  (what do you know)

Social capital:

 social networks ( whom do you know)

Pier Bourdieu- “Conversion of Capitals”