New Right Explanations of Social Inequalities

Practice vocabulary flashcards reviewing New Right sociological explanations of social inequalities, covering ethnicity, social class, and gender.

Herrnstein and Murray (Ethnic Inequality)

The perspective that ethnic inequalities are primarily driven by differences in average group cognitive ability ($IQ$), which is a stronger predictor of income, employment, and social status than family background or systemic discrimination.

Murray (Ethnic Inequality)

The argument that welfare reforms led to an increase in never-married, Black single mothers, creating underclass economies where men cannot hold down jobs and children grow up ill-schooled and ill-behaved.

Sewell ethnic

argued that young Black boys often adopt a hypermasculine identity and objectifying views from male rappers because they lack a male father role model in matriarchal backgrounds.

Sowell ethnic

emphasizes individual responsibility and scepticism of government intervention, arguing that minority challenges stem from dysfunctional cultural practices and that fostering a victimhood mentality undermines potential for success.

Saunders class

opposes equality of outcomes, arguing that a degree of inequality is desirable and functional to motivate people to compete, provided everyone has equal opportunity.

Marsland class

excessive welfare state intervention creates and sustains a dependency culture, asserting that the welfare state itself is the cause of inequality by discouraging employment and self-sufficiency.

Hernstein & Murray (Social Class)

said higher intelligence ($IQ$) is more common in upper socioeconomic classes, claiming the upper class is an intellectual elite partially due to genetics and greater access to resources.

Murray class

A state created and sustained by excessive welfare benefits and state intervention creates dependency culture that discourages poor individuals from seeking employment and becoming self-sufficient, fostering an underclass.

Murray (Gender and Family)

advocates for nuclear families and housewives, arguing that rising births outside marriage indicate irresponsible underclass attitudes and blaming single mothers for failing to properly socialize children, leading to crime.

Dennis & Erdos gender

matriarchal households undermine traditional family structures, asserting that two-parent families prioritizing male authority form the foundation of social order, while fatherlessness harms boys' development and causes social problems.

Schlafly gender

Said women are genetically designed to be caregivers, claiming that a flight from home is a flight from self and biological duty, and stating that marriage and motherhood provide women with a new identity.

Gilder gender

traditional gender roles and marriage are essential for social stability. said feminism weakens family stability and that men without a paternal purpose become dysfunctional or turn to crime.