SOC 1001 Exam 2

Stratification as a Social System:

System of relationships as a way of distributing society's resources and opportunities

Poverty and disadvantage of some linked to wealth, power, and privilege or others

Social Class

Hierarchal stratification based on economic status. (Shared economic circumstances, lifestyles, perspectives on life)

Wealth

Value of assets owned --> money sitting in banks and assets, minus debts

Income

Steady source of money from working

Socio-economic status (SES)

Max Weber's concept of "Socioeconomic Status" (SES) encompasses more than just economic factors, including class, status, and power, all of which contribute to an individual's position within a social hierarchy

Meritocracy

individuals are rewarded and advance based on their demonstrated skills, talents, and efforts, rather than inherited privilege or other external factors

Achievement Ideology

the belief that success and upward social mobility are primarily achieved through individual effort, hard work, and merit, rather than through factors like inherited privilege or systemic advantages

Social mobility

The upward of downward movement of groups/individuals from one class to another as a result of changes in income, occupation, or wealth

Glass ceiling

Children born at the bottom have invisible barrier restricting upward mobility

Glass floor

Children born at the top have an invisible barrier restricting downward mobility

Mechanisms of social reproduction

Education, family, economy, cultural transmissions, and social networks

Status attainment models

Ranking individuals by socioeconomic status and specifies attributes characteristic of people who end up in desirable occupations

Role of families in social reproduction

- Different types of capital inherited and passed on through generations

- Lareau on class-based childrearing

- Families are the first form of socialization and education and varies by social position

- Provides scaffolding and safety nets in wealthy families

- Human capital, social capital, and cultural capital

Role of schools in social reproduction

- Middle/upper class capital fits with curriculum

- Constructed around values that fit with middle and upper class family cultures

- unequal resources based on city funding

- institutional tracking: placing different students in different classrooms based on their perceived ability

Institutional tracking

Economically privileged in higher tracks

Higher tracks more rigorous and teachers more qualified

Privileges students who are already privileged, widens gaps between groups

Concerted cultivation (lareau)

a parenting style or parenting practice marked by a parent's attempts to foster their child's talents by incorporating organized activities in their children's lives.

Natural growth parenting (lareau)

a parenting style, particularly common among working-class and poor families, where parents focus on providing a safe, nurturing environment and allow children's development to unfold naturally, with less structured activities and more free time.

Cultural capital

symbolic resources that communicate one's social status.

- Objectified: symbolic significance of things or objects we own

- Institutional: symbolic significance of endorsements from recognized organizations.

- Embodied: symbolic significance of our bodies (how we look, what we know, and what we can do)

Transmission of advantages

how resources, opportunities, and social capital are passed down from one generation to the next, often influencing outcomes like education, income, and social mobility (intragenerational and intergenerational)

Capitalism as a social system

Economic system based on private ownership of resources used to create wealth and right of individuals to personally profit

Means of production

the resources and tools used to create goods and services are privately owned

Proletariat

people employed by others who worked for a wage

Bourgeoisie

People who employed workers

Wage

cash payment for labor

Free market capitalism

little to no government regulation (in past) i.e. monopolies, limited regulation, first gilded age (rapid business growth and wealth accumulation but high inequality and corruption)

late 19th to early 20th centuries

Cons of capitalism according to Marx:

...

Alienation

separation from labor and workers, lack of meaning in work

Worker exploitation

worked for others with limited control over working conditions

Class consciousness

Marx: sparked a common ground between workers as separate from bourgeoisie, eventually felt empowered to work for change

Labor unions

associations of organized workers to negotiated with employers

Welfare (state) capitalism (mid-20th ct)

some socialist policy to distribute profits of capitalism

Minimum wage, better working conditions, and social safety nets

Social safety nets

programs to ensure the economically vulnerable have basic necessities paid for by taxes

The "New" Gilded Age: Service and information economy

centered on jobs with services or information (peeled back by politicians) --> rising wealth inequality and gaps between upper classes and everyone else

Future of economic inequality

Transition to gig working (lack of benefits), precariat class (income pays for needs, not wants, and can't save for retirement)

Race

a socially constructed category used to categorize people based on perceived physical characteristics, rather than a biological reality

Institutional racism

discriminatory practices and policies embedded within institutions and systems of power, leading to racial inequities and disadvantages for specific groups

Institutional discrimination

widespread, enduring practices that disadvantage some types of people while advantaging others

Prejudice

preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience

The social construction of race

The concept of race emerged and solidified during periods of colonialism, slavery, and other forms of domination, being used to justify hierarchies and inequalities

White privilege

both obvious and less obvious passive advantages that white people may not recognize they have.

White privilege is an institutional. (rather than personal) set of benefits granted. to those of us who, by race, resemble the. people who dominate the powerful positions. in our institutions

Forever foreigner

the racist or xenophobic perception that naturalized and even native-born citizens, especially those from minority ethnic or racial groups, are always viewed as foreign, regardless of their citizenship or time spent in a country.

Residential segregation

the degree to which two or more groups live separately from one another, in different parts of an urban environment

Redlining

refusing loans to or steeply overcharging anyone buying in poor and minority neighborhoods

Block busting and white flight

whites left neighborhoods as minorities settled in

Urban renewal

involves examining the social impacts of transforming urban areas, including displacement, community disruption, and the reshaping of social structures and power dynamics, often with negative consequences for marginalized communities

Resource deserts

places that lack beneficial or critical amenities (service, food, healthcare, green, transit, and care)

Environmental racism

practice of exposing racial and ethnic minorities to more toxins and pollutants than white people.

Cultural racism

the belief that one culture is inherently superior or inferior to another, often manifesting through stereotypes, prejudices, and discrimination based on cultural differences

Implicit bias

the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious matter

Controlling images

stereotypes, often rooted in racism and sexism, used to justify the subordination and oppression of marginalized groups, making social injustices appear natural and inevitable.

Color-blind racism (Eduardo Bonilla Silva)

a new form of racism that perpetuates white dominance and privilege through subtle, seemingly non-racist explanations of racial inequality, rather than overt bigotry

Gender vs. sex

sex is biologically determined(genetically determined) and gender is socially constructed.

Gendered oppression

the systemic and institutionalized subordination of certain genders (often women) based on their gender, leading to unequal access to

Gender essentialism

The belief that males and females are born with distinctively different natures, determined biologically rather than culturally

Ginder binaries

the societal or cultural belief that there are only two genders, men and women, and that these genders are distinct and opposite.

Sexism

an ideology based on the belief that one sex is superior to another (mainly against women)

Androcentrism

Gender bias against people who perform femininity

Heteronormativity

the belief that heterosexuality is and should be the norm

Patriarchy

a social system where men hold primary power and dominate women in various aspects of society, including politics, economics, and culture (patriarchal/property marriage)

Hegemonic masculinity

Most wildly admired --> traits like strength, aggression, lack of emotion (think Chris Hemsworth)

Gender display

the conventionalized ways individuals act and present themselves to conform to or challenge societal expectations and norms associated with gender

"doing gender"

Ritualization of subordination (goffman)

how media and culture often portray women (and sometimes other marginalized groups) in ways that reinforce their perceived powerlessness and subservience, often through specific body language and poses

(codes of gender video)

Gendered stratification

the hierarchical arrangement of individuals in society based on gender, resulting in unequal access to resources, power, and opportunities (gender inequality)

Feminization of Poverty

a trend where women and children are disproportionately represented in poverty compared to men within the same socioeconomic status

Glass escalator

white men rise to the top in female dominated fields

Devaluation of care work

Jobs caring for other pays less and is valued less, because it is traditionally women in these roles.

Wage gap

persistent disparity in earnings between men and women, influenced by factors like occupational segregation, societal expectations, and discrimination

($1 for men = $0.88 for women)

The stalled revolution

sweeping change in gender relations that started but hasn't been fully realized

The crisis of men/masculinity

the perceived decline of traditional male roles and the resulting anxieties and uncertainties faced by men as societal norms and gender roles evolve, particularly due to women's increased independence and professional status

Intersectionality

how various social categories like race, gender, class, and sexual orientation intersect to create unique experiences of privilege and oppression

Matrix of domination (Collins)

race, class, and gender comprise interlocking systems of oppression

Situated and subjugated knowledge (collins)

Collins argues that knowledge is not objective or neutral, but is always situated within a specific social context and shaped by the experiences and perspectives of the knower. This means that our understanding of the world is influenced by our social location, including our race, class, gender, and other identities

Power and domination

"power" refers to the capacity to influence or control others, while "domination" signifies a specific form of power where one group or individual exerts control over another, often through coercion or the perception of legitimacy, leading to social inequality and potentially oppression

Power elites

relatively small group of interconnected people who occupy top positions in important social institutions

Social capital

the number of people we know and the resources they can offer us.

economic capital

money and material that can be used to produce goods and services

Social closure

process by which advantaged groups preserve opportunities for themselves while restricting them for others

(also avoiding regulation and oversight)

Supporting ideologies

the cultural force that maintains hierarchies

Hegemony

the dominance of a particular group or ideology, achieved not through force but through the widespread acceptance and internalization of their values and beliefs by subordinate groups, often through cultural institutions and media

shared ideas about how human life should be organized that are used to manufacture our consent to a specific way of thinking or behaving.

Not fear but agreement --> compliance to authority, use advertisements

hegemonic ideologies

shared ideas about how human life should be organized that are used to manufacture our consent to existing social conditions

(work ethic, intensive motherhood, meritocracy, individualism)

"dying of whiteness"

Dying of Whiteness," a book by Jonathan Metzl, explores how the politics of racial resentment in the US, particularly in the heartland, negatively impacts the health and well-being of white Americans, arguing that certain policies embraced by white voters, despite promises of "greatness," actually lead to poorer health outcomes