SO131 Final Exam Vocab

Absolute vs. Relative poverty

Absolute poverty: deprivation of resources that is life-threatening

Relative poverty: deprivation of resources relative to those who have more

Alienation

Feelings of hostility toward work or working conditions

Authority

Power that people perceive as legitimate rather than coercive

Automation

Programmable machinery

Biographical health

Reconstruction of a personal narrative to incorporate an illness

Biological determinism

One’s belief that their biological features reveal their social destiny

Black market

Economic activity outside the bounds of the law

Blended families

Families containing “step-” members

Bourgeoisie

Owners of the means of production

Proletariat

Wage-workers

Capitalism

An economic system in which resources and the means of production are privately owned

Caste/class/status system

Caste: stratification based on ascribed status

Class: stratification based on unequal distribution of wealth

Status: stratification based on social prestige

Charisma

Extraordinary personal qualities that generate emotional following

Charismatic/rational-legal/traditional authority

Charismatic authority: power legitimized through charisma

Rational-legal authority: power legitimized by legally-enacted rules and regulations

Traditional authority: power established through long-established cultural patterns

Church/sect/cult

Church: a religious organization integrated into/accepting of the larger society

Sect: a religious organization that stands apart from the larger society

Cult: religious organization substantially outside society’s cultural traditions

Class reproduction

The perpetuation of class inequalities across generations

Coercion

The use of force to get others to do what you want

Cohabitation

Sharing of a household by an unmarried couple

Color-blind racism

Attribution of racial inequalities to non-racial dynamics

Concerted cultivation/natural growth parenting

Concerted cultivation: parenting strategy of upper middle class; active management, use of reasoning, training child to self-advocate

Natural growth: parenting strategy of lower class; less active management; causes children to feel constrained by institutions

Cosmogony

Religious stories about the origins of the universe

Cottage industry

Labor undertaken in the home

Cult of domesticity

Notion that true womanhood inheres in domestic tasks

Cultural/economic/social capital\*

Cultural capital: symbolic and interactional resources we can use to our advantage in certain situations

Economic capital: financial assets

Social capital: networks and connections that can help us obtain desired goods

(Pierre Bourdieu)

Cumulative disadvantage

Small inequalities compound into larger ones over time

Denomination

A church that accepts religious pluralism (multiple religions)

Methods of secularization: differentiation/disaffiliation/privatization

Differentiation: development of new social spheres that obey their own rules

Disaffiliation: decline in individual religiosity

Privatization: relegation of religion to the private sphere

Diffusion

Spread of a social movement from one place to another

Discrimination

Any action that involves treating various categories of people unequally

Division of labor

Separation of work into multiple specialized occupations

Economic interdependence

Dependence on other workers for essential goods and services

Economy

A collection of social institutions that organize the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services

Endogamy/exogamy

Endogamy: marriage within a social category

Exogamy: marriage across social categories

Ethical rules

How people should behave

Ethnicity

A group of people united by heritage

Family

A social institution that unites individuals into cooperative groups that oversee conception and childcare

Family of choice

People who define themselves as a family regardless of legal standing or blood ties

Food desert

Communities where residents lack access to adequate food

Fordism

An economic system based upon mass production, mass consumption, and standard commodities

Formal/informal economy

Formal: work done for pay

Informal: transactions outside the sphere of regular employment

Formal/informal power

Formal: the organization of power through law and coercion

Informal: the workings of power in everyday encounters

Frames

Cognitive schemes that organize thinking, interpret events, and guide action

Gatekeeping

The action of controlling and limiting access to something

Gender

The social aspects of differences between male and female

Gender identity

The subjective identification with the male or female gender

Gender order

The way societies turn notions of masculinity and femininity into power relationships

Gender role

Learned and socially accepted characteristics for each sex

Gender typing

Correlation between the prestige/pay and the gender composition of an occupation

Gender violence

Any violent practices designed to maintain gender heirarchies

Glass ceiling

Invisible limit on women’s promotion in male-dominated professions

Glass escalator

Accelerated promotion of men in feminized jobs

Globalization

Growth in trade across vast distances

Government

A formal organization that directs the political life of a society

Habitus

Learned social habits that predispose us to act in certain ways

Heterosexism

An ideology that categorizes those who are not heterosexual as inferior

Homophily

The tendency of people to bond and associate with similar people

Intersex

Children born with ambiguous reproductive anatomy

Kinship

A social bond that joins individuals into families

Knowledge economy

An economy in which knowledge supports economic growth

Labor market segmentation

The division of the labor market into separate submarkets with different characteristics and rules

Labor union

An organization of workers designed to facilitate collective bargaining with an employer

Marriage

Legally-sanctioned, enduring familial relationship

Medicalization

The process by which problems or issues not traditionally seen as medical come to be framed as such

Middle class

A group with nonmanual occupations who earn substantially more than the poverty line

Mixed economy

A public-private arrangement where markets and government work together

Monogamy/polygamy

Monogamy: marriage between two partners

Polygamy: marriage among three or more partners

Nuclear family

A family consisting of mother, father, and children

One-drop rule

The belief that one drop of black blood makes a person black

Patriarchy

A form of social organization in which women are subordinated to men

Patrimonialism

A form of governance where all power flows directly from the leader

Polarization

The heightening of difference to emphasize a social status

Political opportunity

A change in the social or political environment that positions movements to attain goals

Political repertoire

Culturally familiar models for organizing collective action

Politics

Power relations among people or other social actors

Polymorphous perversity\*

Diverse sexual tastes (Freud)

Power

The ability to achieved desired ends despite resistance

Prejudice

An irrational generalization about a category of people

Primary/secondary labor market

Primary: occupations that provide benefits to workers

Secondary: occupations that do not provide benefits to workers

Profession

A prestigious occupation posessing knowledge and authority over a specific service

Race

A category of people who share biological traits that members of society deem socially significant

Racial covenant

Agreements by owners to not sell to blacks

Racial formation

A social structure organized around race and ethnicity

Racialization

The formation of a new racial identity by drawing new racial boundaries around a formerly unnoticed group of people

Racism

The belief that members of separate races have unequal traits coupled with the power to restrict freedoms based on those differences

Redlining

Agreements by lenders to not lend to blacks in certain neighborhoods

Regimes of health

Behaviors the chronically ill develop to organize their daily lives

Religion

A social institution involving beliefs and practices based upon an extraordinay concept

Religious “nones”

Individuals with no religious affiliation

Resources

Tangible assets a movement can use to build its power

Ritual

Formal, ceremonial behavior

Sacred/profane

Sacred: that which is extraordinary and treated with reverence

Profane: ordinary elements of everyday life

Scientific racism

Biological justifications for racism

Second shift

Women’s responsibility for housework and childcare, even when they work

Secularization

The declining influence of religious authority

Sex

Biological distinction between males and females

Sexism

The belief that one sex is innately superior to the other

Sexuality

Erotic aspects of the body and desire

Sexual orientation

Direction of romantic attraction

Sick role

Social obligations of a sick individual

Social change

The transformation of society over time