Sociology Exam 2 Review

Capital

The economic, social, or cultural resources we use to get things we want and need

Economic Capital

Financial resources that are or can be converted into money, including cash, investments, and valuable goods and property

Ex. Funds, was your family able to afford ACT tutoring? Did you attend a top school in your chosen field? Did you take annual vacations as a child?

Income

Steady sources of money (wages or salary as well as regular interest payments, social assistance, pensions, alimony)

Positive correlation with wealth (This can produce wealth and wealth can produce this)

Wealth

Money sitting in the bank and ownership of economic assets, minus debts (stocks, bonds, anything a person could conceivably sell: property, business, car, boat, art, etc.)

Positively correlated with income (This can produce income and can be produced by income)

Distribution of Income

How income is divided across Americans

There are 5 groups of households ranging from lowest to highest income

Disproportionate

Asymmetrical or unbalanced, resources are unevenly distributed

Economic Elite

The minority of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth (billionaires)

Caste Systems

Found in South Asia and people stayed in whatever stratified layer of society they were born into for a lifetime, passing their status to their children

Feudal Systems

Typical in Middle Age Europe, where rich and powerful nobility reigned over a peasant class that worked the nobleman’s land and received protection from neighboring armies

Enslavement Systems

Economic elite allowed to legally own a class of humans and exploit them for labor

Class Systems

Sort people into different positions in an economic hierarchy but allow them to rise or fall

Produce high levels of social stratification compared for foraging societies, but allow people to move up and down the economic ladder by talent, effort, and luck

Wage

Cash payments given to workers in exchange for their labor

Capitalism

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

How you use capital to create a profit

Goods are produced for profit and exchanged based on demand and competition

Prices, production, and distribution of goods are determined primarily by competition in the marketplace

Ex. A private owner of a restaurant buys the food and hires employees to compete with other restaurants and business owners

Proletariat

People who were employed by others and who worked for a wage. They did most of the work, trading their labor for a wage

Bourgeoisie

People who employed the workers. Owned the means of production (resources used to create wealth). Bought proletariat’s labor and used it as another means of production

Ex. Company owners, shareholders, investors are able to run their companies and reach success because they benefit from the labor of the proletariat

Alienation

Word used by Karl Marx to describe the feeling of dissatisfaction and disconnection from the fruit’s of one’s labor

Capitalist production leads to this as we are separated from environment, unable to control means of production, dispensable as wage laborers

Ex. Medical workers spend more time charting than actually meeting with and providing care to patients because they are serving the insurance companies, causing a disconnect

Crisis of Capitalism

A coming catastrophic implosion from which capitalism would never recover

Class Consciousness

An understanding that members of a social class share economic interests

An individuals understanding of their class and position in a given society

Ex. Working class recognizes that they are being exploited and that there is need for social change

Socialism

What Marx predicted would replace capitalism. An economic system based on shared ownership of resources used to create wealth that is then distributed by governments for the enrichment of all

The goal is not income, but rather to produce goods and services that meet human needs

Heavily focuses on collective control of production and other processes rather than individual private ownership associated with capitalism

Free Market Capitalism

A capitalist society with little or no government regulation

Labor Unions

Associations that organize workers so they can negotiate with their employers as a group instead of as individuals (higher wages and overtime pay are often fought for)

Ex. National Education Association represents teachers and educators to help them fight for better benefits, pay, etc.

Transfer Payments

Redistributions of wealth from one social group to another to shuffle money collected by the Bourgeoisie back down to the workers

Payments that act as a social safety net to alleviate poverty and reduce income inequality.

Ex. If an individual is struggling financially, they may receive unemployment insurance, welfare benefits, or disability payments to support them

Social Safety Net

Programs that help with housing, nutrition, health and other basic needs for families and individuals living in poverty

A patchwork of programs intended to ensure that the more economically vulnerable have basic necessities

Turn from free market capitalism to welfare capitalism as the economic system aimed at distributing the profits of capitalism more evenly across the population

Ex. Social security, minimum wage, unemployment insurance, workplace injury compensation

Living Wage

An income that allows full-time workers to afford their basic needs

Welfare Capitalism

A capitalist economic system with some social policy aimed at distributing the profits of capitalism more evenly across the population

Associated with the practice of businesses providing welfare services to their employees

Ex. A corporation may provide healthcare, education, or pension to employees to reduce inequality and provide security

New Gilded Age

The US economic conditions since 2000

Extreme wealth concentration and growing economic inequality as was seen in the late 19th century

Federal Poverty Line

The government’s threshold for the minimum level of income needed to provide for basic needs

Amount a family is required to earn in a year to meet basic needs (does not count for regional differences in cost of living)

Most benefits are only accessible at 125% of the poverty line

Service and Information Economy

One centered on jobs in which workers provide services or work with information

A system where knowledge is extremely of value and value comes from knowledge as opposed to manufacturing physical goods

Ex. Tech firms using user data to provide personalized advertising and services.

Precariat

A new class of workers who live economically precarious lives (draws attention to the economic insecurity faced by many Americans)

Insecure and intermittent labor

Ex. Gig workers or individuals without long-term contracts or individuals who are trapped in low-wage jobs that they are overqualified for

Free Riders

People who reap the benefits without contributing

Quiet Quitting

A trend in the early 2020s that endorsed putting in minimal effort at work

Working Poor

People in the labor force who earn poverty-level wages

Protestant Work Ethic

The idea that one’s character can and should be measured by one’s dedication to paid work (Gives Americans an almost religious faith in hard work)

Comparative Sociology

A research method developed by Max Weber which involves collecting and analyzing data about 2 or more cases that can be usefully compared and contrasted

Case

An instance of a thing of interest (person, group of people, organization, event, place)

Social Mobility

Opportunity to move up or down in the economic hierarchy

High = easy to move up and down

Low = Difficult to move up and down

Glass Ceiling

An invisible barrier that restricts upward mobility (upper limit above which someone born without economic advantage will almost never rise no matter their talent, effort, or qualifications

Ex. I worked with an engineer who was unable to receive any further promotions due to only having an associates degree even though he was overly qualified in every other realm

Glass Floor

An invisible barrier that restricts downward mobility. Economic advantage ensures few will ever find themselves at the bottom

Ex. Affluent parents are able to give their children the best education, support them in finding housing, etc. which prevents those children from falling down the economic ladder

Wealth Gaps

Differences in the amount of money and economic assets owned by people from different social identity groups

Wage Gaps

Differences between the hourly earnings of different social identity groups

Legitimization

A process by which a potentially controversial social fact is made acceptable

Making social orders, power structures, or behaviors normative within a society

Starts by explaining why power, inequality, or a structure is appropriate and then makes social arrangements in line with those justifications

Ex. Justifying inequality or power systems by associating them to the American Dream

Racism

A term that refers to a society’s production of unjust outcomes for some racial or ethnic groups

Residential Segregation

Sorting of different kinds of people into separate neighborhoods enables uneven delivery of helpful and harmful goods and services, from environmental toxins to parks and playgrounds

Spatial Analysis

Research method in which data are layered onto a landscape that has been divided into fine-grained segments

Cross Institutional Advantage and Disadvantage

People advantaged by one institution are often advantaged by others and vice versa

Ex. Growing up in a safe, healthy neighborhood provides access to schools with college prep classes, safe parks, public transportation, community resources like art centers or museums, etc.

Cumulative Advantage and Disadvantage

Institutional advantage and disadvantage builds over the life course

Ex. Parents pay for your tuition or your house, allowing you to avoid debt and have more choice in your career/life

Intergenerational Advantage and Disadvantage

Children usually inherit advantage or disadvantage from their parents

Ex. Parents’ home ownership or farmland ownership allows them to pass on profits of house/farm sale to children

Institutional Discrimination

Widespread and enduring practices that persistently disadvantage some kinds of people while advantaging others

Ex. Occupations that require strength advantage men because they are seen as stronger than women. Not hiring women because you assume they will start a family and need maternity leave.

Institutional Racism

A society’s production of unjust outcomes for some racial or ethnic groups

Hypersegregation

Residential segregation so extreme that many people’s daily lives involve little or no contact with people of other races (commonly experienced by Black Americans in urban areas)

Indian Reservations

Areas of land held by the state or federal government but governed by tribal nations (Hypersegregated by design)

White Fight

Organized white resistance to integration

Ex. At one point real estate agents were required to show only white people houses in “white” neighborhoods

White Flight

White people start leaving a neighborhood when minority residents begin to move in

Redlining

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

Noise Pollution

Persistent, unwanted, and unavoidable sounds with the potential to harm the well being of people and other animals (Lincoln Heights gun range)

Resource Deserts

Places (like Lincoln Heights) that lack critical amenities like a desert lacks water

Service Deserts

Less functional utilities, infrastructure, and emergency/nonemergency services (less reliable electricity, unfixed, potholes, slower emergency response times)

Food Deserts

Regions lacking access to affordable, healthy food

Health Care Deserts

Regions without access to medical care

Green Deserts

Neighborhoods without open spaces, parks, or playgrounds

Care Deserts

No nearby daycare options, elder-care residencies, or services for people with disabilities

Tech Deserts

No cell phone or broadband internet service

Transit Deserts

Neighborhoods without adequate transportation services, including roads, freeways, public transportation, bike lanes, or sidewalks

Environmental Racism

The practice of exposing racial and ethnic minorities to more toxins and pollutants than white people encounter (water crisis in Flint, Michigan which is predominantly Black)

Race is the most significant factor to determining if you live near toxic waste or an industrial site

Meritocracy

A dystopian world in which, despite the abundance and variety of human talents, a person’s worth is determined wholly by their performance on a standardized IQ test

Inequality Between Schools

Differences in the quality of education delivered by different schools

Inequality Within Schools

Differences in the educational experiences of students attending the same schools

Achievement Gaps

Disparities in the academic accomplishments of different kinds of students

Tracking

The practice of placing students in different classrooms according to their perceived ability

Expect students from middle/upper-class homes to perform better than those living in poverty

Adultification

A form of bias in which adult characteristics are attributed to children

Punishing or sexualizing children as if they are full-grown adults

School-To-Prison Principle

A practice of disciplining and punishing youth in school that routes them out of education and into the criminal justice system

Mass Incarceration

An extremely high rate of imprisonment in cross-cultural and historical perspectives

Mass Deportation

An extremely high rate of deportation in cross-cultural and historical perspectives

Cross-Institutional Advantage and Disadvantage

When people are positively or negatively served across multiple institutions

People disadvantaged in one institution are more likely to be disadvantaged in others)

Cumulative Advantages and Disadvantages

Whereby advantage or disadvantage builds over time

Ex. A student attends a good school which gets them a high-paying job early in life and allows them better opportunities for promotions, therefore increasing their professional advantage

Intergenerational Advantage and Disadvantage

Passed from parents to children

Structural Violence

When institutional discrimination is so effective that it prevents people from meeting even basic needs for food, water, shelter, peace of mind, and bodily autonomy

Institutional discrimination that injures the body and mind

Ex. Lack of access to healthcare or quality medical care for minority populations cause higher maternal mortality rates

Sexism

The production of unjust outcomes for people seen as women

Disadvantages cis and trans women

System of beliefs/actions asserting the inferiority of one sex and justify discrimination based on gender

Androcentrism

The production of unjust outcomes for people who perform femininity

Disadvantages all people who perform femininity regardless of gender

Gender bias that produces unjust outcomes for people who perform femininity, devalues femininity, centers interests that are denominated by men over those dominated by women

Ex. Many medical studies claim to apply to men and women but were only tested with men

Time-Use Diaries

A research method in which participants are asked to self-report their activities at regular intervals

Stalled Revolution

A sweeping change in gender relations that has yet to be fully realized

A halting of the progress toward gender equality

Ex. Many women began to enter the workforce out of necessity but the men did not begin to take care of the housework, leading women to be doing double the work rather than leading to gender equity

Patriarchy

Relations that empower men at the expense of women

Cultural beliefs and values that typically give higher prestige and importance to men than women

Common today

Wage and leadership gap

“Pink Tax”

Stigma associated with men and boys engaging in feminine activities

Subordinated Masculinities

Men who are seen as lesser based on the androcentric logic that masculine is better than feminine

Marginalized Masculinities

Perceived to be sufficiently masculine but are considered lesser by the virtue of another social identity (working class men must be overly sexist and abusive)

Hegemonic Masculinity

Describes the version of masculinity that is the most culturally admired and rewarded

At the top of the ranking and validates the idea that men are the better sex

This is the ideal person whom both men and women are judged based off of

Hegemonic Femininity

The version of femininity that is the most culturally admired and rewarded (only truly accessible to privileged women and only applies to women unlike the similar term relating to masculinity)

Ex. Submissiveness, passivity, nurturing, overly emotional, beauty standards/ideals

Patriarch/Property Marriage

Oldest model of marital relations in which women and children are owned by men. Legally defined women and children as equivalent to any other form of property (late 1800s)

Married women did not have legal rights

Women’s property/wealth became property of her husband once married

Breadwinner/Homemaker Marriage

A model of marriage that involved a wage-earning spouse supporting a stay-at-home spouse and children (facilitated by the Industrial Revolution)

Wage-earning spouse supports a stay-at-home spouse and children

Women have rights, but institutionalized dependence on men

Ideology of Separate Spheres

Cleared the way for the kind of marriage often referred to as traditional today. Separate spheres were unequal, and women were assigned to the least-valued work

Women were no longer property but expected to take care of everything and everyone without credit for their labor

Home = feminine, Work = masculine

Normalized 100 years ago

Mononormative

Promoted monogamy or the requirement that spouses have sexual relations only with each other

Pro-Natal

A marriage (usually breadwinner) that only reached full completion with the birth of children

Stigmatizes not having children

Partnership Unions

A relationship model based on love and companionship between equals (dual-earner marriages were a step toward institutionalizing this)

Second Shift

The unpaid work of housekeeping and childcare that family members do once they return home from their paid jobs

Disproportionately falls to women in heteronormative marriages

All of the work women do after returning from their paid jobs essentially acts as a second job, whereas men can come home from work and just relax

Shared Divisions of Labor

Both parents do an equal share of paid and unpaid work

Specialized Division of Labor

One partner does more paid work than childcare and housework and the other does the inverse

Same gender couples are less likely to have specialized divisions of labor and are more likely to share, particularly if both individuals are women

Most couples specialize even if they would prefer to share

Ideology of Intrusive Motherhood

The idea that children require concentrated maternal investment. Insists that mothers should give their children constant hands-on attention, that it is normal and good for this to drain most of the mother’s time and energy, and that fathers are no substitute

Domestic Outsourcing

What some women do to escape the demands of domesticity by paying nonfamily members to do family-related tasks. Allows families with means to manage the work of the second shift by hiring third parties

Does not raise the feminine sphere and does not require men to do their fair share of the unpaid and underappreciated labor in the home

Global Care Chains

Linked, nurturing relationships in which the international work of care is displaced onto increasingly disadvantaged paid of underpaid workers

Care Work Ethic

One that posits that a person’s character can and should be measured not only by what one can earn in the marketplace, but also by one’s contribution to the care of others

Gender Wage Gap

Differences between the hourly earnings of men and women or masculine and feminine people

There are also wage gaps between those who are heterosexual compared to those who are not