Social Stratification and Inequality Key Terms

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards based on the lecture notes covering key sociological concepts including social class, mobility, and poverty.

Absolute poverty

A minimum level of subsistence that no family should be expected to live below.

Achieved status

A social position that a person attains largely through their own efforts.

Ascribed status

A social position assigned to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics.

Bourgeoisie

Karl Marx's term for the capitalist class, comprising the owners of the means of production.

Capitalism

An economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumulation of profits.

Caste

A hereditary rank, usually religiously dictated, that tends to be fixed and immobile.

Class

A group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income.

Class consciousness

In Karl Marx's view, a subjective awareness held by members of a class regarding their common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about social change.

Class system

A social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility.

Closed system

A social system in which there is little or no possibility of individual social mobility.

Conspicuous consumption

Purchasing goods not to survive but to flaunt one's superior wealth and social standing.

Dominant ideology

A set of cultural beliefs and practices that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests.

Estate system

A system of stratification under which peasants were required to work land leased to them by nobles in exchange for military protection and other services. Also known as feudalism.

Esteem

The reputation that a specific person has earned within an occupation.

Experiment

An artificially created situation that allows a researcher to manipulate variables.

False consciousness

A term used by Karl Marx to describe an attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect their objective position.

Feminization of poverty

A trend in which women constitute an increasing proportion of the poor people of both the United States and the world.

Gig economy

The workforce of people engaged in freelance and side-hustle work.

Horizontal mobility

The movement of an individual from one social position to another of the same rank.

Human trafficking

Transporting people against their will through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.

Income

Refers to salaries and wages, interest on savings, stock dividends, and rental income.

Intergenerational mobility

Changes in the social position of children relative to their parents.

Intragenerational mobility

Changes in social position within a person's adult life.

Life chances

Max Weber's term for the opportunities people have to provide themselves with material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experiences.

Objective method

A technique for measuring social class that assigns individuals to classes on the basis of criteria such as occupation, education, income, and place of residence.

Open system

A social system in which the position of each individual is influenced by his or her achieved status.

Power

The ability to exercise one's will over others.

Precarious work

Employment that is poorly paid, and from the worker's perspective, insecure and unprotected.

Prestige

The respect and admiration that an occupation holds in a society.

Proletariat

Karl Marx's term for the working class in a capitalist society.

Relative poverty

A floating standard of deprivation by which people at the bottom of a society, whatever their lifestyles, are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole.

Slavery

A system of enforced servitude in which some people are owned by other people.

Social inequality

A condition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power.

Social mobility

Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society's stratification system to another.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

A measure of social class that is based on income, education, and occupation.

Status group

A term used by Max Weber to refer to people who have the same prestige or lifestyle, independent of their class positions.

Stratification

A structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society.

Underclass

The long-term poor who lack training and skills.

Vertical mobility

The movement of an individual from one social position to another of a different rank.

Wealth

An inclusive term encompassing all of a person's material assets, including land, stocks, and other types of property.