social inequalities quiz 2

poverty 

• Poverty is a condition of deprivation due to economic circumstances

• Poverty is associated with poor health, behavioral problems, poor educational attainment, teenage pregnancy, and continued poverty

Absolute Poverty

The point to which a households’ income falls below the necessary level to purchase food to physically sustain members

Relative Poverty

A measurement of poverty based on a percentage of the median income in a given location.

Economic Inequality

Economic inequality refers to the extent of the economic difference between the rich and the poor

Wealth and Income Inequality

Wealth is the value of your assets (what you own, like a house or car) minus the value of your debts (what you owe)

- Income refers to money earned or received through paid work, renting out property, government benefits (eg a social security check), and the like

Capitalism

an economic system that is based on the private ownership of means of production, and the operation of these means for the purposes of profit

Means of production

Physical assets and resources used to create goods and services, including factories, machinery, tools, land, and raw materials

Feudalism

• Characterized by a hierarchy

• Nobility owned land, resources, and labor

• Serfs reaped minimal benefits from land and produce

Agricultural Revolution

A period of significance and rapid change in farming practices that dramatically increases food production

Industrial Revolution

A period of major industrialization  and technological advancement from the late 18th to 19th century 

Wage Labor System

an economic arrangement where individuals sell their labor to an employer in exchange for monetary payment, typically on an hourly, daily, or contractual basis

Predestination

The belief that an individual's salvation or damnation has been predetermined by God, regardless of their actions or beliefs

Exploitation of Labor (Marx)

Capitalists make a profit off of the surplus labor of their workers

Alienation

  i. From labor

  ii. From self

  iii. From others

  Class Consciousness

the awareness of one's social or economic rank in society and the recognition of common interests with others in the same class. This awareness, particularly in Marxist theory, is seen as a key factor for potential collective action or social change, as it can lead to a shared identity and solidarity among members of a class against perceived injustices. 

Socialism

Socialism is an economic and political system advocating for collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, rather than by private individuals/corporations

Communism

Communism is a political and economic ideology, most famously theorized by Karl Marx, advocating for a classless society where all property and means of production are owned communally.

 Social Problem

A condition or behavior that negatively affects a large number of people and is widely recognized as needing to be addressed

Sweat Shop

• Very low wages

• Minimal benefits other than wages

• Physical or verbal abuse of workers

• Dangerous or unhealthy workplace conditions

• Obstruction of workers’ rights to organize themselves to resist these conditions

Globalization

increased interconnectedness of the world, leading to the integration of economies, culture, and people across international borders through trade, communication, and technology.

Economic Globalization

The process of integrating markets and trade so goods, services, and investments can move move freely across national borders. economies become more interconnected through international trade, multinational corporations, and financial flows

Neoliberalism

• Companies have increasingly been able to cross international boundaries to find cheaper labor

• Governments decreasingly regulate how companies can treat their workers

• Governments also decreasingly provide economic support for people who are out of work

Sex versus Gender

Sex is  a biological  classification based on physical characteristics, while gender is a social construct based on roles and identity

Essentialism

The belief that groups and individuals have a set of innate, unchangeable, and fixed characteristics that define their identity or “essence”

Gender Roles

Societal roles that dictate how a person should behave, dress, and act based on their perceived gender

What causes poverty?

Lack of access to education and jobs, conflict, poor infrastructure, and social and economic inequalities such as discrimination and lack of government support

How do Feudalism and Capitalism compare/differ?

Feudalism was a land-based system with a rigid social hierarchy where lords controlled land and peasants owed labor in exchange for protection, with an agrarian and largely non-monetary economy. Capitalism is based on private ownership of the means of production (like factories) and market competition

What is the “backbone” of Capitalism?

Private property

Effects of Agricultural Revolution

• Technological innovation; increased food output

• Land became very profitable for nobility, who then enclosed their lands

• Displacement of serfs and tenants forced them to migrate to cities for labor 

How did the Industrial Revolution affect society, the economy, employment opportunities, etc?

• New technologies: mechanization of textile industries

• Manufacturing process became efficient

• Increased the number and variety of jobs

• Corporations emerged

• Monetary system helped to establish the system of wage labor 

Feminist critiques of wage labor

• Family wage reproduces patriarchal ideas of women's dependency on men

• Places undue pressures on men to fulfill gender roles such as sole breadwinners

• Is used to justify lower wage compensation of women in the workplace

• Thus, it is used to create and perpetuate gendered inequality

cultural implications of globalization

• Mass production

• Mass consumption

• material culture

• Mass culture is produced as popular culture

environmental implications of globalization

• Animal cruelty 

• Pollution

• Environmental destruction 

  Class power and activism

Class power is the influence a social class (wealthy) holds over society due to its control of economic resources. Activism is the action or practice of promoting and supporting a cause, which can be significantly shaped by class dynamics, with some movements aiming to challenge class-based power structures

How is gender as a social construct?

Societies create and agree upon norms, roles, and expectations for “masculine” and “feminine” behavior, rather than these  being purely biological 

 How do social institutions impact gender expectations?

Shaping and reinforcing norms through various processes