#8 social stratification

social stratification

the way in which society is organized into layers based on wealth, power, and status

income quintile share

the share of total income earned by each fifth of the population, ranked by income

• observes income inequality changes over time

gini index of inequality

measure of income inequality ranging from 0 (every household earns exactly the same income) to 1.0 (single household earns all income)

human capital

sum of useful skills and knowledge that an individual possesses

• investment in education and training

social capital

networks or connections that individuals possess

cultural capital

peoples ability to

• impress others,

• use tasteful language and images effectively,

• influence and persuade others

meritocracy

social system where rewards, power, and status are distributed based on individual ability, talent, and effort rather than inherited wealth or social class

most people earn most of their income from…

wages

rich people tend to earn most of their income from

investments in stocks and properties

capital gains

50% of income from profits on sales of stocks and properties

defining poverty with absolute terms

focus on bare essentials

defining poverty with relative terms

how far from the average income

expulsion

forcible removal of a population from a territory claimed by another population

how does expulsion apply to indigenous people

• creation of reserve system

• limitations on housing, equity

two types of factors for homelessness in Canada

• individual-level

• structural level

feudalism (marx)

legal arrangement in preindustrial Europe that bound peasants to the land and obliged them to give their landlords a set part of the harvest

how is class determined in marxs terms

by a persons relationship to the means of production

bourgeoisie

owners of the means of production

• factories, tools, the land

• income derives from profits

proletariat

working class

• physical labour

• earn wages

petite bourgeoisie

• class of small scale capitalists who own the means of production but employ a few workers or none at all

• bound to disappear as capitalism develops (economically inefficient)

max weber’s theory of class conflict

• class is a distributional concept

• change in class is associated with an individual's value in the marketplace

• four classes

four classes in max weber’s theory

1. large property owners

2. small property owners

3. propertyless but relatively high-educated / well paid employees

4. propertyless manual workers

status groups (max weber)

differ in terms of the prestige or social honour they enjoy, also in terms of style of life

parties (weber)

organizations that seek to impose their will on others

weber emphasized ___________ as important non-economic sources of inequality

prestige and power

functional theory of stratification

1. some jobs are more important than others are

2. people make sacrifices to train for important jobs

3. inequality is required to motivate people to undergo these sacrifices

critique of functional theory of stratification

1. from historical pov, none of the important jobs would exist w/o the unimportant ones (physical labour)

2. ignores talent undiscovered because of inequality

3. fails to examine how advantages are passed from generation to generation