sociology strat

what is meant by social stratification

a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy

what is social inequality

the unequal distribution of wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society

stratification: class

uk/ western world, determined by occupation

stratification: apartheid

south africa, separated in terms of resources + access to facilities.

stratification: caste

india, religious stratification system to determine social positioning

stratification: feudal

medieval europe, based on belief god has ordained king in his power

alienation- marx

humans are reduced to the level of their only purpose of filling a physical gap, producing u der the compulsion of direct physical need

elite

a small group of powerful people

false class consciousness

belief proletariat don't see the exploration happening to them

oligarchy

A government ruled by a few powerful people

ruling class ideology

beliefs and values that allow ruling class to justify their position

scambler

we are now in era of financial capitalism and a tiny minority has true wealth or power

MNCs

hammy commentators agree that giant multinational corporations have too much power

critics of MNCs

argue wealthy are able to influence government and avoid paying tax by exploiting loopholes in different countries' tax system eg. jeff bezos

Weber 4 main social classes

property owners, professionals, petty beorgoisie, working class ALSO stressed importance of of non-economic factors

example of non-economic class factors

members of aristocracy may have no savings but title gives status

overall functionalist view

some positions are more important than others, talented people will only be persuaded to undertake the lengthy training required if rewards are seen

example of functionalist rewards

generous salaries, private health cover, high status

examples of skills

Alevels, diploma, PHD

Davis and Moore

some positions are vital to society but not everyone has the talent to fill these posts so social inequality is justified

registrar generals scale

Descriptive approach to measuring social class, used from 1911 - 1990s, based on occupational skill.

professional occupations

solicitors, surgeons

managerial and technical

teachers, nurses

skilled non- managerial

secretaries

skilled manual occupations

electricians

partly skilled occupations

care takers

unskilled occupations

cleaners

problems with general classification

occupational class scales tell us nothing about an individuals wealth and property

embourgoisiement thesis

idea that working class families were becoming middle class in their norms and values as their incomes and standards of living improved

what has the embourgoisiement thesis led to

affluence led them to adopt privatised lifestyles causing traditional working class values to disappear

goldthorpe

there is an emerging working class striving for comfortable lives- instrumentalist

instrumentalism

refers to seeing something as a means to and end rather than as an end in itself

devine

found high levels of unemployment, found solidarity rather than individualism, did unstructured interviews

what is meant by social mobility

measures how open society is, refers to people's movement up or down a society's strata

intra- generation social mobility

movement of an individual between social classes over their lifetime as a result of eg. a promotion

inter- generation social mobility

movement between the generations of a family and occurs when a child enters a different social class from their parents

state some routes to mobility

educational achievements, marriage, windfalls

state a barrier to mobility

discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, lack of skills/educational achievements

statistic for social mobility

a working class child's chances of getting a professional job are 1/4 of children of a professional class

Crompton

social mobility is in decline to due decrease in manual jobs

what is meant by 'polish'

confidence, dress, speech, accent, and behaviour. advantages people who have been socialised in a upper/middle class environment

problem in measuring social mobility

studies record at two (or more) points in time- researchers have to decide which age and point in a career to measure e.g a young person might be in a temporary job (call centre) while waiting for opening in city bank

what is meant by class alignment

working class voting labour, middle-class conservative

saunders

social background and identifies can influence where people end up in the occupational heirarchy; parents, gender, the type of school, and conditions at school are important

holmes

society is still organised in ways that tend to benefit men more than women eg. after 2015 general election, 459 male MPs and 191 female MPs

fiscal study

2016, women on average earn 1/5 less an hour than men in 2015 due to access aspiration, opportunity

what is meant by crisis of masculinity

men see traditional masculine identity as under threat because likely to get low-paid insecure jobs in the service sector or to experience long-term unemployment

critics of crisis of masculinity

many young women are in a similar position in the job market.

laws relating gender

sex discrimination, equalities, equal pay

what is meant by an ethnic group

social group whose members share an identity based on their cultural traditions, religion, or language

what is meant by race

idea that humankind could be divided into different racial groups on the basis of natural, physical characteristics

Define assimilation

suggests immigrants should abandon their culture in favour of the majority.

Li

examined position of different ethnic groups in relation to paid employment

what did Li find

people from Indian and Chinese minority ethnic groups had the same chances of getting professional and managerial jobs as White British peers. Black Caribbean ethnics had much worse chances

topics to bring in when discussing ethnicity

crime (canteen culture) education (labelling, ethno-centric curriculum)

chronology age

year you are born, and the rights you have or not

biological age

what your physical body is going through

age as a social category

the societal assumptions made about age groups and what they should be doing

belief about age as an inequality

when coupled up with other prejudices eg. class, ethnicity, gender the inequality is enhanced

what will the transition of being a child to adult involve

increasing independence, finishing full-time education, gaining more status in society

define learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation learnt when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

what happened before state retirement pensions were introduced in 1908

older people worked until they were physically unable to continue

democracy

government by the people

what is meant by government by people

in a democratic society, power is distributed widely and the governments power is based on consent rather than coercion

dictatorship

political power is concentrated in hands of a dictator who rules by force

censorship

of the media is tight governmental control of the contents of eg. newspapers. broadcasts occur under a dictatorship

propoganda

campaigns used to further political aims of a dictatorship, and promote particular views

how do general elections in the UK work

voters in a constituency each cast one vote

what is the electoral system in the UK called

first-past-the-post

what is the role of state insititutions

to make, implement, and enforce laws

what is the pluralist approach to the role of the state

political power is shared. the states role is to act as a neutral referee rather than to take sides, regulating different interests and serving the needs of all citizens

what is the conflict approach to the role of the state

those in powerful positions within the state come from privileged backgrounds and serve the interest of the beorgeoisie

pluralist view on social movements

pressure groups, trade unions, and new social movements are crucial to a democracy

example of social movement

environmentalism, extinction rebellion

what do social movements do

allow like-minded citizens to join together and put forward their views by bringing about social change and taking direct action

conflict view on social movements

some groups exert more influence on policy makers and dominate decision making

Walby

patriarchy exists in six different forms

What are Walby's six structures of patriarchy?

work, household, culture, control of body, male violence against women, state

patriarchy of work

wage gap, women excluded from certain types of work, labour traps women to domestic roles

patriarchy of household

partner benefits from unpaid labour

patriarchy of culture

femininity, beauty ideal, male gaze, double standards (slag vs lad)

patriarchy of control of body

reduction of women to objects, control mechanisms only further lack of autonomy women have over their lives

patriarchy of male violence against women

physical control

patriarchy of state

policies, women not being able to thrive, little improvement to improve position

criticism of Walby

is this still the case today? gender pay gap has been addressed, metoo movement

What did the Equality Act 2010 do?

protected people from discrimination based on characteristics

criticism of equality act

people sexuality, religions, beliefs, and disability can affect their life chances

what is hate crime

a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence.

what can hate crime be linked to

negative sterotyping of some social groups, victims can be seen as scapegoats. seen as an example of the use of coercion to try and control some groups.

define wealth

the value of assets owned

define income

money received, especially on a regular basis, for work or through investments.

example of high income but low wealth

shop owner- liquidity but little cash inflow

example of low income but high wealth

inheritance

define absolute poverty

When a person's continued daily existence is threatened because they have insufficient resources to meet their basic needs.

define relative poverty

When a person is poor compared with others in their society. Most poverty in developed countries tends to be relative poverty.

Walker and Walklate 1997

definition chosen by state is crucial. if absolute chosen, the role of the government and number of resources need to address would be more limited than if a relative was chosen

Townsend

focused on defining poverty, subjective and environmental

define subjective poverty

an individual's perception on his or her financial/material situation

define environmental poverty

measures deprivation in terms of conditions such as inadequate housing, lack of garden

who are socially excluded people

those who would like to participate but are prevented by factors beyond their control