Sociology (2)

social inequality

disparity in income, wealth, power, prestige, and other resources

social stratification

systematic ranking of different groups of people in a hierarchy of inequality

five class model (bottom to top)

lower class, working class, lower middle class, upper middle class, upper class

what do social rankings apply to?

categories of people

achieved status

acquisition of socially valued credentials or skills (education, work experience)

ascribed status

characteristics that cannot be altered (race, gender)

caste societies

social structure closed; people remain at the social level of their birth throughout life

social mobility in caste societies is…?

virtually impossible

what are cased societies based on?

personal characteristics present at birth: race, ethnicity, parental religion, parental caste, etc.

what are caste societies based on?

ascribed rather than achieved characteristics

examples of caste societies

* US slavery & segregation era
* India’s historical legacy of a caste hierarchy

class societies

social structure allows people to change their socioeconomic position

social mobility in class societies is…?

sometimes possible

what is class position determined by in class societies?

economic status (whether earned or inherited) rather than by religion or tradition

class societies are?

relatively fluid

relatively fluid

boundaries between classes can be crossed

what are class societies based on?

achieved rather than ascribed characteristics

social categories

people who share common characteristics without necessarily interacting or identifying with one another

nouveau riche

upward social mobility of the 19th & 20th century - wealth gained within one’s own generation

nouveau poor

downward social mobility of the Great Recession (2007-2009)

class

economic position in society associated with differences in income, wealth, & occupation

life chances

opportunities/obstacles in education, social life, work, & other areas critical to social mobility - influenced by class

social mobility

upward or downward status movement of individuals or groups over time

income

amount of money a person/household earns in a given period of time (annual salary)

* job salary, investments, social security, disability
* food, clothing, shelter, health care, & other costs of daily living

wealth (net worth)

value of everything a person owns, minus value of everything owed

* home equity, vehicles, stocks, bonds, cash, & other forms of investment assets
* (theoretically) built up over a lifetime & passed down over generations to create new opportunities
* high-quality education, business ventures, access to travel/leisure, financial security creation of new wealth

what is most important for getting ahead in stratification system?

wealth

what does net financial assets equal?

investments

occupation

person’s main vocation or paid employment

blue collar

manual labor

white collar

analytic skills or formal education

pink collar

semi-skilled, low paid service positions for primarily women

gold collar

young professionals, high salaries, & occupational positions

status

prestige associated with social position

* income NOT necessarily associated with high degree of status or prestige in the minds of the public

high prestige

doctors, scientists, nurses, firefighters, teachers, military officers, professors

* requires work with ideas or providing services that contribute to the public
* changes over time
* high prestige doesn’t equal high pay

low prestige

actors, stockbrokers, accountants, real estate agents

political power

ability to exercise influence on political institutions and/or actors to realize personal or group interests

* mobilization of resources
* successful achievement of political goals

C Wright Mill’s “Powe Elite”

* executive branch, military & corporate elites
* share common background & worldview
* consensus on major decisions

income inequality

the unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy

* top 20% take in about 50% of the total income in the US
* top 5% earn 22% of total income, more than bottom 40% combined
* top 1% owns nearly 40% of the wealth
* median households wealth of whites is 20 times that of black households & 18 times that of Latino households
* 2014 study ( Saez & Zucman) found that in about 50% of US households, debts are roughly equal to assets, meaning the family has zero wealth

inequalities in health care

* prior to ACA 48.6 million (15%) of US population uninsured
* poor at higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, obesity
* poor less physically active (less access safe or well-equipped facilities in which to play and exercise)
* poor more likely to die from cancer (lack access to health insurance or clinics that offer health screenings)
* hospitalization rate for asthma for African American kids 4-5 times higher than rate for white kids

food deserts

areas bereft of stores/markets selling competitively priced, healthy, & fresh food

* residents need to travel great distances to shop at high-quality grocery stores

why has inequality grown?

* decrease in unionization
* devalued service jobs favor women
* labor demands have changed → workers with more education are more highly valued, whereas those with little education becoming less valued

minimum wage jobs

many minimum-wage workers earn below the official poverty line

service sector occupations

* have increasingly replaced manufacturing jobs as the primary employment for people with less education
* are less likely to offer benefits (medical or dental insurance)
* often do NOT have paid sick days (retail & restaurant workers)
* unlikely to get job benefits → explains decline in health insurance coverage in the bottom quintile of earners (1980s - 1990s)

official poverty line

* dollar amount set by government as the minimum necessary to meet the basic needs of the family
* based on a 1960s estimate that the average family spends about 1/3 of its income on food
* 2015 (most recent year data are available) poverty threshold for a family of 4 was $24, 257
* official national poverty rate was 13.5% of population
* 43.1 million people in poverty
* female headed households with no husband present has the highest level of poverty in the US
* minimum wage workers earn below or just barely above this

functionalist perspective

* Kingsley Davis & Wilbert Moore (1945)
* important jobs require more skill/talent/training than others & have less personnel
* society offers rewards such as money/prestige/leisure to ensure most important jobs are filled by most competent people

according to functionalist perspective, US society is…?

a meritocracy

meritocracy

society where personal success is based on talent & individual effort

Herbert Gans (1972)

poverty works for some people, otherwise ie would not exist

* laborers to do society’s “dirty work”
* creates jobs for people who help the poor
* serve as scapegoats for society’s problems
* poverty ensures a pool of workers “unable to be unwilling” to do difficult & dirty jobs for low pay
* however, “functions” served by poor have “functional alternatives”, that is, they could be fulfilled by other means than poverty → but those better-off not motivated to fight poverty → not dysfunctional enough for those not poor

Karl Marx (conflict perspective)

conflict exists between…

* workers, who must sell their labor to survive, & capitalists, who own the means of production
* in other words, the bourgeoisie (capitalists, owners) exploit the labor of the proletariat (workers)
* those with poer use stratification to create economic, political, or social advantages for themselves & their children, even if they are detrimental to lower classes

dimensions of global inequality

about 48% of earth’s inhabitants live on less than $2 a day

GNI-PPP

“gross national income-purchasing power paruty” per capita → comparitive economic measure; indicates amount of goods & services someone could buy in the US with a given amount of money

* provides insight into economic resources available to state & society from a macro perspective
* offers a way to look at stratification in the global system

infant mortality

\# of deaths of infants under age 1 per 1,000 live births per year

critique of Davis & Moore thesis

actual difference in rewards between positions not necessarily a measure of their relative worth to society

* ex: teacher vs. hedge fund manager
* may limit discovery of talent
* those born to privilege given more opportunities to realize occupational success
* others limited by poor schooling, little money, & lack of networks
* assumes everyone starts on a level playing field

modernization theory

market-oriented development → argues that wealthy have more “modern” institutions, markets & worldwides; envisions development as evolutionary & guided by “modern” institutions, practices, & cultures

* asks not why some countries are poor, but why are some countries so rich?
* economically underdeveloped countries can progress if they adopt Western institutions, markets, & worldviews
* traditional values considered a hindrance to development

4 stages of modernization theory

1. traditional stage
2. take-off stage
3. in-flight stage
4. high mass consumption & high living standards stage

traditional stage

prescientific, favors tradition over innovation

take-off stage

start to embrace economic development

in-flight stage

increased technological progress & cultural modernity

dependency theory

argues that the poverty of some countries is a consequence of their exploitation by wealthy states, which control the global capitalist system

* high income countries benefit from the economic marginality of low-income countries

world systems theory

argues that the global capitalist economic system has long been shaped by a few powerful economic actors, who have ordered in a way that favors their economic & political interests

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

rich countries, low income countries, middle income countries

rich countries

core of world economy

low income countries

periphery; provide inexpensive labor & a market for industrial products

middle income countries

semi-periphery; close ties to the core

Rostow’s Stages of Modernization

traditional stage, take-off stage, drive to technological maturity, high mass consumption

traditional stage (Rostow)

changing traditional views; tradition over innovation, low savings & investment, substinence over ambition, traditional gender roles limit education & economic development for women

take-off stage (Rostow)

use of talents & imaginations; breaking from tradition, embracing economic development, more practices of savings & investment

drive to technological maturity/in flight - technological progress & cultural mdoernity (Rostow)

diversified economy takes over; technology in agriculture & industry, increasing innovation, less resistance to change, adopting “modern” cultural values, industrialization, urbanization, lower fertility, more women in education & labor

high mass consumption (Rostow)

mass production stimulates consumption; greater emphasis on consumer desires, new affluence, & disposable income

dependency theory (theoretical analysis)

global inequality due to historical exploitation of poor societies by rich ones; poverty of some countries is due to exploitation by wealthy countries that control global capitalist system

* originated in colonial relationships
* multinational corporations profits from cheap labor & raw materials of poor countries
* prices for human & natural resources in poor countries intentionally kept low to benefit high-income countries
* low-income states unable to develop
* maintains dependency relationship with well-off states that buy & exploit labor & raw materials

historical perspective

economic success of many wealthier nations was achieved at the expense of the poorer countries

neocolonialism

perpetuates economic relationships shaped under colonialism

Wallerstein’s Capitslist World Economy

dependency of peripheral nations results from


1. narrow, export-oriented economies
2. lack of industrial capacity
3. foreign debt

global inequality

systematic disparities in income, wealth, health, education, access to technology, opportunity, & power between countries, communities, & households around the world

how does the world bank categorize countries?

using 4 economic categories based on gross national income per capita limits

what are the 4 economic categories?

1. low income
2. lower middle income
3. upper middle income
4. high income

low income

$1,045 or less

* ex: Bangladesh & Cambodia, Somalia, & Central African Republic
* agricultural, rapidly, growing populations, slow urbanization, cities lack jobs & services, hunger & malnutrition, economic & educational deprivation, & preventable diseases
* small & wealthy elite, but lack a stable middle class

lower middle income

$1,046 to $4,125

* ex: Brazil, Belize, Lebanon & Iran, Indonesia, India, China, Morocco, & Senegal

upper middle income

$4,126 to $12,745

* ex: Brazil, Thailand, Romania, & Botswana

lower middle & upper middle income

economic diversification, development, growing urbanization & industrialization, still instituting mass education, may have vast natural resources

high income

$12,746 or more

* ex: US, Canada, Japan, Germany, Norway, & Estonia
* highly industrialized, mass education, urbanized, technologically advanced

total fertility rate (TFR)

average # of children a woman in a given country will have in her lifetime in age-specific fertility rates hold throughout her childbearing years (15-49)

* poorest countries have highest fertility rates
* more children to ensure some survive into adulthood to contribute to household & care for parents
* children active contributors in agricultural societies
* less access to safe, effective contraceptives to control fertility

infant mortality rate (IMR)

\# of deaths of infants under age 1 per 1000 live births per year

* lowered with access to safe pre- & ante-natal care, sanitary childbirth facilities, good nutrition during pregnancy

fact about world producing food

world has capacity to produce enough food for everyone, but 795 million chronically undernourished

what do many people lack?

economic resources to acquire sufficient food

* 90 million children under 5 are “dangerously underweight”
* large-scale hunger outcome of political decisions or armed conflicts

what are key aspects to good health?

adequate food, sufficient calories, good nutrition

safe sanitation

access to basic, safe sanitation facilities is a public health concern in many poor communities

how are women especially vulnerable?

* often avoid public bathrooms because of disrepair & harassment by men
* approximately 60% of violent sexual assaults occur when seeking private facilities

what is true about Uttar Pradesh?

it is the largest state and about 64% of Indians have no indoor plumbing

how does education matter?

in 2013, approximately 7 million fully illiterate adults worldwide, about 2/3 women

why are some adults illiterate in less developed countries?

limited access

* girls prevented by economic/cultural factors
* poor families cannot afford school fees
* presence of armed conflict
* lack of safe transportation, facilities, supplies, etc.

what has education been shown to improve?

the lives of communities & families

* decreased risk of child mortality
* a year of school can equal a 10% boost in income
* knowledge of mroe effective & efficient farming methods

child brides in a time of crisis

in Yemen, spread of armed conflict deprived many families of homes & possessions

* desparate families sought to acquire resources & pay debts by giving young daughters in marriage for a bride price

what were costs of early marriage in Yemen?

* IMR = 270 per 100,00 births
* highest regional maternal mortality rate (the regional average is 54 per 100,000)
* girls as young as 12 have died in childbirth
* young wives unlikely to attend school

refugees and refuges

many refugees & migrants from war-ravaged, poor countries are fingding refuge in other struggling states

* the war in Syria pitting the sitting authoritarian ruler Bashar al-Assad against both anti-Assad rebel groups & radical Islamist groups, including the Islamic State (ISIS)
* displaced an estimated half of the country’s population in 5 years (approximately 4 million people)
* ex: Government of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria preventing delivaery of food supplies to civilians in areas held by opponents in the Syrian civil war
* armed conflicts in the Congo, Somalia, Sudan, & South Sudan have left about 15 million people displaced in Sub-Saharan Africa

how many people have cell phones?

of the world’s 7 billion people, 6 billion have cell phones

what is true about technology?

* in developing countries (India, China, etc.) people may be more likely to have a mobile phone than indoor plumbing (toilets, etc)
* mobile technology can be used to improve health, census/data collection, and education, economy and agriculture, social activism, organizing, and advocacy
* more specifically, cell pjones
* are affecting the literacy across the globe in that people are reading books & news on their phones
* aid farmers in market decision making with apps containing weather information & market prices
* aid in social activism as citizens mobilize against crime, corruption, & violence

core countries

economically advanced, technologically sophisticated, & well-educated. control majority of wealth & reap greatest benefits

* US, Canada, Western & Northern Europe, Japan

peripheral countries

dependent on agriculture, low incomes, low technology, exploited by core for cheap labor & raw materials

* Central & Latin America, Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa

semi-peripheral countries

characteristics of both core & peripheral, play intermediate &/or stabilizing role

* China, India, & Brazil