Sociology: Textbook notes - Chapter 7.1, 7.2, 7.3

Who was Adam Smith?

• lived 1723-1790

• Scottish founder of modern economics

• advocated minimal state interference in business, a pioneer of neoliberalism

Smith was an early proponent of what economics?

Laissez-faire economics

What is the idea behind laissez-faire economics?

That gov’ts should not try to manage or interfere in the co-called free market

To critics of laissez-faire economics there is no such thing as what?

A “free” market when it is dominated by multinational corporations with near-monopolistic power

Thomas Malthus predicted that dramatic population growth would inevitably lead to what?

Scarcity of food and other resources

What is Stecklys take on the question “is poverty really inevitable?” and “is offering a handout to the ‘needy and poor’ really the best he can do?

Likes to think most sociologists would say no to both questions

Who was Karl Marx?

• 1818 - 1883

• influential German economist and thinker

• viewed society primarily in terms of class

• viewed social change in terms of economic factors

• founder of modern communism

What is the definition for social inequality?

The long-term existence of significant differences in access to goods and services among social groups defined by class, ethnicity, etc.

What does this chapter mainly focus on?

Two related concepts, class and stratification

Who was associated with laissez-faire economics and was optimistic that a market free of government interference would raise standard of living for everyone?

Adam Smith

Who predicted that famine, disease, and war would “naturally” limit population growth if other measures such as birth control were not taken?

Thomas Malthus

What theorist did not see poverty and inequality as inevitable conditions?

Karl Marx

What is the main term used to talk about social inequality?

Class

Who co-wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848 with Marx?

Friedrich Engels

Class as Marx described it is what?

Relational: it reflects the relationship of people to what he called the means of production - the resources needed to produce goods (and hence, wealth)

What were the only two possible relationships to the means of production Marx believed?

Either you owned them or you worked for those who did

Who were the aristocrats in Marxist theory?

The landowner class of feudal times, who owned the land worked on by the class of peasants

Who were peasants in Marxist thinking?

Workers.

The people who in feudal times worked the land but did not own it

Who were the capitalists? What was another name for them?

1. Marx’s term for the owners of the means of production (or capital)

2. Bourgeoisie

Who were the workers described by Marx? Also called what?

1. The people who work for wages and do not own capital, the means of production, in an industrial, capitalist society

2. Proletariat

Who were the petty (petite) bourgeoisie?

The subclass made up of small-town owners with little capital

Who were the lumpenproletariat?

The group of people in capitalist society who neither own capital nor participate in wage labour.

Small-time criminals, beggars, and unemployed

In recent years a useful new term has entered the sociological literature. What is it?

Precariat

What does precariat mean?

• identified by British economist Guy Standing

• a vulnerable, unstable version of the Marxian working class

• flexible workers in the gig economy without job benefits

What is a corporate (or organic) identity?

The shared sense of common membership and common purpose that a social group can have

What is class consciousness?

Having an awareness of what is in the best interest of one’s class

What were the Highland Clearances?*

The eviction by land-owning aristocrats of tenant farmers in Scotland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

The clearness, created to make room for sheep, helped aristocrats capitalize on the rapidly growing textile industry while sending peasant farmers abroad to find work

What is false consciousness as described by Marx?

The belief that something (e.g. capitalism, religion) is in the best interests of one’s class when it is not

What did Marx believe the proletariat’s false consciousness kept them from doing?

Waging open revolt against a system that was not working in their favour

Who's views are frequently compared to with Marx regarding inequality?

Max Weber

Like Marx, Weber viewed society as what? But he believed Marx’s materialistic approach was too what?

1. Divided into different economic classes

2. Simplistic, that there was more to social inequality than just who owned the means of production

What were the 3 particular elements Weber stressed as contributing to social inequality?

1. Wealth

2. Prestige

3. Power

To Weber wealth meant not only factories and other properties used to make money but also what?

Properties that are highly respected by members of the society in question

Prestige is what?

The degree of respect with which individuals, their socially valued possessions, and their master statuses are viewed by the majority of people in a society

Prestige can be turned into various forms of social power, which?

Is usually defined as the ability of individuals or groups to achieve their goals despite the opposition of others

What two groups did Karl Marx see as engaged in class struggle?

Proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (capitalists)

What three elements did Max Weber identify as contributing to social inequality?

1. Wealth

2. Prestige

3. Power

What is the recently created term, “precariat” a combo of?

Precarious (employment) and proletariat (from Marx)

What is the title for topic 7.3?

Using class to study social inequality today

What is the title for topic 7.1?

Introduction: Is social inequality inevitable?

What is the title for topic 7.2?

Marx and Weber: Historical approaches to the study of social class

What is the dominant capitalist class?

The social class composed primarily of those who own or control the means of production

What is the middle class?

The social class made up primarily of small-scale business people, educated professionals, and salaried employees possessing certifiable credentials

What is the working class?

The social class made up of primarily of those who lack resources or skills apart from their own labour power

What are mobility sports?

Sports such as soccer and boxing that provide access to socioeconomic mobility for the poorest groups in society

What does professionalization mean?

The process of turning work done by volunteers into paid work

What class includes small-business people, teachers, nurses, and academic researchers?

Middle class

Those who lack resources or capacities apart from their own labour power such as those in retail, service, or construction belong to which class?

Working class/proletariat

What class includes those who own or control large scale production?

Dominant capitalist class