Social Stratification and Race Concepts

Chapter 9: Social Stratification

• Definition: Categorization of individuals within society based on factors such as wealth, income, education, family background, and power.
• Socioeconomic Status (SES): The position of a person or group within a social hierarchy determined by a combination of factors like income, education, and occupation.

Types of Stratification Systems

• Closed System: Allows no movement between strata and restricts social relationships across levels.
  • Example: Caste system that determines an individual’s occupations and marriage partners solely based on birth.
• Open System: Based on achievements, allowing for movement and interaction between different social classes.

Key Terms

• Caste System: A closed stratification system with little possibility for change in social standing.
• Ideology: The set of beliefs that support a given stratification system.
• Class System: Based on a combination of social factors and individual achievements, where individuals share similar status.
  • Exogamous Marriage: Spousal unities from different social categories; often influenced by love and compatibility despite social pressures.
• Meritocracy: A theoretical system where social stratification is based on personal effort and merit, assessing academic and job performance.
• Status Consistency: Refers to the alignment of an individual's rank across various dimensions of stratification.
  • Caste systems exhibit high status consistency, while class systems are characterized by lower consistency due to mobility.

Chapter 11: The Social Significance of Race

• Race: Defined as a category of people sharing biologically transmitted traits considered socially significant.
  • A socially constructed concept influenced by historical and cultural contexts.
• Ethnicity: Relates to shared cultural heritage including common ancestors, languages, and religions.
  • Ethnicity can often correlate with racial categories.
• Nationality: Status of belonging to a specific nation, which can encompass one or more ethnic groups.

Power and Race

• Dominant Group: Holds power over societal institutions; can define standards of beauty and social values.
  • Example: White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) in the U.S. who, despite being a numerical minority, hold significant societal influence.
• Minority Group: Lacks power compared to the dominant group, typically facing discrimination, poverty, and less prestige.

Concepts of Privilege and Prejudice

• White Privileges: Unspoken systemic advantages afforded to those deemed white, including lack of negative racial scrutiny.
  • Notable work: Peggy McIntosh's “The Invisible Knapsack.”
• Prejudice: An attitude that predisposes individuals to unfairly judge entire groups; often rigid and emotionally charged.
• Stereotypes: Inaccurate and simplified beliefs about groups that are often illogical and self-serving.

Racism and Discrimination

• Racism: The belief that race determines human ability, which leads to the notion that certain races are inherently superior or inferior.
• Discrimination: The action or behavior of treating people unfairly based on their group membership, distinct from the beliefs of racism.