11.4 Sociology

What is an economic system?

• Organized way society produces, distributes and consumes goods/services

• Reflects values, technology, and social structure

The transformation of economic systems

1. Hunting/gathering: survival-based, little inequality (subsistence economy)

2. Agriculture: surplus created inequality and ownership

3. Industrial: factories, wage labor, urbanization

4. Postindustrial: information, services, global interconnection

Inequality in economic systems

• Industrialization widened the gap between rich and poor

• Technology can both create opportunity and concentrate wealth

• Global trade reinforces these divides

Transformation of the medium exchange

1. Barter: direct trade

2. Money: portable, standardized

3. Credit and banking: trust-based exchange

4. Digital economy: online payments, cryptocurrency

Globalization of Capitalism

• Interconnected economies

• Outsourcing, global supply chains

• Multinational corporations

Functionalist views

• Global capitalism increases efficiency

• Promotes global cooperation and specialization

• Creates interdependence

Conflict View

• Concentration of wealth and power among elites

• Global superclass of wealthy investors and corporate leaders

• Inequality grows both globally and within nations

Work in the Postindustrial US

• rise of service and information jobs

• Decline of manufacturing

• Women in the workforce

• The “underground economy”

• Stagnant wages

Work and Alexis urge

• Americans work longer hours than other wealthy nations

• Work identity shapes status

• Leisure as a marker of class