Stratification: Rich and Famous

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Chapter 7

• Stratification Rich and Famousor Rags and
  Famine?

Soc 100
Dr. Santos
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The Importance of Stratification

• Social stratification refers to how individuals
  and groups are layered or ranked in society
  according o how many valued resources they
  possess
• An ongoing sorting process
• Legitimated by cultural beliefs

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Three main assumptions underlie the concept of
stratification

• People are divided into ranked categories
• There is an unequal distribution of desired
  resources
• The criteria societies uses to rank others
  depends on
• The societys history
• Its geographic location
• Level of development
• The societys political philosophy
• The decisions of those in power

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Micro-level factors Prestige and Influence

• Cultural capital knowledge and access to
  important information in society
• Social capital networks with others who have
  influence
• Individual qualities also influence cultural and
  social capital

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Meso-level factors Access to resources

• The family reinforces status though the
  socialization process
• Educational organizations treat children
  differently according to their social status
• Religious affiliation reflects ones social
  status
• Political systems reinforce the stratification
  system through laws, courts, and policing
• Access to healthcare depends on ones position in
  the stratification system

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Macro-level factors influencing stratification

• The economic system
• The geographic location of nations
• Resources
• Strong educational system
• Well-paying jobs
• Productive land
• Ample supply of water
• Access to technology

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Theoretical Explanations of Stratification

• Symbolic Interaction
• Individuals learn their social position through
  socialization
• Cultural capital influences childrens school and
  home environments
• Symbols also often represent social positions
• Conspicuous consumption is displaying goods in a
  way that others will notice and that will
  presumably earn the owner respect

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Structural Functionalism
• Stratification within societies is an
  inevitableand probably necessarypart of the
  social world
• The stratification system provides each
  individual a position in the social world
• The stratification system motivates individuals
  to carry out their roles

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Structural Functionalism
• Davis and Moore
• Some positions are more highly valued because
  people feel they are very important to society
• Societies must motivate talented individuals to
  occupy the most important positions
• Differential rewards must be offered to attract
  the most qualified individuals into the most
  valued positions
• As a result, stratification is inevitable

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Conflict Theory
• How do societies produce necessities?
• How are relationships between rich and poor
  people shaped by this process?
• How do many people become alienated in their
  routine, dull jobs in which they have little
  involvement and no investment in the end product?

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Marxism
• Marx saw four possible ways to distribute wealth
• According to each persons needs
• According to what each person wants
• According to what each person earns
• According to what each person can take

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Marxism
• Marx thought there were two economically-based
  social classes
• The bourgeoisie are the capitalist class the
  haves
• Control the means of production, or the necessary
  resources to create capital
• Control the norms and values of society
• Use their power to make the distribution of
  resources seem fair and justified
• Use social control to maintain their control in
  society

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Marxism
• Marx thought there were two economically-based
  social classes
• The proletariats are the working class the
  have-nots
• The proletariats will remain exploited as long as
  they do not develop a class consciousness, or a
  shared awareness of their poor status in relation
  to the means of production
• Intellectuals in society could help the
  proletariat develop a class consciousness and to
  mobilize to overthrow the bourgeoisie to create a
  classless society where all wealth is shared

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Recent conflict stratification theorists argue
  that there are 5 social classes
• Capitalists
• Managers
• Petty bourgeoisie
• Workers
• Underclass

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Evolutionary Theory, a synthesis
• The basic assumptions of evolutionary theory are
• To survive people must cooperate
• Conflicts of interest occur over important
  decisions that benefit one over another
• Valued items are always in demand and in short
  supply
• There is likely to be a struggle over these
  scarce goods
• Customs and traditions determine the distribution
  of scarce resources

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Meso- and Macro-level Theories of Stratification

• Evolutionary Theory, a synthesis
• Structural functionalism
• Talented individuals need to be motivated
• Conflict theory
• Individuals will attempt to control as much
  wealth, power, and prestige as possible,
  resulting in potential conflict
• The importance of exploitation in creating
  inequality
• It results in only some amount of inequality may
  be useful in highly complex societies

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Individual Life Chances and Lifestyles

• Life chances refer to ones opportunities,
  depending n their achieved and ascribed status in
  society
• Important institutions that impact life chances
  are
• Education
• Health, social conditions, and life expectancy
• Family life and child rearing patterns
• Lifestyles
• Attitudes toward Achievement
• Religious membership
• Political behavior

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Social Mobility The Micro-Meso Connection

• Social mobility refers to the extent and
  direction of individual movement in the social
  stratification system
• Three issues affect mobility
• Variations in times of social mobility
• Factors that affect social mobility
• Whether there is a land of opportunity

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Types of Mobility

• Intergenerational mobility refers to change in
  status compared to your parents status, usually
  resulting from education and occupational
  attainment
• Intragenerational mobility refers to the change
  in position in a single individuals life
• Vertical mobility refers to movement up or down
  in the hierarchy, which sometimes involves
  changing social classes

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Factors Affecting Mobility

• Mobility depends on micro-level factors
• Socialization
• Education
• Mobility depends on macro-level factors
• Occupational structure
• Economic status of the society
• Population changes
• Importance of ascribed status
• The global economic situation

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Major Stratification Systems Macro-Level
Analysis

• In ascribed stratification systems
  characteristics individuals are born with
  determines ones position in society
• In achieved stratification systems individuals
  are allowed to earn positions through their
  ability and effort

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Ascribed Status Caste and Estate Systems

• Caste systems are the most rigid ascribed systems
  and are maintained by cultural norms and social
  control mechanisms that are deeply imbedded in
  religious, political, and economic institutions
• Importance of socialization
• Stability maintained by ideology

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Ascribed Status Caste and Estate Systems

• Castes predetermine
• Occupational positions, marriage partners,
  residences, social associations, and prestige
  levels
• Castes are recognized though
• Clothing, speech patterns, family name and
  identity, skin color, r other distinguishing
  characteristics

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Ascribed Status Caste and Estate Systems

• Estate systems are ascribed pre-industrial
  systems characterized by the concentration of
  economic and political power in the hands of a
  small minority of political-military elite, with
  the peasantry tied to the land
• Peasants receive protection and enough food to
  survive from the nobility
• Estate systems are based on
• Ownership of land
• Position one is born into
• Military strength

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Achieved Status Social Class Systems

• Social class systems of stratification are based
  on achieved status
• Members of the same social class have similar
  income, wealth, and economic position
• They share comparable styles of living, levels of
  education, cultural similarities, and patterns of
  social interaction
• Social class position is based on three main
  factors property, power, and prestige

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Achieved Status Social Class Systems

• Property, or wealth, refers to owning or
  controlling the means of production
• Power is the ability to control or influence
  others
• Power elite
• Pluralism
• Prestige involves the esteem and recognition one
  receives, based on wealth, position, or
  accomplishment

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Poverty Multi-Level Determinants and Policy

• Absolute poverty, or not having resources to meet
  basic needs, means no prestige, no access to
  power, no accumulated wealth, and insufficient
  means to survive
• Relative poverty refers to those whose income
  falls below the poverty line, resulting in an
  inadequate standard of living relative to others
  in a given country

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Poverty Multi-Level Determinants and Policy

• Social costs of poverty
• Loss of talent and abilities
• Financial cost of addressing needs of and
  regulating the poor
• Cultural contradiction of values

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Poverty Multi-Level Determinants and Policy

• The functions of poverty
• Convenient scapegoat for societal problems
• Creates jobs for those who are not poor
• Provide an easily available, exploitable group of
  laborers
• Reinforce and legitimate our lives and
  institutions
• Constantly reaffirm the values of the affluent

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Eliminating Poverty Some Policy Considerations

• Women, Infants, and Children Program or WIC
• Head Start
• Workfare
• Are there jobs available at a living wage?
• Cutting taxes reduces our ability to help
• Prisons absorb public funds

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Macro-Level Stratification National and Global
Digital Divide

• The global social world is increasingly based on
  producing and transmitting information through
  digital technology
• Individuals with insufficient access to computers
  and lack of technical skills face barriers to
  many professions and opportunities
• Computer and Internet use is largely stratified
  in the world