Caste and Class continued

1

• Caste and Class (continued)
• A Model of the Class Structure in the U.S.
• The Functionalist Theory of Stratification
  Critique and Alternatives
• Gans on the Functions of Poverty
• Marx and Weber Does class get trumped by other
  identities?

2

• Thinking about Caste and Class
• the effects of U.Penns and Harvards new
  scholarship policy
• what will it take to achieve equal opportunity?

3

• One Model of the U.S. Class Structure
• why are there numerous models?
• are these classes real?
• Peter Bergers famous boast in Invitation to
  Sociology (p. 80)

4
The Functionalist Theory of Social Stratification
(Davis and Moore)

• Occupations vary in functional importance for
  societyit matters who fills them
• These functionally-important positions generally
  require sacrifice to acquire the necessary
  training and talents
• Unequal rewards are societys way of getting
  individuals to make these sacrifices
• Therefore social stratification (the unequal
  distribution of rewards) is necessary and
  functional for society

5

• Discussion
• What criticisms could be made of this theory?
• What might an alternative explanation of
  inequality look like?

6
Herbert Gans on the functions of poverty what
he did and did not say
Comparison Ferrante, p. 268 and Gans, p. 52.
7

• Ferrante Weber states that class ranking is
  complicated by the status groups and political
  parties to which people belong. (p. 278)
• What does this mean?

8
Max Weber Competing Principles of Group
Formation and Stratification
SocialClasses
StatusGroups
Parties
Economic Order
CulturalOrder
PoliticalOrder
9
Discussion What type of identity (in Webers
terms) will matter to you most as you vote?