Comparing Systems of Stratification

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Chapter 10

• Comparing Systems of Stratification

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Hunting and Gathering Societies (most common form
of Simple Society)

• Death was the major fact of life.
• Experienced chronic famines and only occasional
  feasts.
• Stratified? Not much in terms of
• Primary bases of stratification were age and sex
• Small, poor, threatened societies little
  stratification

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Agrarian Societies live by farming

• Agriculture more permanency, construct better
  shelters
• Agriculture surplus food production (producing
  more than you need yourself)
• The capacity for labor to produce surplus was the
  basis for inequalities.

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Surplus Stratification Why?

• Someone owns field
• Surplus specialization and urbanization freed
  up others to think, invent, cure illness, etc.
• division of labor power and status differences
• By owning another person one can own the surplus
  the other person produces.

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Surplus Stratification (continued)

• Surplus supports a military, which is controlled
  by those in power
• Specialization training and weapons greater
  ability to exploit
• Haves educate themselves time to study
  heavens, compose poems, etc.
• Cultural wall prevents upward mobility

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Industrial Societies Less Stratification

• Greater productivity should produce greater
  stratification, right?
• Certainly this is what Marx predicted
• But, industrialization increase in level of
  skill/training require
• Less replaceable
• Less replaceability greater power
• Industrialization forced upward mobility
• Industrialization decline in influence of
  ascription (in theory, societies can afford
  education for all)

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Correlations between Stratification and
Industrialization
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Social Class in the US

• Slightly more inequality in the US than in other
  industrialized countries
• Median household (people in a housing unit)
  43K
• Median family of 4 income about 51K
• 95K 80th percentile, 165K 95th percentile
• Who is rich? everything relative, I guess
• Classes? Upper, middle, working, lower

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Wealth all money and assets minus debt

• Richest 20 control 84 of wealth richest 1
  control 40 of wealth
• Poorest 40 have no wealth (assets debt)
• Differences in income in America are too large?
  (GSS question)
• SA 27, A 34, Neither A or D 20, D 9,
  SD 3
• Answer to this question important implications
  minimum wage, tax structure, opinions on CEO
  salaries, etc.

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While industrialization resulted in less
inequality (think about last 100-150 years), last
30 years has seen increase in inequality
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Mobility in the United States

• Freedom American Dream Hard work can turn
  anyone into anything he/she wants True?
• Mobility patterns in US similar to other
  industrialized (Lipset and Bendix study in book)
• Some evidence that big jumps more common in US
• Race and class matter less than they used to, but
  they still matter
• Important we dont forget this remember lobster
  lunch

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Status Attainment Model (Blau and Duncan)

• Strategy for studying intergenerational mobility
  developed in 1960s
• Original study conducted by US Census Bureau
• Main finding from original study
• Status of fathers occupation is correlated with
  status of sons but not as much as people
  thought (r .4)
• Fathers status affects sons through education

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Education the key

• Should rich and poor have equal access?
• Do rich and poor have equal access?
• Debate in Malibu schools
• Will save the day? (Video)
• Not likely but not a bad place to start
• Home situation still a powerful predictor of
  school success

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Poverty in the US

• Poverty rate up in past 3 years 12.5 in 2003
  (was 11.5 in 2001)
• Poverty line 3 times annual food bill
• About 18,500
• Blame the poor or blame society?
• Working poor are common
• Minimum wage 5.15 (has not risen in 8 years)
• Do the math?
• What can we learn from talking to homeless?
• Stereotypes dont work
• 1/3 drugs and alcohol, 1/3 mentally ill

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Interesting studies from Chap 10

• Blau and Duncan status attainment research led to
  many studies conclusions
• Considerable upward mobility
• Cohen and Tyree found that 2/3 of poor children
  (lower 20) end up in top 40
• Marital status
• Education key and upper class have educational
  advantage
• Mare and Tzeng advantage to kids if parents
  older
• Age of father correlates with education and
  occupational prestige
• Effects remains even if we control for ed, ,
  occupation
• Older parents more mature, better parents?
• Porter Replication of Blau and Duncan in Canada
• Remarkably, correlation between fathers
  occupational prestige and sons .4
• Correlation between sons education and sons
  occupational prestige .6

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Summary of Chap 9 and 10

• People vary in their degree of property (),
  power, prestige (status) (Webers 3Ps)
• Strat inevitable partly because strat is
  functional some positions are more important,
  less replaceable
• But conflict theory also important
• People will tend to act in self interest leads
  to exploitation, increasing inequality
• Will tend to this does not mean that you and I
  have to always act in self interest

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Conclusions continued

• Simple societies, agrarian, industrialized
• Ascription (race, class, gender) related to life
  chances, but less so in industrialized societies
• Throughout much of human history, ascription THE
  determinant (caste)
• Correlation between fathers occupational status
  and sons about .4 in US and Canada

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What will the world do to you? Perrin opinions
no extra charge

• Marxism cannot work because.
• Strat is functional replaceability does explain
  strat
• People will not work as hard for the common good
  as they will for themselves
• Gov power tend to use power in self interest
• But Capitalism is not without its own problems
• We live in a world where, to some degree, we are
  judged by how much we produce, how much we make
• We are also encouraged to look out for 1?
• Marx warned of what Capitalism does to
  interpersonal relationships

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World divided into 2 kinds of people?

• Those who return their shopping carts, those who
  do not?
• Those who take advantage of the weaker (or
  younger or poorer or) and those who defend the
  weaker (or.)
• Jacob story
• Arthur Miller play, All My Sons
• If a man like that could do a thing like that
  then anyone capable of doing anything?
• Power in the example of Jesus love your
  neighbor as yourself
• Go see Motorcycle Diaries