Chapter 18: Work and the Economy

Question 1

automation

Answer 1

workers being replaced by technology

Question 2

bartering

Answer 2

when people exchange one form of goods or services for another

Question 3

capitalism

Answer 3

an economic system in which there is private ownership (as opposed to state ownership) and where there is an impetus to produce profit, and thereby wealth

Question 4

career inheritance

Answer 4

when children tend to enter the same or similar occupation as their parents

Question 5

commodities

Answer 5

physical objects we find, grow, or make to meet our needs and those of others

Question 6

convergence theory

Answer 6

a sociological theory to explain how and why societies move toward similarity over time as their economies develop

Question 7

depression

Answer 7

a sustained recession across several economic sectors

Question 8

economy

Answer 8

the social institution through which a society’s resources (goods and services) are managed

Question 9

global assembly lines

Answer 9

where products are assembled over the course of several international transactions

Question 10

global cities

Answer 10

cities that headquarter multinational corporations, exercise significant international political influence, host headquarters of international nongovernmental organizations, host influential media, and host advanced communication and transportation infrastructure

Question 11

global commodity chains

Answer 11

where internationally integrated economic links connect workers and corporations for the purpose of manufacture and marketing

Question 12

market socialism

Answer 12

a subtype of socialism that adopts certain traits of capitalism, like allowing limited private ownership or consulting market demand

Question 13

mercantilism

Answer 13

an economic policy based on national policies of accumulating silver and gold by controlling markets with colonies and other countries through taxes and customs charges

Question 14

money

Answer 14

an object that a society agrees to assign a value to so it can be exchanged as payment

Question 15

mutualism

Answer 15

a form of socialism under which individuals and cooperative groups exchange products with one another on the basis of mutually satisfactory contracts

Question 16

outsourcing

Answer 16

when jobs are contracted to an outside source, often in another country

Question 17

polarization

Answer 17

when the differences between low-end and high-end jobs becomes greater and the number of people in the middle levels decreases

Question 18

recession

Answer 18

when there are two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline

Question 19

services

Answer 19

activities that benefit people, such as health care, education, and entertainment

Question 20

socialism

Answer 20

an economic system in which there is government ownership (often referred to as “state run”) of goods and their production, with an impetus to share work and wealth equally among the members of a society

Question 21

structural unemployment

Answer 21

when there is a societal level of disjuncture between people seeking jobs and the jobs that are available

Question 22

subsistence farming

Answer 22

when farmers grow only enough to feed themselves and their families

Question 23

underemployment

Answer 23

a state in which a person accepts a lower paying, lower status job than his or her education and experience qualifies him or her to perform

Question 24

xenophobia

Answer 24

an illogical fear and even hatred of foreigners and foreign goods