Chapter 4 - Social Inequality and Social Class Flashcards
______ was One of the most important figures in the development of sociology and the Founder of conflict theory
marx
what inspired marx to come up with the conflict theory
Inspired labour unions and worker’s parties, advocating for worker’s right and safe working conditions - fought for socialism and said other academics should too
who collaborated with marx
redrich engals
Marx argues that ______ struggle is the core struggle in all societies
class
______ is “the economic system in which businesses are privately owned and goods are sold on the market for profit - the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie”
capitalism
explain the conflict between marx talked about, who was it between
conflict between those who own the means of production (capitalists/bourgeoisie) and those who only own their labour (working class/proletariat)
Controlled by small group of wealthy business owners
Founded on internal tensions that make it unsustainable
Marx Argues that historical periods are distinguished by the _____ of _______ of _______ and services that dominated the time
Argues that historical periods are distinguished by the mode of production of goods and services that dominated the time
_________ (acc to marx) - groups of people who play different roles in the productive system; capitalism has 2 (bourgeoisie and proletariat)
classes
differentiate between the bourgoisie and the proletariat
Bourgeoisie - own means of production and property (any resource that can be used to produce things of value and to generate wealth) eg. land)
Proletariat - own their capacity for labour only; which they sell to capitalists to survive
Marx argues that capitalism function and continues to exist through this perpetual exploitation of the workers’ labour and subsequent oppression
explain how this is sustained due to a relationship of reliance between the two gorups
Capitalists cannot exists without workers to labour in their factories; at the same time, workers must have somewhere to sell their labour to make money to survive
The proletariat and bourgeoisie depend on each other, but their relationship is unequal - leading to class _______
struggles
why does marx think class struggles exist
Marx says class struggles exist because classes want diff things & have diff interests
Capitalists want the most _______ _______
surplus value
define surplus value
the excess value that workers produce beyond the cost of their labour - the amount of money the capitalists get to keep after paying their worker’s wages
what does the capitalists idea of wanting the most surplus value mean for workers
Means keeping wages low
Having workers work quickly
Setting long work hours
what do workers want, how does this conflict with capitalists’ desires?
Workers want to make a good wage that allows them to live and support their families
Work under safe conditions
Reasonable number of hours
These desires conflict with the capitalists attempt to make large profit
_______ are sets of conscious and unconscious ideas or beliefs that govern people’s lives
ideologies
Ideologies such as meritocracy, individualism, progress, expansion and development are so fundamentally intertwined within our [capitalist] economic system, yet they …….?
yet they often seem so natural and invisible that they end up being accepted by those within
define meritocracy
the idea that people will achieve backed on their own merit (wealthy ppl got there cause they worked hard, poor people are lazy)
who do the dominant ideologies benefit? how are they a disadvantage to the other side?
These ideologies benefit the bourgeoisie and make it more difficult for the proletariats to revolt - promotes the idea that the proletariat can too become rich if they work hard enough
The workers in capitalism develop a _____ ___________ - a willingness to believe in ideologies that support the ruling class that are actually disadvantageous to working-class interests
false consciousness
Why Marx says capitalists use the state to further their own interests
State is used to sustain class systems
Through media and school curriculum capitalists persuade workers to accept the concentration of power
what are th two main criticisms of the manifesto of the communist party?
no longer two simple classes (betite bourgoisie, lumpenproletariat)
Important differences between the time marx was writing in and now - the workers do diff things
define the two additional classes (other than bourgoisie and the proletariat
Petite bourgeoisie - small-scale capitalists (shopkeepers and managers)
Don’t necessarily sell their labour - work alongside
the labourers
Lumpenproletariat
Lowest level of working class
Petty criminals and chronically unemployed
______ ______ People’s beliefs regarding their social class and class interests
class consciousness
marx distinguished between two types of class consciousness’
“class in itself”
“class for itself”
Differentiate
“Class in itself” -a category of people with a common relation to the means of production (such as the worker or the proletariat)
“Class for itself” - a group organised in active pursuit of its own interests (eg. unionised workers fighting for better working conditions)
______ _________ is important for being able to organise a class for itself to advocate for class interests
class consciousness
_______- organisations of employees who work together to negotiate a variety of common matters, including pay, benefits, hiring and firing practices, and working conditions
unions
______ union _______ describes the percentage of wage earners in a population who are part of a union
trade union density
differentiate between overt resistance and covert resistance
Overt resistance - behaviour that is visible and readily recognized by both targets and observers as resistance
Covert resistance acts are intentional yet go unnoticed (and thus unpunished) by their targets
______ was influenced by marx, and wrote his theory of inequality by looking at the distribution of power in society
Agreed that economic power is very important, but added that other, non-economic factors are at play such as. religion
weber
what is a difference between marx and weber reguarding defining the classes
marx described 2 groups, weber said there were 4
what were weber’s 4 classes
Large capitalists - own large factories, farms, or other business that employ large numbers of people
Small capitalists (= petit bourgeoisie for marx) - smaller businesses with fewer employees
Specialists - doctors, lawyers, and profs with marketable skills and training that they sell through labour
Working class (= proletariat for marx) - manual labourers
weber discussed ______ _____
where generally high social ______ = high social ______
status groups
Generally, high social status = high social class
there are exceptions to weber’s theory on status = class, give an example
priests who dont make much but have very high status
plumbers and electricians make a ton but have little status
Individuals can be apart of many ______ _______ but are only in one social ______
many status groupns, one social class
Webers last and main dimensions of power is parties
what does he mean by “parties”
organisations that attempt to influence social action that focus on achieving some soul in the sphere of power
Eg. NDP, LIberals, …
But also ones aimed at improving specific social problems (eg. block watch or parent-teacher groups)
what is socio-economic status(SES)
a measure of individuals or family’s social and economic position relative to others
what are the categories of SES
Divided into 3 categories (low, middle, high)
how is SES measured
Composite scale that includes measure of income, educational attainment, occupational prestige
_______ ______ is movement on a stratification system, such as the class system
social mobility
more _______ _______ makes the gap between the rich and the poor is less concerning
social mobility
what is an achievemnet-based stratification system
people rank depends on their accomplishments; those who work hard and are diligent achieve high social status or class
Ascription-based stratification system
determines an individuals rank by his ascribed characteristics (the features he is born with)
If ethnicity, religion, sexes etc hold rank in a society s is this
differentiate between intergenerational and intregenerational mobility
Intergenerational mobility - between generation
Eg. your parents or grandparents might be working class, but you are upper-middle class
Intergenerational mobility - within a single generation
eg. your parent were born into the working class but became middle-class during their lifetime
what is Intergenerational income elasticity
the statistical relationship between a parent’s and child’s economic standing
Higher the number, less social mobility a society had and the greater the role of the parents in predicting the childs SES
_________ is a state in which resources (material or cultural) are lacking - is a serious social proble in the world
poverty
differentiate between relative and absolute poverty
Relative poverty - the deprivation of one individual in comparison to another
Absolute poverty - the life-threatening deprivation of an individual
what is the cycle of poverty
how poverty tends to perpetuate itself and is therefore likely to continue for an individual or group unless there is some outside intervention
Low income, low education are example of reasons this happens
Karl marx understands social class as being based on an individual’s relationship to the _______ ____ _______ , what are the two possible relationships in his eyes
means of production
either a capitalist who owns the means of production or a worker who only owns their labour power
Max weber added the importance of social _______ to marx’s ideas
status
from the reading “checking my privilege”:
what does the saying “check your privilege” imply
this saying strikes down opinions without reguard for their merits, but rather solet on the basis of the person that voices them
ie. white males should feel persoanlly apologetic cayse they pull most trings in the world
from the reading “checking my priviledge”: what is wrong with telling someone to check their priviledge
it says that simply cause you belong to a certain ethnic gorup you should be judged collectively with it
can diminish personal accomplishment
what ideology is reflected in the reading “checking my priviledge”
meritocracy
from the reading “checking my priviledge”: what does the author say his privlige is
his grandparents come to america
things like education and faith were passed on to him
\
from the reading “checking my priviledge”’s reply: what does he say the first author is doing
although he says theres no reason to be sorry for ones origins, he says the first author is being blind to inequality
from the reading “checking my priviledge”’s reply: what does he acklowledge tha the first author didnt
that he has priviledges that his grandfather didnt
from the reading “checking my priviledge”’s reply: what does he say the first author misses
dispite the success their families got dispite their struggles, harmful structural inequalities persist on the basis of class, race, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity
the ______ perspective Looks at society and focuses on how various social forces affect harmony, cohesion and solidarity
functionalist
the functional perspective sees society as a _______, where the success or failure (or health) of a society rests in how well its ________ “function” in maintaining
system
subsystems
according to the functionalist perspective Social bounds and moral _______ ensure that people feel their lives are with living
bounds
regulation
according to the functionalist perspective we must think of society as a whole as a _______, explain
cell
there are parts that create power, parts that discrete waste, parts that communicate… when one of those parts isn’t functioning properly, the entire cell gets sick
according to the functionalist perspective The system ______ ______ to us what we _____
gives back to us what we need
in the the functionalist perspective there is innate inequality, why would this be okay?
there is innate inequality - but generally, people are okay with this inequality, as our diversity is what contributes to a healthy functioning system
How would a functionalist answer “who decides what’s fair”?
A functionalist would rephrase the question as “what ultimately determines what is considered fair”
Our shared sense of solidarity - “we owe ut to one another and to be fair”
The the functional needs of the system- “without laws and norms, the system would collapse”
The functionalist argument for equality according to Warren Buffet (rich dude) is what
We cannot have extreme inequality as we would then lose that sense of “we-ness”
These extreme inequalities are not good for the system
what type of suicide?
willing to sacrifice their own life in order to fulfil some obligation for the group: eg. suicide for a religious or political cause
alturistic
what type of suicide?
For example, when individuals suffer extreme financial loss, the disappointment and stress
anomic
what type of suicide?
committed by individuals who are social outcast and see themselves as being alone or an outsider.
egoistic
what type of suicide?
Individuals are placed under extreme rules or high expectations are set upon them, which removes a person’s sense of self or individuality. Slavery and persecution are examples of fatalistic suicide - where suicide is used to escape
fatalistic
who said
“we tends to treat social issues simplistically - too often only an issue of individual mindset (eg. depression) - but it’s more complicated than that”
durkheim
what did durkeim say was more complicated about social issues
It’s more complicated for the person individually - personal trouble are often rooted in a border public issues that also require solutions
peoples life circumstancesaren’t all the same, and thus we shouldn’t assume that social outcomes can be explained by the same social causes for everyone
what is the division of labour
the dividing up of roles in a system , where the broader operation is fulfilled by these various tasks
when people are forced into roles that don’t correspond with their natural talents (such as slaver) what is this called
Forced Division of Labour
if the norms and institutions are our of balance this is called ______ divisions of labour
anomic
the _____ perspective Focuses on the social processes that maintain hierarchy, domination and oppression
conflict
according to the conflict persopective
Social _______ are often reflect deeper systems that confer power to one group over an “other” group
inequalities
according to the conflict persopective
The so-called benefits of most inequalities are ____________ that maintains _______ ______
rationalisations that maintain power relations
according to the conflict persopective
according to the conflict persopective
marx’s core focus was what
relation people had to economic production of society
according to marx capitalism requires the extraction of _______ _____ from the worker
surplus value
Who ultimately decides what fair? according to conflict perspective
no one group on particular, but the most prevalent ideas about “fairness” tend to reflect the interests of the powerful
wber added social _____ and ______ ______ to marx’s ideas
status and part membership (strategic social organizations
What is the difference between socioeconomic status, income and wealth?
Socioeconomic status (SES) - measures an individual’s or families social and economic positions relative to others
Income - all the wages, salaries, profits, rents, and dividends that one has coming in during a given period of time, often measured in years
Wealth - a stock of assets owned at a particular time, and signifies common over financial resources (all you have added up)
Has economic inequality increased?
Although income is growing overall, it is clearly only growing for the richest (top 20%)
social ________ refers to resources available through your social connections, networks
capitol
who proposed the significane of social capitol as a resource to get ahead
bourdieu
__________ refers to the unearned entitlements - the social opportunities, resources, and advantaged that social inequalities produce, for some relative to others, in our society
priviledge
