Chapter 7: Stratification

Question 1

Structured inequality or, more specifically, systematic inequalities between groups of people that arise as intended or unintended consequences of social processes and relationships.

Answer 1

Stratification

Question 2

A condition whereby no differences in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural conventions exist.

Answer 2

Social Equality

Question 3

Argued that private property creates social inequality and that this inequality will ultimately lead to social conflict

Answer 3

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Question 4

Viewed inequality favorably, but only as a means of controlling population growth. He thought a more equal distribution of resources would increase the world’s populations to unsustainable levels.

Answer 4

Thomas Malthus

Question 5

Viewed history in terms of a master-slave dialectic (a two-directional relationships). The slave is dependent on the master and the master is dependent on the slave.

Answer 5

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Question 6

Everyone is created equal at birth. All are equal in the eyes of god.

Answer 6

Ontological Equality

Question 7

idea that everyone has an equal chance to achieve wealth, social prestige, and power because everyone is judged by the same standards, regardless of inequality.

Answer 7

Equality of Opportunity

Question 8

a society of commerce in which the maximization of profit is the primary business incentive

Answer 8

Bourgeois Society

Question 9

the idea that everyone has an equal starting point from which to pursue his or her goals

Answer 9

Equality of Condition

Question 10

a position that argues each player must end up with the same amount regardless of the fairness of the “game”.

Answer 10

Equality of Outcome

Question 11

The notion that when more than one person is responsible for getting something done, the incentive is for each individual to shirk responsibility and hope others will pull the extra weight

Answer 11

Free Rider Problem

Question 12

Politically based stratification characterized by limited social mobility. Primarily found in feudal Europe.

Answer 12

Estate System

Question 13

Religion-based system of stratification characterized by no social mobility. Primarily found in South Asia, notably India.

Answer 13

Caste System

Question 14

An economically based hierarchical system characterized by cohesive, oppositional groups, and somewhat loose social mobility.

Answer 14

Class System

Question 15

The capitalist class. Exploit the working class

Answer 15

Bourgeoisie

Question 16

The idea that people can occupy locations in the class structure that fall between the two “pure” classes. Ex: manager of a store. They sell their labor to capitalists but control other workers

Answer 16

Contradictory Class Locations

Question 17

A system of stratification based on social prestige

Answer 17

Status Hierarchy System

Question 18

system of stratification that has a governing elite, a few leaders who broadly hold power in society.

Answer 18

Elite-Mass Dichotomy System

Question 19

Society where status and mobility are based on individual attributes, ability, and achievement. You get what you deserve.

Answer 19

Meritocracy

Question 20

An individual’s position in a stratified society.

Answer 20

Socioeconomic Status

Question 21

Money received by a person for work, from transfers, or returns on investments

Answer 21

Income

Question 22

A Family’s or individual’s net worth (total assets- total debts)

Answer 22

Wealth

Question 23

The economic elite. Membership usually based on ascription. Have income, wealth, power, and prestige

Answer 23

Upper Class

Question 24

A term used to describe those individuals in non-manual jobs that pay significantly more than the poverty line. No real consensus on what middle class actually means.

Answer 24

The Middle Class

Question 25

Day-to-day survival due to lack of income or income stability. Very fine line between working class and the poor

Answer 25

The Poor

Question 26

Why Does Class Matter?

Answer 26

1. Health
2. Cultural Values.
3. Politics
4. Family and Gender

Question 27

The movement between different positions within a system of social stratification in any given society

Answer 27

Social Mobility

Question 28

Climbing up from a lower class

Answer 28

Upward Mobility

Question 29

Fall down from a higher social class

Answer 29

Downward Mobility

Question 30

Remain in the same class, while moving between jobs

Answer 30

Horizontal Mobility

Question 31

Movement that takes place within one person’s lifetime

Answer 31

Intragenerational Mobility

Question 32

Movement that takes place over generations in a family

Answer 32

Intergenerational Mobility

Question 33

Mobility that is inevitable from changes in the economy

Answer 33

Structural Mobility

Question 34

Mobility in which, if we hold fixed the changing distribution of jobs, individuals trade jobs not one-to-one but in a way that ultimately balances out,

Answer 34

Exchange Mobility

Question 35

Ranks individuals by socioeconomic status, including income and educational attainment, and seeks to specify the attributes characteristic of people who end up in more desirable occupations.

Answer 35

Status Attainment model

Question 36

Is poverty the cause of social ills or their result? Is there too much government? Is there a culture of poverty? Is it because of globalization? Deindustrialization?

Answer 36

Why are People Poor

Question 37

More negative term for the poor.

Answer 37

Underclass

Question 38

Measure based on a percentage of the median income in a given location

Answer 38

Relative Poverty