Chapter 7 Terms Flashcards
the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative property, power, and prestige; applies to both nations and to people within a nation, society, or other group
social stratification
a contractual system in which someone sells his or her body for a specified period of time in an arrangement very close to slavery, except it is entered into voluntarily
bonded labor (indentured service)
beliefs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements
ideology
a form of social stratification in which birth determines people’s statuses, which are lifelong
caste system
the practice of marrying within one’s own group
endogamy
the government approved and enforced separation of racial ethnic groups as was practice in South Africa
apartheid
the stratification system of medieval Europe, consisting of three groups or estates: the nobility, clergy, and commoners
estate stratification system
a form of social stratification based primarily on income, education, and prestige of occupation
class system
movement up or down on the social class ladder
social mobility
the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth
means of production
Karl Marx’s terms for capitalists, those who own the means of production
bourgeoisie
Karl Marx’s term for the exploited class, the mass of workers who do not own the means of production
proletariat
Karl Marx’s term for awareness of a common identity based on one’s position in the means of production
class consciousness
Karl Marx’s term to refer to workers identifying with the interests of capitalists
false class consciousness
a form of social stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit
meritocracy
the idea that the king’s authority comes from God; in an interesting gender bender, also applies to queens
divine right of kings
the process by which one nation takes over another nation, making a colony of it, usually for the purpose of exploiting its labor and natural resources
colonialism
a theory of how economic and political connections developed among nations, connections that now link the world’s countries
world system theory
capitalism becoming the globe’s dominant economic system
globalization of capitalism
the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children
culture of poverty
the economic and political dominance of the Least Industrialized Nations by the Most Industrialized Nations
neocolonialism
companies that operate across national boundaries; also called transnational corporations
multinational corporations
a form of social stratification in which some people own other people
slavery
