Chapter 7: Vocabulary

Question 1

absolute poverty

Answer 1

a level of economic deprivation that exists when people do not have the means to secure the most basic necessities of life.

Question 2

alienation

Answer 2

a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from oneself.

Question 3

capitalist class (bourgeoisie)

Answer 3

Karl Marx’s term for those who own and control the means of production.

Question 4

caste system

Answer 4

a system of social inequality in which people’s status is permanently determined at birth based on their parents’ ascribed characteristics.

Question 5

class conflict

Answer 5

Karl Marx’s term for the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class.

Question 6

class system

Answer 6

a type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and on the type of work that people do.

Question 7

feminization of poverty

Answer 7

the trend in which women are disproportionately represented among individuals living in poverty.

Question 8

income

Answer 8

the economic gain derived from wages, salaries, income transfers (governmental aid), and ownership of property.

Question 9

intergenerational mobility

Answer 9

the social movement experienced by family members from one generation to the next.

Question 10

intragenerational mobility

Answer 10

the social movement of individuals within their own lifetime.

Question 11

job deskilling

Answer 11

a reduction in the proficiency needed to perform a specific job that leads to a corresponding reduction in the wages for that job or in the use of nonhuman technologies to perform the work.

Question 12

life chances

Answer 12

Max Weber’s term for the extent to which individuals have access to important societal resources such as food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care.

Question 13

meritocracy

Answer 13

a hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded based on people’s ability and credentials.

Question 14

official poverty line

Answer 14

the income standard that is based on what the federal government considers to be the minimum amount of money required for living at a subsistence level.

Question 15

pink-collar occupations

Answer 15

relatively low-paying, nonmanual, semiskilled positions primarily held by women.

Question 16

power

Answer 16

according to Max Weber, the ability of persons or groups to achieve their goals despite opposition from others.

Question 17

prestige

Answer 17

the respect or regard that a person or status position is given by others.

Question 18

relative poverty

Answer 18

a level of economic deprivation that exists when people may be able to afford basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an average standard of living.

Question 19

slavery

Answer 19

an extreme form of stratification in which some people are owned or controlled by others for the purpose of economic or sexual exploitation.

Question 20

social mobility

Answer 20

the movement of individuals or groups from one level in a stratification system to another.

Question 21

social stratification

Answer 21

the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups based on their control of basic resources.

Question 22

socioeconomic status (SES)

Answer 22

a combined measure that attempts to classify individuals, families, or households in terms of factors such as income, occupation, and education to determine class location.

Question 23

underclass

Answer 23

those who are poor, seldom employed, and caught in long-term deprivation that results from low levels of education and income and high rates of unemployment.

Question 24

wealth

Answer 24

the value of all of a person’s or family’s economic assets, including income, personal property, and income-producing property.

Question 25

working class (proletariat)

Answer 25

Karl Marx’s term for those who must sell their labor to the owners in order to earn enough money to survive.