Chapter 8 Flashcards
The existence of structured inequalities between groups in society in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards. The most distinctive form in modern societies is class divisions
Social stratification
A sociological perspective that holds that our multiple group memberships affect our lives in ways that are distinct from single group memberships (black female vs. white female)
Intersectionality
Social inequalities that result from patterns in the social structure
Structured inequalities
A form of social stratification in which some people are owned by others as their property
Slavery
A social system in which one’s social status is held for life
Caste
A system of social hierarchy that allows individuals to move among classes. The four chief bases of class are ownership of wealth, occupation, income, and education
Class systems
Most sociologists use the term to refer to socioeconomic variations among groups of individuals that create variations in their material prosperity and power
Class
A term introduced by Max Weber to signify a person’s opportunities for achieving economic prosperity
Life chances
Money received from paid wages and salaries or earned from investments
Income
Money and material possessions held by an individual or group
Wealth
The means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society, including not just technology but also the social relations between producers
Means of production
People who own companies, land, or stocks and use these to generate economic returns
Bourgeoisie
People who sell their labor for wages
Proletariat
The value of a worker’s labor power left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker
Surplus value
A social system based on everyone owning the means of production and sharing in the wealth it produces
Communism
The social honor or prestige a particular group is accorded by other members of a society
Status
Groups who suffer from negative status discrimination - they are looked down on by most other members of society
Pariah groups
Positions in the class structure, particularly routine white-collar and lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics with the class positions both above and below them
Contradictory class locations
A social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of a society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks
Upper class
A social class composed broadly of those working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations
Middle class
A social class broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual, occupations
Working class
A social class comprised of those who work part-time or not at all and whose household income is typically lower than $20K a year
Lower class
A class of individuals situated at the bottom of the class system, normally composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds
Underclass
Movement of individuals or groups between different social positions
Social mobility
Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another
Intergenerational mobility
Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career
Intragenerational mobility
Mobility resulting from changes in the number and kinds of jobs available in a society
Structural mobility
The exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down
Exchange mobility
Noneconomic or cultural resources that parents pass down to their children, such as language or knowledge
Cultural capital
Not meeting the minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence
Absolute poverty
Poverty defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society
Relative poverty
An official government measure to define those living in poverty in the U.S.
Poverty line
People who work but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line
Working poor
An increase in the proportion of the poor who are female
Feminization of poverty
People who have no place to sleep and either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places not meant for habitation
Homeless
A formula showing that inequality increases during the early stages of capitalist development, then declines, and eventually stabilizes at a relatively low level
Kuznets curve
The thesis, popularized by Oscar Lewis, that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies but is instead the outcome of a larger social and cultural atmosphere into which successive generations of children are socialized
Culture of poverty
A term popularized by Charles Murray to describe individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market
Dependency culture
