Chp 6 Terms - Social Stratification

Question 1

human capital

Answer 1

Investment in education and training.

Question 2

economic capital

Answer 2

Economic capital is ownership of land, real estate, industrial plants and equipment, and stocks and bonds.

Question 3

social capital

Answer 3

The social networks to which people are connected and that give them varying degrees of access to others who are well-positioned.

Question 4

social stratification

Answer 4

The way society is organized in layers or strata.

Question 5

cultural capital

Answer 5

The widely shared, high-status cultural signals (attitudes, preferences, formal knowledge, behaviours, goals, and credentials) used for social and cultural inclusion and exclusion.

Question 6

class

Answer 6

According to Marx, a grouping that is determined by a person’s relationship to the means of production or the source of that person’s income. In Weber’s usage, class position is determined by a person’s “market situation,” including the possession of goods, opportunities for income, level of education, and level of technical skill.

Question 7

functional theory of stratification

Answer 7

Argues that (1) some jobs are more important than others, (2) people must make sacrifices to train for important jobs, and (3) inequality is required to motivate people to undergo these sacrifices.

Question 8

proletariat

Answer 8

The term Marx gave to the working class. Members of the proletariat perform physical labour but do not own means of production.
They are thus in a position to earn wages.

Question 9

parties

Answer 9

In Weber’s usage, organizations that seek to impose their will on others.

Question 10

bourgeoisie

Answer 10

Owners of the means of production, including factories, tools, and land, according to Marx. They do not do any physical labour. Their income derives from profits.

Question 11

power

Answer 11

The ability to achieve goals, even against the resistance of others.

Question 12

status groups

Answer 12

Groups that differ from one another in terms of the prestige or social honour they enjoy and in terms of their style of life.

Question 13

social mobility

Answer 13

Movement up or down the stratification system.

Question 14

intergenerational mobility

Answer 14

Social mobility that occurs between generations.

Question 15

intragenerational mobility

Answer 15

Social mobility that occurs within a single generation.

Question 16

ascription-based stratification system

Answer 16

A system in which your family’s station in life determines your own fortunes

Question 17

modernization theory

Answer 17

Holds that global inequality results from various dysfunctional characteristics of poor societies: lack of investment capital, Western-style business techniques, stable Western-style governments, and a Western mentality

Question 18

achievement-based stratification system

Answer 18

A system in which your own talents determine your lot in life

Question 19

dependency theory

Answer 19

Holds that global inequality is the result of patterns of domination and submission between rich and poor countries. From this point of view, rich countries have impoverished poor countries in order to enrich themselves.

Question 20

semiperipheral countries

Answer 20

Former colonies that are making considerable headway in their attempt to become prosperous.

Question 21

core countries

Answer 21

Capitalist countries that are the world’s major sources of capital and technology (the United States, Japan, and- Germany).

Question 22

peripheral countries

Answer 22

The world’s major sources of raw materials and cheap labour (the former colonies).