Class Inequality Economy

Question 1

Economic sociology

Answer 1

Examines economic patterns and power relations embedded in economy.

Examples:
* how people and institutions construct notions of value (valuation)
* how do taxes structure wealth inequality?

Question 2

Social stratification

Answer 2

It is a concept used to describe the way society is classified into a hierarchy of social layers or classes.

• this leads to individuals having unequal access to resources, wealth, and power.

Who is rich, who is poor; why and how

Question 3

Gini coefficient

Answer 3

Tells us what proportion of a society’s income would have to be redistributed for perfect equality to occur.

• the coefficient varies between 0 (every family earns the same amount equality) and 1 (the incomes are very unequal within a society inequality)

Question 4

Income vs. Wealth and why it matters

Answer 4

Income: how much money is coming over time

Wealth: is static, it is the result of what you have accumulated in total

Some wealthy people have low incomes and some people with high incomes have low wealth. This is why policies that try to distribute income from the wealthy to the poor may not get to the root of economic inequality

Question 5

Importance of class

Answer 5

Class: a sociological analysis that explains people’s relationship to the means of production.

• We should be measuring differences in society with class not just in terms of money differences.

Question 6

2 explanations for poverty

Answer 6

1. Individual explanation: It’s a personal characteristic, such as low intelligence or behavioural abnormality
2. Structural explanation: economic organization, social policy, and ideology

Question 7

Bourgeoisie

Answer 7

Members of the capitalist class

Question 8

Proletariat

Answer 8

The working class

Question 9

Blue-collar jobs

Answer 9

Lower-prestige jobs, mostly manual labour

Question 10

White collar jobs

Answer 10

Higher-prestige jobs, mostly mental activity

Question 11

Marx’s key reason workers did not unite and overthrow capitalism

Answer 11

The Dominant Ideology: the set of values and beliefs put forward by the ruling class to justify their dominant position in society

Question 12

Hegemony

Answer 12

Hegemony refers to the dominance of one group over others, specifically in cultural, economic, or ideological forms.

• It’s not only overt domination but also the ability of the dominant group to project their values and beliefs as universal and normative for all of society
• it is achieved when the dominant group’s ideology becomes the accepted cultural norm, effectively influencing and controlling society without obvious force

For example: the education system can prioritize certain aspects of studies like history and literature, which is a form of cultural hegemony

Question 13

Class conscious

Answer 13

The ability of a class to discern what it’s best interests are

False consciousness is when they believe something is in their best interest, when it is actually not

Question 14

Materialism

Answer 14

Examines the underlying relationships that govern whether people can access resources and control them.

• political sociologists maintain that possession of material assets ultimately determines how much power an individual or group holds compared to others

Question 15

Class struggle

Answer 15

It posits that societal and historical development is primarily driven by conflicts between classes in society. These conflicts arise from the opposing interests and power relations (how power is exercised and distributed among individuals) between classes, particularly the bourgeoisie and the proletariat classes.

Question 16

Meritocracy

Answer 16

This term refers to a system where individuals are rewarded and advance based on their abilities, talents, and achievements instead of social status, family background, or other external factors.

• success is a result of one’s merit - measured through things like intelligence, education, performance

Question 17

Social mobility

Answer 17

Refers to the ability of individuals or families to move up or down the economic ladder and change classes in a society.

Question 18

Ramos & Stanbridge, Materialism
(Uses Conflict theory perspective)

Answer 18

This reading introduces us to the materialistic perspective in sociology.
A perspective that explores how material resources shape the negotiation of power.

Materialism and class:

If you are born into a life with material advantage, you have a better chance of living in a safe and stable community, going to a good school, having friends and family of similar styles, and having access to lots of consumer goods at home.

whereas, people who live a less materially-advantaged life, who may live in a troubled community, attend poorer quality school, and have lower class friends and family have a disadvantaged life.

The point with this is not everyone starts from the same place. People from more advantaged classes have a head start toward securing a powerful position in society because of the better material circumstances they enjoy.

Also, materialists say that social institutions like the education system, the legal system, and policy decisions, all favour the interests of the materially-advantaged, regardless of how they are explained or justified.

Materialists do not say a “rags-to-riches” story is not possible, they just claim that is relatively rare considering these facts.

Materialism and development:

Just as materialism is witnessed with individuals and groups, we can also see it with the political and economic development of countries. Economic and political interests based in the richer, more developed, countries continued to excercise power over their economies and states in important ways. They did this by means of their domination of the world economy through multinational corporations and power over international organizations of finance, backed by massive armies.