Inequality, social divisions and social stratification Flashcards
What does social stratification refer to?
Social stratification refers to categories of people
ranked in a hierarchy.
What are the major forms of stratification with reference to economic and social status?
The major systems of stratification are
ECONOMIC Slavery, estate systems, caste systems, and class systems
SOCIAL
Gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and age.
Name 4 principles of stratification.
Social stratification is based on four basic principles:
- Is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences.
( Confers unequal access to resources ) - Carries over from generation to generation.
( some social mobility up and down but is mostly horizontal ) - Is universal but variable.
( What, how and why something is unequal varies from one society to another )
4. Engenders shared identities. ( People could identify as working class and have shared values, goals and culture)
Explain the difference between OPEN and CLOSED societies. Give examples.
Closed societies have fewer opportunities for VERTICAL MOBILITY. Social position is based on ASCRIBED status.
Open societies have more social mobility but it is mostly horizontal.
In order of openness, 1 being least open:
- Slavery
- Estate
- Caste
- Class
- Classless (Scandinavia, but not totally classless and has monarchies. Eastern Europe but with no political freedom / governing elites in these societies enjoyed much more wealth, power, and prestige than the average citizen.
How Max Weber and Karl Marx differed in their view of class societies?
Max Weber believed that class systems are based on 3 dimensions of stratification: Economic Class (Wealth), Power and Prestige (social status)
This is known as:
The three-component theory of stratification
Weberian stratification
Or
The three class system
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Marx said our ranking in society depends on whether we own the means of production. The primary dimension of stratification in class systems was economic.
What is the Davis-Moore thesis?
The Davis-Moore thesis states that:
Social statification is universal because it contributes to the functionality of society.
If you have less wealth you will be motivated to get jobs which are more “important”
for the functioning of society.
Critcs argue:
- That it is difficult to assess the importance or functional importance of one job over another.
- Statification prevents many from developing their skills.
- Causes social conflict.
Gerhard Lenski and Jean Lenski believed that what about social stratification?
They explained that historically technological advances are associated with more pronounced social stratification
The Kuznets curve refers to what?
The Kuznets curve reveals that technological advances are associated with more pronounced social stratification, however, this trend reverses itself as industrialised societies become more egalitarian.
What are the 3 types of inequality as suggested by Goran Therborn
- Inequalities of health, life and death. (relates to the biological organism, sometimes known as vital inequality)
- Existential inequalities. (How individuals are viewed as people i.e travellers and stigma)
- Resource inequalities. ( Differences in peoples capacity to act to change their life)
What is intersectionality?
Intersectionality is the ways in which different forms of
inequality and division interact with each other.
The term “intersectionality” was first popularized in 1989 by critical legal and race scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw
What year was Slavery ended by the British Empire?
1833
What year was Slavery ended in America?
1865 at end of Civil War
What is a Chattel Slave?
A chattel slave is owned forever and whose and his or her children are automatically enslaved. They are treated as property, to be bought and sold. Chattel slavery was supported and made legal by European governments and monarchs.
Name a modern day slave trade and it’s location.
The Dinka slave trade in Sudan 1983-2005
The Dinka were the slaves.
What was the Trans-Saharan slave trade?
Slavery in Sudan began in ancient times and recently had a resurgence during the 1983 to 2005 Second Sudanese Civil War.
During the Trans-Saharan slave trade, many Nilotic peoples (Some where Dinka people) from the lower Nile Valley were purchased as slaves and brought to work elsewhere in North Africa and Asia by Nubians, Egyptians, Berbers and Arabs.
