Midterm- Social Class Stratification Flashcards
define power
the ability to realize one’s will even against the will of others
define Means of production
that property which produces the goods and services necessary for society and/or which have economic value
- factories
- energy resources
- tools
define stratification and the stratification system
stratification: structured inequalities between or among different groups of people
stratification system: a set of social structures that reinforce, protect, and perpetuate a given mode of stratification (ex: citizenship status)
inequality vs. inequity
inequality: an arrangement where a valuable resource or opportunity is distributed unequally among people (you studied hard and got an A while someone else didn’t and got a c)
inequity: an unfair/unjust arrangement of inequality (teacher gives out As and Cs based on last name or how much they like the student’s personality)
describe the trend in wealth inequality in the US
the lower income groups have not shifted where the top 20% income groups have steadily increased
what is the Gini Coefficient
measure of wealth inequality where 0= perfect equality and 100= maximum inequality
define the inequality regime
To understand that (nearly) all societies
exhibited some form of inequality does not
serve to justify any particular form of
inequality and especially not persistent
inequities for a given group
what does r > g mean (Picketty)
wealth grows faster than the economy
describe Weber’s concept of status and how it relates to social class
status is primarily a grouping based on one’s “style of life”; what people wear, how they speak, etc.
status and class overlap significantly: high status usually requires a high class position
*high status groups use their status as a way to keep wealthy people of the “wrong status” from exerting too much power (ex: old money vs. new money)
what is SES and how is it measured
SES: position of an individual or group on the socioeconomic scale, which is determined by a combination of social and economic factors such as income, amount and type of education, type and prestige of occupation, etc
it is measured by occupation
- high status occupations require higher education, pay a higher volume, etc
what was the major finding of the 1967 Whitehall Study
cardiovascular disease was not a disease of affluent men
but poorer people. It was better explained
by control over one’s job and occupational
hierarchy
SES as a fundamental cause (passive and active mechanisms)
passive mechanisms: structural conditions affect health
- environmental toxins
- lack of grocery stores
- neighborhood safety
etc
active mechanisms: people use “flexible resources” to create and maintain their health
- knowledge, money, power, prestige, and social connections
- access to healthcare
- flexible jobs
- knowledge and access to nutrition
etc
Zweig: social classes
poverty class: someone living below the threshold required to sustain normal life
working/lower class: someone who labors for their income but barely gets by
middle class: roughly incomes in the middle 1/3rd of the distribution.
upper class: wealthy; top 5% comprises of families with incomes of about $185k+
