Module 6: Social and Political Stratifications Flashcards
Social Stratification
Division among the people of the world
Social desirables
Wealth, Prestige and Power
Access to basic resources
Inequality and Equality
Inequality - limited access to social desirables compared to others
Equality - Sameness and Fairness
Sameness - same rights, social status and other privileges
Fairness - diversity is recognized and people are given the things they need in society
Social Exclusion
- Caused by a lack of access to resources and social desirables
Active Social Exclusion - purposive or deliberate exclusion from society
Passive Social Exclusion - non-deliberate exclusion
Theoretical Perspective on Social Stratification
Structural Functionalism - people with special skills enter important occupations to help society
Conflict - stratification is a result of lack of opportunity, discrimination and prejudice against poor, women, and colored people.
Symbolic Interactionism - stratification affects peoples own view of themselves
Types of Social Stratification
Open Systems
Class System - born into a social rank but can move up or down the stratification ladder
Classless - egalitarian society consistent with Marx’s ideals
Closed Systems
Slavery - ownership of people as servants. Most closed system
Estate System - control of the land. Divided between nobility (land owner) and peasantry (land worker)
Caste System - people are born into unequal groups based on their parents’ status and remain their for the rest of their lives
Maintaining Social Stratification
General Socialization and Self-Evaluation - poorer self evaluation of the lower classes in school, workplace and family
Education System - promote respect for authority
Spreading the idea of everyone having equal opportunities - Low social classes attribute their status to their defects
Social Capital
- effective functioning of social groups through relationships and connections
Political Capital
individual’s ability to influence political decisions
Economic Capital
- involve a monetary or exchange value
Cultural Capital
- accumulation of knowledge, behaviors and skill that can be shown as one’s cultural competence and social status
Gender Inequality
phenomenon where women and men are not treated equally
Minorities
- category of people who experience relative disadvantage compared to members of a dominant social group
Dependency Theory
- resources flow from poor and underdeveloped states to wealthy ones, making the poor poorer and the rich richer
