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Sociology > Paper 2 Social Class > Flashcards

Paper 2 Social Class Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What is income

A

The flow of money to a person

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2
Q

How is information on income gathered

A

Family resources survey- ran by government on living conditions
Annual survey of hours and earnings- shows hours worked by employees in all jobs
British household survey- interviews every adult in the household that works

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3
Q

What did the High pay centre find in 2012

A

Found companies on the London stock exchange has increased wages by 49% compared to the 3% increase their employees received

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4
Q

What do functionalists and new right say about social class and income

A

Say unequal rewards are beneficial for society to ensure most talented are encouraged to work hard and use their abilities

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5
Q

What do Marxists and weberians say about social class and income

A

Believe company owners choose their own salary

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6
Q

What is wealth

A

A stock concept

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7
Q

How does the ONS define wealth

A

Physical wealth
Property wealth
Financial wealth
Private pension wealth

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8
Q

What did the annual Sunday times rich list say in 2012

A

The richest 200 families had between them a total wealth averaging £225 billion

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9
Q

Why is wealth difficult to measure

A

Defying what should be counted as wealth is difficult
Calculating value difficult
People hide their wealth

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10
Q

How much wealth do the poorest 50% have between them

A

10%

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11
Q

What did Atkinson say in 2013

A

Found that lots of incomes comes from inherited wealth
Shows that wealth doesn’t come from working

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12
Q

What do weberian sociologists say about social class and work

A

Believe more privileged workers tend to be in more skilled/high status occupations

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13
Q

What do Marxist sociologists say about social class and work

A

Believe inequalities come from employers keeping wages down and profits up

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14
Q

What does white the child poverty action argue

A

3.5 million in poverty today

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15
Q

What is absolute poverty

A

Lack of basic essentials needed to survive

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16
Q

What is relative poverty

A

So little money they are excluded from a normal lifestyle

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17
Q

What did Mack and Lansley do in 1985

A

Measured poverty by asking different groups what they regarded as necessities in their lives
Items rated 50% or more were seen as necessities
Over time this list has gotten bigger

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18
Q

In 2012 how many households were in poverty

A

33% compared to 14% in 1983

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19
Q

What is social mobility

A

Movement up or down a social class

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20
Q

What is inter generational mobility

A

Between generations

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21
Q

What is intragenerational mobility

A

Between social class during their working life

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22
Q

What does lots of social mobility suggest

A

An open society
Those with talent and if they work hard can move up a social class

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23
Q

What does a little amount of social mobility suggest

A

A closed society
If you are born into a social class there is no way of getting out of it

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24
Q

Why is it hard to research social mobility

A

People do not agree on what occupation is what social class
Very wealthy may not even work e.g royal family
Women used to be ignored from studies in the past

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25
Q

What was Goldthorpes study in 1972

A

He sampled 10000 men and he found that after ww2 there had been lots of upward social mobility

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26
Q

How was Goldthorpes study criticised

A

Saunders and new right sociologists said everyone had the opportunities to achieve
Feminists said that Goldthorpes study had far too much focus on men

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27
Q

What were the results of Savage and Egerton study

A

Involved women
- working class comities to get smaller giving more opportunity to them
- however 55% of men who originated from working class stayed there
- women from working class are more likely to move up compared to men

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28
Q

Why is functionalism a consensus theory

A

It suggests society works best when there is an agreement

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29
Q

What does Parsons believe

A

Believe that social stratification reflects this consensus value

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30
Q

What is social stratification

A

The way different people are placed within a society usually based on wealth and income

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31
Q

What does Parsons say about individuals in society

A

Some individuals are better than others at achieving things

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32
Q

Why does Parsons say CEOs and owners should deserve the highest rewards

A

They contribute to the smooth running of society by creating jobs

33
Q

What do Davis and Moore say the main function of social stratification is

A

Ensure right role allocation and performance of people

34
Q

What is functional uniqueness

A

Only one person or a small number can carry out that role

35
Q

What is the degree of dependence of others

A

Someone who makes lots of decisions, gives orders to staff

36
Q

Who does Tumin critique

A

Davis and Moore

37
Q

Why does Tumin critique Davis and Moore

A

How can you say one position is more important
Power and rewards- some people get paid due to their power not because they deserve it
Pool of talent- others may not have had the opportunity to do top jobs

38
Q

What does Tumin believe about social stratification

A

Causes problems as not everyone has the same life chances

39
Q

Saunders argued a society based on social equality would only be possible if….

A

Force is used
E.g threat of death or imprisonment as this would ensure people did their job properly

40
Q

Why is Saunders critical of left wing governments (labour)

A

Thinks they are misguided
E.g taxing the rich to pay for benefits from the poor reduces the drive for rich people to work hard

41
Q

What do critics of Saunders say

A

Say we cannot assume a free market (less controlled by the government) even offers everyone more freedom
Social groups will still be excluded

42
Q

What did Murray call the people trapped at the bottom of society

A

The underclass

43
Q

What created a dependency culture

A

Government who provided welfare benefits for groups such as the unemployed and lone parent families

44
Q

What did Murray want to happen to the benefits

A

Wanted them to reduced as they were doing more harm than good

45
Q

What do critics of Murray say

A

Murray is victim blaming- majority of the underclass want to do well

46
Q

What is the bourgeoise

A

Those who invested their wealth into industries
Owns means of production

47
Q

What is the proletariat

A

Working class who owned no wealth and forced to work for wages

48
Q

What is surplus value
Marx

A

Workers create the wealth but only a fraction of what they create comes back to them in wages

49
Q

How does Marx believe workers are exploited by employers

A

Wages are low and profits high

50
Q

What is the polarisation of social classes

A

The divide between the working class and capitalists would grow wider as the bourgeoisie tried to keep wages low and profits high
This means small businesses would be driven out of business by increasingly powerful big businesses which widens the divide

51
Q

What is alienation

A

Workers would not be able to find any satisfaction because they have no control over their own work

52
Q

What is economic crisis

A

Marx argued that capitalist economies tend to suffer
Eventually a crisis would lead to collapse of the whole capitalist system

53
Q

How would capitalism be overthrown

A

When the working class realise they are being exploited they would rise up and overthrow capitalism

54
Q

What system did Marx believe wold replace capitalism

A

Communism

55
Q

What is communism

A

Production would be shared by the whole community
Instead of wages everyone would receive what they needed
This means social classes would disappear (classless society)

56
Q

Criticism of Marxism
Economic determinism

A

People may think in a certain way for cultural reasons therefore religious beliefs may be more important for someone than their economic position
Marx’s tend to ignore other inequality such as gender and ethnicity

57
Q

What is class consciousness

A

When you don’t know you are being exploited

58
Q

Criticism of Marx
Success of capitalism

A

Despite what Marx says capitalist societies have actually flourished
In western societies the working class have enjoyed the rise of living standards and allows everyone to elect their own government and encourage freedom

59
Q

Criticism of Marxism
The middle class

A

Marx ignored the classes in between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat
Critics say these groups have grown in size and are important so cannot be ignored

60
Q

In defence of Marxism
Continuity of social classes

A

Westergaard and Resler argued there was little evidence of class divisions disappearing
Class divisions have actually widened more

61
Q

In defence of Marxism
The proletarianisation of middle classes

A

The gap between the rich and poor widens, Marx prediction of polarisation has come true
Working class have been de skilled as jobs are taken over by machines

62
Q

In defence of Marxism
Neo Marxists

A

Gramsci developed the concept hegemony to explain why working class in Western Europe countries had not risen up
He believes ruling class do not need to use force to exert power they rule through persuasion
They use institutions such as media and education to control people

63
Q

In defence of Marxism
Globalisation and transnational corporations

A

TNCs e.g Coca Cola have annual profits which are more than the national income of many poor countries
Sklair says TNCs have greater power than some governments

64
Q

How does weber define social class

A

A group who share a similar market situation

65
Q

What did Weber say are the four main social classes

A

Propertied upper class- owners of big businesses
Property less white collar workers- better market situation than manual workers due to qualifications
Petty bourgeoisie- owners of small businesses
Manual working class- poorest market situation

66
Q

What did Weber say status is

A

Refers to the distribution of social honour
How much respect a person receives from others and whether they are seen as superior or inferior to others

67
Q

How is status linked

A

To a persons economic or class position
Also ethnicity religion or lifestyle

68
Q

How does Weber define party

A

Groups who were concerned with exercising power

69
Q

Parties might include groups such as

A

Trade unions that seek to improve the wages and conditions of specific groups

70
Q

Criticism of Weber

A

Marxists argue focussing on multiple social classes masks the importance of class divisions

71
Q

How has weber had a big influence on modern sociologists

A

Most sociologists take on a multi class model rather than Marx’s two classes
The idea that social class affects life chances
New social movements e.g women’s movements

72
Q

Why does Abbot criticise Goldthorpes study of social mobility

A

He completely ignored women

73
Q

Social classifications are based around men’s occupations which led to the development of new classifications such as

A

The Surrey scale

74
Q

Why do women have lower rates of absolute mobility

A

They have less chances of reaching top jobs

75
Q

What do postmodernists argue about class

A

They are losing their significance in a contemporary society

76
Q

What do pakulski and waters argue

A

That people are not stratified by cultural rather than economic differences

77
Q

What does Beck argue

A

That the class conflicts of early industrial societies concerned the distribution of wealth

78
Q

What does Becks term risk society mean

A

The central problem is no longer creating and distributing wealth but is managing the risks created by science and technology

79
Q

What does individualism mean

A

People’s willingness to act together has diminished, instead people become individualised and more concerned with personal interests

Sociology (5 decks)

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