SOC Chapter 7: Global Stratification AND Chapter 8: Social Class in the United States

Question 1

Social Stratification

Chapter 7, Page 195

Answer 1

the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative property, power, and prestige;
applies to both nations and to people within a nation, society, or other group.

Question 2

Slavery

Chapter 7, Page 195

Answer 2

a form of social stratification in which some people own other people

Question 3

Bonded Labor
(Indentured Service)

Chapter 7, Page 196

Answer 3

a contractual system in which someone sells his or her body (services) for a specific period of time in an arrangement very close to slavery, except that it is entered into voluntarily

Question 4

Ideology

Chapter 7, Page 197

Answer 4

beliefs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements

Question 5

Caste System

Chapter 7, Page 197

Answer 5

a form of social stratification in which people’s statuses are lifelong conditions determined by birth

Question 6

Endogamy

Chapter 7, Page 197

Answer 6

the practice of marrying within one’s own group

Question 7

Apartheid

Chapter 7, Page 198

Answer 7

the government-approved-and-enforced separation of racial-ethnic groups as was practiced in South Africa

Question 8

Estate Stratification System

Chapter 7, Page 200

Answer 8

the stratification system of medieval Europe, consisting of three groups or estates: the nobility, clergy, and commoners

Question 9

Class System

Chapter 7, Page 201

Answer 9

a form of social stratification based primarily on income, education, and prestige of occupation

Question 10

Social Mobility

Chapter 7, Page 201

Answer 10

movement up or down the social class ladder

Question 11

Means of Production

Chapter 7, Page 202

Answer 11

the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth

Question 12

Bourgeosie

(bo͝orZHwäˈzē)

Chapter 7, Page 202

Answer 12

Marx’s term for capitalists, those who own the means of production

Question 13

Proletariat

(prōləˈterēət)

Chapter 7, Page 202

Answer 13

Marx’s term for the exploited class, the mass workers who do not own the means to production

Question 14

Class Consciousness

Chapter 7, Page 202

Answer 14

Marx’s term for awareness of a common identity based on one’s position in the means of production

Question 15

False Class Consciousness

Chapter 7, Page 202

Answer 15

Marx’s term to refer to workers identifying with the interests of capitalists

Question 16

Meriocracy

Chapter 7, Page 205

Answer 16

a form of social stratification in which all positions are awarded on the basis of merit

Question 17

Divine Right of Kings

Chapter 7, Page 202

Answer 17

the idea that the king’s authority comes from God;

in an interesting gender bender, also applies to queens

Question 18

Colonialism

Chapter 7, Page 218

Answer 18

the process by which one nation takes over another nation, usually for the purpose of exploiting its labor and natural resources

Question 19

World System Theory

Chapter 7, Page 218

Answer 19

a theory of how economics and political connections developed and now tie the world’s countries together

Question 20

Globalization of Capitalism

Chapter 7, Page 219

Answer 20

capitalism (investing to make profits within a rational system) becoming the globe’s dominant economic system

Question 21

Culture of Poverty

Chapter 7, Page 220

Answer 21

the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that parent’s perpetuate poverty across generations by passing characteristics to their children

Question 22

Neocolonialism

Chapter 7, Page 221

Answer 22

the economic and political dominance of the Least Industrialized Nations by the Most Industrialized Nations

Question 23

Multinational Corporations

Chapter 7, Page 221

Answer 23

companies that operate across national boundaries;

also called transitional corporations

Question 24

Social Class

Chapter 8, Page 227

Answer 24

according to Weber, a large group of people who rank close to one another in poverty, power, and prestige;

according to Marx, one of two groups: capitalists who own the means to production or workers who sell their labor

Question 25

Poverty

Chapter 8, Page 227

Answer 25

material possessions: includes animals, bank accounts, bonds, buildings, cars, cash, commodities, copyrights, furniture, jewelry, land, and stocks

Question 26

Wealth

Chapter 8, Page 227

Answer 26

the total value of everything someone owns, minus debts

Question 27

Income

Chapter 8, Page 227

Answer 27

money received, usually from a job, business, or assets

Question 28

Power

Chapter 8, Page 230

Answer 28

the ability to carry out your will, even over the resistance of others

Question 29

Power Elite

Chapter 8, Page 230

Answer 29

C. Wright Mill’s term for the top people in U.S. corporations, military, and politics who make the nation’s major decisions

Question 30

Prestige

Chapter 8, Page 233

Answer 30

respect or regard

Question 31

Status Consistency

Chapter 8, Page 233

Answer 31

ranking high or low on all three dimensions of social class

Question 32

Status Inconsistency

Chapter 8, Page 233

Answer 32

ranking high on some dimensions of social class and low on others;
also class status discrepancy

Question 33

Status

Chapter 8, Page 233

Answer 33

the position that someone occupies in a social group;

also called social status

Question 34

Anomie

(anəˌmē)

Chapter 8, Page 234

Answer 34

Durkheim’s term for a condition of society in which people become detached from the usual norms that guide their behavior

Question 35

Contradictory Class Locations

Chapter 8, Page 234

Answer 35

Erik Wright’s term for a position in the class structure that generates contradictory interests

Question 36

Underclass

Chapter 8, Page 239

Answer 36

a group of people for whom poverty persists year after year and across generations

Question 37

Intergenerational Mobility

Chapter 8, Page 243

Answer 37

the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next

Question 38

Upward Social Mobility

Chapter 8, Page 243

Answer 38

movement up in the social class ladder

Question 39

Downward Social Mobility

Chapter 8, Page 243

Answer 39

movement down the social class ladder

Question 40

Structural Mobility

Chapter 8, Page 243

Answer 40

movement up or down the social class ladder that is due more to changes in the structure of society than to the actions of individuals

Question 41

Exchange Mobility

Chapter 8, Page 244

Answer 41

a large number of people moving up to social class ladder, while a large number move down;
it is as tough they have exchanged places, and despite much social mobility the social class system show little change

Question 42

Poverty Line

Chapter 8, Page 247

Answer 42

the official measure of poverty;

calculated to include incomes that are less than three times a low-cost food budget

Question 43

Feminization of Poverty

Chapter 8, Page 251

Answer 43

a condition of U.S. poverty in which most poor families are headed by women

Question 44

Culture of Poverty

Chapter 8, Page 251

Answer 44

the assumption that the values and behaviors of the poor make them fundamentally different from other people, that these factors are largely responsible for their poverty, and that their parents perpetuate poverty across generations by passing these characteristics to their children

Question 45

Deferred Gratification

Chapter 8, Page 253

Answer 45

going without something in the present in the hope achieving greater gains in the future

Question 46

Horation Alger Myth

Chapter 8, Page 255

Answer 46

the belief that due to limitless possibilities anyone can get ahead if he or she tries hard enough