Social Inequality Flashcards
Social stratification
A hierarchy in which groups have different statuses and different levels of privilege.
Social class
A group of people having the same social and economic status.
Age
Age is a form of stratification.
Status
A position that someone has in society.
Power
The ability to influence people’s behaviour.
Industrial societies
Societies that use technology for mass production, in contrast to traditional societies.
Minority group
A category of people lacking power; can be based on factors such as religion, disability and age.
Slavery
A stratification system in which one group is treated as the legal property of another group.
Caste
A closed stratification system traditionally found in India.
Closed society
A society in which mobility between different levels of stratification is not possible.
Ascribed status
A status that is given to individuals by their society or group, over which they have little or no control.
Traditional societies
Societies that are still predominantly agricultural and have not yet become industrial.
Discrimination
When an individual or group suffers a disadvantage because of their characteristics, for example being refused a job.
Ageism
Prejudice or discrimination against someone based on their age.
Achieved status
A status that individuals acquire through their own effort.
Life chances
The opportunities that people have to improve their lives.
Human rights
A wider category than civil rights, including political rights.
Civil rights
Rights that protect the freedom of individuals.
Working class
Manual or blue-collar workers.
Fatalism
Individuals’ belief that they cannot control what happens to them.
Deferred gratification
Being able to set long-term goals, planning for the future.
Immediate gratification
Choosing instant satisfaction rather than waiting for a greater reward in the future.
Middle class
Professional and other non-manual workers, below the upper class and above the working class.
Professional worker
Someone who works as a professional, such as a lawyer and architect.
Minority ethnic group
A minority group with a distinct national or cultural tradition.
Social inequality
The inequality between groups in a stratification system, for example in income or wealth.
Wealth
Money, savings and property that can be bought and sold to generate income.
Distribution of wealth
The way in which wealth is distributed.
Income
The sum of earnings from work and other sources.
Welfare state
The way in which governments try to provide for the less well off and reduce social inequality.
Meritocracy
A society in which individuals achieve the level that their talents and abilities deserve.
Redistribution of wealth
Advocated by Marxists and others to achieve greater equality by giving some of the wealth of the better off to those who are less wealthy.
Dependency culture
A set of values leading people to lose the ability to look after themselves so they become dependent, for example, on welfare benefits.
Underclass
A group below the working class that is effectively cut off from the rest of society.
Maxism
A theoretical perspective that sees conflict between classes the most important feature of society.
Equal opportunities
When all people are given the same chances (for example, in applying for a job) regardless of differences such as age, gender and social class.
Disability
Covers a wide range of types of impairment in how the body functions in carrying out activities.
Relative poverty
Being poor in relation to others in the same society.
Absolute poverty
Being without some or all of the basic necessities of life.
Poverty line
The level of income below which people are judged to be in poverty.
Cycle of poverty
When poverty tends to be inherited, so the new generation cannot escape the poverty of their parents.
Poverty trap
When poor people are unable to escape from being poor.
Culture of poverty
When poor people have a set of values that keep them in poverty.
Social exclusion
People who are unable to take part in the society in the same way as most people are excluded from social goods.
Capitalism
The economic system of most countries today based on private ownership of the means of production.
Bourgeoisie
The ruling or upper class in Marxist class theory.
Reserve army of labour
People who are employed when an economy is booming or when they are needed, but then are out of work when they are not required.
Lifestyle
The way of life of an individual, group or culture.
Privileged groups
Groups enjoying higher status than others or material advantages.
Racism
Prejudice or discrimination against an individual or group because of their ethnicity or perceived race.
Prejudice
An unexamined opinion that a group of people are inferior or different.
Institutional racism
When the way that an organisation works has racist results, even when individuals do not intend this.
Elite
A privileged group at the top of a stratification system.
Apartheid
The stratification system in South Africa until 1994 based on keeping racial groups apart.
Unskilled worker
Workers who need no or minimal training to perform their work.
Skilled worker
Workers who need skills acquired through training to perform their work.
Scapegoating
When individuals or groups are blamed and sometimes punished for something which is not their fault.
Domestic labour
The work that has to be done within the home, such as housework; understanding how domestic labour is divided is important for understanding gender inequality in families.
Feminism
Political movement and sociological perspective advocating equality of the sexes.
