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Sociology midterm 2 > Social Stratification > Flashcards

Social Stratification Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

What Is Social Stratification

A

A system by which a society ranks categories of people into a hierarchy

*Our social standing affects every aspect of our lives

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2
Q

Name 4 principles of social Stratification

A
  1. SStratification is a trait of society
  2. It is carried over for generations
  3. SStratification is universal but variable
  4. SStratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well
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3
Q

Name 3 systems that sociologists use to distinguish between societies in terms of inequality

A
  1. Closed system / Caste system
  2. Open system
  3. Class system
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4
Q

Explain Caste System

A

A Caste System is Social Stratification based on ascription, or birth
1. Birth determines a persons entire future
2. Little or no social mobility bases on individual effort
3. people live lives in the riding caterogires that they are born in to

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5
Q

Caste systems in agrarian life

A
  1. Agriculture demands a lifelong routine of hard work
  2. teaches a sense of moral duty to ensure people are disciplined for a lifetime of work

India and Africa

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6
Q

Explain Class system

A

Social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement

  1. It is a process of schooling and specialization that gives rise to 2. In a class system, people with talents in diverse fields are needed
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7
Q

Explain Meritocracy

A

Social Stratification based on personal merit / earned

  1. Broad range of abilities beyond farming is needed.
  2. Stratification is based on accident birth and also personal merit
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8
Q

how to increase meritocracy

A

is to expand equality of proper opportunity
teach people to expect unequal rewards based on individual performance

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9
Q

Endogamous

A

when people marry others of the same ranking

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10
Q

Status Consistency

A

Degree of uniformity in a person’s social standing across various dimensions of social inequality

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11
Q

Rise of Class system

A

As the industrial revolution expanded England’s economy, commoners were making more money than nobility

there was more emphasis on meritocracy, expansion of schooling, legal rights and the importance of money that blurred the line between nobility and commoners

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12
Q

Structural Social Mobility

A

A shift in the social position of large numbers of people due to more changes in society itself than to individual efforts

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13
Q

Ideology

A

Ideology is a cultural belief that justifies particular social arrangements including patterns of society

is a major reason that social hierarchies endure/last is Ideology

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14
Q

Explain Platos and Marx approach to idealogy

A

According to Plato, every society considers some type of inequality fair

Marx criticized capitalist societies for defending wealth and power in the hands of the few as a
‘law of the marketplace”

Capitalist law defines the right to own property which encourages money to remain within the same families

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15
Q

What is Herberts Spencers approach to idealogy

A

Ideology changes along with the economy and technology

Wealth and power are prizes to be won by the people who perform better

poor are looked down on as personally underserving

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16
Q

structural functionalist theory

A

points to ways social stratification helps society operates

according to Kingsley davis and Wilbert moore
2. social stratification has beneficial consequences and its important for the operation of the society
3. in caste systems, people are rewarded for performing the duties of their positions at birth
3. in class system, unequal rewards attract the ablest people to the important jobs and encourage effort

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17
Q

social conflict theory to social inequality

A

claims that stratification divides societies in classes benefiting some categories of people

karl marx claimed that capitalism places economic production under the ownership of capitalists, who exploit the proletarians, who sell their labor for wages

Max weber identified three distinct dimensions of social
stratification
economic
social status or prestige and power

conflict exist between people at various positions on a multidimensional hierarchy of socio-economic status

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18
Q

Davis-Moore-thesis and equality

A

society could be egalitarian but only to the extent that people are willing to let anyone perform any job

19
Q

Define Capitalists

A

people who own and operate factories and businesses for profit

20
Q

Define Proletarian

A

people who save their labor for wages

21
Q

Define Alienation

A

the experience of isolation and misery resulting from powerlessness

22
Q

Why no marxis revolution?

A

Ralph Daherndorf has 4 reasons

  1. Fragmentation of the capitalists class , stockholders hold and own companies
  2. A higher standard of living, blue collar and white collar
  3. More worker organization, right to form labour unions
  4. Greater legal protection
23
Q

Acounterpoint

A

development of capitalism has smoothes some of its brought edges

social conflicts theorist say that even without revolution, marx was still mostly right about capitalism

24
Q

socioeconomic status hierarchy

A

a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality

25
Q

Industrial and developments of capitalism

A

eliminated traditional ranking by birth and created striking financial inequality

                                              it also brings inequality downward by developing people's talents, meritocracy takes hold and weakens the power of traditional elites

growth of the bureaucratic state, governments get bigger, and the spread of all types of organizations make power more important in the stratification system

26
Q

Symolic interaction theory

A

a micro-level analysis that explores how inequality shapes everyday life ,
explains that we size up people by looking for clues to their social standing

27
Q

conspicuous consumption

A

buying and using products because of the statement they make about social position

28
Q

Gerhard lenaki’s model for sociocultural evolution

A

is also used to link social stratification to technology

  1. Hunting and gathering
    with simple technology, people gather what is needed and no one is better than one another
  2. Horticulture, pastoral and agrarian societies
    a small elite control surplus
29
Q

Kuznets curve

A

in human history technological adcances increase but then social stratification intensifies

countries that have passes the industrial era have less income inequality

30
Q

Canadia family income

A

richest 20% make 125 hundred thousand and up
second 20% 88 to 124 hundred thousand
middle 20% 62 to 87 thousands
fourth 20% 38 to 61 hunny
poor 20% 0 to 38 hunny tousi

31
Q

Income

A

earnings from work or investments

32
Q

wealth

A

the total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debt

33
Q

Describe the distribution of income and wealth in Canada

A

Social stratification involves many dimensions

  1. Wealth (wealth is distributed more unequally than income, the wealthiest 20% holds 67.4 percent of the wealth)
  2. income (earning from work and investments are unequal. richest own 43.6% nd poor 4.3 of all income)
  3. Power (income and wealth are the most important source for power)
  4. Occupational prestige (white collar jobs offer more income and prestige that blue-collar, many low prestige jobs are run by women and colour)
  5. Schooling (schooling effects occupation and income, but some have greater opportunity than others for schooling.
  6. family and ancestory race and ethnicity and gender all effect social standing
34
Q

Name the social classes in canada

A

Upper class
middle class
the working class
the lower class

35
Q

Explain intra and intergenerational social mobility

A

intragenerational social mobility; a change in a social position occurring during a person’s lifetime

Intergenerational; upward or downward social mobility of children about their parents

36
Q

Social mobility in north america

A

social mobility is high in class system
social mobility is usually small within a single generation

37
Q

social mobility in canada

A

social mobility is common in canada as it is in other rich countries

small changes occur from one generation to the other

due to the expansion of global and post-industrial economy the richest families now earn more that ever

38
Q

name 4 statistical measures used to measure poverty

A

LIC; low-income cut-offs
consider whether a family has 63% of its income spent on necessities than the average

LIM; low-income measure
defines low income as 50% of the national median income adjusted for family income

MBM; market basket measure
establishes a total cost of a basket of goods made up of goods and services that are considered necessary to maintain physical health and allow participation through communities activities

39
Q

define relative poverty

A

the lack of resources of some people in relation to who have more

40
Q

define absolute poverty

A

s lack of resources that is life threatening

41
Q

feminization of poverty

A

the trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor

42
Q

oppoising explanation for poverty and explain

A

blame the poor (oscar lewis)
1. the culture of poverty thesis states that poverty is caused by shortcomings in the poor themselves they are responsible for their own poverty
2. value is on self-reliance so social standing is based on effort and talent
3. take advantage of the society
4. poor are poor because they lack motivation, skills and schooling

blame the society (William julius wilson)
1. poverty is caused by society unequal distribution of wealth
2. loss of jobs in the inner cities
3. lack of trying of poor because of little opportunity

43
Q

poverty in terms of age

A

generations ago, the elderly were at more risk for poverty

44
Q

define Neoliberalism

A

a political ideology that proposes into the hand of private actors

Sociology midterm 2 (4 decks)

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