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Sociology > Social Stratification > Flashcards

Social Stratification Flashcards

1
Q

what perspective is davis & moore?

A

functionalist

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2
Q

what do davis & moore think about social stratification?

A
  • systems are a universal necessity
  • all roles in society must be filled by people best able to perform them
  • roles require training and must be done conscientiously (well)
  • unequal power in society is essential for meritocracy and creates social cohesion because the government maintains order
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3
Q

5 criticisms of davis & moore

A
  • lower paying jobs are still functionally important (it is hard to define which are more important- subjective)
  • differences in pay may be due to difference in power (structural inequality- capitalism, patriarchy) not talent
  • there’s no formal method to measure talent
  • some talented people go unrewarded
  • TUMIN- education and training don’t justify extreme lifetime inequalities in rewards. education should be the reward. stratification brings conflict (due to unequal rewards)
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4
Q

what does karl marx think about social stratification?

A
  • mechanism that allows privileged few to exploit many which is unequal and oppressive
  • proletariat sell valuable labour but bourgeoisie takes value on account of owning the tools- capitalist wants to take value, workers want to maintain value. different CLASS INTERESTS creates CLASS CONFLICT
  • POLARISATION- the more workers are exploited, the greater the difference between classes
  • ALIENATION- capitalism makes people feel like they can be disposed of whenever so people don’t feel in control of their lives
  • life chances differ due to class and proletariat have worse life chances due to inequality
  • economic power creates political power because bourgeoisie control the state- propaganda that shapes the ideology of society to justify capitalism
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5
Q

criticisms of marx

A
  • ignores gender
  • ignore ethnicity
  • capitalist societies more stable then anticipated- marx thought capitalism would collapse
  • people have free will to change their destinies
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6
Q

who came up with the idea of the glass ceiling?

A

beverly skeggs- feminist

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7
Q

who came up with the idea of there being 6 new patriarchal structures in society?

A

sylvia walby- feminist

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8
Q

what are the six patriarchal structures?

A
  • the household
  • paid work
  • the state
  • male violence
  • sexuality
  • cultural institutions (media)
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9
Q

how does walby think there is gender inequality in the household?

A

even though women are now free to dissolve marriage and work, this ‘liberation’ from marriage can lead to poverty

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10
Q

how does walby think there is gender inequality in paid work?

A

gender pay gap and less access to “top jobs” and therefore segregated into low-paying part-time jobs

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11
Q

how does walby think there is gender inequality in the state?

A

there is an inadequate welfare system (benefits) for women and even though they may be the head of the family in line parent families, this position remains economically perilous (unable to grow financially)

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12
Q

how does walby think there is gender inequality in male violence?

A

although violence to women has been officially condemned, female survivors are often humiliated, disbelieved or ignored

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13
Q

how does walby think there is gender inequality in their sexuality?

A

heterosexual women feel pressure to marry/ cohabit with a man and sexual double standards are still ‘alive and well’

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14
Q

how does walby think there is gender inequality in cultural institutions?

A

media still shows women as either sexually glamorous OR wives/ mothers whereas men are shown in positions of power

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15
Q

what perspective is max weber? explain this

A

founding father of interactionism and somewhat critical (conflict theorist) of marx- agrees property ownership= class divisions but class divisions are not just based on economic factors, also skills and qualifications (status and power)

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16
Q

what does weber define market situation as?

A

what a worker can sell their labour for

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17
Q

what does weber believe about status?

A
  • social classes compete for status
  • we show our status through our property
  • class, power and status do often overlap but aren’t as closely linked as marx suggests
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18
Q

what does weber believe about marx’s idea that there will be a revolution?

A
  • those with similar market positions may unite to improve their situation through strikes etc
  • parties (political, trade unions or pressure groups) compete for power and can have many different classes
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19
Q

what does weber think about social stratification?

A
  • those with similar market situations achieve a similar level or resources and may unite to improve their situations
  • social classes compete for status and is shown through their property
  • class power and status overlap but aren’t as closely linked as marx suggests
  • there are 2 types of power- formal and informal AND authority and coercion
  • there are 3 types of authority- rational legal, traditional and charismatic
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20
Q

what are webers two ‘2 types of power’

A
  • authority (legitimate) and coercion (illegitimate)
  • formal and informal
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21
Q

what are webers 3 types of authority?

A
  • rational legal
  • traditional
  • charismatic
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22
Q

what is formal power? give examples

A
  • conforming to the hierarchical, top-down structures within an organisation
  • e.g. a managers power over a worker
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23
Q

what is informal power? give examples

A
  • power between people and expressed through everyday interactions which will reflect the dominance or subordination of their status position
  • e.g. a wealthy businessman being rude to a waiter
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24
Q

what is authoritative power? give examples

A
  • legitimate power that people are willing to follow as they believe it is the right thing to do
  • e.g. police, the law
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25
Q

what is coercive power? give examples

A
  • illegitimate power that uses threat and violence to force people to obey
  • e.g. dictators
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26
Q

what is rational legal authority? give examples

A
  • authority based on law that follows clear and established rules based on an understanding that broken rules will be punished
  • e.g. police arresting someone for breaking a law
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27
Q

what is traditional authority? give examples

A
  • based on custom and tradition that has often been inherited/ passed down
  • e.g. the continuation of the monarchy
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28
Q

what is charismatic authority? give examples

A
  • based on personal qualities, someone being so extraordinary that they inspire people to follow them
  • e.g. celebrities having fans
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29
Q

what 4 factors affect the life chances of an individual?

A
  • social class
  • gender
  • ethnicity
  • disability
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30
Q

what is underclass?

A

a group of people at the very bottom of the social scale who are dependent on welfare benefits

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31
Q

how can social class affect an individual’s life chances?

A

working classes tend to have poorer life chances since they may lack access to many institutions/ services such as private education that upper classes do have access to

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32
Q

how can gender affect an individual’s life chances?

A

women tend to earn less and are likely to do low status work due to things such as the gender pay gap and the “glass ceiling”

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33
Q

how can ethnicity affect an individual’s life chances?

A

certain ethnic groups are more likely to suffer material deprivation a do less well educationally due to things such as labelling + self fulfilling prophecy and discrimination

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34
Q

how can disability affect an individual’s life chances?

A

individuals with health issues are more likely to suffer from material deprivation and social exclusion since it may be harder for them to find jobs due to prejudices of employers or their inability to do certain tasks because of their disability

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35
Q

what does an ethnography involve?

A

the observation of a group of people and their way of life involving multiple research methods such as participant observation

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36
Q

advantages of ethnography

A

authentic experiences - because they have direct access to culture, ethnographic researchers can have more authentic cultural experiences

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37
Q

describe the two types of social status

A
  • ascribed status= inherited and unchanging over time (royal family, aristocracy)
  • achieved status= gained as a result of personal talents/ success (olympic athletes, celebrities)
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38
Q

what is an open system?

A

a system where social mobility/ movement between strata is possible- class

39
Q

what is a closed system?

A

system where social mobility/ movement between strata is not possible or rare- slavery, caste system

40
Q

describe the two types of poverty

A
  • absolute= no access to basic necessities like food water or shelter
  • relative= inability to meet the average of their society/ inability to afford things others take for granted like internet
41
Q

what did victorians think about the poor?

A

they were judgemental and sorted them into deserving (hard working/ not their fault) and undeserving (lazy/ through fault of their own) poor

42
Q

what did both Booth and Rowntree find?

A

the main causes of poverty were illness and unemployment and were critical of the victorians ideas of the poor

43
Q

what did Rowntree think about poverty?

A
  • people can’t help being poor and need help
  • poverty line= measure of minimum income required to meet the essential cost of living (21 shillings per week)
  • those in “primary” poverty spent money on basic essentials but still went without
  • those in “secondary” poverty spent their money on non-essential items like alcohol
  • illness and unemployment were the main causes of poverty
44
Q

what did Booth find about poverty?

A
  • main causes of poverty are illness and unemployment
  • he created Mapped London and found that 30% lived in poverty
45
Q

what did Townsend think about poverty?

A

there are three ways of defining poverty
*the state’s standard (determined by the government and based on entitlement to benefits)- this is subjective, shows 7% households in poverty
*the relative income standard (households who’s income fell below average)- misleading because it doesn’t take into account wether some of this is from benefits, shows 10.5% household in poverty
* relative deprivation (when people lack the resources needed to need the living standard of society)- Townsend argued this is the BEST WAY to measure poverty, shows 25% households in poverty

46
Q

define globalisation

A

the increasing connectedness and interdependence of world cultures and economies

47
Q

4 impacts of globalisation

A
  • large companies have outsourced their production outside the UK (manufacturing jobs have gone overseas)
  • “unskilled jobs” have gone because labour costs are cheaper in other countries
  • problems from globalisation affect the poor more
  • fuel and food costs increase because prices and costs are impacted by the global market (e.g. ukraine war)
48
Q

describe the two types of social mobility

A
  • INTRAgenerational: moving between strata during your own lifetime
  • INTERgenerational: moving between strata across generations
49
Q

define embourgeoisement

A

the adoption of middle-class values and behaviours by financially successful members of the working class

50
Q

what did Goldthorpe & Lockwood do?

A
  • interviewed car assembly workers (affluent workers) about their attitudes towards work and social class
  • they found evidence of embourgeoisement
  • which were a new “privatised” working class (home centered with instrumental attitudes)
51
Q

define privatised

A

the idea that affluence had affected working-class attitudes, making workers more instrumental and less solidaristic

52
Q

what is an affluent worker?

A
  • a worker who earns more than the average.
  • Goldthorpe & Lockwood’s idea
  • they often support the Labour Party for individual gain (rather than for the good of the workers) and their attitude towards trade unions was instrumental
53
Q

what did Devine do?

A
  • recreated Goldthorpe & Lockwoods study 20 years later
  • critical, found no evidence of a “new working class”
  • workers in her study were not as communal as the traditional working class but still were often critical of capitalism despite their rising living standards and aspirations as consumers
54
Q

what is instrumentalism?

A

some working-class attitudes towards work being a way of making money and self-interest rather than traditional working-class collective values

55
Q

what are webers 4 main classes?

A
  • Property Owners
  • Professionals
  • Petty Bourgeoisie
  • Working Class
56
Q

what are parties and according to who?what do they show?

A

according to Weber, they are organised groups seeking to exercise power (trade unions, religious groups) that show how people can be powerful without wealth (unlike Marx suggested)

57
Q

what is liberal feminism?

A
  • believe gender inequality in power relationships (starting at socialisation) leads to unequal power structures.
  • they believe the solution to this is legislation and educating men
58
Q

what is marxist feminism?

A
  • believe patriarchal power relationships lead to capitalism due to the dual role of cheap female workers and household chores.
  • believe the solution is the abolition of capitalism
59
Q

what is radical feminism?

A
  • believe power relationships between men and women are particularly concentrated in the family
  • believe the solution is eradicating the patriarchy (women separating from men)
60
Q

what is the welfare state?

A

government systems for supporting the health and general well-being of the population

61
Q

what do marxists think about the welfare state?

A

it’s a tool of capitalism to preserve itself because it settles the proletariat and prevents revolution

62
Q

what do feminists think about the welfare state?

A

it supports conventional family and therefore reinforces the patriarchy as well as giving inadequate support for single mothers

63
Q

what do the centre-left think about the welfare state?

A

capitalism causes poverty so redistributing wealth through the welfare state increases social cohesion

64
Q

2 criticisms of Weber

A
  • ignores exploitation under capitalism
  • too focused on economic factors rather than gender/ ethnicity
65
Q

what perspective is murray?

A

new right

66
Q

what does murray believe about social stratification?

A
  • there is an underclass who are dependant on benefits due to “perverse (wrong) incentive” from the welfare state
  • underclass is mostly single mothers, drop-outs, those on benefits, out-of-wedlock-births
  • we need welfare reform (change) because people are not inherently good, moral or hardworking
  • people respond to incentives/ disincentives
  • welfare dependency makes the underclass lazy creating a “culture of dependency”
67
Q

4 criticisms of murray

A
  • sexist- blames single mothers
  • ignores inequalities of capitalism
  • only 0.7% of benefits expenditure account for fraud
  • only 2% of all benefits spendage is for unemployment
68
Q

define nation state

A

an independent geographically located state, whose citizens recognise a common naionalistic identity

69
Q

what is class allignment and deallignment?

A

a history of how people vote out of loyalty for a particular political party.
* traditionally middle class vote conservative
* traditionally working class vote labour

class deallignment= these have now started to swap more since the 1970s due to the decline of traditional industry

70
Q

define democracy

A

allowing individuals to elect their representatives and to participate in political debate

71
Q

dictatorship

A

political system where power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual/ small group

72
Q

describe the UK in terms of political power

A

it is a democratic nation state where citizens have a common national identity and can excersise political power

73
Q

what is a pressure group?

A

a group trying to influence public policy that represent specific interests e.g. trade unions who can try and influence through protests and strikes

74
Q

what is a general election?

A

every 4-5yrs you elect your MP and the leader of the party with the most MPs voted wins

75
Q

what is a referendum?

A

voting yes or no on a specific issue (yes/no question) where the results can be ignored if they are too close (brexit)

76
Q

what are the two types of voting systems

A

First Past The Post and Proportional Representation

77
Q

what is First Past The Post?

A

you vote for your local MP and the candidate with the most votes wins and is elected to be in the House of Commons. The leader with the most MPs becomes Prime Minister

78
Q

what is Proportional Representation as a voting system?

A

voting for a political party and the leader of the party with most votes become PM. the proportion of votes is represented in the house of commons

79
Q

what did Halsey, Heath & Ridge find about social strat?

A
  • clear inequalities in education
  • working class have worse life chances because they are 11x less likely to go to university
80
Q

what age groups are most likely to experience ageism?

A
  • young people (16-25)
  • elderly people (65+)
81
Q

how does the glass ceiling effect life chances?

A

it is an invisible barrier that stops women (or a given demographic) from rising above a certain level in hierarchy and achieving certain things in life

82
Q

what did The Black Report find?

A
  • a significant health divide between the working and middle class
  • (working class children are more likely to be: born with low birth weight and grow up to be obese)
  • working class adults are more likely to experience chronic conditions, mental health issues and a lower life expectancy
83
Q

what is ascribed status?

A

inherited and unchanging over time e.g. royal family, aristocracy

84
Q

what is achieved status?

A

gained as a result of personal talents or success e.g. olympic athletes, celebrities

85
Q

how can UK citizens exercise political power?

A

voting, petitions, pressure groups

86
Q

name some of the 9 protected characteristics of the equality act (2010)

A
  • age
  • race (ethnicity)
  • sex
  • gender reassignment
  • disability
  • religion or belief
  • sexual orientation
  • marriage or civil partnership
  • pregnancy or maternity
87
Q

what is intragenerational social mobility?

A

social mobility within an individual’s lifetime

88
Q

what is intergenerational social mobility?

A

social mobility across generations, comparing parents to their children

89
Q

define nepotism

A

favouring relatives or friends, expecially by giving them jobs

90
Q

criticisms of walby

A
  • progress has been made
  • ignores class
  • ignores ethnicity
91
Q

how can the working class be identified?

A

people with a lower income and traditionally manual jobs

92
Q

how can the middle class be identified?

A

people with a higher income and professional jobs which require formal qualifications

93
Q

how can the upper class be identified?

A

people who have either inherited their wealth/ title or are extremely wealthy business owners

94
Q

what does social class depend upon?

A
  • your economic capital (money)
  • status (power)
  • education (qualitifications)

Sociology (5 decks)

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