Systems of Stratification Flashcards
What is Social Inequality?
Situation in which members of society have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power
What is Stratification?
Structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society
What is income?
Salaries and Wages, earned interest, stock, dividends, and rental income
What are the 4 general systems of stratification as ideal types?
Slavery, Castes, Estates, Social Classes
What is Ascribed Status?
Social Position assigned to a person by society without regard for the person’s unique talents or characteristics
What is Achieved Status?
Social Position that a person attains largely through his or her own efforts
Slavery definition
Individuals owned by other people who treat them as property
What are Castes?
Hereditary ranks that are usually dictated and that tend to be fixed and immobile
Are Castes an Achieved Status or an Ascribed Status?
Caste is an ascribed status
What is an Estate System?
Peasants worked land leased to them in exchange for military protection and other services
What is a Class System?
Social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility
What are the dependent and ascribed factors of class?
Race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.
What is Class Warfare?
conflict between different classes in a community resulting from different social or economic positions and reflecting opposed interests.
What did Max Weber argue on Stratification?
That stratification has many dimensions
What is Capitalism?
An economic system in which means of production are held largely in private hands, the main incentive is the accumulation of profits
Who is the Bourgeois?
Capitalist class; owners of the means of production
Who is the Proletariat?
Working class
What is Class Consciousness?
Subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about change
What is False Consciousness?
An attitude held by members of class that does not accurately reflect their objective position
Who held the view that social relations depend on who controls the primary mode of production?
Karl Marx
Who held the view of the 5 points of Class Differentiation?
Karl Marx
Who held the view that no single characteristic totally defines a person’s position within the stratification system?
Max Weber
What is Class?
Group of people who have similar level of wealth and income
What is a Status Group?
People who have the same prestige or lifestyle?
What is Power?
Ability to exercise one’s will over others
What is Conspicuous Consumption?
Purchasing goods not to survive, but to flaunt superior wealth and social standing
Who stated that people at the top of the social hierarchy convert their wealth into Conspicuous Consumption
Thorstein Veblen
What is the Functionalist Perspective of Stratification?
That social inequality is necessary so people will be motivated to fill functionally important positions
Does the Functionalist Perspective of Stratification explain the wide disparity between the rich and poor
Nope
More education=higher salary
Higher salary=higher class
higher class=more power
True or False
True
What is the Conflict Perspective of Stratification?
Human beings prone to conflict over scarce resources such as wealth and power
The Conflict Perspective states Stratification is a major source of societal tension (race, gender, age, etc…)
True or False
True
The Conflict Perspective states Stratification is a source of social tension
True or False
True
What is Gerhard Lenski’s Viewpoint of Society? [NUMBER 1]
As a society advances technologically, it becomes capable of producing a surplus of goods
What is a Dominant Ideology?
A set of cultural beliefs and practices that help maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests
What is Gerhard Lenski’s Viewpoint of Society? [NUMBER 2]
Allocation of surplus goods and services by holders of power and wealth reinforces social inequality
Wealthy use dominant ideology to further their own interest?
Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist Perspective?
Conflict Perspective
Social Stratification influences people’s lifestyles
Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist Perspective?
Interactionist Perspective
Social Inequality is excessive and growing
Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist Perspective?
Conflict Perspective
Social Inequality is necessary to some extent
Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist Perspective?
Functionalist Perspective
The talents and skills of the wealthy create opportunities for others
Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist Perspective?
Functionalist Perspective
Social Inequality Influences Intergroup Relations
Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist Perspective?
Interactionist Perspective
What is the Objective Method of measuring social class
by assigning individuals to classes on basis of criteria such as occupation, education, income, and place of residence
What is Prestige?
Respect, admiration, and occupation hold in a society
What is Esteem?
Reputation a specific person has earned within an occupation
What is Socioeconomic Status (SES)?
A measure of social class based on income, education, and occupation
What is Absolute Poverty?
Minimum level of subsistence that no family should live below
What is Relative Poverty?
Floating standard by which people at the bottom of society are judged as being disadvantaged in comparison to the nation as a whole
Who are the Underclass?
Long term poor who lack training and skills
What is Gans?
Poverty and the poor satisfy positive functions for many non-poor groups
Who saw class as closely related to people’s life chances?
Max Weber
What are Life Chances?
People’s opportunities to provide themselves with material goods, positive living conditions, and favorable life experiences
Wealth, Status, and Power FAIL to provide additional ways of coping with problems and disappointment
True or False
False
What is Social Mobility?
Movement of individuals or groups from one position in a society’s stratification system to another
What is an Open System?
The position of each individual influenced by the person’s achieved status
What is a Closed System?
Allows little or no possibility of moving up
What is an example of a Closed System?
Slavery and Caste Systems
How many types of Social Mobility are there?
3
What is Horizontal Mobility?
Movement within the same range of prestige
What is Vertical Mobility?
Movement from one position to another of a different rank
What is intergenerational Mobility?
Changes in children’s position relative to their parents
