THEORY - Class

Question 1

MARXISM - Karl Marx

Answer 1

There is a class conflict in which the proletariat are exploited by the bourgeoisie, creating a ‘reproduction of inequality’. Capitalism is the root of this problem as it promotes: polarisation of social classes, alienation, and economic crisis.

Question 2

MARXISM - Bowles and Gintis (could be critical of functional uniqueness).

Answer 2

They argue that meritocracy is a myth and your family class background is more of a predictor then your talent or skill.

Question 3

NEO-MARXISM - Gramsci (Hegemony)

Answer 3

The ruling class use ideological control as a form of class domination. Hegemony is an invisible mechanism and the ruling class’s ideas permeate the whole of society, i.e., they are unquestioned and become normalised through constant exposure.

Question 4

NEO-MARXISM - Gramsci (Counter hegemony)

Answer 4

Gramsci did not believe that hegemony goes unchallenged. Gramsci called this ‘counter-hegemony’, whereby in some societies (such as in the West) ruling class ideology is questioned. For example, this could occur after a recession, which leads to high levels of unemployment - leads to industrial action / strikes and riots (eg, the london riots in 2011).

Question 5

NEO-MARXISTS - Westergaard and Resler

Answer 5

Argued that there was little evidence of class divisions in British society disappearing and suggested that such inequalities could only be understood as the result of the way that the capitalist system operates. Divisions have actually grown since 1970.

Question 6

NEO-MARXISM - Braverman

Answer 6

Argues that many so-called ‘middle class workers’ have in reality been de-skilled. For example the skills of clerical workers and even professionals have been programmed into machines or broken down into simple tasks that can be preformed by less skilled workers. This reduces the control such workers have over work processes and also means that employers can pay them lower wage.

Question 7

MARXISM (Ao3) 1

Answer 7

Marxists are criticised for being too deterministic. This means that they think that individuals do not have much free will, instead they are controlled by external forces. In this case, the proletariat act like robots and simply accept their unequal position.

Question 8

MARXISM (Ao3) 2

Answer 8

Marxist ideas are dated. Marx was writing in the 1800s when monarchies were in control, even Neo-Marxists such as Gramsci was writing in the early 1900s. According to the OECD, the middle income group is 55% (the largest class group). This group enjoy very comfortable lives. This is different to the inequalities of the 1800s and early 1900s.

Question 9

MARXISM (Ao3) 3

Answer 9

The New Right argue that the welfare system has been very generous for the underclass and that they enjoy many housing and income benefits.

Question 10

MARXISM (Ao3) 4

Answer 10

Another reason why Marxism is considered out of date is because technology and globalisation has advanced rapidly. This means that most in the western world enjoy the many benefits of technology at a relatively cheap price. The internet has also offered many economic opportunities for those in lower social classes. Moreover, globalisation has allowed workers to migrate more easily to enjoy the economic benefits of working in countries other than their home country.

Question 11

MARXISM AO3 - Weber

Answer 11

Weber criticised Marx for failing to explain the status differences that exist within social class strata. For example, within the upper class, ‘old wealth’ such as that symbolised by the Royal Family and the aristocracy seems to have more status than ‘new wealth’ symbolised by owners of companies or wealthy celebrities.
Within the middle-classes, there exist status differences between the upper middle-class, the professional and managerial middle-classes and white-collar workers
Within the working-class, there are status differences between the ‘labour aristocracy’, (i.e. skilled well paid workers), those who are semi-skilled and unskilled but in work and those who are long-term unemployed and dependent on benefits.

Question 12

WEBERIAN - Max Weber

Answer 12

Max Weber (2012) paints a more complex picture of social stratification than Marx. Weber saw society stratified in 3 main ways: social class, status, and power. He focused on how each of these affect our ‘life chances’. The class system should be divided by:
Property owners (owners of companies and properties),

Professionals (e.g. doctors, lawyers, engineers, judges, accountants, consultants,)

Petty bourgeoisie (e.g. shopkeepers, independent contractors),

Working class (e.g. factory workers, cleaners, delivery drivers, retail assistants).

Question 13

WEBERIAN + MARXIST CONNECTION - Bourdieu

Answer 13

Influenced by Weberianism, Bourdieu argues that the lower classes suffer from a lack of capital (social, economic, and cultural) which means that they don’t have a ‘leg up’ in advancing in society. Socialization plays a huge part in a persons life chances.

Question 14

WEBERIANISM Ao3 - Marxists

Answer 14

Marxists argue that focusing on multiple social classes and different dimensions of inequality obscures the fundamental importance of class divisions in capitalist societies. Marxists argue that status distinctions within the working class are often encouraged as a means of ‘divide and rule’ by the ruling class, and that the really important political struggles are linked to the class struggles and conflicts over economic interests.

Question 15

FUNCTIONALIST quote - Davis-Moore

Answer 15

“Inequality is not only inevitable but also necessary for the smooth functioning of society” - Davis-Moore

Question 16

FUNCTIONALISM - Davis and Moore 1

Answer 16

Western Society is a meritocracy where social mobility is common.
Social class stratification is a good thing because class societies are meritocracies - high rewards motivate people to perform.

Question 17

FUNCTIONALISM - Davis and Moore 2 (Role allocation)

Answer 17

Role allocation - education sifts and sorts students into the careers that best fit their ability and interests. All UK students can take GCSE and A Level exams at no cost. Examiners are neutral and anyone can achieve if they are good enough.

Question 18

FUNCTIONALISM - Davis and Moore 3 (Functional uniqueness)

Answer 18

Society requires the most suitable individuals for certain jobs. Anyone could be a cleaner but not everyone can be a surgeon, these people must be more qualified and therefore there must be a natural hierarchy built in the system.

Question 19

FUNCTIONALISM Ao3 - Tumin’s criticisms of Davis and Moore

Answer 19

1. Is it possible to decide the relative importance of each occupation? (Which positions are the most important is a matter of opinion rather then fact.
2. Is there a consensus about reward? (Arguably there is considerable conflict and resentment about the unequal distribution of rewards such as incomes).
3. Does pay simply reflect power rather than ability and intelligence? (The high pay of jobs such as business executives reflects their power rather then agreement among the rest of society that they deserve it).
4. Is training really a sacrifice and deserving of higher pay? (Going to university is a fun experience rather than a sacrifice don’t you think?)
5. Davis and Moore seem to think that we all motivated by monetary reward. Is this true?
6. Does capitalist society run as smoothly as Davis + Moore argue?

Question 20

FUNCTIONALISM - Parsons

Answer 20

People have to work hard + strive for success, therefore, surely those who do deserve the highest rewards? (eg, Alan Sugar).

Question 21

FUNCTIONALISM- Durkheim

Answer 21

Has some agreement with Marxists “The more unequal distribution of wealth, the more UNSTABLE the society.” + “Capitalism can lead to inequality, alienation, and ANOMIE.”
BUT - “Inequality is the price we pay for progress.”
“The degree of inequality that can be tolerated in a society depends on the degree of social solidarity.”
(eg, to have people such as Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Dyson there must also be people left behind. Someone must fill in the role of cleaners shop workers who need to fill in the gaps of lower paying jobs that people do not necessarily want to do but are needed.)

(eg, The trickle down effect of economics also takes place, as when people at the top of firms and businesses gain more money, it gives them the resources to pay those that work for them more.Things like the welfare state and free health care are provided by the government to help support those in lesser financial situations and help create a sense of social solidarity in society.)

Question 22

FUNCTIONALISM Ao3 - Marxist criticism

Answer 22

Marxists are deeply critical of the functionalist argument:
- Meritocracy is a myth - think of the many advantages those from higher social classes enjoy
Social mobility is nowhere as prevalent as functionalists argue.

• There are many obstacles in the way of those from lower social classes from rising up the social classes eg, labelling in school, disengaged parents, less school equipment, self fulfilling prophecy, false class consciousness.

Question 23

FUNCTIONALISM Ao3 - Social mobility

Answer 23

Functionalists argue that UK society is a meritocracy where social mobility is common BUT the evidence on the right suggests that this is NOT the case.
(eg, 77% of the richest 20% of the population apply to uni and get in compared to only that of the 49% of the 20% poorest population).

(24% of vice-chancellors, 32% of MPs, 51% of top Medics, 54% of FTSE-100 chief execs, 54% of top journalists, 70% of High Court judges …went to private school, though only 7% of the population do).

(Education is an engine of social mobility. But achievement is not balanced fairly - for the poorest fifth in society, 46% have mothers with no qualifications at all. For the richest, it’s only 3%)

Question 24

FUNCTIONALIST Ao3 - Feminism

Answer 24

Feminists argue that:
- The value consensus is a myth, the dominant values in society reflect the patriarchy.

• Meritocracy is often questioned because it is men who dominate the top jobs.
• Role allocation is not considered to be a perfect system as Davis and Moore seem to argue. Instead, feminists argue that women are ‘sifted and sorted’ into traditional ‘feminine’ roles, whilst men are socialised to target the highest status roles.

Question 25

FEMINISM - Crisis of femininity

Answer 25

Women constantly have different norms and values that they must follow which all contradict each other.
Eg, lead BUT don’t be bossy, strive for more than being a housewife BUT be a present mother, call out bad male behaviour BUT don’t complain.

Question 26

FEMINISM - Ann Oakley + Denscombe + Hoshchild (Dual burden/triple shift).

Answer 26

Argues that women are expected to work full time or almost full time alongside fufilling the expressive role too. Denscombe classes the burden as a triple shift adding emotional labour too. Hoshchild classes this as the second shift.

Question 27

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Double oppression.

Answer 27

Marxist feminists look on class and gender inequalities as dual systems of oppression, with both being very powerful and independent systems.
Marxist feminists often argue that class and gender inequalities reinforce each other and create groups that are doubly oppressed eg, capitalism uses the family to oppress women, and the harmful consequences of the family to women’s lives.

Question 28

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Benston

Answer 28

‘The amount of unpaid labour performed by women is very large and very profitable to those who own the means of production. To pay women for their work, even at minimum wage scales, would involve a massive redistribution of wealth. At present, the support of the family is a hidden tax on the wage earner – his wage buys the labour power of two people’.

Question 29

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Ansley

Answer 29

When wives play their traditional role as “takers of shit”, they often absorb their husband’s legitimate anger and frustration at their own powerlessness and oppression.

Question 30

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Abbott

Answer 30

Argues that women enjoy far less social mobility.
Ken Robert (2011) supports this idea arguing that many women remain single or lose their husband, and are often led with limited occupational pensions.

Question 31

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Abbott’s criticism of Goldthorpe.

Answer 31

Pamela Abbott criticises Goldthorpe’s findings that there is a lot more social mobility because the study ignored women.

Question 32

MARXIST FEMINISTS - The glass ceiling.

Answer 32

Gay Bryant was the first person to use the term “glass ceiling” in print with the publication of “The Working Woman Report” in 1984. The glass ceiling is a metaphor in sociology that refers to the invisible barriers and bias that keep women and minorities from opportunities to advance in the workplace.

Question 33

MARXIST FEMINISTS - (Surrey occupational schema), Arber, Dale + Gilbert.

Answer 33

Alternative to most classifications of social class because these normally ignore the job of the female (if married) and only take into account the husband’s job. The scale contains a greater range of social classes - EG Class 6 is divided into two:
2

Question 34

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Naomi Wolf (Iron maiden).

Answer 34

The iron maiden concept of Naomi Wolf recalls how females are bombarded with images of ‘perfect women’ who have flawless skin, ‘perfect bodies’. (eg, the Dove campain).
This can have very negative effects upon women because they aspire to look like these women BUT can almost never become them because it is not real!
This also links to the contribution of capitalism because it encourages women to participate in the consumer culture of beauty products.

Question 35

MARXIST FEMINISTS - Reserve army of labour.

Answer 35

Women are more likely to be a part of the reserve army of labour, meaning that they fill in the lower paid jobs and have a hard time finding full time work while balancing family and work.

Question 36

THE NEW RIGHT - Peter Saunders

Answer 36

Unlike functionalists he does not see inequality as inevitable, however does not envisage a society where it is possible to enforce equality, because it interferes with market forces: most hardworking people should not be stopped from rising to the top).
He believes in EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY but not EQUALITY OF OUTCOME (everyone being rewarded equally irrespective of talent or effort or intelligence).
Therefore like functionalists, he thinks that some equality is positive because it motivates people to work harder.
(Similar to Davis and Moore social stratification).

Question 37

THE NEW RIGHT - Charles Murray (The underclass)

Answer 37

Identified a new class of people known as the underclass. He argues that they’ve grown lazy from being on benefits, they just live on the sate. This is due to inadiquate socialization of the lower classes.

Question 38

THE NEW RIGHT - Gunnar Myrdal quote.

Answer 38

He defined the US underclass as the “class of unemplyed, enemployables, and underemployed who are more and more hopelessly set apart from the nation at large and do not share in its life, its ambitions and its achievements”.

Question 39

THE NEW RIGHT - Troubled families programme.

Answer 39

David Cameron targeted families in the Troubled Families Programme as not just “troubled” but causing “trouble”.

“Some in the press might call them neihbours from hell”, Cameron said. “Whatever yoy call them, we’ve known for years that a relatively small number of families” are “the source of a large proportion of the problems in society”.

Question 40

THE NEW RIGHT - Phillips

Answer 40

Argues that there’s been a ‘flight from parenting’ in which parents from the underclass are neglecting to socialize their children, meaning that NEETS are becoming more and more common.

Question 41

(AO3) THE NEW RIGHT - Critisicm of Peter Saunders

Answer 41

It is mistaken to assume that capitalist societies based on the free market necesssarily offer infivifuals individuals more freedom then socialist or communist societies which seek to make people equal.

(For example, the system of slavery in parts of the USA, black people were denied the same opportunitites as white people and military dictatorships such as chile in the 1980’s were all based on free market capitalism but were extreemly opressive in terms of treatment of certain social groups).

Question 42

(AO3) THE NEW RIGHT - Bourdieu critisizing Saunders.

Answer 42

Bourdieu would critisize The New Right because the upper classes are more likely to have capital and therefore not everyone has the same opportunity (eg, private schools).

Question 43

(AO3) THE NEW RIGHT - Troubled families program criticism.

Answer 43

• It tends to either tactically or explicitly blame the worst off in society for their troubles, downplaying and confusing poverty with criminality.
• The governments ‘Troubled Families Programme’ was launched by David Cameron following the 2011 riots as a way of tackling Britains “broken society”. The aim to “turn around” the lives of 120,000 of the “worst” families in the UK (defined by poverty, poor housing, lack of work, and disability / mental illness) used intensive interventions led by local councils and social workers.

Question 44

(AO3) THE NEW RIGHT - Young’s criticism

Answer 44

Young argued that The New Right often take part in “politics of vindictiveness” whereby they ‘get back at’ the lower classes and ethnic minorities’ for changing Britain after the collapse of the industrial revolution and the windrush generation.

Question 45

(AO3) THE NEW RIGHT - Wilkinson and Pickett

Answer 45

Their research found that the greater the inequality, the higher level of negative social indices. Therefore, it is not that fault of individuals in the underclass, it is the system’s fault.

(Eg, the research in their book ‘the spirit level’ found that teenage pregnancy will be higher in unequal countries, as well as life expectancy, obesity, homocide, and levels of mental illness).

Question 46

(AO3) THE NEW RIGHT - MacDonald & Marsh’s ethnographic study.

Answer 46

They carried an ethnographic study on young unemployed people between 1990 and 2000 in East Kelby. What they found directly contradicted the New Right predictions about attitudes of this group. They found the young people were keen to find a job and better themselves, they believed in family values and hard work. They concluded that young people from ‘the underclass’ need opportunities to escape the social exclusion they face.