what is social stratification? Flashcards
what is social stratification?
it describes the way that society is structured in a hierarchy of layers (most privileged form top layer and least favoured form bottom layer). This goes off of wealth, power & status.
social inequality
refers to uneven distribution of:
- money & power
- life chances e.g. education, employment, health
social class, gender, ethnicity & age are all factors of inequality in uk.
social class
in modern industrial societies e.g. Britain, social class = main form of stratification. Based upon economic factors (occupation, income). said to be open and social mobility (movement up/down different classes is possible. Marxist's see social class as key division in society, whereas feminists see gender as key division.
other forms of stratification?
- feudalism, medieval Europe (King, Nobility, Knights, Peasants)
- the Caste system, India (closed system where people are born into social position)
- Apartheid, South Africa - 1948-1994 (government policy of racial segregation, & ethnicity was used for stratification - black people were denied life chances that white people had, e.g. education)
Davis & Moore - functionalist perspective of stratification
Davis & Moore - American sociologists (1945) argued that all societies are stratified and all have social inequality. Their view: stratification is necessary to the working of society as it fulfils certain vital needs - and the higher roles should be given to the most talented and able to fill out the needs.
functionalist perspective on stratification?
Davis & Moore (1945) - American sociologists who argued that all societies are stratified and all have social inequality. In their view: stratification = necessary to working of society as it fulfils certain vital needs (society ensures most important positions are filled by most talented ->all societies must treat ppl differently in terms of their status ->so all societies must have some inequality built into them).
criticisms of Davis & Moore
- many jobs that are vital to society have low pay (e.g. Nurses) or low status (e.g. Refuse Collectors)
- Marxist & Feminist approaches both see stratification as a system in which some groups in society (e.g. the Bourgeoisie or men) gain at the expense of others.
marxist approach: social class
Karl Marx (1818-1883) identified 2 main classes in capitalist society: Bourgeoisie (ruling) & Proletariat (subject class) : determined by economic factors (ownership/non of means of production). Proletariat’s did not own any property & were forced to sell labour to Bourgeoisie -> workers experienced alienation as they lacked control over production. They had different interests - B aimed for increasing profits, P aimed for higher wages. Marx saw B as exploiting the P - lead to conflict - P’s will rebel = societal change. LINKED SOCIAL CLASS & POWER.
criticisms of Marx
- social rev has not occurred in uk, partly as result of increased living standards & development of welfare state.
- Feminist’s argue Marx and Marxist’s focus on class at the expense of gender divisions in society, while others argue they neglect ethnicity.
how is social class measured? - RG scale
Register General’s social class scale was uk’s official class scale (1911-1998) - distinguishes between manual (requiring physical effort - seen as working class) & non-manual occupations (require no physical effort - middle class).
problems with Register General’s scale
- classifications based on occupation cannot accommodate jobless ppl (e.g. retired/unemployed). Jobless ppl were allocated to a class based on most recent occupation - but ppl who had never worked = difficult to place.
- occupational class scales tell us nothing about individual’s wealth - not clear where the wealthy upper class/ national lottery millionaires should be placed.
how is social class measured? - NS-SEC
The National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification replaced RG scale as uk’s official classification. Based on occupation, but covers whole adult pop (including unemployed ppl). It groups together jobs that have similar:
- rewards from work
- employment status
- levels of authority
what are life chances?
- > refer to ppl’s chances of achieving posi/negi outcomes as they go through life - affected by factors e.g:
- social class, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, age, disability, religion.
how have sociologists studied social class?
- the embourgeoisement thesis (in late 1950s, sociologists suggested that WC families were becoming MC in their norms & values as their income & living standards improved = affluence lead the traditional WC values of solidarity to disappear.
the Affluent Worker Study
Goldthorpe & colleagues carried out study to test thesis in early 1960s. Based in Luton… the researchers used structured interviews to question affluent workers from 3 companies & their wives about their attitudes to work, aspirations/ views. -> based on his findings, Goldthorpe rejected the embourgeoisement thesis - but argued affluent workers might be part of an emerging ‘new’ WC. They were similar to MC due to views - e.g. wanted to improve their own pay rather than change society to benefit everyone.
what is social mobility?
->refers to ppl’s movement up/down a society’s strata. In uk, its movement between social classes.
types:
- intra-generational mobility (movement between classes over lifetime as result)
- inter-generational mobility (movement between generations of a family - occurs when child enters different class from parents)
routes to mobility include:
- educational achievements
- marriage
- inheritance / huge lottery win
- changes in occupational structure
problems in measuring social mobility
- some studies of inter-generational mobility focus on males only, so tell us nothing about women’s mobility experiences.
- studies that ask ppt’s to remember their employment histories are likely to be based on unreliable data.
does class still matter?
in past, WC ppl tended to vote Labour and MC tended to vote conservative (known as class-alignment) but now not so much (class dealignment). views show class divisions are now less clear cut than the 1950s -> young ppl's experiences are increasingly similar regardless of class backgrounds & class identity has declined.
what inequalities are based on gender?
following the Equal Pay Act (1970), employers must pay M&F the same salary when doing same work & the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) made it unlawful to treat someone less favourably due to their sex.
-> Feminist approach explores links between gender, life chances & inequality. Gender inequalities still remain in labour (e.g. fire fighting is male dominated) and when all sexes work in same occu, tend to be at different levels (women lower, men higher up). -> women on average, still earn less than men (gender pay gap) and women are expected to care for child.
explanations for persistence of gender inequalities at work:
- sex discrimination in workplace: despite legislation, some women continue to be treated less favourably than men SIMPLY as they are women.
- women’s triple shift: Dunscombe & Marsden (1995) found that women work paid employment, domestic labour (housework/childcare) & emotion work (making children/partners feel good).
- childcare provision: critics argue uk has expensive childcare provision for the under 5s. May act as a barrier, preventing women from working full time.
what inequalities are based on ethnicity?
- unemployment = important indicator of inequality-> can be linked to social problems e.g. poverty, or ill health.
- Li and colleagues (2008) found that black Caribbean men had much worse employment chances than white peers.
explanations for persistence of inequality at work:
- discrimination in labour: prejudice still persists and equality laws = difficult to enforce so life chances for some ethnic groups are negatively affected.
- minority ethnic groups & the underclass: New Right approaches suggest that some ppl from minority ethnic groups form part of an underclass. Charles Murray (1984) argued-> welfare system led to development of underclass (hardcore of unemployed young ppl who had no interest in finding jobs & working hard) -> associated in USA w/ African-American & Hispanic ppl.
- Marxist approaches: see racism (& sexism) as built into the workings of capitalism.
how is older age linked to inequality?
- young ppl and older people may be compared to negative stereotypes based on their age. (e.g. ppl in their 50s or 60s may find it hard to get job due to employers holding stereotypes about them learning new skills)
-> the Equality Act 2010 protects ppl from age discrimination in employment. - the social position of older ppl varies between groups. many experience poverty, many have a high position in society (e.g. many MPs, judges, etc are in their 60s, 70s, 80s).
the life chances of an elderly, WC, black woman may be much worse than a newly retired, MC, white man.
other factors affecting life chances
- disability-> ppl experience disablism within the workplace… at risk of poverty due to extra costs and disadvantaged position in labour.
- hate crime-> linked to negative stereotyping of some social groups. Victims can be seen as scapegoats - therefore inequality generates resentment.
