SOCI 1311 1st Edition Lecture 13 Outline of Current Lecture General Terms Social differentiation Social Inequality Stratification Life Chance Opportunities Opened vs Closed Society Inter vs Intra generational Systems of Stratification Objective vs Subjective Class Social Economic Status Social Class Current Lecture Social Differentiation The process by which people are set apart treated differently on the basis of their status or some other social characteristic Social Inequality A condition in society where people have unequal access to wealth power prestige Stratification Social forces merit A form of inequality in which large groups of people are ranked in a hierarchy on the basis of wealth power prestige Life Chance Opportunities The reasonable expectation that a person has to achieve their American dream These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute Open vs Closed Society In an opened society you can change your status the boundaries are less firm Closed a society where social boundaries are very firm and remain that way Social Mobility The idea that we can move up down the class position upward vs downward Inter vs Intra generational Inter we can look back at our family see that things have improved Intra how much change has happened within one generation Comparing brothers sisters cousins we look back at our own life Systems of Stratification Slavery one person is free the other person is property Caste System a social system where your status is life long permanent Estate System based on power land ownership Social Class system a society economic system where economic issues achieve status explain our social position in society Objective vs Subjective Class Objective census questions or surveys Subjective if you ask most Americans what their social class is they will say middle class however 80 is not in the middle class Social Economic Status the average of income education level job Social Class large group of people with similar levels of income education occupational prestige