Jaymie Ticknor Intro Sociology 1510 Sect 900 22 October 2013 Chapter 8 Social Class and Social Stratification Social Differentiation and Social Stratification Status socially defined position in a group of society Social Differentiation process by which different statuses develop in any group organization or society Social Stratification system of structured social inequality Estate Caste and Class Estate System ownership of property and the exercise of power is monopolized by an elite who have total control over societal resources most common in agricultural societies Caste System one s place in the stratification system is an ascribed status meaning it is a quality given to an individual by circumstances of birth apartheid is an example in South Africa Class Systems stratification exists but a person s placement in the class system can change according to personal achievements class depends on achieved status defined as status that is earned by the acquisition of resources and power regardless of one s origin Defining Class Social Class or class social structural position groups hold relative to the economic social political and cultural resources of society Class is not just an attribute of individuals it is a feature of society Max Weber described the consequences of stratification in terms of life chances meaning the opportunities that people have in common by virtue of belonging to a particular class Status Symbol particular object may be quite ordinary but with the right label it becomes valuable The Class Structure of the United States Status Attainment the process by which people end up in a given position in the stratification system Open Class System people s achievements do matter although the extent to which people rise rapidly and dramatically through the stratification system is less than the popular imagination envisions Socioeconomic Status SES income occupational prestige and education are the three measures of socioeconomic status that have been found to be most significant in determining people s placement in the stratification system Income amount of money a person receives in a given period Wealth total value of what one owns minus one s debts Median Income midpoint of all household incomes Occupational Prestige second important indicator subjective evaluation people give to jobs Prestige value others assign to people and groups Educational Attainment final indicator measured as the total years of formal education Layers of Social Class Upper Class owns the major share of corporate and personal wealth includes those who have held wealth for generations as well as those who have recently become rich small proportion Nouveau Riche those in the upper class with newly acquired wealth Upper Middle Class includes those with high incomes and high social prestige Middle Class hard to define in part because middle class is more than just economic position Lower Middle Class includes workers in the skilled trades and low income bureaucratic workers many of whom may actually think they are middle class Also known as working class this class includes blue collar workers those in skilled trades who do manual labor and many service workers medium to low income education and occupational prestige define this Lower Class composed primarily of displaced and poor little formal education and are often unemployed or working in minimum wage jobs people of color and women make up a disproportionate part of this class Working poor those who work at least 27 hours a week but whose wages fall below the federal poverty level 6 of all working people now live below the poverty line Black women are almost twice as likely to be among the working poor Urban Underclass added to the lower class includes those who are likely to be permanently unemployed and without much means of economic support has little or no opportunity for movement out of the worst poverty Class Conflict Professional Managerial Class includes managers supervisors and professionals have substantial control over other people primarily through their authority to direct the work of others impose and enforce regulations in the workplace and determine dominant social values Growing Inequality and the Distribution of Wealth and Income Net Worth adding all financial assets stocks bonds property insurance savings value of investments and so on and subtracting debts gives a dollar amount that is this Melvin Oliver and Thomas Shapiro call these discriminatory policies sedimentation of racial inequality Economic Restructuring decline of manufacturing jobs in the U S the transformation of the economy by technological change and the process of globalization Diverse Sources of Stratification The Race Class Debate Myth of the Model Minority includes the idea that a minority group must adopt alleged dominant group values to succeed Social Mobility Myths and Realities Meritocracy a system in which one s status is based on merit or accomplishments not other social characteristics Defining Social Mobility Social Mobility person s movement over time from one class to another Closed Class Systems movement from one class to another is virtually impossible Open Class Systems placement in the class system is based on individual achievement not ascription lower status The Extent of Social Mobility Downward Social Mobility mobility exists is typically short in distance some people drop to a Class Consciousness Class Consciousness perception that a class structure exists along with a feeling a shared identification with others in one s class those with whom you share life chances False Consciousness class consciousness of subordinate classes who had internalized the view of the dominant class Why Is There Inequality Karl Marx Class and Capitalism Marx defined classes in relationship to the means of production defined as the system by which goods are produced and distributed Two primary classes capitalist class own the means of production and working class or proletariat those who sell their labor for wages Further divisions petty bourgeoisie small business owners and managers those whom you might think of as middle class who identify with interests of capitalist class but do not own means of production lumpenproletariat those who have become unnecessary as workers and are discarded underclass homeless and permanently poor Capitalism is the infrastructure of society with other institutions reflecting capitalist interests Ideology belief systems