Bottom line Inequality is a fundamental feature of social systems RANK Inequality Social Stratification central topic in American society Many people have much less than poor Americans Reflect hierarchies different societies rank people in different ways example the Indian caste system hereditary the untouchables people without a caste handle the dirty jobs cleanup garbage Americans expected to marry people in your caste kids will be in your caste outcast comes from the caste system people out of the caste believe that your wealth is a product of hard work no caste system a lot of things a person can do to move up in society The American Dream written during the great depression Horatio Alger Jr life wrote close to 100 books books had a common theme about a poor young boy manages to achieve great success in manuals on how to be successful how he finds bargains place to sleep working his way up the ladder class for sociologists refers to your place in society how much money you have CLASS Karl Marx saw society as a product of economic arrangements the caste system was the super structure under that would be the base where you can find the working people such as the farmers argues that in every society the base shapes the super structure the families and educated workers move up in society and make up the super structure capitalist societies there are 2 different structures the capitalists the working class within these classes there are conflicts capitalists want more money so they want to reduce wages whereas the working class wants more money higher wages this creates class conflicts workers go on strike to force the capitalists to raise wages usually violent in the 19th century TODAY there are legal limits constraining strikers in labor disputes not as violent Class System over 90 says that they are middle class higher your class the greater your wealth upper class usually from inheritance higher your social class the more education you have kind of clothes you wear what food you eat etc class can be mapped example education levels in Manhattan Social Mobility the ability to move up the class structure other nations have more mobility than America mostly in northern Europe Ethnicity income is related to ethnicity whites have more than other ethnicities on average ethnic differences are mostly class differences Max Weber glass half empty guy a lot of conflict in society argues that society is divided along 3 hierarchies 1 class 2 power political 3 status STATUS difference statuses in society we think of expensive things enough money that I can afford these expensive things to show off my class Weber argues that all classes have status symbols high low Status can be correlated with social class yachts etc Groups have their own class Christian motorcyclists Tattoos are symbols of status gang members Civil Rights was a movement over STATUS not over CLASS receive service at a lunch counter Women s rights Equality is about status claims about respect Immigration debates are about status not real Americans during the prohibition immigrants were linked to alcohol symbolic issue for native born old Protestants States that voted Prohibition had mostly Protestants front of their children Contemporary competitions over status Gini coefficient most of society has a curve in money not a perfect line wealth is becoming concentrated at people at the top middle class is shrinking Protestants disliked Italians because they drank wine during dinner in f old white people don t want illegal immigrants illegal immigrants saying they will do the work that we don t want to do to come into America
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