4/2/134/4/134/9/134/11/134/16/134/18/134/23/13Test Three Lecture Notes4/2/13Chapter 8: Stratification, Class, and Inequality• Define Sociology: The study of the interactions of groups and elements that effect them• Statuso Example used in text: Teenage groups, high schoolo Prestige that goes with one’s social position• Status Powero Derives from the ability to increase prestige often at the expense of others Depends largely on one’s social locationo Teens Base status on clothes, where they sit in the cafeteria, and who you hang out with Rewards of Status• Acknowledgemento Not everyone has the same status• Social Stratificationo Existence of structured inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewardso Layers of where people are in societyo Unequal positions that people hold because of social positiono Stratification is based on many different things: Gender: ascribed (a status your born into) – effect your social location Socio-economic status: money, education, job prestige Military ranko Is America the only stratified society? All societies and cultures involve some form of stratification Some examples include the caste system in India and South Africa and slavery all over the world. (Bradley Chapter 8 PowerPoint slide 4) Picture on slide• Middle east: Social Stratification is event in the arrangement of housingo The higher up you are the more prominent your social status is Universal: exist among multiple cultureso Does stratification exist over multiple times? Development of state based systems produced wide differences in wealth and power Era of history that contributed to social stratification• Industrial revolution: (catapulted stratification) because of mass production and the resulting profits owners gained wealth and benefitted while workers didn’t move up in strata• Civil War: human rights affect strata Agricultural Era• Least Stratified: because of hunters gather way of lifeo There was no surplus or capital to distinguish between people “The level of stratification in a society varies over time” AND “socially stratified societies are found in the ancient world.” These statements are complementary. The stratification of societies has changed throughout history but has always existed to some degree. For example, hunters andgathers experienced little stratification but with the invention of agriculture and the accumulation of wealth this changed.(Giddens, et al. 2012;197)o Is stratification a consequence of modern society? No: has been around since ancient times• Ancient Egypt: had a hierarchyo Servants, peasants, artisans, scribes, nobles and priests, then at the top the pharaoh o Each rank is progressively less populated: resembles a pyramid America• Social stratification resembles a tear dropo Three key aspects of social stratification (Marx)1. Class2. Status 3. Power These aspects can overlap but doesn’t always have to• Politicians have all three (class, status, and power)• Mahatma Gandhi : lived in poverty but had high class and powero Structured Inequalities Inequalities and stratification that result from structures and patterns of society not by individuality and chance Inequalities are born of systemso All socially stratified systems share three characteristics Rankings apply to social categories of people who share common characteristics even in they don’t interact or identify with each other• Ex. Gender Life experiences and opportunities depend on the rankings of their social category• Life chances (ex. access to education, to travel, health care)• Your lifestyle choices and life chances are mostly contingent you’re your family’s social class position. Life chances, the opportunities a person has for obtaining financial prosperity, depends largely on one’s background. It is easier to be wealthy if you begin life wealthy. The class we are born into determines our neighborhood, lifestyle, education, and the people we meet. On the other hand, class positions are fluid and are in some ways achieved. This allows the other aspects to come into play on a limited basis along with family social class position. (Giddens, et al. 2012;197) Ranks of social categories change very slowly over time• Ex. Women rights has taken years to achieve many of the equalities we know have (education, equal pay, suffrage)The upper class: very small populationMiddle Class: most populated strataThe poor: small populationo Four Systems of Stratification SystemsSlavery, Caste, Estate• Legally or religiously based, codifiedClass• Is not recognized as a specific thing in every society • Not officially recognized• Stems from economic factors affecting the material circumstances of people’s lives• Ex. High class can marry lower classes while whites and blacks couldn’t1. Slavery• One owns another (people are seen as property)• Slaves are controlled through violence• Forced to work without payo Exploiting them economically • Most extreme form of inequality• History of US slavery inform our view of slavery• Legal conditions in which slavery has existed varyo Ex. In US slaves had no rights but ancient Greek slaves had rights but didn’t get paid• Freetheslaves.com• Do slavery impact people in lasting ways (after abolished?)o Yes, slavery has Lasting effectso Trouble reintegrating into society Must learning a skill (how to make a living) Analogy for understanding the lasting effects slavery has had on American society o Think about the acquisition of skills as a 5km race. White people get a head start of 4 km, blacks must then catch up.o Big gap in between acquisition of skills2. Caste System• Social position prescribed at birth• Based on personal characteristics that are unchangeable (race, ethnicity, parental religion)• Exist primarily in agricultural societies• Rural India (the caste system became illegal in 1949) but ideologies still exist for economic and social distinctions • South African Apartheid- ended in 1992-but still has lasting effects• With globalization caste systems are threated because other societies don’t recognize the same class system o Must use lower caste for their skills• Before the Civil Right Acts of 1964 in America- status was based on race and ethnicity o Didn’t have equal rights to education and access to businesses• Women: Used to
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