CH 8 Stratification and Social Mobility in the US Systems of Stratification wealth power or prestige Social Inequality A situation where different people have different amounts of Stratification A structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society Involves the ways in which 1 generation passes on social inequalities to the next producing groups of people arranged in rank order from low to high Ascribed Status Social position assigned to a person by a society without re gard to the person s unique talents or characteristics Age and gender are ascribed statuses that influence a person s wealth and social position Achieved Status Social position that a person attains largely through his or her efforts 4 general systems of stratification Slavery A system of enforced servitude in which people are owned by other people The most extreme for of legalized social inequality for both individuals and groups Today the Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits slavery Castes Hereditary ranks that are usually religiously dictated and that tend to be fixed and immobile Ascribed status Members are expected to marry within that caste Associated in Hinduism 4 Major castes in India called varnas The untouchables or Dalit A 5th category or outcastes Estates Required peasants to work land leased to them by nobles in ex change for military protection and other services Also known as Feudalism For the 1st time there where groups of people whose wealth did not come from land or agriculture Social Classes Social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility Achieved but dependent on family and ascribed factors such as race and race and ethnicity 5 class model to describe the class system in the US The upper class The upper middle class The lower middle class The working class The lower class Karl Marx s View of Class Differentiation Karl Marx stressed the significance of class for society and for social change Marx viewed class differentiation as the crucial determinant of social economic Max Weber disagreed with Marx and said that stratification should be viewed as and political inequality having many dimensions Marx view social relations during any period of history depend on who controls the primary mode of economic production such as land or factories Capitalism An economic system in which the means of production are held largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is the accumula tion of profits Marx focused on 2 classes the bourgeoisie and the proletariat Bourgeoisie Or capitalist class owns the means of production such as facto ries Proletariat Is the working class Marx believes that exploitation of the proletariat will lead to the destruction of the capitalist system because workers will revolt but first must develop class conscious ness Class Consciousness A subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for collective political action to bring about social change Class Conscious worker realizes that all workers are being exploited by the bourgeoisie and have a common stake in revolution False Consciousness An attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect their objective position A worker with false consciousness may adopt an individualistic viewpoint to ward capitalist exploitation I am being exploited by my boss For Marx Class consciousness was part of a collective process in which the pro letariat comes to identify the bourgeoisie as the source of its oppression How accurate were Marx s predictions He failed to anticipate the emergence of labor unions whose power in collective bargaining weakens the stranglehold that capitalists maintain over workers He did foresee the extent to which political liberties and relative prosperity could contribute to false consciousness He did not predict that Communist Party rule would be established and later overthrown in the former Soviet Union and throughout Eastern Europe Max Weber s View of Stratification Max Weber Insisted that no single characteristic such as class today totally defines a person s position within the stratification system He identified 3 distinct com ponents of stratification Class Status and Power Class A group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income Weber agreed with Marx on the importance of this economic dimension of strat ification but argued that the actions of individuals and groups cannot be under stood solely in economic terms Status Group Refers to people who have the same prestige or lifestyle Power The ability to exercise one s will over others 2 major sources of power are big business and government Theorist Thorstein Veblen noted that those at top of the social hierarchy typically convert part of their wealth into Conspicuous Consumption Conspicuous Consumption Purchase goods not to survive but to flaunt their superior wealth and social standing Pretty much showing off wealth Ex Buying more cars than they can reasonably use or buy homes with more rooms than you can actually occupy Stratified society is universal Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore Say society must distribute its members among a variety of social position but also see that the positions are filled by people with appropriate talents and abilities Conflict Perspective Marx didn t believe that stratification was inevitable but he did see inequality and oppression as inherent in capitalism Marx Focused mainly on class conflict Ralf Dahrendorf One of the most influential contributors to the conflict ap proach One way for the powerful to maintain the status quo is to define the disseminate the society s dominant ideology Dominant Ideology Describes a set of cultural beliefs and practices that help to maintain powerful social economic and political interests Conflict sociologists argue that stratification will inevitably lead to instability and social change Gerhard Lanski Described how economic systems change change as their level of technology becomes more complex beginning with hunting and gathering and culminating eventually with industrial society As a society advances technologically it becomes capable of producing a con siderable surplus of goods Argued that the allocation of surplus goods and services controlled by those with wealth status and power reinforces the social inequality that accompanies stratification systems Stratification By Class Measuring
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