ANTHROPOLOGY FINAL EXAM 1 Stratification and Inequalities Social Stratification Functionalist theories of inequality Conflict or Marxists theories of inequality A theoretical position in A social hierarchy resulting from the relatively permanent unequal distribution of goods and services in a society anthropology common in the first half of the 20th century that focuses on finding general laws that identify different elements of society show how they relate to each other and demonstrate their role in maintaining social order Marx believes that the relationship of individuals to the means of production is critical in determining how much power and prestige they have Differentiated two main social classes in capitalist society the capitalists who own the means of production and the workers who must sell their labor to survive He predicted that the conflict between the two groups is a central feature of capitalism Three dimensions of stratification 1 Power 2 Wealth 3 Prestige The ability to impose one s will on others The accumulation of material resources or access to Social honor or respect Theory of differentiated forms of capital the means of producing these resources Associated with Pierre Bourdieu 1984 command over economic resources resources based on group membership 1 Economic Capital 2 Social Capital 3 Cultural Capital 4 Symbolic Capital relationships networks of influence and support advantage that give a person a higher status in society given society Example a war hero may have symbolic capital when running for political office forms of knowledge skills education and basis of honor prestige or recognition in a Ascribed Status Achieved Status a position or rank that is assigned to an individual at birth and cannot be changed May be based on biology sex or on social constructions caste race peasant aristocrat a rank or position that is earned through the efforts of the individual such as professor Nobel Prize winner billionaire the dominant status within a certain social context status that matters most in terms of how being treat you Professor Weinstein s master status in the classroom is being a professor but Master Status Race A culturally constructed category based on perceived physical at home it s a mom both achieved not ascribed status Usually but not always viewed negatively or as a stigma Statuses also overlap or intersect with one another Intersectionality and can have cumulative effects Race class gender sexuality Example Being a gay black man vs being a gay white elite man living in a gay enclave difference can be basis for the uneven distribution of resources and opportunities historical experience by which groups of people are distinguished from others in the same environment maintain the particular forms of inequality in those societies Perceived differences in culture national origin and How do the ideologies and belief systems of societies justify and Ethnicity People in societies tend to look at their society with objectivism meaning they accept the ideologies and beliefs systems because they are seen to be beyond human knowledge Examples in religious reincarnations and caste systems these beliefs keep the social system from being over thrown Another example is the American Dream which keeps people going The thought is that there are people who have less in society because they just aren t working Patriarchy is another example of how values norms expectations are internalized and keep us more or less excepting of our social position 2 Anthropology in the Barrio Inner City Street Culture Intro A complex and conflictual web of beliefs symbols modes of interaction values and ideologies that have emerged in opposition to exclusion from mainstream society o Localized culture o Violence substance abuse o Patriarchal o Underground economy o Neglected isolated from mainstream society o Resistance and self destruction o Street styles often used in mainstream society pop culture Self reflexive ethnography o Participant observation Intro o Doesn t want to give the poor a bad name or a hostile o The book confronts the contradictions of the politics of o Only by establishing long term relationships based on trust can portrait but also doesn t want to censor the realities of living in poverty representation of social marginalization one begin to ask provocative personal questions and expect thoughtful serious answers Chapter 1 Apartheid in the contemporary US Chapter 1 neighborhoods o Because of race there is an apartheid of New York o Takes a lot of work to penetrate crack dealing world o Mainstream society has a particular perception of ghettos like El Barrio They also unconsciously use the images of a culture of terror to dehumanize the victims and perpetrators and unwillingness to confront segregation economic marginalization and public sector breakdown Cultural Capital and its limits in the case of Ray o To Philippe Ray seemed na ve or even learning disabled o Incapable of fathoming the intricate rules and regulations of legal society despite his brilliant success at directing a retail network for crack distribution o Didn t have a picture ID o Failed whenever he encountered institutionalized bureaucracies or formal paperwork structure and agency Complex theoretical issue of the relationship between o Like most people in the US people that Philippe spoke with in El Barrio believe in individual responsibility They attribute their marginal living conditions to their own psychological or moral failings They rarely blame society individuals are always accountable Sort of a survival of the fittest belief ourselves It s just a harder struggle cause we re poor o We re supposed to struggle and make something of Primo hangout crowd o Felix founded the Game room Primo s first cousin o Cultivated hang out crowd to fulfill psychological need for Primo s hang out crowd Order Ray employees Caesar Little Pete Benzie power and domination especially women competing for his sexual attention The Chapter 3 Chapter 2 from excessive violence o Complemented the lookout s job by protecting the Game Room o His friends became an effective army of detectives o More than physical protection provided a stabilizing social atmosphere for him to counterbalance anxiety Peers relaxed him from the dangerous reality of work Street culture kinship arrangements o Oblige women to establish serial households with different o Ray benefited from the relationships o Loyalty of customers employees blood