social inequality

• SOCIAL INEQUALITY

  • Members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, power
• Social stratification is the ranking or grouping of people according to their relative position within a hierarchy.
• The term "social class" refers to groups that share similar economic resources (income, education, occupation) and are ranked above or below other classes based on these factors.
• Class mobility is the ability of individuals to move up or down the social ladder over time.
• Class is not just about income but also about status and prestige.
• There are three main types of social classes: upper, middle, lower.
• Income inequality is the unequal distribution of income among members of a population.
• social stratification: context(intelligence vs. hard work) , chance (family,country) , and choice (limited by chance: education)
• SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION

  • Closed systems
  • Open systems
• SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION

  • Closed systems
  • Ascribed statuses - people are categorized and ranked by characteristics over which they have no control and that they usually cannot change
• SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION

  • Open systems (class system)
  • Achieved statuses - people are ranked on the basis of achieved characteristics, such as merit, talent, ability, or past performance
• SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION

  • Class - is a category of people who share similar opportunities, similar economic and vocational positions, similar lifestyles, and similar attitudes and behaviors.
• SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION

  • Wealth is the worth of a person based on financial holdings and property
• CLASS - KARL MARK

  Class consciousness: a shared identity based on their relationship to the means of production
• CLASS - MAX WEBER

  • Class (not only income - work experience, degree of autonomy, access to consumer goods and services)
• CLASS - MAX WEBER

  Status group (lifestyle expected from members of the group (prestige) and esteem accorded to them
• CLASS - MAX WEBER

  • Esteem - the reputation someone occupying ascribed or achieved status has earned
• CLASS - MAX WEBER

  • Status inconsistency - inconsistency of an individual's rank across power, class, and prestige.
• SOCIAL CLASS REPRODUCTION

  • Cultural Capital - resources that a person possesses that are useful and desirable in the society
• SOCIAL CLASS REPRODUCTION

  • Objectified cultural capital (physical and material objects)
  • Embodied cultural capital (learned through socialization)
  • Institutionalized cultural capital (academic credentials)
• SOCIAL MOBILITY

  The ability to change positions within a social stratification system
• SOCIAL MOBILITY

  • Vertical
  • Horizontal
• SOCIAL MOBILITY

  Intragenerational mobility (over the course of a person's lifetime)

  Intergenerational mobility (children's status relative to their parents)
• • Inequality is necessity
  • the mechanism (device) by which societies attract the most qualified people to the most functionally important occupations.
• Social position - personal talents and abilities in a competitive economy