Class

• social stratification

  - organized hierarchy of inequality

  - individuals and groups are classified by wealth, occupation, education level, race, or gender
• social class

  - higher or lower strata (ranks)

  - resources are limited and distributed unevenly

  - justification for stratification - based on those in higher ranks to believe it's fair because they've worked hard so they deserve their status
• life chances

  - opportunities

  - ascribed/achieved status

  - people in the same strata share very similar life chances

  EX: some students work to pay for school tuition while others work to buy things or go out
• lifestyle

  - attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and values

  EX: people from working class families believe in luck while those in lower class think more about the hard work

  - socialization based on social class differences

  EX: a Walmart worker who takes a 2 hour lunch would get in trouble while a middle class worker would not
• cultural capital (interaction theory)

  - attitudes, beliefs, and values passed on from one generation to another

  - learned from family and schools

  - all classes possess this

  - value those of higher classes

  - lower classes perceived to have less resources (assume to have less to pass down but not true)

  - lower class cultural capital differs from higher class

  EX: people who don't have cars know public transport well vs. those who have cars and don't know the system
• higher classes in cultural capital

  (males and whites)

  - well dressed, educated, mannered, read, rounded, schooled, and traveled

  - civilized, cultured, learned, and sophisticated

  - fine dining, taste, touch, and wine

  - appreciation of art and music

  EX: tea is drank by upper class while coffee is lower
• rational choice theory

  - decisions based on one's self-interest (benefits and costs)

  - based on what we think will be advantageous

  - immediate vs. deferred gratification
• immediate gratification

  - satisfied now and short-term

  - rewards

  - lower classes (pay check immediately spent)

  - to be gratified is to be satisfied
• deferred/delayed gratification

  - satisfied later and long-term

  - sacrifices (to be better off later)

  - higher class (can afford it)
• functional theory (of stratification)

  - stratification is inevitable (some people are higher and some lower)

  - key roles (unequal rewards justified by hard work)

  - individual differences in talent (not everyone possesses the talent for certain jobs)

  - Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore
• Davis and Moore

  - assume everyone has a level playing field

  - make the argument that if you want a high pay and prestige, then you will go into those fields and work for it with no complaints

  EX: would say that doctors deserve their high salary because of the education and work leading up to it

  (they say it's a theory, but if you disagree then it's an educated guess; hypothesis)
• meritocracy

  - success based on hard work

  - if doesn't matter what schools you went to or what your parents do, if you work hard then you'll be successful

  - achieved status

  - "the best will rise to the top"
• conflict theory

  - two classes: small group of "the haves" and large group of "the have nots"

  - critical of capitalism as a system:

  - private ownership (car, plants, home, yard, etc)

  - competition (there has to be losers and winner)

  - profits

  Karl Marx
• economic factors (wealth, power, and prestige)

  - variables measurable

  - social class is based on economic factors (measured social class by how much you make or rank occupation)

  - one hierarchy

  Karl Marx
• economic and social factors (wealth, power, and prestige)

  - amount of money you make or job you have does not tell us everything about one's social class

  - there are social factors that (dress, act, or talk)

  - many hierarchies (ranked higher on one variable and lower on another)

  EX: priest does not make that much money, but they are in high prestige and respect

  Max Weber
• intragenerational mobility (vertical)

  - movement during one's lifetime

  EX: someone moves up in position in their career
• intergenerational mobility

  - next generation will move up in class

  - work hard and make sacrifices to move up in class

  - doing it for the children

  - intERgenerational mobility is easier than intRAgenerational
• cross-cultural mobility

  - vertical mobility in another country

  - globalization

  - transnationalism

  EX: company sends you abroad and you end up being successful and move up in social class
• income vs. wealth

  - income is the amount of money earned; salary/pay

  - wealth/assets are the total income and valuable goods; everything in your name
• mean (wealth in U.S.)

  - the average

  - income skewed very high

  - if there's one person who makes a lot of money, then the average for that area is pulled up (all you need is one person)
• median (wealth in U.S.)

  - 50% above/50% below; middle

  - best measure of household income

  - divides in half

  - 50% of Americans earn above the median while 50% earn below
• mode (wealth in U.S.)

  - most common #

  - little/no income for many households

  - always really low (people in poverty, unemployed, with no income)

  EX: even at SMC, there were students who were homeless before coming to college
• power in the U.S.

  - politicians hold the power

  - upper class has lots of wealth but no power so they work with the politicians to speak on their behalf of interests

  - politicians represent the interest of the upper class
• prestige in the U.S.

  - one's status

  - occupation (jobs ranked: some viewed as more prestigious than others)

  - education (level of schooling)

  - prestige is not measured in income

  EX: someone winning the lottery does not mean they are prestigious
• socio-economic status (SES)

  - measuring social class based on education, occupation, and income

  - broken into social stratification (upper class, upper-middle, middle, working, working poor, poor)
• upper class/capitalist

  1%

  - some based on family name, generations long, or people who have just made it big
• upper-middle/professionals

  14%

  - most have graduate training of some type
• middle class/white collar

  30%

  - white collar workers, middle level managers, teachers, attorney
• working class/blue collar

  30%

  - more physical labor than white labor

  - retail sales, maids, waitresses
• working poor/lowest paid workers

  13%

  - full time workers who make minimum wage

  - mall workers
• poor

  12%
• poverty stereotypes

  - more rural than urban poverty

  -- there is a lot more rural; spread out more than urban poverty that is concentrated

  - more whites than people of color are poor

  -- some groups of color might have higher percentages, but there's more white

  EX: appalachia
• absolute poverty/deprivation

  - lack of food, shelter, and clothing; lacking basic necessities

  - can't worry about education or jobs because the necessities are needed

  EX: meals made by school programs might be the only meals some kids get
• relative poverty/deprivation

  - income below the poverty line

  - poor compared to other people
• the poverty line

  - based on the standard of living for family of 4

  - if a family falls under the line of income then they might receive government assistance
• - feminization of poverty

  - single female-headed households

  - custody of children with low income since women are paid less
• 4 groups of poor people in the U.S.

  - working poor

  - part-time workers (no benefits or health insurance)

  - seasonal workers (farmers or construction workers)

  - unemployed
• the working poor

  - largest group

  - full-time minimum wage workers

  - doing everything right but are still poor because of minimum wage not being a living wage
• caste

  - ascribed status

  - remain in rank for life

  - not the same meaning as segregation

  - India and South Africa

  - no one is able to get out of the rank; born into particular social class
• class

  - achieved status

  - vertical mobility (move up/down in class system)

  - one's rank is not well-defined; no idea what rank one is in