Social Inequalities

• Social Inequalities

  • refers to the unequal access to social, political, and symbolic capital of individuals in society.
• Social Capital

  • refers to the characteristics of a social organization, which include networks, norms, and trust, that enable coordination and cooperation for the common benefit.
• Symbolic Capital

  • refers to the resources available to an individual on the basis of honor, prestige or merit.
• Symbolic Capital

  • may come from the possession of objects with a perceived or concrete sense of value.
• Political Capital

  • refers to the benevolence or goodwill of a politician or political policy which can build up with the public through the implementation of popular policies.
• Political Capital

  • means that politicians may use their power to help their constituents through favorable policies and at the same time implement policies that will protect their self-interest.
• Types of Social Inequality

  1. Political inequality
  2. Treatment and responsibility inequality
  3. Membership inequality
  4. Life inequality
  5. Wealth inequality
• Factors that contribute to Social Inequality

  1. Educational Attainment
  2. Wealth and Poverty
  3. Power
  4. Gender Inequality
• Education Inequality

  • unequal distribution of academic resources and still needs policies that encourage educational attainment for men and women based on merit, rather than gender.
• Wealth and Poverty

  • social Inequality brought about by unequal distribution of wealth.
• Power

  • connotes economic, cultural and social positions.
• Forms of Capital

  1. Economic
  2. Cultural
  3. Symbolic
  4. Social
• Gender Inequality

  • acknowledges that men and women are not equal and that gender affects an individual living experience.
• Gender Stratification

  • unequal distribution of wealth, power, authority, and privilege between men and women.
• Gender Stereotypes

  • strong preconceived idea or attitude in the minds of people about something.
• Sexism

  • system of beliefs, rooted in the assertion that men and women are naturally different. It promotes the perceived superiority of one sex and tolerates gender discrimination.
• Sexism

  • promotes a macho culture that advocates male domination.
• Homophobia

  • extreme and irrational hatred toward homosexuality.
• Local Inequality

  • current state of the Indigenous Cultural communities where an ethnic is involved.
• Institutional Completeness

  • development of a strong sense of solidarity, an ethnic identity, and ethnic institutions by an ethnic population.
• Economic Policy

  • is a national interest and it gives direction to the future.
• Global Inequality

  • involves the concentration of resources in certain powerful nations, significantly affecting the opportunities of individuals in poorer and less powerful countries.
• Global Stratification

  • compares the wealth, economic stability, status, and power of countries across the world. Global stratification highlights worldwide patterns of social inequality.
• (First Typology) Classification systems used by the United Nations (UN) and World Bank


  • First World
  • Second World
  • Third World
• First World


  Western and capitalist democracies of North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan
• Second World


  Communist countries or the nations belonging to the Soviet Union
• Third World


  Remaining nations from Central and South America, Africa, and Asia
• Second typology of country classification


  • Developed Countries
  • Developing Countries
  • Underdeveloped Countries
• Developed Countries


  Countries with high economic development and high level of industrialization such as US, Japan, Australia, Norway, Singapore, and UK
• Developing Countries


  Less economically developed countries but gearing toward industrialization like countries in Asia and South America
• Underdeveloped Countries


  Countries categorized by the United Nations with the lowest socio-economic development, some in Africa, South Asia, and Oceania
• Third and revised typology of country classification


  • High-income Countries
  • Middle-income Countries
  • Low-income Countries
• High-income Countries


  Countries with the highest overall standards of living like the US, UK, Japan, Canada, Germany, China, etc.
• Middle-income Countries


  Countries with above average standard of living like Brazil, Russia, India, etc.
• Low-income Countries

  Countries with low standard of living as most people in these countries are poor like most countries in Africa, South America, and Asia
• Modernization Theory

  • according to this theory, rich nations become wealthy because they are able to develop certain values, beliefs and practices conducive to the acquisition of wealth.
• Modernization Theory

  • it views that global stratification results from the failure of poor nations to develop the beliefs, values and practices necessary for industrialization and rapid economic growth.
• Theories in Global Stratification

  1. Modernization Theory
  2. Dependency Theory
• Dependency Theory

  • according to this theory, the exploitation committed by the rich nations to poor nations explains why these countries still remain in poverty.
• Dependency Theory

  • it implies that poor nations remain poor because of lack of opportunities owing to exploitation by wealthy nations.