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Chapter 8
Social Class:The Structure of
Inequality
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Overview• Social Stratification
Components of Social Class
• Theories of Social Class Video Presentation: “People Like Us”
• SES and Life Chances • Social Mobility
“The American Dream”
• Poverty and the Poor
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SOCIAL STRATIFICATIONMacro-level analysis
• Society is grouped into strata Hierarchy, levels, layers
• A system for ranking and dividing large groups of people Every society stratifies members Almost every aspect of life is linked to position in social
hierarchy Persistent over generations
• Results in social inequality Unequal division and sharing of social resources/rewards
• Systems of stratification Slavery, caste, social class
• Stratification in the U.S. Social class; race and ethnicity; sex and gender
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SOCIAL CLASS
• Defining Social Class Based on access to social resources/rewards A large group who rank closely to one another
in:• wealth, power, prestige
Socioeconomic Status (SES)• A measure of one’s place within class system
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Components of Social Class: WEALTH• Wealth consists of property
and income Wealth and income are
not the same Some have wealth but
little income• “Old” and “New” Money
• Unequal distribution of wealth in the U.S. Top 1% owns 35% Top 20% owns 50% Bottom 80% owns 15%
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Components of Social Class:
• POWER The ability to carry out
one’s will despite resistance
The “Power Elite”• C. Wright Mills• Those who make the
big decisions in U.S. society
Power is concentrated in the hands of the few
• PRESTIGE Social honor
• Membership in well-regarded group
Occupational prestige• How a person is
perceived by others• Can affect wealth and
power
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Components of Social Class: STATUS
• Social ranking Similar in wealth, power,
prestige:• Status consistency
A mix of high and low rankings:
• Status inconsistency
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Theories of Social Class: Postmodernism
• Social Reproduction Pierre Bourdieu
• Classes remain relatively stable Status passed down
through generations
• Each generation acquires cultural capital Tastes, habits,
expectations, skills, etc. Can help or hinder us
from gaining advantages
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Theories of Social Class: Symbolic Interactionism
• Class Consciousness (Awareness)
• Erving Goffman
• How we use status “cues” to categorize ourselves and others Speech, gestures, clothing, possessions,
friends, activities, etc.
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Video Presentation
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Socioeconomic Status and Life Chances Inequality shapes life course
• Privileges, hardships, differences Family
• Homogamy, age of marriage, child rearing Education
• Access, attitudes and expectations; attainment and status Work
• White- vs. blue-collar occupations, income gap, un- and under-employment
Criminal Justice• Who gets caught, prosecuted and sentenced; victimhood
Health• Feeling good, health practices, life expectancy
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SOCIAL MOBILITY• Movement of individuals or groups within class hierarchy
U.S. has “open” system• Change is possible
• What are your chances? Vertical (upward and downward) Horizontal
• Types: Intergenerational mobility
• Movement from one generation to the next
Intragenerational mobility• Movement during one’s own lifetime
Structural mobility• Movement of large groups of people
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Country A Country B Country C
Which nations do the charts above represent?1. The United States, Spain and Egypt2. Freedonia, Sweden and the United States3. Luxembourg, the United States and Somalia
Wealth Quiz
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Country A Country B Country C
Which place would you like to live in?1. Country A2. Country B3. Country C
Wealth Quiz
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Video Clip
“Land of the Free,
Home of the Poor”
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The “American Dream”The belief that:1. Everyone can participate
equally and can always start over
2. It is reasonable to anticipate success
3. Success is a result of individual characteristics and actions under one’s control
4. Success is associated with virtue and merit
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The American Dream
• Questioning the Dream The “good life” and
consumption• Americans are less secure
and satisfied– More in debt
• Less free time and more rushed
The Simplicity Movement• Alternative, non-materialist
values
• Encourages downsizing
• Ideology A belief system that legitimizes
stratification• Everyone has equal chance• Success or failure depends on
individual The U.S. meritocracy
• Rewards are based on merit Upward mobility may be limited
• Factors such as nationality, race and gender
• Recession Shrinking middle class
• In-Class Exercise
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POVERTY AND THE POOR
• Definitions: Relative deprivation
• Inability to maintain customary standard of living Absolute deprivation
• Inability to meet minimal standards Poverty line (2010)
• Based on household budget– $22,314 family of 4; $11,139 individual
• Poverty in U.S.—2010 46.2 million people or 15.1% of the population or 1 in every 6.5 citizens
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Who are the Poor?• They are a very diverse group
Clustered by:
• Race and Ethnicity
• Age
• Gender
• Educational Level
• Geographic Region
• Country of Origin
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The Working Poor• Minimum Wage
Federal: $7.25 California: $8.00
• Many adults below poverty line work for a living Often low-paying,
seasonal, temp, or part-time jobs
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Social Welfare Programs• The “New Deal” and social
safety nets FDR 1933-1937
• Social insurance programs: Social Security, disability, minimum wage
• The “Great Society” and the war on poverty LBJ 1963-1969
• Public assistance programs: Medicare and Medicaid, food stamps, Head Start
• Welfare Reform Clinton 1996-2000
• “Welfare to work”, limit of 5 years
• The “New New Deal” Obama 2009-
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Poverty in the U.S.
• “The Culture of Poverty” Focus on attitudes among poor
• Resignation and fatalism– Rather than trying to
improve circumstances• Poverty is self-perpetuating
Critics call this “blaming the victim”
• Must see structural conditions that lead to poverty
• The “Just-World Hypothesis” The deep need to see the world
as orderly, predictable and fair• Tendency to view victims of
injustice as deserving of their fate
• Invisibility of Poverty Large part of U.S. population
remains hidden• Few images of poverty in
America
• Residential Segregation Separation or isolation of poor
from rest of the population• Often occurs along racial lines
• Political Disenfranchisement Removal of rights through
economic or political means• Poor participate in politics less
• Lack power and visibility of their issues
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Global Poverty• Global Rich List (globalrichlist.com)
The 225 richest people in the world have a combined wealth of $1,000,000,000,000 (trillion)
Equal to the combined income of the world’s 2.5 billion poorest people
• Wonder what it would be like to have that kind of money? Where would you be on a list of the richest people in the world?
• If you have an annual income of $50,000 You are in the top 0.98% richest people in the world You are the 59,029,289 richest person in the world
• How do you feel about being so rich? The lives of many of the poorest in the world could be improved
dramatically if you donated just one hour's salary (approx $26.70)• The One Campaign (one.org)
Campaign to make poverty history Increase federal budget aid to world poverty one percent
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Next …
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