The Origins of American Equality:

The American Revolution brought a new nation perennial problems as well as politicalIndependence

• The events of 1776-1783 were more than a War of Independence

• A Democratic Concept of equality insists that all are entitled to:

• (1). equality of opportunity and

• (2). equality before the law

• David M. Potter (1954) argued that the creed of equality of opportunity is challenged by inequalities

• Since the 19th century social scientists have wrestled with the subject of inequality

• From the French social theorist Alexis De Tocqueville to Presidents: Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln—all stressed the notion of equality.

The Contradiction of Democracy and Capitalism:• the contradiction between the ideals of

capitalism and the ideals of democracy represents the tension between liberty and equity

• Liberty is the freedom to pursue one’s self-interests as they wish

• Equity (fairness) is the distribution of society’s scarce resources in a just manner

• Social Justice: process –members of a given community are concerned for the equality and rights of all citizens

Social Stratification

• A precondition to social stratification is social differentiation: horizontal dimension of social structure, i.e., functional roles individuals play in Society, e.g., men are breadwinners, and women socialize children.

• According to Lenski (1983) as advances in technology and production increase so will the inequalities.

• The scarce resources that cause stratification are: (1) wealth, (2) power and (3) prestige.

• Social Stratification: vertical dimension or social hierarchy, i.e., division of society into layers, positions, etc.

• Institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked according to their access to scarce resources.

• Gerhard Lenski (1983) defined stratification as a “distributive processes” –who gets what, and why?

There are 3 major dimensions of social stratification:

• (1) economic dimension, e.g., income and wealth;

• (2) political dimension, e.g., power and influence; and

• (3) social dimension, e.g., prestige or status. • All forms of inequality are mainly due to the

power dimension. • Wealth contributes more than income to the

perpetuation of the class hierarchy because it can be inherited.

• 2 types of criteria in the distributive processes—resources:

• (1) Ascribed criteria: e.g., age, sex, race, lineage etc.—fixed,

(2) Achieved criteria: e.g., education, skills, etc. optional.

3 Forms of Stratification systems:

In the Pre-modern societies stratification is based on age and gender

1. Caste Systems: rely largely on ascribed statuses as the basis for distributing scarce resources, e.g., India, Africa, Middle East etc. More closed social system

2.Estate System: rely on inheritance, e.g., Medieval Europe, Middle East, Africa etc. Nobles, kings and emperors. In America, e.g., Forbes, Ford, etc.

• 3.Class System : rely on achieved statuses as the basis for distributing scarce resources,

• e.g., the difference between caste and class systems is that class systems permit more social mobility—

• more open social systems—achieved statuses.

THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION

• Functionalism: social life depends on consensus and cooperation, e.g., family, social systems, Religion etc.

• Emile Durkheim, a French social theorist stated that some form of social stratification is necessary in society.

• Proponents of this view: Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore (1945)argued that stratification is functional in society because people with the most qualifications or skills get the best jobs, e.g., doctors etc.

• Basic assumption: social rewards are distributed on the basis of achievement—meritocracy

• Herbert Gans (1973) argued that poverty creates jobs, e.g., social workers, public health Nurses.

• Conflict theory: societies are competitive arenas where different groups vie for control of Scarce resources, e.g., wealth, power and prestige

• Karl Marx argued that stratification is about class struggle.

• The emergence of a division of labor—specialization in industrial societies lay the foundation for stratification.

• Two classes: (i) Bourgeoisie or capitalist: control the means of production and the mental production, e.g., technology; and

• (ii) Proletariat: working class—sell their labor to the capitalist

• Class refers to a person’s relationship to the means of production

• Class consciousness: awareness of class identity, e.g., business managers think, they are superior to cashiers

• This feeling leads to false consciousness or lack of awareness

• Because if the cashiers are conscious of the fact that the manager is exploiting them they can overthrow him

• Alienation: breakdown of natural interconnection between people; and what they produce

• Reification: people believe that the social structures that man has created are beyond their control and unchangeable, e.g., computers, technology. Taken a life of their own

• Basic assumption: economy structures ideas—economic determinism, i.e., One dimensional view of stratification.

• By contrast, Max Weber argued that class is like an organized monopoly

• The people who belong to the organized group or monopoly acquire a status that is a status group which determines their life styles

• The houses, cars and wealth that they own determine their lifestyle. Subcultures are developed, e.g., doctors associate with peers only and so on

• The life chances are a function of the economic class, i.e., if one is born into a wealthy family, he or she will have a better chance of succeeding in society.

• However, people who have special skills, e.g., athletes, movie stars and so on can also succeed.

Relationship: inequality of condition, opportunity and life chances:

• inequality of condition: unequal possession of valuable resources, e.g., land

• Life chances: opportunity people have of attaining social resources

• Inequality of opportunity: people have different probabilities of acquiring social resources and rewards

• Relationship of concepts: inequality of condition, such as membership in different social classes, produces different life chances, which results in an inequality of opportunity

Racial and Ethnic Inequality:

Types of discrimination experienced by: Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians

Native Americans, experienced: • Internal colonialism: a process—racial/ethnic

group is conquered—placed under the political & economic control of the dominant group

• Genocide: the deliberate killing of an entire group of people—ethnic cleansing

• Forced migration: 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act--Trail of Tears or “Trail Where They Cried”—journey from Georgia to Oklahoma--Indian country. Scores of Cherokee Indians died. Cherokee Rose as a symbol in Georgia.

• Americanization process: boarding schools & mission schools--assimilation

African Americans, experienced:

• Slavery: 1619 arrival of first Africans—North America--marked it’s beginnings

• De jure segregation—South, i.e., Jim Crow laws—Plessy case 1896-- “separate but equal” doctrine

• De facto segregation--North, i.e., racial separation and inequality enforced by custom—Brown case 1954

Hispanics/Latinos experienced: • Internal colonialism: a process—racial/ethnic group is

conquered—placed under the political & economic control of the dominant group—colonized/immigrant model

• Mexican-American War—1848--the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico surrendered south west region to the U.S.

• Exclusionary immigration policies: discrimination—e.g., 1986 Immigration Reform Act, California Proposition 187—Anti-immigration, debates—illegal immigration, etc

• Segregation in housing—ethnic enclaves--barrios• Segregation in education—bilingual education, e.g.,

California Proposition 227 Anti-bilingual education—• Bilingual education granted—Treaty of Guadalupe 1848

Asian and Pacific Americans, experienced:

• Exclusionary immigration policies: labeled “the yellow peril”—out crowding the white race—threat—Western civilization—19th Century prejudice

• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act—barring immigration based on race/ethnicity--quotas

• Internment only Japanese—World War II—ally of Germany 1944--