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Chapter 1: Perspectives & Concepts Return to Dr. W's Webpage Link Return to Stratification Syllabus, Fall 2001 Link Return to Course Resource List Link Return to Stratification Review List Link |
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| Link | Stratification: The institutionalization
of inequality:
A system of social relationships that produces & reproduces inequality |
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| Stratification is a function of class, status, & power (Weber's 3 dimensions of stratification) | ||
| Link | Class: the Economic Dimension of Strat | |
| Link | Status: the Prestige Dimension of Strat | |
| Link | Power: the Political Dimension of Strat | |
| Link | Stratification in the Post-Industrial Era |
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| There are various definitions of Stratification | |||
| Stratification:
structured
process by which social groups are assigned a social position,
resulting in a hierarchy |
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| Stratification: a pattern whereby scarce “resources” are distributed. unequally | |||
| Stratification: a structured
social process by which social grips
are assigned a social position, resulting in a hierarchy |
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| Stratification:
the institutionalization of inequality:
A system of social relationships that produces & reproduces inequality |
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| Institutionalizationof inequality means that the system is composed of a layered hierarchy | |||
| Inequality itself is not institutionalized, nor
unjust, but often it does come with a hierarchy
because we are social/meaning creating beings who label things as good/bad.... |
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| Heller: "The term structured indicates an arrangement of elements | |||
| The study of stratification focuses on how a particular
pattern of the allocation of resources
is passed down from one generation to another |
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| Social Differentiation is often a basis for
stratification,
but should not be confused w/ it:
Social Differentiation: distinct group or individual qualities & social roles |
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| The Division of Labor often parallels or reflects
the stratification system
since different jobs often have different rewards |
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| Social Mobility is the degree of individual or group movement movement within a stratification system | |||
| Vertical Social Mobility is movement up or down the stratification system, i.e. to a better or worse position | |||
| Horizontal Social Mobility is movement across positions of roughly equal rank | |||
| Churning denotes equal amounts of upward &
downward social mobility,
which often gives the illusion of upward class mobility |
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| A society is said to be stratified by Ascription
when people primarily receive class, status, etc.
through birth and is usually based on race, sex, family, social position, etc. |
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| Ascription factors play a larger part in social mobility that our value system (ideology) would have us believe | |||
| A society is said to be stratified by Achievement
when placement is primarily due to qualities that can be controlled by individuals. |
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| Achievement factors play a smaller part in social
mobility
than our value system (ideology) would have us believe |
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| Many fundamental social problems are addressed by the study of stratification | |||
| Various analytical constructs posit differing bases for stratification | |||
| Weber is known for his
3 dimensions of stratification
Review Weber |
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| Organizational theorists maintain that organizational influence has unique stratification properties | |||
| Class: economic: Placement in the strat sys is determined by income & wealth | |||
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Status: prestige:
Placement in the strat sys is determined by cultural determinations
of prestige, honor, charisma, etc. |
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Power: political: Placement
in the strat sys is determined by political determinations
of control or authority over others |
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Influence: organizational: Placement
in the strat sys is determined by organizational determinations
of control or authority over others |
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| There is a strong interaction of class, status, power & influence | |||
| The degree of inequality in the stratification system in the modern world system has increased | |||
| Review: Socio-Historical Overview: Stage 11: The Post-Industrial Era | |||
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| A fundamental principle of Conflict Theory is that there is class conflict in society | |||
| A Class is a social grouping of people
w/ similar socio-economic status & relationship to means of production in any type society |
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| Kerbo: A Class is a grouping of people w/ similar positions & similar political & economic interests | |||
| Class analysis is widely utilized in the social sciences | |||
| Marx believes that class is determined by a persons' relationship to the means of production | |||
| Weber believes
that class is determined by a person's relationship to means of prod,
as well as one's life chances, & capital ownership ( status & power ) |
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| Kerbo: Class divisions are based on three major criteria | |||
| 1. Class is based on a person's position in the occupational structure | |||
| 2. Class is based on a person's position in the authority structures | |||
| 3. Class is based on a person's ownership of property | |||
| Given that the US is an industrial Capitalist nation,
typical listing of class divisions are made primarily in terms of occupational & economic divisions |
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| There were only two classes in Marx's day:
Owners: bourgeoisie Workers: proletariat What are some classes today? |
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| Table of Various Formulations of Class | |||
| Table of Eight Classes in the Modern Industrialized Nations ( Primarily the US ) | |||
| What are these classes based on? | |||
| Class Analysis
examines the exact mixture of achievement
versus ascriptive factors
that determine where people end up in the economic hierarchy |
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| Class analysis asks many fundamental questions about the role of economic stratification in society | |||
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| Review of Stratification
Social process where scarce social & physical resources such as wealth, income, power, status, etc. are non-randomly distributed among members, groups, classes etc. of social |
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| Status
aka prestige, honor, respect Any position w/in a social system; thus one is in a hierarchy of prestige |
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| Many analysts develop major theoretical orientations on status | |||
| Max Weber: 1st made status important in social analysis | |||
| Talcott
Parsons: Of any theorist, Parsons gives the most prominence
to status as a mode of stratification in social analysis |
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| Status is often used to signify position in a social structure | |||
| But a status based analysis may or may not place one in a position w/in a hierarchy | |||
| Kerbo believes the concept of status does NOT
explain
the primary characteristics of stratification in the modern industrial world |
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| Status attainment research examines the exact
mixture of achievement versus ascriptive factors
that determine where people end up in the status hierarchy |
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| Review: Stratification:
Social process where
scarce social & physical resources such as wealth, income, power, status, etc. are non-randomly distributed among members, groups, classes etc. of society |
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| The Political Scientist Robert Dahl ( 1957 ) defined
power
as
The ability of a person or social formation (group) to get another social formation to act/believe in a particular way that they would not have done before |
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| Interaction of class, status, & power | |||
| There is a clear distinction btwn power, authority, & influence | |||
| Power involves force or coercion: threat of aggression | |||
| Authority involves a suspension of judgment on part of recipients | |||
| For Weber, authority is either | |||
| a. Charismatic | |||
| b. Traditional | |||
| c. Rational | |||
| Influence is authority that is accepted as a decision is made | |||
| There is no fixed amount of power | |||
| Power resides in other's dependency | |||
| In most power relationships there is a "mutual dependence," especially in organizations | |||
| Review: Organizational power | |||
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| A brief overview of history may be seen in 11 stages | |
| There are 10 fundamental Qualities of Post-Industrial
Society
1. Less heavy basic industrial production 2. Service econ comes to predominate in 1st world 3. More high tech jobs 4. Info econ / internet is integral to the economy & growth 5. Knowledge & education are equivalent to property & wealth 6. Working-middle class transforms into the white collar middle class 7. Rise of professional classes 8. Part-time, serial employment 9. Growth of global capitalism continues 10. Global monopolies & mergers develop |
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| Some of the fundamental qualities of Post-Industrial
society have \/ inequality
Many of the fundamental qualities have /\ inequality |
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| Some see the rise of professional class as the end of a class dominated system | |
| Marginal Utility of wealth declines in P - I Age | |
| Review Marginal Utility | |
| Employment relations in the P-I age achieve many Labor's goals, w/o Unions | |
| The degree of inequality in the stratification system in the modern world system has increased | |
| The economic decline of the US in the modern world system appeared as early as the 1960s | |
| Today's development of the Modern World System goesbeyond
capitalism
and communism:
there is competition among many forms of state and monopoly capitalism |
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| Deindustrialization was the label given to the
movement of industry
from the Core to the Periphery & Semi-Periphery |
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| The P-I era is characterized by Reaganomics, the
Fall
of the Berlin Wall in 1989,
the collapse of Communism during the early 90s, the "New Democrats" (Clinton, et al) in the 90s |
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| Ronald Reagan was President from 1980 to 1988
He ushered in a "Republican Revolution" which was labeled "Reaganomics" |
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| The effects of Reaganomics were significant & are still felt in the 00s | |
| In 1989 temp jobs
were only 3% of new jobs
In 1993 they were 26% |
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| The poverty rate increased because of Reaganomics... & persisted | |
| Average family income declined after Reaganomics, & increased w/ Clinton | |
| There was a short recession at the end of the
1st Bush admin,
( Bush, Sr Presidency 1989 - 1992 ) that ended in 1992 |
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| In the 90s the effects of Reaganomics began to be reversed | |
| By 95, the US was coming out of the recession in better shape than Euro & Japan | |
| Some analysts belief that the Euro model will create a better econ in the 21st century | |
| The major point of the P - I Age is that there has been
a historic shift in the American stratification system & the place of the US in the modern world system |
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| Gender in the P - I Age: The "New Woman" | |
| Race in the P - I Age: |
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Return to UVaWise Webpage
Link
Return to Dr. W's Webpage Link Return to Stratification Syllabus, Fall 2001 Link Return to Course Resource List Link Return to Stratification Review List Link |
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