Chapter 9

Front 1

absolute poverty

Back 1

a scarcity of resources so severe that it is life-threatening

Front 2

capital

Back 2

money to invest in factories, real estate, and other buisnesses

Front 3

capitalist class

Back 3

those who control major capital and own the means of production

Front 4

class

Back 4

group of people that share a roughly similar economic position and lifestyle

Front 5

class mobility

Back 5

the ability to move from one class to another

Front 6

classismm

Back 6

prejudice or discrimination based on social class

Front 7

colonialism

Back 7

the use of military, political, and economic power by one society to dominate the people of another society

Front 8

conspicuous consumption

Back 8

lavish spending, done to compete for status with others

Front 9

cultural capital

Back 9

various types of knowledge, skills, and other cultural resources

Front 10

deindustrialization

Back 10

the process by which investment in the nations manufacturing capacity decreases

Front 11

dependency theory

Back 11

a theory that attributes global inequality to the exploitation of weaker, poor nations by wealthy, more powerful ones

Front 12

equal opportunity

Back 12

the idea that all people should have the same chance to achieve success

Front 13

feminization of poverty

Back 13

a trend in which women made up an increasingly large share of the poor

Front 14

global inequality

Back 14

the differences in wealth and power among countries

Front 15

income

Back 15

money received from sources such as wages, interest on savings, and dividends from stocks and bonds

Front 16

individual mobility

Back 16

a change in a person's class position that occurs without any change in the large class structure

Front 17

individualism

Back 17

a systematic belief that highlights the importance of individuality

Front 18

life change

Back 18

the likelihood a person has obtaining valued economic and cultural resources

Front 19

meritocracy

Back 19

the notion that people are rewarded and are able to advance because of their abilities

Front 20

middle class

Back 20

a group that is distinctive for its contribution of specialized knowledge and expertise to the economy

Front 21

modernization theory

Back 21

a theory that attributes global inequality to cultural differences between countries

Front 22

neocolonialism

Back 22

a system of economic domination of poorer nations by wealthier ones without the use of formal political control or military occupation

Front 23

poverty line

Back 23

a measure of scarcity determined by figuring the cost of minimal food budget and multiplying it by three

Front 24

poverty rate

Back 24

the percentage of the population that falls below the poverty line

Front 25

progressive taxation

Back 25

tax policy in which those with higher income pay a higher rate

Front 26

public assistance

Back 26

either tax credits or actual payments and benefits provided to citizens by the government

Front 27

regressive taxation

Back 27

taxes that disproportionately affects those with lower incomes

Front 28

relative poverty

Back 28

situation that exists when people do not have the basic resources to maintain a standard of living considered acceptable in their society

Front 29

social capital

Back 29

relationships that are potentially economically valuable resulting from membership in a group

Front 30

structural mobility

Back 30

a change in a class position that occurs when a shift in available occupations changes the class system as a whole

Front 31

underclass

Back 31

chronically unemployed people who have no ongoing relationship to mainstream economy

Front 32

wealth

Back 32

financial assets, such as savings, real estate, and stocks

Front 33

working class

Back 33

those who survive on the wages they earn

Front 34

world systems analysis

Back 34

an approach that focuses on the interdependence among the countries that make up a single global economic system.