Sociology 204 Chapter 8: Stratification, Class, & Inequality

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The minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence

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ABSOLUTE POVERTY

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Placement in a particular social status based on characteristics such as family of origin, race & gender

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ASCRIPTION

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People that own companies, land, or stocks (shares), and use these to generate economic returns

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CAPITALISTS

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Societies in which different social levels are closed, so that all individuals must remain at the social level of their birth throughout life. (No chance for movement in society)

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CASTE SOCIETIES

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It is one of the most frequently used concepts in sociology, there is no clear agreement about how the notion should be defined. Most sociologists use the term to refer to socioeconomic variations between groups of individuals that create variations in their material prosperity and power

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CLASS

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Positions in the class-structure, particularly routine white-collar and lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics of the class positions both above and below them

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CONTRADICTORY CLASS LOCATIONS

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The thesis, popularized by OSCAR LEWIS, that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies but is instead the outcome of a larger social and cultural atmosphere into which successive generations of children are socialized. The culture of poverty refers to the values, beliefs, lifestyles, habits, and traditions that are common among people living under conditions of material deprivation

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CULTURE OF POVERTY

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Term popularized by CHARLES MURRAY to describe individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market. The dependency culture is seen as the outcome of the "paternalistic" welfare state that undermines individual ambition and people's capacity for self-help

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DEPENDENCY CULTURE

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The exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down

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EXCHANGE MOBILITY

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An increase in the proportion of poor who are female

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FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY

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People who have no place to sleep and either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places not meant for habitation

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HOMELESS

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Payment, usually derived from wages, salaries, or investments

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INCOME

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Theory that societies become more open to social mobility as they become more industrialized

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INDUSTRIALIZATION HYPOTHESIS

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Movement up or sown a social stratification hierarchy from one generation to another

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INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY

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Movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career

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INTRAGENERATIONAL MOBILITY

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A formula showing that inequality increases during the early stages of capitalist development, then declines, and eventually stabilizes at a relatively low level; advanced by the economist SIMON KUZNETS

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KUZNETS CURVE

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A term introduced by MAX WEBER to signify a person for achieving economic prosperity

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LIFE CHANCES

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A social class comprised of those who work part time or not at all and whose household income is typically lower than $17,000 a year

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LOWER CLASS

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The means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society, including not just technology, but the social relations between producers

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MEANS OF PRODUCTION

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A social class composed broadly of those working in white-collar and lower managerial occupations

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MIDDLE CLASS

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Groups who suffer from negative status discrimination - they are looked down on by most other members of a society. The Jews, for example, have been a pariah group throughout much of European history

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PARIAH GROUPS

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An official government measure to define those living in poverty in the United States

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POVERTY LINE

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Poverty defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society

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RELATIVE PROPERTY

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A form of social stratification in which some people are literally owned by others as their property

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SLAVERY

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Practices by which groups separate themselves off from other groups

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SOCIAL CLOSURE

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Movement of individuals or groups between different social positions

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SOCIAL MOBILITY

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The existence of structured inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards. While all societies involve some forms of stratification, only with the development of state-based systems did wide differences in wealth and power arise. The most distinctive form of stratification in modern societies in class division

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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

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The social honor or prestige that a particular group is accorded by other members of a society. Status groups normally display distinct styles of life - patterns of behavior that the members of a group follow. Status privilige may be positive or negative. Pariah status groups are regarded with disdain or treated as outcasts by the majority of the population

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STATUS

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Mobility resulting from changes in the number and kinds of jobs available in a society

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STRUCTURAL MOBILITY

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Social inequalities that result from patterns in the social structure

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STRUCTURED INEQUALITIES

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The value of a worker's labor power, in MARXist theory, left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker

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SURPLUS VALUE

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A class of individuals situated at the bottom of the class system, normally composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds

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UNDERCLASS

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A social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold power

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UPPERCLASS

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Movement up or down a hierarchy of positions in a social stratification system

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VERTICAL MOBILITY

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Money and material possessions help by an individual or group

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WEALTH

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A social class broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual occupations

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WORKING CLASS

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People who work, but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line

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WORKING POOR