social stratification

ESSENTIALS OF SOCIOLOGY, 7TH EDITION

CHAPTER 7: STRATIFICATION, CLASS, AND INEQUALITY

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Please review the entire chapter to gain a more comprehensive view and understanding of the subject matter. Do not rely solely on this chapter summary.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

What Is Social Stratification?

• Social stratification refers to the division of people socioeconomically into layers or

strata. When we talk of social stratification, we draw attention to the unequal positions

occupied by individuals in society. In the larger traditional societies and in industrialized

countries today there is stratification in terms of wealth, property, and access to material

goods and cultural products.

• Three major types of stratification systems can be distinguished: slavery, caste, and

class. Whereas the first two of these depend on legal or religiously sanctioned

inequalities, class divisions are not "officially" recognized but stem from economic

factors affecting the material circumstances of people's lives.

• The most prominent and influential theories of stratification are those developed by

Marx and Weber. Marx placed the primary emphasis on class, which he saw as an

objectively given characteristic of the economic structure of society. He saw a

fundamental split between the owners of capital and the workers who do not own

capital. Weber accepted a similar view, but distinguished another aspect of stratification,

status. Status refers to the esteem, or "social honor," given to individuals or groups.

• Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore outlined a functionalist theory of stratification that

has now come to be widely derided. Davis and Moore’s theory suggests that a person’s

social position is based solely on his or her innate talents and efforts, when it is

acknowledged that individuals have unequal access to positions in the first place.

How Is Social Class Defined in the United States?

• Class is of major importance in industrialized societies, although there are many

complexities in the class system within such societies. The main class divisions are

between people in the upper, middle, and lower working classes, and the underclass.

• Membership in the requisite class is determined by a combination of one’s income,

wealth, educational attainment, and occupational status.

What Are the Causes and Consequences of Social Inequality in the United States?

• Most people in modern societies are more affluent today than was the case several

generations ago. Yet the distribution of wealth and income remains highly unequal,

especially along racial and ethnic lines.

• Between the early 1970s and the late 1990s, partly as a result of economic globalization,

the gap between rich and poor grew. Incomes at the top increased sharply, while many

ordinary workers and families saw their incomes drop as higher-wage manufacturing

jobs moved offshore to low-wage countries.

ESSENTIALS OF SOCIOLOGY, 7TH EDITION

CHAPTER 7: STRATIFICATION, CLASS, AND INEQUALITY

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• In the study of social mobility, a distinction is made between intragenerational and

intergenerational mobility. The first of these refers to movement up or down the social

scale within an individual's working life. Intergenerational mobility is movement across

the generations, as when the daughter or son from a blue-collar background becomes a

professional. Social mobility is mostly of limited range. Most people remain close to the

level of the family from which they came, although the expansion of white-collar jobs in

the last few decades has provided the opportunity for considerable short-range upward

mobility.

How Does Poverty Affect Individuals?

• Poverty remains widespread in the United States. Two methods of assessing poverty

exist. One involves the notion of absolute poverty, which is a lack of the basic resources

needed to maintain a healthy existence. Relative poverty involves assessing the gaps

between the living conditions of some groups and those enjoyed by most of the

population.

• A large portion of Americans fall under the label of working poor, people who do not

earn enough to lift themselves above the poverty line. Problems of declining income and

poverty are especially pronounced among racial and ethnic minorities, families headed

by single women, and persons lacking education. The feminization of poverty is

especially strong among young, poorly educated women who are raising children on

their own.

• Explanations of poverty can be grouped under two main headings: theories that see

poor individuals as responsible for their status and theories that view poverty as

produced and reproduced by structural forces in society.

• Social exclusion refers to processes by which individuals may become cut off from full

involvement in the wider society. People who are socially excluded, due to poor housing,

inferior schools, or limited transportation, may be denied the opportunities for self-

betterment that most people in society have. Homelessness is one of the most extreme

forms of social exclusion. Homeless people may be shut out of many everyday activities

that most people take for granted.

How Does Social Inequality Affect Your Life?

• Globalization has led to the creation of low-cost consumer goods, making it easier for

young people to afford consumer electronics, shoes, clothes, and other products made

overseas. Yet, globalization has also contributed to the loss of jobs in the United States,

and young people may be forced to compete with workers overseas for jobs.

• The economic recession that begin in 2008 may have serious consequences for young

adults entering the labor force for the first time. College students may have difficult

paying for tuition if the economic downturn affects their or their parents' economic

resources.