Download Social Stratification is the ranking of people or groups according to

Chapter 8
 Social
Stratification is the ranking of people
or groups according to their unequal access
to scarce resources like wealth, power, and
prestige.
 Social
classes are groups of people who
share similar amounts of scarce resources
and share values, norms, and a certain
lifestyle.
 Countries that are technologically advanced
usually have three distinct classes; upper,
middle, and lower. In most developing
countries there is only an upper and lower
class.
 Karl
Marx believed capitalistic societies are
doomed to only having two classes, upper
and lower.
 He believed the upper class, Bourgeoisie,
would be the rulers and those who worked
for wages, the Proletariat, would be the
ruled.
 He believed that because the bourgeoisie
own everything, they would exploit those
who only had their labor to sell.
 Economists
describe a distinct difference
between wealth and income.
 Income is the amount of money received
within a given time period where wealth
refers to all the economic resources
possessed by an individual or group.
 In 1997 there were over 36 million families in
the U.S. making less than $17,000 a year. On
the other hand there were over 10 million
millionaires and about 50 billionaires.
 Power
is the ability to control the behavior
of others, even against their will.
 Power is often obtained due to money, but
other factors can give someone power.

For example, fame, knowledge, social positions,
large support, etc.
 Prestige
is recognition, respect, and
admiration attached to social positions.
 Prestige must come from others, you cannot
proclaim yourself a Nobel prize winner, for
example.
 In our society white-collar jobs (doctors,
lawyers) have more prestige than bluecollar jobs (carpenter, electrician)
 Many times money comes with high prestige,
but not always. For example, a teacher
compared to a used car salesman.



The functionalist theory states the more important
jobs to a society are attached to more money and
prestige so the most qualified people are taking
these positions. For example, a doctor.
The conflict theory says inequality exists because
some people are willing to exploit
others. According to Marx this is present in
capitalistic societies. He uses the term false
consciousness to describe the acceptance of the
working class of capitalist ideas and values.
Symbolic interactionism theory says that society
tells us from childhood that if you aren't successful
you don't work hard enough or don't have what it
takes. Because of this the lower-class tends to have
low self-esteem and the upper-class tends to have
high self-esteem. This is the looking-glass-self at
work.
 In
the U.S. sociologists have determined we
have 6 social classes; upper class, upper
middle class, middle class, working class,
working poor, and under class.
 The Upper class is only about 1% of the
population and involves making $1.5 million
a year or higher. Some of the upper class are
considered aristocracy. These are the
families who have "old money" and whose
names appear in high society. Ex.
Rockefeller, Ford, Vanderbilt
 The
upper middle class makes up around 14%
of the population and the middle class makes
up around 30% of the population.
 The working class also makes up around 30%
and may actually make more than the middle
class but often have little job security and
little benefits like insurance.
A
majority of Americans fall under the
category of middle class or the working
class.
 The working poor makes up around 13%
and typically earn below the poverty line
and have dead end jobs with little or no
advancement.
 The underclass is around 12% and usually
consists of those who are unemployed
and/or live off public assistance.
 Absolute
poverty is when you don't have
enough money to secure the basic life
needs like food, clothing, and shelter.
 Relative poverty is comparing the
economic condition of those at the bottom
to the rest of society. For example, Africa's
idea of poverty is not the same as the U.S.
 Right now the poverty rate for whites in
America is 6%, for African-Americans and
Latinos its near 27%.
Social mobility is the movement of people
between social classes.
 Horizontal mobility is changing from one
occupation to another at the same social class
level. For example, from a gas station worker to
a fast food worker.
 Vertical Mobility is changing a person's
occupation or social class upward or
downward.
 When the change happens over a generation it
is called intergenerational mobility. For
example, if a plumber's son becomes a lawyer

A
caste system, social classes are set at
birth and no mobility is allowed.
 In an open-class system a person may move
up or down based on their hard work and
accomplishments.