Notes on Society

Chapter 10 Social Stratification: a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, it is a trait of society, found in all society’s, carries over from generation to generation and creates systems and class Social Mobility: a change in position within the social hierarchy Caste System: Closed system based on ascription, or birth, little or no mobility, shapes a persons entire life, occupation and marriage. Found in traditional Agrarian societies. Class System: social stratification based on both birth, ascription and individual achievement, meritocracy.
Meritocracy: Social stratification based on personal merit Status Consistency: the degree of uniformity in a person’s social standing across various dimensions of social inequality. Example: A college professor with advanced degrees enjoys high prestige but only earns a modest wage. Structural Social Mobility: a shift in the social position of large numbers of people due more to changes in society itself than to individual efforts Ideology: cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequality
Davis Moore thesis: A system of unequal rewards is necessary to place talented people in the right jobs and to motivate them to work hard. the functional analysis claiming that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society Blue Collar occupations: lower prestige jobs that involve mostly manual labor White Collar occupations: Higher-prestige jobs that involve mostly mental activity Socioeconomic Status, SES: a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality

Conspicuous Consumption: Buying and using products because of the “statement” they make about social position Chapter 11 Income: earnings from work or investments Wealth: The total value of money and other assets, minus outstanding debts Intragenerational Social Mobility: a change in social position occurring during a person’s lifetime. Intergenerational Social Mobility: upward or downward social mobility of children in relation to their parents Feminization of Poverty: the trend of women making up an increasing proportion of the poor Chapter 12
Global Stratification: Patterns of social inequality in the world as a whole High Income Country: nations with the highest overall standards of living Middle Income Country: nations with the standard of living that is about the average for the world Low Income Country: nations with low standard of living in which most people are poor Modernization Theory: is a model of economic and social development that explains global inequality in terms of technological and cultural differences among nations Dependency Theory: explains global inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor societies by rich ones