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Stratification & Social Mobility in the United States

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Systems of Stratification

By: Randy Moctezuma

  • Stratification- a structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society. (Four forms of this)

>Slavery

>Castes

>Estates

>Social Classes

  • Social Inequality- describes a situation where different people have different amounts of wealth, prestige, or power.

Social Mobility

Horizontal mobility- movement within a social class, from one job to another of the same rank. Ex. An airline pilot who becomes a police officer.

Vertical Mobility- (up or down)movement of an individual from one social position to another of a different rank. Ex. If the airline pilot became a bank teller (downward mobility).

Intergenerational Mobility- involves changes in the social position of children relative to their parents. Ex. A plumber who's father was a physician provides an example of downward intergenerational mobility.

Intragenerational Mobility- refers to a person's social movements throughout his/her lifespan. This is in contrast to intergenerational mobility, which refers to social movement across different generations. Intragenerational mobility can be either horizontal or vertical.

Achieved & Ascribed Status

Poverty

  • Ascribed Status- Is a social position assigned to a person by society without regard for the person's unique talents or characteristics Ex. Age and gender, place of birth, as well as racial background.
  • Achieved Status- is a social position in which that person attains largely through his or hers efforts, like go to school, learn a skill, etc. Ex. A Lawyer, pianist, convict, social worker, computer programmer.

Relative Poverty- is a floating standard of

deprivation by which people at the bottom of society, whatever their lifestyle, are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison with the nation as a whole. Ex. even if the poor of 2005 are better off in absolute terms then the poor of the 1930s or 1960s, they are still seen as deserving of special assistance.

Absolute poverty- refers to a minimum

level of substance that no family should be expected to live below. Ex. Poverty line serves as an official definition of which people are poor. In 2008, for example, any family of two adults and two children with a combined income of 21,000 or less fell below the poverty line.

Stratification: Slavery

Functionalist View

  • Slavery- The most extreme form of legalized social inequality for both individuals and groups.

> Enslaved individuals are owned by other people,who treat these human beings as property, just as if they were household pets or appliances.

> Slavery was an Ascribed status since it was purely based on racial background.

Each aspect of society is interdependent and contributes to society's stability and functioning as a whole. Society needs to make sure that these positions are filled up but also seen that they are filled by people with the appropriate talents and abilities. That’s why there are rewards, including money and prestige, which are

based on the importance of a position.

Conflict View

Stratification: Castes

The conflict theory, suggested by Karl Marx, claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict because of competition for limited resources. It holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. He believed that under capitalism, the dominant class manipulates the economic and political systems in order to maintain control over the exploited underclass.

Lenski's View

  • Castes- Are hereditary ranks that are usually religiously dictated that tend to be fixed and immobile.

>It is an ascribed status (at birth, children automatically assume the same position as their parents).

>Each Caste is quite sharply defined, and members are expected to marry within that caste.

>The Caste system is generally associated with Hinduism in India and other countries.

Uses the term sociocultural evolution which means changes that occur as a society gains new technology. In sustenance-based hunting and gathering societies, people focus on survival. Some inequality is evident, but a stratification system based on social class does not emerge because there is no real wealth to be claimed.

Karl Marx's View

Is Stratification Universal?

Stratification: Estates

  • Bourgeoisie-A capitalist class, owns the means of production, such

as factories and machinery.

  • Proletariat- is the working class.
  • Estates (feudalism)- Requires peasants to work land leased to them by nobles in exchange for military

protection and other services.

>The nobles inherited their titles and property; while the peasants were born into a subservient position within an uncultivated society.

>The point for this system was for the nobles’ownership of land, which was critical to their superior and privileged status.

  • Stratification is universal in that all societies maintain some form of social inequality among members. Depending on its values, a society may assign people to

distinctive ranks based on religious knowledge, skills in hunting, beauty, trading expertise, or ability to

provide healthcare.

Stratification: Social Classes

  • Social Classes- Is a social ranking based primarily on economic position in which achieved characteristics can influence social mobility.

>Boundaries between classes are imprecisely defined, and one can move from one class, or level, of society to another.

>Heavily dependent on family and described factors, such as race and ethnic city.

>Sociologist Daniel Rossides, uses five class models to describe the class system in the US; The upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, working class, and the lower class.

Max Weber’s view

Class and False Consciousness

Class, Status, and Power

  • Insisted that no single characteristic (such as class) totally defines a person‘s position within the stratification system.
  • He identified three distinct components of stratification; class, status, and power.
  • Class Consciousness- Workers realizes that all workers are being exploited by the bourgeoisie and have a common stake in revolution.
  • False Consciousness- Workers might start seeing things

as an individualistic viewpoint towards capitalist exploitation ”I am being exploited by my boss”

Class- is used to refer to a group of people who have similar level of wealth and income. Ex. Certain workers in the U. S. try to support their families through minimum-wage jobs. They share the same economic position and fate.

Status group- is to refer to people who have the same prestige or lifestyle. Ex. a desirable group, such as the medical profession.

Power- The ability to exercise ones will over others. In the US, power stems from membership and particularly influential groups, such as corporate board of directors, government bodies, and interest groups. Ex. many of the heads of major corporations also hold powerful positions in the government or military.

  • Upper Classes- About 1 to 2% of the people in the United States is upper class. This group is limited to the very wealthy, exclusive clubs and social circles.
  • Lower Class- Approximately 20 to 25% of the population, disproportionately consist of black, hispanics, single mothers and dependent children, and people who cannot find regular work must make do with low paying work.
  • Middle Class- About 10 to 15% of the population, includes professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and architects.
  • Lower Middle Class- About 30 to 35% of the population, includes less affluent professionals such as elementary school teachers and nurses, owners of small businesses, and many clerical workers.
  • Working Class- About 40 to 45% of the population, as people who hold regular manual or blue-collar jobs.
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