STRATIFICATION AND CLASS

WHAT IS SOCIAL STRATIFICATION?

Video from 1957, Introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUgDbCZLPpY

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

A division of society where some people get more rewards than others

Examples: wealth, power, prestige, etc. all distributed unequally

POWER & PRESTIGE

Power = control behavior of others, even against their will; associated with wealth

Prestige = what people think of you; in the eye of the beholder Subjective & mostly depends on your

occupation Different levels of prestige are called

status system

STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS

Stratification exists everywhere & differs in societies

Examples: egalitarian, master-slave, feudal system, caste system, & class system

Caste system = rigid stratification system where people’s roles are ascribed & fixed

Class system = less rigid system where positions are achieved & can change

SOCIAL CLASSES

People with same amount of income, power, & prestige

There are 3 different methods to identifying a person’s class

1. reputational method: picking a group of people & asking them to rank others (small population)

2. subjective method: same thing, but helps to find out class structure of a large population

3. objective method: identifies class using income, occupation, & education to rank people

U.S CLASS SYSTEM

~16% upper class (good life chances)

~30-40% middle class

~30% working class

~20% poor/lower class

1. UPPER CLASS= makes up 16% of nation’s wealth; upper-upper (old $ - 1%) & lower-upper (new $ - 15%)

2. MIDDLE CLASS= white-collar, non-manual labor; upper-middle (professional/ business ppl) and lower-middle (small business, sales, teachers, etc.)

3.WORKING CLASS = blue-collar, less education, manual jobs

4. WORKING POOR= lower class, joblessness & poverty

Videos

Let’s look at the poor conditions of different parts of the world and what they have to endure.

Coal Boy: http://www.whypoverty.net/video/coal-boy/

Afghan Girl: http://www.whypoverty.net/video/afghan-girl/

Miseducation: http://www.whypoverty.net/video/miseducation/

Waste: http://www.whypoverty.net/video/waste/

Wilbur Goes Poor: http://www.whypoverty.net/video/wilbur-goes-poor-episode-1/

POOR POPULATION

Absolute poverty = lack of minimum food & necessities

Poverty affects more women than men

For more than 60 years, the % of population living in poverty is usually twice as high as reported B/c ppl live in relative poverty =

having less than what the majority has

GLOBAL INEQUALITY

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWSxzjyMNpU

BUT WE’RE MOBILE!

Social mobility

Vertical mobility: moving up or down the status ladder (teacher to principal)

Horizontal mobility: movement from one job to another within same status (teacher moving schools)

Intragenerational/Career mobility: move from low position to high one (manager becomes VP)

Intergenerational mobility: change in social standing from one generation to another (worker’s daughter becomes VP)

STILL MOBILE!

Sometime large changes lead to moving up/down the ladder at the same time: structural mobility

BUT some people move & some don’t…depends on individual mobility (personal achievement & characteristics) Amount of education is related to family

background!

WHY SOME COUNTRIES ARE RICH AND OTHERS ARE POOR

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-4V3HR696k&index=1&list=PLEqf8pU7tcmYmM5mVt8GJXnFinIG45d0q