June 30 th Sign in, deposit participation cards White Privilege Exercise Lecture 6: Social Stratification Homework:  Read Threads: Chapter 10  Homework #3 due next Wednesday

Understanding the Construction of Difference: Power & Privilege Gender, race and sexuality are one of the primary ways that power and privilege are exercised in American society  Privilege emerges from the social positions we occupy and not from innate qualities of individuals Privilege: one’s social position in society is seen as “normal” and objective  Who is an “American”?

McIntosh: Invisible Privileges “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage.” Types of Privileges according to McIntosh:  positive advantage: one that all individuals in society should have  negative advantage: one that can only be gained at the expense of others

Individual exercise: Take about minutes and write a list of at least 5 privileges that you think you carry around in an invisible knapsack. These privileges can be based on the following structures of privilege:  White privilege  Male privilege  Physical Ability Privilege  Heterosexual Privilege  Religious Privilege  Other? For each privilege explain if this privilege is a positive advantage (one that all individuals in society should have) or a negative advantage (one that can only be gained at the expense of others)? Explain.

Understanding Privilege Structures of privilege are often invisible to us  “I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group” Individuals with privilege are not responsible for the circumstances that brought them privilege, but they are responsible for how they respond to it

Intersectionality We need to understand the experience of individuals at the intersection of:  Gender: social differences to people of different sexes  Sexuality: sexual identity and sexual orientation  Race: classification of individuals based on their physical characteristics  Class: social and economic standing in society

Lecture Six Social Stratification: What determines our life chances?

Stratification Social Stratification: hierarchical classification of society’s members based on:  Resources  Power  Authority  Prestige Important to understand stratification because:  Determines access to resources and rewards in society  Life experiences and opportunities

Social Status Our social status or status positions in society are largely determined by the system of stratification in a society Achieved status positions – earned through our efforts Ascribed status positions – we are born into Master status positions – priority over all other positions, usually determine ones position in the system of stratification

Caste: Closed-System Social status is bestowed for life  Rigid social positions with the limited social mobility Caste systems based on Race  Apartheid South Africa ( ) Political and economic system

Johannesburg

Soweto Township

Class: Open-System Class System: positions are based on economics and achievement Social mobility: movement from one class to another  Upward and Downward Social Class intersects with other social categories  Gender, race/ethnicity, immigrant status, geography

US: Mixed-class System Even though we believe that we are pure class system, we are a mixed class system  both ascribed and achieved characteristics determine class position Opportunity structure: what opportunities are available to different individuals and groups depending on their position in the overall social structure of society

Opportunity Structure Wealth High Income Good Neighborhood Good Schools Good Jobs Access to Health Care ↑ ↓ → →

Barriers to Mobility? Social Exclusion: cut off from mechanisms that allow social mobility in a society  Neighborhood/Residential  Education  Occupation  Culture Master Status Positions often determine ones access to resources for social mobility in American society

The Color of Opportunity Does race matter when ex-felons are looking for jobs?  Black men whose job applications stated that they had spent time in prison were only about one-third as likely as white men with similar applications to get a positive response. White men who are ex-felons are more likely to be hired that black men without a criminal record

Polarization of Income and Wealth Income: economic gain from wages (or rent)  Top 20% = 50% of total income  Bottom 20% = 4% of total income Wealth: value of all economic assets – property, income, income generating property  0.5% own 35% of nations wealth  90% at bottom own 28% of national wealth

The Color of Poverty Higher rates of poverty among non-whites  White- 8%  Black – 25%  Hispanic – 22%  American Indian – 25% Average white family has a net worth 7 times that of the average Black family  This gap has grown since the 1960’s The wealth gap accounts for many of the racial inequities  Racial disparities almost disappear when economic resources are equal