1. Stratification Chapter 14 Lecture PowerPoint
© W. W. Norton & Company, 2008

2. Social Stratification
Systematic inequality between groups of people
Unequal distribution of wealth, income, prestige, power, knowledge, and other resources
“Structured:” built into social systems
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3. On what dimensions does stratification exist?
Assets, wealth, money (“class” views)
Prestige, respect (“status” views)
Education, occupation, income (“socioeconomic status” view)
Power and influence (“power” view)
The debate is over which is most important or most basic

4. Views of Inequality: Economics and Class
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (late 1700’s)
Social inequality stems from private property
Private property creates unequal access to resources
Ultimately leads to resentment and conflict.
Viewed human nature as basically good; private property as the problem
Influenced socialist thought.
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5. Views of Inequality: Economics and Class
Adam Ferguson and John Millar (Scottish Enlightment)
private property and competition are good because some people are getting ahead and creating assets (stored wealth)
provides an incentive to work hard and be productive
ultimately leads to improved organization and efficiency
Thomas Malthus:
Inequality keeps population in check – too much growth = poverty and starvation, thinning out population
Generally harsh view of the poor
Did not consider innovation, improved food production
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6. Views of Inequality: Economics and Class
Hegel’s Master-Slave Dialectic
social relationships follow “master-slave” model
master is as dependent on the slave as slave is on master
Can’t live without slave’s labor and services
Basic social relationship is domination and exploitation
Ideas about equality would evolve over time
master-slave model would die out
Did it happen?
More equal opportunity today, upward mobility is possible
Employees still dependent on corporations, still exploited
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7. Views of Inequality: Economics and Class
Karl Marx: class defined by relationship to means of production
Saw two major classes - proletariat, or working class, and bourgeoisie or employing class.
Under capitalist system, employer makes profit by extracting “surplus value” from employee - i.e. getting more work than employee is for.
Argued that this oppressive system caused much misery and would eventually self-destruct
Erik Olin Wright developed the concept of contradictory class locations, which is the idea that people can occupy locations in the class structure that fall between the two “pure” classes defined by Marx. 7
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8. Views of Inequality: Economics and Class
Erik Wright: Marxist class categories for 20th century
Four main relationships to means of production
“contradictory” locations (manager, small employer) may fall between capitalists and workers
Owns business
Does not own business
Controls others’ labor
Capitalist
(Bourgeoisie)
Manager (not part of Marx’s classification)
Does not control labor
Small employer
(Petit bourgeoisie)
Worker
(Proletariat)

9. Views of Inequality – status
Davis and Moore: structural functional theory
Occupations are basis for rewards such as prestige and income
Prestige is primary – other rewards flow from it.
What determines prestige of an occupation?
Basically supply and demand explanation
Importance to society’s survival
Amount of human capital required (training, talent)
Desirability
Simplistic, has been criticized for many reasons

10. Views of Inequality – socioeconomic status
Stratification as combination of education, occupational prestige, and income
Argues that all three are important
Research has focused on how these things are achieved (“status attainment” models)
Family background, parents’ status
Aspirations and goals
Influence of significant others
Educational processes

11. Figure 14.6 | How the Status-Attainment Model Works

12. How Is America Stratified Today?
Socioeconomic status may be used to define social classes:
upper upper class – old wealth, long established social networks, family ties (Rockefellers)
lower upper – new wealth, “self-made” (Bill Gates)
upper middle – professional, educated, comfortable lifestyle
lower middle – technical, white collar, less secure, lower income
working – manual labor, crafts, services, usually self-supporting
lower – may not earn living wage or work continuously, may need assistance to support families, may include the poor
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13. Income inequality in the U.S.
Rich get richer, poor get poorer, shrinking middle class

14. Figure 14.3 | Average CEO Pay versus Production Worker Pay, 1970-2000

15. Views of stratification: Power
Weber – money may bring power but does not guarantee that power will be exercised.
Positions in organizations may have more power and influence.
Looked at stratification in terms of ability to influence organizations and political processes.
Power is correlated with prestige and wealth.

16. Figure 14.1 | Executive Networks
Corporate affiliations of J. P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s Board of Directors, More than 80 percent of America’s 1,000 largest corporations share at least one director with another large company.

17. Standards of Equality – what should be the goal?
Ontological equality - everyone is created equal. Goal is equal respect and status within the culture.
Equality of Condition – “level playing field,” same starting point for everyone. Goals may include increasing diversity & using affirmative action.
Equality of Opportunity - inequality of condition is acceptable as long as everyone has the same opportunities for advancement and is judged by the same standards
Fits most closely with modern capitalist society
arguments made by 1960’s civil rights activists
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18. Forms of Stratification
Estate System is a politically based system of stratification characterized by limited social mobility that is best exemplified in the social organization of feudal Europe and the pre–Civil War American South.
Caste System is a system of stratification based on hereditary notions of religious and theological purity and generally offers no prospects for social mobility. The varna system in India is the most common example today of a caste system.
Class System is an economically based system of stratification characterized by somewhat loose social mobility and categories based on roles in the production process rather than individual characteristics.
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19. Social Reproduction versus Social Mobility
Social mobility = movement between different positions within a system of social stratification
Structural mobility = inevitable from changes in the economy, such as the expansion of high-tech jobs and loss of other jobs. Cause of upward mobility in last 50 years.
Exchange mobility = people “trading” positions; distribution of jobs stays the same, with some people moving up and others moving down.
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Copyright © 2008 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

20. Table 14.2 | Mobility Table: Father’s Occupation by Son’s First Occupation

21. Global Stratification
Countries stratified into 3 levels:
Core (wealthy, highly developed, slow pop. growth, high standard of living) – U.S., Europe
Periphery (poor, less developed, rapid pop. growth, lower standard of living) -Africa
Semi-periphery (beginning to develop; may become core) India, China

22. Global Stratification
Dominated by multinational or transnational corporations
Based in core countries
Divide operations among several countries
Use labor of periphery countries
Profits go to corporate elite, some to core countries
Outside control of any one government
Extremely powerful

23. Implications for core countries
Access to corporate markets, energy, capital, infrastructure
High political power
High standard of living
Jobs lost to periphery countries
High cost of national security = funds diverted from social programs

24. Implications for periphery countries
Dependent on core countries
Aid from core countries has declined
High unemployment, poverty
Migration to urban areas, disruption of villages
More jobs for women, BUT their daughters abandon school for household labor
Central Asia, Africa: “world of refugees”
Mostly women and children
Most countries unprepared to handle refugees