30th October, 2016

EXAM REVIEW

S O C I O L O GY 1 0 1
SECTION 404
EXAM: 2ND NOVEMBER, 2016

INSTRUCTOR: PROF. KENT REDDING

SI: TATHAGATO CHAKRABORTY
Main topics to review

Stratification
Major types
Income inequality
US Class structure
Theories of
Inequality Gender Inequality
Social Mobility - Meaning
Poverty - Indicators
- Gender and workplace
- The Second Shift
- Theoretical explanation Ethnicity and Race
- Social roles - Meaning
- Psychological Explanation
- Ethnic coexistence
- Indicators
- Theoretical explanations
Main topics to review

Stratification
Major types
Income inequality
US Class structure
Theories of
Inequality Gender Inequality
Social Mobility - Meaning
Poverty - Indicators
- Gender and workplace
- The Second Shift
- Theoretical explanation Ethnicity and Race
- Social roles - Meaning
- Psychological Explanation
- Ethnic coexistence
- Indicators
- Theoretical explanations
Stratification

Meaning: categories based on difference.

Social Stratification: Structured inequality between
groups in a society
- grouped depending on certain categories (race,
religion, occupation etc.)
- access to materials depend on social status of the
category one belongs to
- ranks change very slowly (limited mobility)
3 basic forms : slavery, caste and class system
Slavery: people are owned as property and commodity
Caste: based on birth, hereditary system, no mobility
(Knight, King, priests etc.)
Class: large group characterized by similar economic
position .
Characteristics:
Fluid and subject to change over time
Open: mobility is possible
Economic: life chances or opportunity to achieve economic
prosperity (mobility) is high
4 indicators: income, wealth, occupation and education
Stat to remember

USA Median income : $56,000

Top 20% of the income group gets 51% of household
income.
Top 20% of wealth holders have 85% of USA assests
Trend

Rich getting richer compared to income distribution of

1960s.
Real household income by percentile shows a higher gain
for the bottom strata.
USA income is much unequally distributed today then it
was during 1970
Inequality in wealth distribution is also rapidly rising.
Wealth inequality is much deeper than income inequality
for the top 20%
National income: from $57,909 (1999) to $52,665 (2012)
to $56,516 (2016)
Trend

Trend in household income

Top 5%: increased by 70%
Top 20%: increased by 48%
Bottom 20%: unchanged
Top 5% : share of total national income received 17%
(1973) to 22% (2009)
CEO payment: from 1970s to 2014 ratio of payment
increased from 44 times to 390 times.
-
US Class Structure

Upper class: (More than $311,000) 5% of household

Middle class:
Upper middle class: ($120,000 to $300,000) 20% of
household
Lower middle class: ($48,000-$120,000) 40% of household
Working class: ($29,000-$48,000) 20% of household
Lower class: (less than $29,000) 15% of household

US middle class income has risen due to more household

members working, since 1970.
Min wage: $7.25/hour
Theoretical Explanation

RCT: Inequality exists due to differential investments in human

capital made by individuals.
(eg. Investing in higher studies increases the possibility of high paying
job as compared to a high school graduate and a college graduate)
Conflict Theory:
Marx: Income inequality exists due to the inherent ideology of
capitalism which legitimizes exploitation of the poor (labor) by the
rich (capitalist)
Weber: Class of people with differential skill sets offer different
ability of labor.
Functionalism: Unequal reward bestowed on people with skill sets
those are not easily replaceable. (CEO and janitor)
Social Mobility

Movement of people across different class positions

Upward or downward
Major Types:
Intragenerational : Within ones lifetime
Intergenerational:
- Inheritance: no change in occupation Opportunity structure
(OS)is closed
- Structural: change in occupation towards higher end. OS
improving
- Exchange: OS remains same, latent determines mobility
Be prepared to have a table to assess the type of mobility: example
shown in the class
Social Mobility

Men in 30s have lesser income within one

generation
Inequality gives rise to lesser social mobility
Canadas bottom 5th strata has 2.5 times higher
chance of mobility compared to USs bottom 5th.
Chances of mobility is declining for US, especially at
the lower level
Peer countries experience a higher mobility at a the
lower level compared to USA.
Poverty

Types: Absolute and Relative

US standard: relative measure, $24,300 poverty line
in 2016
Trend of % of poor population
Declining since 1960s and 70s (argued as better
Social Security benefits and health care)
Rose during recession
Again declining
Explaining poverty

Societal or Structural explanation: low wage,

problem in system, working poor.
Poverty is often concentrated as ascribed status
(race, ethnic minority, age, gender etc.) where
exchange or structural mobility is extremely limited.
Individual failing: a culture of dependency
Feminized poverty (single mother with children)
Main topics to review

Stratification
Major types
Income inequality
US Class structure
Theories of
Inequality Gender Inequality
Social Mobility - Meaning
Poverty - Indicators
- Gender and workplace
- The Second Shift
- Theoretical explanation Ethnicity and Race
- Social roles - Meaning
- Psychological Explanation
- Ethnic coexistence
- Indicators
- Theoretical explanations
Gender Inequality

Sex: Gender :: Biology: Sociology

Gender: Social category, social construct learnt
through socialization, performative, accomplished
Doing gender: appropriating and practicing gender
roles
Gender is learned: predominantly cultural and few
traits are sex-linked.
Changing gender role in one society for 50 to 100yrs
Differential gender role across space and culture
Indicators of gender inequality

Income: earning of females is increasing. More

workforce participation, lessening wage differential
Occupation: Shift in occupational structure
Education: More attainment at different levels
Housework: lessened hours
Stat to remember

2016: women get 79% of each dollar paid to men.

79 cents for women against a dollar for men.

Decreasing gap in pay differential

Gender and workplace

Comparable wealth: policies to address pay-gap

Glass ceiling: informal structure barring women
from getting a higher position
Glass escalator: male getting higher position in a
female dominated occupation (teaching, nursing)
High end professions (doctor, lawyer) have few
women professionals, historically
The Second Shift

Gender inequality at household-level work

Workload requires recurrence and time consuming
Gendered work type
In-house work vs. out-of-house work contribution
(time wise)
Theoretical explanations

Functionalist: a complementary division of labor between

home and work. This forms the gendered division of labor
between household and non-household
RCT: choice of occupation that negotiate between family and
work tend to have lesser wage and give rise to gender
inequality in payment. It makes women labor less investable.
Feminism: Power relation in the society: Personal is political
Liberal: discrimination by sex: change law
Black: doubly othered: first on gender, second on race and
ethnicity
Radical: Gender power difference: change culture
Social roles and Gender

Social roles are expected gendered behavior

Sticky and slow to change
Mostly learned gendered roles
Children's book: confirms gender roles, gender
stereotypes and gendered behavior
Gender roles: policed into life through structured
socialization
Main topics to review

Stratification
Major types
Income inequality
US Class structure
Theories of
Inequality Gender Inequality
Social Mobility - Meaning
Poverty - Indicators
- Gender and workplace
- The Second Shift
- Theoretical explanation Ethnicity and Race
- Social roles - Meaning
- Psychological Explanation
- Ethnic coexistence
- Indicators
- Theoretical explanations
Ethnicity and Race

Ethnicity: cultural practices, norms and values of a

community
Shared cultural tradition
Material culture: food, dress etc.
Shared history and ancestry
Race: phenotypical, social categorization based on physical
traits
Genetic study showed a 90% DNA variation within race
Racial categorization assigns ranking in a society
Racial categorization is imposed formally and informally
Race, therefore, is a SOCIAL CONSTRUCT
Psychological explanation

Prejudice: thought, opinion, attitudes, assumptions

Discrimination: action, behavior based on prejudice
resulting into exclusion.
Minority: a condition of racial stereotype and
discrimination for a social group
Prejudice and racist beliefs serve to justify discrimination
against minorities
Individual view: personality traits
Contact theory: Group conflict due to unequal, competing
contact between groups dealing with prejudice and
discrimination
Ethnic coexistence

Segregation: legal and physical separation

Assimilation: adoption of traits of majority by
minority
Melting pot: mixing of culture
Pluralism: maintaining cultural traits but engaging
in economic and political life.

Segregation is the most dominant trait post Civil

War till 1950-60s.
Stat to remember

2010 Census
Non-Hispanic White: 64%
African American: 13%
Hispanic: 16%
Asian: 5%
Native American: 1%
Two or more races: 3%
Indicators of Racial Inequality

Median household income: As,Wh,ARAvg,Hi,AfAm

Ratio of Black to White household slowly decreasing
Social Mobility: African American has fewer chance of
social mobility in comparison to Whites at the lowest level
and subsequently at other levels
Wealth: Recession hit blacks majorly as they are low in
wealth and income
Occupation: Lesser % of AfAm employed at high paying
jobs compared to other races
Education: High rate of low educational attainment for
AfAms
Theoretical Explanation

RCT: individual and therefore group investment is

the cause of inequality among groups.
Class-based: W.Wilson: Historical disadvantage of
learning skills. Manufacturing is the example. Jobs
replaced and therefore a class is affected.
Race-based: Holding of racial stereotypes leads to
discriminatory treatment for minority groups
resulting into inequality in access to resources,
education, employment etc.