Stratification and Economic Inequality

Stratification and Economic Inequality

• Inequalities of class concentrate on social stratification, which involves a hierarchy of socially-relevant factors that separates people into rankings.
• The importance of social stratification variables is dependent on the society.
• Societies typically prioritize wealth, or how much money one possesses, and income, or how much money one earns.
• There are two types of stratification system: closed and open.
• A closed system does not allow changes in social position and is based on ascribed status.
• Caste systems are examples of closed systems.
• An open system does allow change in social position and is based on achieved status.
• Class systems are examples of open systems.
• Social stratification is defined in the US generally by wealth and income.
• The upper class distinguishes between old money, inherited wealth, and new money, wealth made themselves.
• The lower class has three sub-catagories based on job characteristics.
• The working class has steady jobs.
• The working poor have jobs that are so low-paying that the income is not enough on its own to survive.
• The underclass are unemployed or underemployed.
• Class traits, social markers, are often signals of one's social class.
• Class traits do not have to match actual class status.
• The historical system of global stratification included the "First World" (United States, Western Europe), "Second World" (USSR, Eastern Europe), and "Third World" (undeveloped countries).
• The historical system of global stratification is outdated and problematic because it does not compare countries based on stratification levels.
• The term "Second World" is no longer applicable after the 1991 collapse of the USSR, and it ranks countries based on political ideologies.
• One measure of calculating stratification within countries is the Human Development Index (HDI).
• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a multidimensional measure of global inequality.
• HDI takes into account life expectancy at birth. expected years of schooling and mean years of schooling, gross national income per person, and the purchasing power of each person’s income.
• Wallerstein’s World Systems Approach considers the global economy as a power hierarchy with three levels.
• Core nations are dominant capitalist countries that can exert control over the global economy and all other countries and exploit the lower two levels.
• Semi-peripheral nations are unable to exert major control over global economy or push policies, but they still provide materials to core nations and exploit peripheral nations.
• Peripheral nations are subordinate countries exploited by other nations for economic gain.

Visual Sociology

• Visual Sociology utilises photographs in two ways.
• To expose social problems, Jacob Riis photographed NYC slums to draw public attention to poverty, and Lewis Hine photographed children working in mills to draw public attention to child labor in the Industrial Era.
• To exert social control, Roger Fenton took highly staged photos of the Crimean War to make war seem like a "gentleman's sport”.
• Visual sociology also uses photographs to discuss social concepts and social constructions.

Race and Ethnicity

• Race, ethnicity, and minority groups are distinct sociological concepts.
• Race is a socially constructed grouping of people based on similar physical or social qualities, such as White, Black, and Native American in the US.
• Ethnicity refers to social groupings of people based on shared culture like language, religion, and traditions, for example Hispanic, Latino/Latina, and Asian American in the US.
• A minority group refers to a group singled out and discriminated against based on their physical or cultural traits.
• Minority groups lack power over their lives compared to the dominant group, who discriminates against them.
• Not necessarily a mathematical minority in the society
• Minority groups typically carry five characteristics: unequal treatment, distinguishing physical/cultural traits, involuntary membership, awareness of subordination, and a high rate of in-group marriage.
• Scapegoat theory involves dominant groups projecting unfocused aggression onto marginalized groups, which leads to further discrimination.
• Prejudice and discrimination are also distinct concepts.
• Both prejudice and discrimination are based on stereotypes, which are broad and oversimplified generalizations that don't consider individual uniqueness.
• Prejudice is biased pre-judgement, informed by beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, and feelings about a group.
• Discrimination involves biased and unfair actions or behaviors against a group based on prejudice.
• Prejudice and discrimination can vary in their presentation in combination (see matrix).
• Racism is prejudice and discrimination used to justify inequality and maximize privilege by discriminating against racially marginalized groups.
• Individual racism involves interpersonal prejudice or discrimination.
• Structural racism refers to systemic processes that disadvantage racially marginalized groups.
• Racial profiling is singling out racially marginalized groups for differential treatment.
• Historical racism is economic and social inequalities caused by past racism.
• Colorblind racism avoids discussing racial inequality or believes that racism is no longer an issue.
• Racial discrimination in real estate was once very common.
• Redlining is when banks or mortgage companies refuse to provide loans to people buying houses in specific minority-dominated neighborhoods.
• Blockbusting: Realtors generating profit by exploiting White homeowners' prejudice to buy up homes for cheap, then exploiting Black homebuyers by selling these same homes at discriminatory inflated prices
• Racial/ethnic intergroup relations take different forms.
• Pluralism occurs when each group or culture retains its own identity, and their differences are embraced to form an accepting multicultural environment.
• Amalgamation occurs when each group's culture or identity is collectively combined to form a "melting pot".
• Racism and racial bias recognition depends on a few key factors.
• Racist behaviours and practices like discrimination or interpersonal racism are easier to recognize given the visibility of said practices vs racist beliefs and attitudes.
• Recognition depends on the type of bias occurring.
• Explicit bias is when someone consciously or knowingly carries stereotypes or attitudes that influence their behaviour.
• Implicit bias is when someone unconsciously or unknowingly carries stereotypes or attitudes that influence their behavior.
• How to be antiracist: Recognize and acknowledge the racist attitudes around us, the biases that those attitudes generate within us, and the privileges we carry.
• Identify racist behaviors and practices around us and replace them with antiracist behaviors or practices.

Gender, Sex, and Sexuality

• Sex and gender are distinct sociological concepts.
• Sex is the classification of humans based on biological or physical differences.
• Primary sex characteristics are reproductive organs.
• Secondary sex characteristics include height, muscle build, and facial hair.
• Gender is the classification of humans based on behaviours and traits.
• Gender is far more fluid than sex and varies significantly based on culture.
• "Gender is a social construct" refers to the idea that societies decide what traits are considered masculine (associated with men) or feminine (associated with women).
• Gender roles: Socially constructed traits that are typically associated with men or women.
• Gender roles vary significantly across cultures; wearing a skirt is considered feminine in the US, but wearing a kilt is considered masculine in Scotland.
• Doing gender is a key argument in gender theory, developed by West and Zimmerman in 1987.
• Gender consists of what we do, instead of who we are.
• Each society, and each individual person, has a unique perspective on what their gender means to them as well as how they express themselves in daily behavior.
• Gender identity refers to deep internal perceptions of one’s gender.
• Cisgender: Gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth.
• Transgender: Gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth.
• Transgender individuals may transition to affirm their gender identity; however, they do not have to engage in all or any transitionary processes in order for their gender identity to be valid.
• Three categories of transitions are social, legal, and physical/medical.
• Social transition involves affirming gender identity by changing gender presentation, name, pronouns, and/or relationships.
• Legal transition involves affirming gender identity by modifying legal/government documents.
• Physical/medical transition involves affirming gender identity by engaging in gender-affirming care to change their physical body.
• Gender roles feed into gender inequality via entrenched stereotypes that marginalize women and affect the social structure.
• Women are marginalized due to a sociological phenomenon called the "second shift," which Arlie Russell Hochschild and Anne Machung developed in 1989.
• Even as women enter the workforce, they are often still expected to care for the household due to traditional gender roles, which increases their level of role conflict, and upon returning home after their "first shift" at work, they enter the "second shift" at home.
• Women are underrepresented in executive positions due to stereotypes and sexist arguments preventing them from performing successfully, which is known as the glass ceiling.
• Sexual Orientation: Specific nature of one’s capacity to experience physical, mental, emotional, and/or sexual attraction towards one or more categories of people.
• Typically defined through several individual categories or labels; however, sexual orientation exists on a spectrum.
• Categories of sexual orientation include heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, and pansexual.
• Heterosexual people are attracted to the opposite sex.
• Homosexual people are attracted to the same sex.
• Bisexual people are attracted to both men and women.
• Asexual people lack sexual attraction or desire.
• Pansexual people are attracted to everyone, regardless of sex/gender.
• You cannot confirm someone’s status as a GSRM member unless you are made aware of that status in some explicit way.
• Assuming that status without explicit knowledge is a form of prejudice.
• The process of disclosing one's GSRM identity can be described by the the following descriptors.
• Closeted/”in the closet”: When a queer-identifying individual has not divulged their status as a GSRM and/or decides not to reveal their status.
• “Coming out (of the closet)”: When a queer-identifying individual chooses to share their status to those around them.
• Outing: When a queer-identifying individual's status is shared/exposed without their explicit consent.
• Out: Queer-identifying individual's status has been shared to those around them.
• Open: When a queer-identifying individual freely shares their status as a GSRM without concern for being closeted.
• Prejudice and discrimination often target queer identified individuals.
• Societies are often heavily prejudiced and discriminatory against queer people.
• Psychology defined homosexuality as a mental illness until 1973 via the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
• Heteronormativity refers to societal use of heterosexuality as a default identity.
• Heteronormativity is dangerous because of the prejudicial assumptions that a society will make as a result of it.
• An example of this includes someone assuming that a married person’s spouse is of the opposite sex in societies with gay marriage.
• Heterosexism refers to societal disadvantage against sexual minorities resulting from heteronormativity and phobias against queer people.