Social Inequality Soc 101 Fall 2024 PDF

Social Inequality Fall 2024 Soc 101 This week plan  8:30-9:50 – Start Soc Inequality  10-11’ish – Guests and snacks…..  This week & next:  Inequality -> Stratification  How much inequality is acceptable?  Stratification systems  What are the ‘raw’ materials of stratificatio...

Social Inequality Fall 2024 Soc 101 This week plan  8:30-9:50 – Start Soc Inequality  10-11’ish – Guests and snacks…..  This week & next:  Inequality -> Stratification  How much inequality is acceptable?  Stratification systems  What are the ‘raw’ materials of stratification systems?  What are (some of) the forms and sources of inequality?  What are the prevailing approaches and concepts? What are the central assumptions? 1. Social Inequality vs Stratification  Social Inequality  The unequal distribution of valued resources, rewards, and social positions  Equality of Opportunity  Equality of Condition  Stratification  The description of patterned horizontal and vertical unequally between groups How much social inequality is acceptable?  Opportunity  Each person has an equal chance at success  Meritocracy  E.g., access to education  Condition  Each person has similar levels of wealth, status and power.  Is this possible or desirable? 1. Social Inequality vs Stratification  Social Inequality  The unequal distribution of valued resources, rewards, and social positions  Equality of Opportunity  Equality of Condition  Stratification  The description of patterned vertical and horizontal unequally between groups Example: Vertical vs Horizontal Stratification Vertical/ Between Horizontal/ Within Your group is in charge of allocating salaries to the following 5 individuals. You only have $100 in total to give out. Occupation salary Mary - Nurse Devon – President of a large company Christine – Early childcare worker Nai - Pharmacist Dave – professional baseball player 1)Allocate the $100 2) Reflect on the reasons behind your decisions. 2. What is a stratification ‘system’? Stratification systems are generated by two types of matching systems: The social roles in society are first matched to ‘reward packages’ of unequal value, and the processes by which individual members of society are then allocated to those positions How does this happen? a) Institutional processes that define certain kinds of goods as valuable b) There are rules of allocation that distribute these goods across various jobs/occupations or other institutions c) They have mobility mechanisms that link individuals to resources/rewards – thereby granting unequal control over valuable resources to those people a)Institutional processes that define certain kinds of goods as valuable b) There are rules of allocation that distribute these goods across various jobs/occupations or other institution  Closed vs Open Systems  Crystallization  Closed vs Open Systems  Caste – more closed Social hierarchy passed down through families Informs schooling, occupational choices and marriage partners Childhood home – Steve Jobs  Slavery – closed An extreme form of social inequality  Class Systems - more open Crystallization Crystallization - the degree to which one asset/form of inequality predicts others  e.g., low income predicting health, education, political power, status etc. Application – Closed systems  Slavery  Slavery Systems Origin - ‘Slavs’ Slavs populated Eastern Europe; taken as slaves Trans-Atlantic Predates written texts; 12.5 million Africans but evidence that it was were shipped to North widely practiced (e.g., America, Caribbean Egyptians, Romans, and South America Africa) 1500-1800s 9th century 19th century Today ¾ of all alive were “trapped in bondage against their will either 40 million in some form of slavery enslaved or serfdom” people What is a serf?: you don't own the land you live on. It's rented from a baron or a duke. You and your neighbors share a plow between you, and you combine your oxen into teams to till the soil together. There's not much social mobility: your parents and grandparents before you worked this same land. You don't even have the legal right to leave the property, without the permission of your landlord. Modern Day Slavery https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/2018/data/maps/#prevalence  Application – Open Systems  Class system Class Systems Key Questions:  To what extent do ascriptive factors at birth determine subsequent levels of achievement?  To what extent does someone’s initial position influence their position at later points in time?  Ideal Type:  Open-system  Weaker ‘crystallization’  Meritocracy - Based on achievement rather than ascriptive (e.g., your family background) characteristics What is Social Class? –Occupation –Education –Income –Place of residence  AND: it is socially meaningful LO-2.  How Does Canada Fare?  Evidence of ‘Open system’  Intergenerational upward (and downward) mobility  Positions based (somewhat) more on achievement rather than ascriptive (e.g., your family background) characteristics  Weaker ‘crystallization’  Role of social ‘safety net’ (e.g., low income does not prevent children from going to school)  Less ‘stickiness’  More ‘social fluidity’  Movement up and down in Canada N E A R LY ¾ O F 2 5 - 6 4 Y E A R - O L D S ARE IN A DIFFERENT SOCIAL C L A SS T H A N T H E I R PA R E N T S Example: Over the 10-year period, almost all Canadians who started in the bottom 20% moved to a higher income group. But when some people move ‘up’ = others move down….more on this later Comparison - United States Class Systems: Crystallization  Crystallization  Crystallization but also some variation  E.g., Professor – one kind of asset (e.g., credentials) predicts other types of assets (e.g., status, income) but may not predict or guarantee others (e.g., political power, social capital)  May depend on where you live, skills etc.  c) Link individuals to resources/rewards – thereby granting unequal control over valuable resources to those people  Max Weber hypothesized social closure as a way to conceptualize how power is derived from processes of exclusion  Parkin – Further Developed Weber’s concept of social closure:  Methods used by more powerful groups to maintain their unequal access to status and resources, and to exclude others from such access  Examples – Occupational Closure  Occupational Closure  A form of social closure  Involves collective action  Restrict Access  Create artificial monopolies  Channel Demand  All potentially serve to raise wages regardless of skill, talent or whether someone works hard  Today: Credentials  Strong effect on rewards, $  Restricts supply two ways:  Human Capital Theory  Formalizes the acquisition of skills OR  Credentialism  Arbitrary cultural competency/’club membership’ - loosely tied to know production  Enforced mainly through rules, norms, hiring practices  HUMAN CAPITAL THEORY How economists think about education Wealth, Prosperity, Productivit y Higher wages etc. Job Skills Education Education as an “investment” Presumed casual connections Gary Becker, Nobel Laureate  CREDENTIALISM  Role of Credentials  Supply - side competition and credential inflation  Bureaucratic screening devices  A Tool for Professionalization  Education as a status marker Example today: Micro-credentials  Type of ‘ability badge’  From cake decorating all the way to advanced computer skills…..  All Raises Questions….  About the “pay”, “skill/talent” relationship  Theories of Class Systems  Structural Functionalism  Conflict  Symbolic Interaction