Soc 211, 6th class
20
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION & CLASS CONFLICT &POPULAR CULTURE SOC 211
-
Upload
popculture -
Category
Education
-
view
400 -
download
0
Transcript of Soc 211, 6th class
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION & CLASS CONFLICT
&POPULAR CULTURESOC 211
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
O Refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy.
O Is based on 4 major principles: 1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not
simply a reflection of individual differences.2. Social stratification persists over
generations.3. Social stratification is universal but variable.
(It happens everywhere but it takes different forms across different societies.)
4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.
Why does social stratification exist?
O To analyze this question, there are 3 major perspectives.
Structural Functionalism
O Structural functionalists argue that social inequality plays a vital role in the smooth operation of a society. ( more talented people get more reward)
O They claim that the most difficult jobs in any society are the most necessary and require the highest rewards and compensation to sufficiently motivate individuals to fill them.
O Some structural functionalist sociologists claim that any society can be equal, but only to the extent that people are willing to let anyone perform any job.
O This would also require that even those who do their jobs poorly are rewarded equally.
O In that case:What would be the incentive for people to do their best if everyone was rewarded equally?
SOCIAL CONFLICT THEORY
O Social conflict theorists disagree that social stratification is functional for a society. Instead, they argue that social stratification benefits some people at the expense of others.
O Two famous sociology theorists Karl Marx and Max Weber are the primary contributors to this perspective.
SOCIAL CONFLICT THEORISTS
KARL MARXGerman philosopherSociologistEconomistRevolutionary Socialist
O Karl Marx based his theory on the idea that society has 2 classes of people:
the buorgeoisie and the proleteriatO The buorgeoisie are the owners of the means
of production, such as factories and other businesses and the proleteriat are the workers.
O Marx believed that oppression and misery would eventually drive the working class to come together and overthrow capitalism. The result would be a socialist utopia, where such extreme class differences would disappear.
O Despite Marx’s prediction, capitalism is still thriving.
SOCIAL CONFLICT THEORISTS
MAX WEBERGerman sociologistEconomical Politician
O Max Weber agreed with Karl Marx that social stratification causes social conflict.
O Unlike Marx, he portrays social stratification as a multidimensional ranking rather than a hierarchy of two clearly defined classes.
O Social class for Weber, included power and prestige in addition to property or wealth.
Today, sociologists use the term ‘socioeconomic status’ to refer to this ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality.
INTERACTIONISMO Interactionists suggests that we tend to
interact with people who are very much like ourselves.
O Interactionists would also be interested in the reasons why we spend money the way we do. What we wear, the gadgets we use and what we drive say something about our financial status and socio-economic class.
O Conspicuous consumption is a term that sociologists use to describe that we buy and use products because of the statement they make about our social position.
IN GENERALO Structural functionalists argue
that social stratification is beneficial for society, while a conflict theorist would argue that, rather than benefiting society as a whole, stratification provides some people with advantages over others. Finally, a symbolic interactionist would analyze how social stratification helps us see patterns of social inequality in our everyday lives.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O The relationship between culture and social class had been studied by sociologists , starting by the years 1960s.
O French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu is one of the most famous sociologists that worked on social class and culture relationship.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O Pierre Bourdieu shows at great length and detail how the knowledge and use of cultural artifacts and the body, and the taste which people develop for culture, constitute multiply sublimated transformations of a single relation of dominant to dominated class, moderating the struggles between classes and class fractions in modern capitalist society, and so, teaching people to tailor their expectations and their own view of themselves to their place in a hierarchy of political power and their share in the social product.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O ‘Cultural Capital’ concept – by Bourdieu –Demonstrates how and individual is defined by his or her embodied, objectified and institutionalized assets in addition to their economic wealth and social class.O These assets, as they are shared and
valued by our peer groups and the world at large, influence the success of our interactions with others, and also what we are able to achieve.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O Popular Culture X High CultureO High culture is the culture of an
upper class such as an aristocracy or an intelligentsia who have high level of education.
O It can also be defined as a repository of a broad cultural knowledge, a way of transcending the class system.
O It is contrasted with popular culture.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O In America and other heterogeneous societies, the struggles between diverse populations and interest groups over the allocation of resources and power are not limited to strictly economic and political issues but extend to cultural ones.
O These struggles have now become known as ‘culture wars’, a term that describes a variety of conflicts between liberals and conservatives.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O The advocates of high culture attack popular culture as a mass culture that has harmful effects on both individuals consuming it and on society as a whole.
O People from different socio-economic groups, have different tastes of life.
O Most of the sociological studies of culture and class undertaken during the past 20 years, indicate how much cultural choices are still affected by class.
POPULAR CULTURE & SOCIAL CLASS
O While class stratification explain a part of why people choose the culture they do, we can not underestimate other factors which are influential as class.
O Age, gender, race and unlimited options through media and internet, also effect cultural choices.
O Different choices from high culture and popular culture is possible for same person.
