Chapter 7 Social Stratification: United States and Global Perspectives.
Social Stratification in Global Perspective Chapter 7.
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Transcript of Social Stratification in Global Perspective Chapter 7.
Social Stratification in Global Perspective
Chapter 7
Chapter OverviewI. IntroductionII. The meaning of Social Class in
Industrialized NationsIII. Why Stratification?IV. How to Maintain National StratificationV. A Model of Global StratificationVI. Theories on the Origins of
StratificationVII. Maintaining International
StratificationVIII.Review
I. Introduction
A.“Quiz”
1. Racism causes slavery.False
2. American culture includes a caste system (a system in which status is
determined by birth) and is life-long.
True, but it’s debatable
3. People are sorted into categories by sex and men
are always favored.
Yup.
4. Prestige is not always based on money.
True
5. Universally, schools teach that their nation’s form of government is
the best.True
6. In democratic societies, the ruling elite manipulate
the media through the selective release of
information, which they justify as “in the interest of
national security.”True
7. It was only by luck that 18 English prime ministers
came from Eton, an exclusive British school.
False
8. The Communist Party is not stratified.
False
9. In Brazil they solve the problem of impoverished
children by murdering them.True
10. In some countries, farmers do not use technology
to increase their yield because a poor yield might be
God’s will.True
B. Background1. What’s in your Wallet?2. The Muleta and the Skeen
Families3. Some charts and graphs
Disparity of Global Wealth
Distribution of World Income by World Bank Strata (1996)
• Slavery• Caste• Class
•Global Stratification and the Status of Females
Ideal-Type Formulation of Stratification Systems
A.Marx:The means of
production
B.Weber:Property,
prestige, and power
II. The Meaning of Social Class in Industrialized Nations
III. Why Stratification?A. Davis and Moore (functionalist
theory)1. Society must make certain that its
positions are filled.2. Some positions are more important
than others.3. The more important positions must
be filled by the more qualified people.
4. To motivate the more qualified people to fill these positions, society must offer them greater rewards.
Y.J.U.: Davis and Moore are right on.
B. Mosca’ Argument (conflict theory)
1. No society can exist unless it is organized (this requires leadership).
2. Leadership (political organization) means inequality of power.
3. People are selfish. People in power will try to acquire more resources.
► Dramatic Demonstration
Y.J.U.: Mosca is right on.
C. Lenski’s Synthesis1. Functionalists are right in hunting
and gathering societies.2. Conflict Theorists are right regarding
societies with excesses of goods.What do you think of Lenski’s
Synthesis?
IV. How to Maintain National Stratification
A. Use of Social NetworksB. Use of ForceC. Control of Ideas &
Information
IV. How to Maintain National Stratification
A. Use of Social Networks► This begs the question, Why do
women want to join men’s clubs?
B. Use of ForceC. Control of Ideas &
Information
IV. How to Maintain National Stratification
A. Use of Social NetworksB. Use of Force
► Another “Quiz”
C. Control of Ideas & Information
1. Eight of the world’s ten richest people are
U.S. citizens.
False.
In 1996, only three of the world’s richest people (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Paul G. Allen) were U.S. citizens. Five of the world’s ten richest were Asians residing in China, Japan, or Taiwan.
2. Although the percentage of the world’s people living in absolute
poverty has declined over the past decade, the total number of people
living in poverty has increased.
True.
The percentage has declined since the mid-1980s, particularly in Asia.
However, other regions have not reduced the
incidence of poverty to the same degree, and the total number of people living in poverty had risen to about
1.4 billion in the mid-1990s.
3. The richest fifth of the world’s population receives
about 50% of the total world income.
False.
According to the United Nations Development
Programme (1996), the richest fifth receive more than 80 percent of total world income. This ratio
doubled between the 1950s and 1990s.
4. The political role of governments in policing
the activities of transnational corporations
has expanded as companies’ operations
have become more globalized.
False.
Governmental restrictions have become less effective
in controlling these companies’ activities. It is easy for transnationals to
avoid governmental restrictions based on old
assumptions about national economies and
foreign policy.
5. Most analysts agree that the World Bank was created
to serve the poor of the world and their borrowing
governments.
False.
Some analysis see transnational corporations borrowing and
lending most heavily from the World Bank. Although the
bank is supposedly owned by its members’ governments and
lends money only to governments, many of its
projects involve vast financial dealings with transnational
corporate interests.
6. In low-income countries, the problem of poverty is unequally
shared between men and women.
True.
In almost all countries, poverty is a more chronic problem for women due to
sexual discrimination, resulting in a lack of
educational and employment opportunities.
7. Income and standard of living have increased significantly for most Russians as the transition
from centrally planned economies to a market
orientation has taken place in recent years.
False. Not everyone has shared equally in the transition to the
market economy.
8. Poverty levels have declined somewhat in East Asia, the Middle East, and
North Africa in recent years.
True.
These have been the primary regions in which poverty has
decreased somewhat and infant mortality rates have fallen. Factors such as economic
growth, oil production, foreign investment, and overall development have been
credited with the decrease in poverty in these countries.
9. The majority of people with incomes below the poverty line live in rural areas of the world.True. However, the number of poor
people residing in urban areas is growing rapidly. In fact, most
people living in poverty in Latin America are urban dwellers.
10. Poor people in low-income countries meet most of their
energy needs by burning wood, dung, and agricultural wastes, which increase health hazards
and environmental degradation.
True.
Many low-income people cannot afford appliances,
connection charges, and so forth. In some areas,
electric hookups are not available.
IV. How to Maintain National Stratification
A. Use of Social NetworksB. Use of ForceC. Control of Ideas & Information
Propaganda: The Art of Persuasion
V. A Model of Global Stratification
1. Most Industrialized Nations2. Industrializing Nations3. Least Industrialized Nations
An Alternative Model of Global Stratification
Y.J.U.: Being a woman is a liability.
VI. Theories on the Origins of Stratification
A.Colonialism1.What is a colony?2.Do we still have colonies?
B. World Systems Theory:How a country is
incorporated into the global capitalist economy (i.e., core, semiperipheral, or peripheral nation) is the key feature in determining how economic development takes place in that nation.
1. Core Nations = those that industrialized first and became rich.
2. Semiperipheral Nations = those in the Mediterranean area that stagnated because they grew dependent on trade with the core nations.
3. Peripheral Nations = those that sold cash crops to the core nations and developed even less.
4. External Areas are left out of the development of capitalism altogether (most of Africa and Asia).
C. Dependency Theory1. Global poverty can at least
partially be attributed to low-income countries being exploited by high-income economies; the poor nations are trapped in a cycle of dependency on richer nations.
2. Demonstration
D. Culture of Poverty1. Use of traditional ways because
they are tried and true.2. Religion reinforces traditionalism
through fatalism (the acceptance of one’s lot in life as “God’s will”).
VII. Maintaining International Stratification
A. NeocolonialismB. Dominance of least industrialized
nations by most industrialized nations
C. MultinationalsD. New technology
VIII.Additional Key Terms
Key TermAnother TermYet Another TermYou Guessed It
VIII. Review
1.What is social stratification and why is it sociologically important?
2.What is slavery?3.What is a caste system?
4.What is a class system?5.What does gender have
to do with social stratification?
6.What did Karl Marx believe determined social class?
7.What did Weber believe about social class?
8.What did Davis and Moore believe about social class?
9.What was Mosca’s theory about social class?
10.What was Lenski’s synthesis?
11.How do the elite maintain stratification?
12.What are the three worlds of development?
13.What are some of the problems presented by this classification system?
14.How did the world’s nations become stratified? Discuss several theories.
15.How is global stratification been maintained?