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Chapter 2-26 3! Gordius knot- gordius was a king who dedicated the knot to zeus. Oracle says anyone who can untie the knot is the next king of Asia. Alexander the great just cuts it in half. Becomes king. The knot is seen as an unsolvable problem. What does this have to do w/ social strat?--> race class and gender is so entangled that it's a problem to solve. Sociologists look at how inequalities in a society are sorted in identifiable layers in a society.(class race gender sex) 3 core dimensions of inequality= race class and gender. Also religion and ethnicity and sexuality. Having access to the right schools, financial resources business and professional contacts, and particular opportunities play a large role in turning hard work to hard cash. Sociological imagination out ability to connect our personal biographies to the broader sweep of history and society and to see the connections between personal troubles and social conditions. C. Wright Mills. 4 main forms of stratification 1. Caste system- "the untouchables" born in that class and stay there. In India. 2. Class system- USA. Based on social class. Class is a group of people who share a similar economic system. Industrialized societies most likely to be in class system 3. State systems(feudal)- seen in England. 4. Slavery system- lives owned controlled and restricted. Seen as property. Birth, military defeat, debt, capture and commercial trade are the ways you can become a slave. RACE CLASS and GENDER Race a category of individuals labeled and treated similar because of common inborn biological traits such as skin color, color or texture of hair, shape of eyes, nose and head. Race is a social marker people use to exclude or include certain people. Same race discrimination- light v. dark skin. Ethnicity culture, history, and language. Non biological traits. Gender not sex. Not biological. Created woman and man. Born male and female. Socialization and gender automatically separate the two at a very young age. Want people to know if our baby is male or female. Gender is more of a continuum. Social class similar economic positions in a society. Our social class determines our diet our way of life, life expectancy, inheritance. Cohn interviews 200 working class, 200 middle class couples with at least one child. The middle class values differed from working class in that they didn't stress their kid to listen and think within the box. Where as working class did stress this because they were used to being ordered around due to their manual labor jobs. Hunting and gathering and how we got to where we are now H&G-Division of labor is man hunts women gather- woman's role is vital to communities survival. Tools are primitive. Egalitarian. No diversity. Same values. No inequalities. Small groups. Predominately bands of kin. No surplus of food because only got what they needed, no storage of food. Principal assets= human hunting and magic skills. Major class or stratification = chiefs, shamans then tribe members. Inequality= low women are important. Surplus= low. Division of labor= low(simple). Doesn't belong to the 4 forms of stratification.H&G bases on reciprocity the sharing of goods. Horticultural- seeing a cultivation of plants and animals. No more moving around. Women are planting, therefore still very important. 60-80% of hunting and gathering is done by women. Horticulture is derived from the latin word garden. Population is larger because its stationary. Tools are better, but still no plows!!!! Principal assets= political (charisma and influence). Major class or stratification- Big mens and big women. Inequality= low. Surplus= low-med. Division of labor= simple. Doesn't belong to the 4 forms of stratification. Population growth, food surplus, don't move anymore. Redistribution instead of reciprocity. " Big men" based more on charisma and influence and w/ little coercive power. Herding- still a part of horticultural society. you now have land owners. If you don't own the land you are hired to defend the land, work the land. Women are now being more stratified. Anytime population grows you have to have a centralized power. Start to see the emergence of slavery. Accumulate wealth in the form of herds. 2/28/08 Agrarian- bigger populations, bigger surplus of food. Invention of the plow. Domestication of plants and animals and learning more about them. Division of labor is a lot more defined because of land owners and now women are not as important you are now hiring men to farm and protect the land. There is now an inheritance of power and privilege. Women now doing more domestic work. Economy is developing. Money comes out of this system. Main source of wealth and prestige is land. Have a surplus of food. Now seeing forms of slavery. Women extremely unequal. Irrigation and the plow now. Now can support whole cities. w/ a huge amt. of surplus armies, artisans, politicians, metal workers etc can all be fed w/o having to help raise the food. Now have inherited private property which maintains social class. Coins ($) now. The more land the more wealth, rulers keep it w/ a standing army. Warfare supplies new land and slaves/servants. Social inequality is seen at its greatest in Agrarian Societies. Feudalism principal assets=economic (land and labor power ) major stratification or class= nobility, clergy, and commoners inequality= high surplus=relatively large division of labor=complex. Serf's considered property, still not a slave, not complete property, would get in trouble if the fled. Peasants served lords who served greater lords who served the king or emperor. "Deference Societys" showing great respect for those above you. ** Frontier societies survived through farming and hunting but differed from agrarians societies in that they were populated by newcomers. More republican-minded. Lobor was scarce so wages were high and they had mre influence. Eventually they would become to look like agrarian societies. Ex= USA! Slavery principal assets= economic( human property) Major strat of class= slave owners, slaves, and free men. Inequality= high. Surplus= high division of labor=complex Caste society Indian caste system based on 4 features.1 Hierarchy of status grouping based on purity wealth and access to goods and services. 2A corresponding set of closure rules that restrict all forms on inner-caste marriage or mobility, and thereby make membership permanent.3 A high degree of physical and occupational segregation enforced by elaborate rules and rituals governing inner-caste contact. 4 A justifying ideology that induces the population to regard such extreme forms of inequality as legit and appropriate. Principal assets= honorific and cultural (ethnic purity and "pure" lifestyles) castes and subcastes= major strat or class. complex= division of labor high= surplus inequality= high. Class system emerges from industrial societies . Industrialization first established in England(1700s). then came France Germany and the USA. Steam engine invention marks beginning of industrialization. Middle class emerges from industrialization. We're replaces hereditary closure system. People are now getting access to an education system. Working conditions suck. Child labor is horrible and dangerous. Since everything is new the children are able to the jobs just as well as the adults. Poor people are treated bad as well. Had nice or shitty homes, no imbetween. Middle class doesn't emerge until the advancement of the IR. Simple industrial societies principal assets= economic means of production. Major stratification or class= capitalists and workers. Inequality- medium/high. Surplus= high. Division of labor = cmplx. Unequal women. Industrialization first established in England(1700s). then came France Germany and the USA. Advanced industrial society or postindustrialprincipal assets= human(education, expertise) major stratification of class=skill based occupational grouping. inequality= Medium. surplus= High. Division of labor=complex. Women's positions begin to change, becoming more equal again. Only in advanced industrial societies does the idea of social support for the elderly become common. Transitions from preceding societies to advanced=Rise of the service economy and the growing power of the service class. Increasing centrality of theoretical knowledge in the transmission of a new information age. The consequent emergence of technical expertise, educational degrees and training certificates as new forms of propery. Look at diagram in book!!!! For women's inequality. "fourth world" nations- the poorest of the poor. ANiger, Mali, Mozambique, Somalia, Nepal, Afghanistan. Nations with the highest level of social equality are Hungary and Czech Republic. Nation with the lowest level of Social equality is Brazil. Latin America and south Asia as well. Sweden Norway and Japan have small gaps between the rich and poor of advanced societies. The most unequal advanced industrial societies are the frontier societies; USA Canada, Australia, New Zealand. #1= USA!! " The Coming of Post Industrial Societies" the shift from industrial to service based economy. Began mid 60s, and well underway in the 70's. dubbed by Bell. Possession of knowledge is the key asset instead of physical capital. The widening of the ranks of the middle and upper middle class would continue. Women can provide the new skills needs virtually eliminating gender inequality. Skills become more important than old social divides making racial inequality decrease. The dimensions of inequality are Social Constructs they are not facts of nature but the results of societal forms and patterns of power. 3/4/08 Ohio primaries, interesting because it's dealing with the rust belt. Deindustrialization is being discussed on all major news broadcasts. Discusses layoffs, lack of insurance, unemployment, and how there aren't any prospects for new jobs. Majority of jobs available is service industry= no health insurance. Federal Reserve President "Income inequality effects stability, therefore making a political instability." New studies show that it's no longer a guarantee that each generation will economically do better than the previous. THE CLASS SYSTEM Mainly talking about class in the economic terms. Classes are groupings we make. Many debates on how to establish classes. Marx argues there are two classes based on economics. Weber also bases class on economics. Wright tries to update Marx's model. Linski power privilege and prestige classes. Wealth vs. Income. Wealth is what you own. Income is what you take in or earn. Wealth is assets bonds, real estate equity(homes/cars) etc. income includes wages, salaries, rents, transfer payments, dividends, all forms of wage and salary income. For most Americans income is the primary determinants of economic position, excluding way upper class. Therefore income and economic position is closely tied to their jobs. For the really wealthy, their money comes from returns of investments. Wealth accumulated property owned by a person or family. Continues to reside primarily in families that have benefited from years or even generation of accumulation. Cultural capital- by Bordieu. Opera, Broadway, museums, theatre, symphonies, vs. football, baseball, TV. Why do some do the first part others do the second part. If she went to Harvard most would regularly do part one. At LSU part 2. Why? SOCIAL CLASS!! Cultural capital is about habits, tastes, etc. you acquire more cultural capital if your upper middle and upper class. Page 107: Upper class top of the class structure, people with the highest levels of income and wealth. Don't necessarily have a high level of education, but most do. Occupation is not a big part of the picture. Derive economic position from returns on investments rather than salary and wage income. That's the reason the upper class is sometimes called the class. capitalist Mainly talking about people with vast amts of inherited wealth Upper middlePeople with high levels of education, occupation and income- doctors, lawyers and engineers, professors, corporate executives, virtually everyone has college degree, and some advanced degree beyond that. Combo of wage and salary and investment income. Typically people with high levels of occupational prestige. High levels of autonomy and discretion in jobs. Lower middle classMid managers, some service workers, some are college grads. Small business owners, nurses, paralegals, medical techs. Income can cover a wide range. Not going to have substantial assets. Don't have high levels of autonomy and discretion in jobs. Some of these jobs are slowly becoming less autonomous and with less discretion equivalent to working class jobs. Blue collar white collar distinction just doesn't mean what it used to mean. Working class traditionally called blue collar workers. Phrase comes from traditional denim uniform. Jobs with much less autonomy and discretion. Working poor people who are working, mostly full time, but don't make enough money to put them above poverty line. Most of the working poor are in a very tenuous living situation. High proportion without healthcare. Contingent employment- People who are working but not allowed to work full time. Stop at around 35 hours so employers don't have to supply healthcare. This is steadily increasing in America!! Walmart does this! Underclass now called the urban poor. Talking about group of individuals who lack the requisite skill for employment. Most are chronically poor in extreme poverty making half or less of the poverty line. If poverty line is set at 10, they're making 5 or less. Income distribution think of income as a pie. If income were equally divided, proportions would be equal. Buuuut there are high levels of distribution. The richest 20% gets a disproportionate share of income, they earned over 47% of overall income, almost HALF. The poorest 20% earned a little over 4% of the income. Top 5 % earned more than 20% of all the income. Distribution of wealth is more unequal the distribution of income. Net wealth=assets- liabilities(what you own minus what you owe). For most Americans what you have in your house is what you own(their equity). If real estate goes down, then equity goes down. The Top 1% of Americans own almost 40% of the wealth in the USA. The rich own almost 90% of stock shares. Top 10% own 90% bonds 90% of business equity and 80% real estate equity. The wealthiest 1% own slightly more than 1/3 of USA total wealth, the next 9% own 1/3. 1950 was an era of unprecedented economic growth up until the early 70's. Economic growth starts to slow and median family income starts to decline. It grew in the 80s but more slowly than the 60s. and income declined again in the 90s. 60s had a decline in inequality. In the 80s it starts to increase all the way through to present. Wealth that was created in the 80s mainly goes to the top of the hierarchy. Stagnation of the wages in the lower mid class and the working class, which accounts for the increasing gap between the top and the bottom. Bifurcation of classes is tied to the bifurcation of jobs. It's also tied to technological changes and globalization. March 6, 2008 RACE -often we have a trait of a different race. Sooo how do we define race? Race is basically a social construct. Our society creates racial divisions in attempt to categorize the range of human physical diversity, no one neatly fits into a box though. Brazilians have three races- white black mallato. Hair length and texture, facial features, and skin color is what Americans look at. 2 characteristics of race. It refers to a classification system that assigns individuals and groups to categories. Once we assign groups in a society what do we do next? These categories are typically ranked in some way. Do racial groups change over time? Yes! Sociologist are primarily interested in how and why we define a race. Racial transparency- the white race is somewhat transparent, it's the default race. If you're telling a story and need to describe someone you'll include that they're black or Hispanic, but not if they're white. When whites were asked to identify themselves with attributes rarely would they include they are white. Whites are privileged so they sort of just forget about it. Formal definition- being white is privileged status in a society and people typically attach white label to others when defining them, but for the majority of people we classify as white, race doesn't exist to them. Ethnicity-define individuals who are believed to share common cultural characteristics that differentiate them from the other collectivities in the society. An ethnic group is distinguished by themselves or others. 5 characteristics that ethnic groups share: 1 unique cultural traits such as language clothing holidays or religious practices. 2 a sense of community 3 a feeling of ethnocentrism 4 ascribed membership from birth 5 the tendency to occupy a distinct geographical area. Majority group- not necessarily a matter of numbers. It's the people with the most prestige and power.a category of people w/in a society that possess a distinct cultural and physical characteristics and maintain superior power and resources. Minority group- or subordinate group. Any category of people having recognizable racial or ethnic traits that places them in a position of inferior status so that its members suffer limited opportunities and rewards. Racism goes one step further than prejudice. Racism is broadly defined as a set of attitudes beliefs and practices that is used to justify the superior treatment of one racial or ethnic group and the inferior treatment of another racial or ethnic group. Today we see racism as covert and overt. We do have a hidden racism. Kkk, rallies, concentration camp(overt) institutional racism which involves discriminatory racial practices that are built into various societal institutions such as the political economic and educational systems. Covert racism. Symbolic racism( or quiet racism) 2 types: 1- according to some, is the denial of the presence of racial inequality in society and the opposition to any social policy that would enable disadvantaged groups to escape their social position of being disadvantaged.2- the unconscious sense or feeling of being uncomfortable around people of different racial groups. Race today Julius Wilson says the significance of race is declining. He argues that class has become a more significant feature in terms of access to social and economic resources. Demonstrates that with the civil rights movements your lower class individuals are socially isolated. The middle class blacks have moved out of cities. Underclass are left in the city alone, socially isolated. They are the ones who are segregated. Hurricane Katrina was this a race or class issue? There is no answer to this question. March 11, 2008 VIDEO: 1954 brown v. board of educationsegregation is illegal. Mose Wright1955. His nephew found in river (last name Till). 2 whites arrested. He talked fresh to a white woman in a store. He was a yank, who didn't know any better about southern rules. Mose had to go into hiding in order to live and testify. He lived and pointed out the white male who killed his nephew. Not guilty verdict. Rosa parks Montgomery Alabama. December 1, 1955. Bus Boycott!!! March 13, 2008 African American History: The Colonial Period blacks were brought here as indentured servants in 1619. By 1624 the 1 st enslaved blacks were brought here. By 1715 N. Carolina legally recognizes slavery and prohibits marriage between blacks and white. (Vermont was the first state to abolish slavery). Slavery1787 the 3/5 law is passed, blacks worth 3/5 for electoral votes for seats in the legislature. 1793 cotton gin is invented by Eli Whitney. This invention made It more necessary for slaves b/c now cotton can be grown in massive quantities so plantations get bigger. 1st fugitive slave law is passed in 1793 as well. Abolitionist Movement freedom of slaves movement. Harriet Tubman is a abolitionist. Nat Turner grew up on a plantation. His mother taught him to hate slavery all those who agreed with slavery. A very religious man. He heard from god on several occasions to go on killing sprees of whites. On one occasion he killed sixty whites before getting caught. Once this happened the law passed that you couldn't teach slaves to read or write or come together anymore to prevent rebellions. Civil War Reconstruction and Jim Crow ends in 1865. 1866 civil rights acts grants blacks full citizenships. Now you're starting to see the KKK and other organizations like this. 14th amendment grants full civil liberties to blacks. 15th amendment blacks have the right to vote.1896 Plessy v. Ferguson rules separate but equal act. Defacto laws- in practice in principle, informal laws; things you just sorta know; ex- segregation. De Jur laws- written laws, "by law". The Civil Rights Era 1950s Emmit Till- significant because it got national attention (movie). He was 14 at the time from the North and didn't know southern defacto laws. 1954= Brown v. Board of Education, the desegregation of schools, overturning plessy v. ferguson.1957- federal troops ordered to enforce these rules of desegregated school systems. Native American HistoryWho discovered Native Americans? Christopher Columbus. As Europeans invade the Americas they brought a lot of diseases, creating the "Native American genocide". The basic idea behind this story is that Europeans wanted the Indians to assimilate, so when they didn't they alienated them= The Trail Of Tears. Thousands of Indians die on the ToT from disease to harsh weather. They moved to Oklahoma area. Then eventually got booted to reservations. Typically on your reservations is extreme poverty w/ low levels of education. Indian Gaming Act 1989- any state that allows gambling w/in its borders must also negotiate Indian revenues. Irish American Historywhen they first got here they were legally treated as blacks. Legally forced into irish districts and cities. Eventually became "white", they changed their image by sticking together and were able to escape poverty. They did private schooling for themselves to escape discrimination etc. Ethnic solidarity 4 types of immigrant corporations (read this section in book) 1secondary labor market- these workers had limited credentials and limited marketable skills. They arrive in large numbers across the country. If you're not working you're not getting paid. ZIPPYS!! 2 primary labor markets- are for workers who arrive with marketable select skills and credentials that are in great demand ex= asian Indian physicians 3 middle man minorities- these members work closely together to operate small businesses in disadvantaged areas. They basically capitalize by mobilizing ethnic solidarity. Ex= Jews. 4 ethnic enclave- an area in which ethnic business owners hire and serve the needs of coethnics; creating their own ethnic labor market. Ex=Cubans. Culture and Poverty: Oscar Lewis- attempts to explain poverty and as a culture of poverty. He believes that it's a culture and that groups get stuck in it. The poor have a defective culture. Theorists reject this because it's blaming the victim. Some theorists blame poverty on racism. The welfare system becomes the new focus in the 70's instead of race or culture. The welfare programs explained poverty with the structure of the poverty system, its hard to get out of. Government programs keep people impoverished. Massey and Denton argue that its segregation that keeps people impoverished. "Becoming White" speaking good English etc. dropping you're cultural English (ebonics) and speaking more mainstream. Dressing white. Test in on chapters 3,4,&5!! .

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