SOC 1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Ascribed Status, Thorstein Veblen, Wilbert E. Moore
Document Summary
Social inequality: describes a condition in which members of society have differing amounts of wealth, prestige, or power. Stratification: a structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society. These unequal rewards are evident not only in the distribution of wealth and income, but even in the distressing mortality rates of impoverished communities. Income: refers to salaries and wages. Wealth: inclusive term encompassing all a person"s material assets, including land, stocks, and other types of property. Four general systems of stratification that are ideal types useful for purposes of analysis: slavery, castes, estates, and social classes. In many developing countries, bonded laborers are imprisoned in virtual lifetime employment. In europe and the united states, where guest workers and illegal immigrants have been forced to labor for years under terrible conditions, either to pay off debts or to avoid being turned over to immigration authorities.
