SOC 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 14: Meritocracy
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Economics was once famously called the dismal science. In the minds of many students, sociology is regarded as the depressing science. Here"s what one of my students wrote on his end-of-term evaluation: Some of the stuff we talked about is interesting, but by the end of the semester i found the class depressing: Maybe leave those parts out for future students. And, it"s not just my students who feel this way. Here"s how another sociology professor, sally raskoff, described her students" reaction to the topic of inequality: They stated that they don"t see that anything can change and that we"re doomed to be subject to these pressures since the power always wins. I was not surprised at this reaction, as it is a common one in many sociology classes. Learning about the depth of stratification and exploitation can be demoralizing and depressing.
