SOC 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Social Stratification, Industrial Revolution, Erik Olin Wright

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 104
• Professor: Sal Guzzo

Document Summary

Social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups based on their control over basic resources. It refers to persistent patterns of social inequality i society: how wealth, power, and prestige are socially distributed and transmitted from one generation to the next. Status is a rank or position in a social hierarchy. Closed society: a social system in which positions are allocated by ascription is not meritocratic. Positions are allocated based on factors other than achievement, such as ethnic origin, sex, age, social origin, etc. Low rates of intragenerational and intergenerational social mobility. Open society: a social system, in which positions are achieved, not ascribed, is called a meritocracy. High rates of intragenerational and intergenerational social mobility. Social classes (european approach: discrete groups (not necessarily hierarchical, social classes are groups of people who have similar access to social and economic resources.