SOCI 1210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Making Money, Private Prison, Conspicuous Consumption
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Job Satisfaction
Being successful in your career is more than just making money
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A status hierarchy system is a system of stratification based on social prestige
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In Canada and the USA, prestige is often based on lifestyle, especially as defined
by consumption communities.
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But one's job can also confer social status
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Prestigious occupations
Politicians
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Lawyers
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CEO
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Doctors
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If you are a status seeking person, you may chose to become a doctor for this
reason without knowing it
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All of these jobs make a lot of money, they all require post secondary education,
they are all easily obtainable if you have the skills to do so (good at math, good
at bio, etc.)
•
Does occupational prestige leads to satisfaction?
Yes, you went through all those years of school to get to where you are
now
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Depends on why you went through the schooling and why you chose that
job
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Does occupational prestige lead to overall happiness in life?
Everything is relative to the world around it
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Global Labour
Jobs in one's country
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Jobs in a foreign company
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In both cases, family, friends, and communities are often separated as people
roam and follow (the usually temporary) hot spots of economic activity.
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Many countries now hire foreign workers which allows for all different skill sets
to merge in different countries
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Bangladesh- decommissions cargo ships, very dangerous work, this is allowed
because of the lax labour laws in the country
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We have very strict labour laws, but we take advantage of the countries without
them
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There should be Global Labour Laws that respect all human life, no matter
where they are from or what they are doing
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Many children die while decommissioning these ships, they need small hands
and small bodies to get into some places, but we allow this because it isn't
happening to us
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Our economy floats on this type of human misery, this doesn’t mean stop
buying these commodities because then the whole system crashes and
everyone starves
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The global North's responses to those on the losing end of global capitalism
Gated communities- rise in terrorism, we're going to keep the rich people
safe together here and keep everyone else out
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Gated Communities
Though gated communities separate the "winners" and "losers" of global
capitalism, global labour, not only makes these communities possible, but find
its way inside the gates
Nannies, eldercare assistants, maids, groundskeepers/gardeners are
overwhelmingly drawn from the global labour pool
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The foods eaten within the gated communities are picked and processed
by people from the developing world (fruit, veggies, meat)
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The products consumed and displayed (conspicuous consumption) come
predominately from places with super-exploited labour.
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In the US, undocumented workers supply much of the construction labour
to build gated communities.
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Breaking in…
For those in the Global North who cannot access abundance, there are
(increasingly private) warehouses/prisons.
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In a public or private prison, it costs more to incarcerate than it would to
educate, train, and invest in people's futures.
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Fear of the unemployable (a growing population)•
Middle class jobs are highly competitive. Expectations of high productivity are
inflating, jobs are scarce (especially on the global market), and this impacts
family relations.
•
There is an increase in the number of single, professional women. There is an
increase in childlessness. There is an increase in the population of spouses
who…
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Urban
Financial hubs and global cities might as well be gated communities. High rents
and real estate prices exclude most people from living in urban areas, as did
strict loitering and vagrancy laws (not allowed to stand on the street, homeless
people)
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Service works must commute to the city or live in dorms (dorm housing is lost
when/if the job is lost).
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When urban service work is performed by foreign nationals and/or guest
workers, a loss of the job in deportation
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Global labour is controlled by threatening one's immigration status and housing•
Rural, Ex Urban
Rural places too are transformed by globalization•
If a person has a middle-class job that can be conducted at a distance, she can
join the "Ex urban" movement. This oftentimes urbanizes rural towns, increase
real estate process, and changes local cultures. Usually, ex-urbanites take over
the cultural character of the place, dominate municipal politics, and, in urn,
change the town.
•
Lecture 10/05
October 5, 2017
1:02 PM
Document Summary
Being successful in your career is more than just making money. A status hierarchy system is a system of stratification based on social prestige. In canada and the usa, prestige is often based on lifestyle, especially as defined by consumption communities. But one"s job can also confer social status. If you are a status seeking person, you may chose to become a doctor for this reason without knowing it. All of these jobs make a lot of money, they all require post secondary education, they are all easily obtainable if you have the skills to do so (good at math, good at bio, etc. ) Yes, you went through all those years of school to get to where you are now. Depends on why you went through the schooling and why you chose that job. Everything is relative to the world around it.
