SOC 1101 Lecture : 5. Social Inequality.docx

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 1101
• Professor: Liam Kilmurray

Document Summary

Emphasizes class distinctions between dominant and subordinate groups: 2. Stratification: a structured ranking of entire groups that perpetuates an unequal distribution of economic rewards and power in a society. Fundamental division in society is between 2 groups: 1. Economic system influences all other social institutions and relations. Max weber: wealth, status and access to power: wealth: influences access to social valued goods, status: level of prestige based on position in society, access to power: through membership in influential groups and political sphere. The term capitalist patriarchy shows how 2 systems of power inter-relate: capitalist power: by virtue of economics/class, patriarchy: power by virtue of ones sex. Two premises regarding social inequality: 1. Social class divisions hardly exist anymore: social inequality is universal and useful. An essential feature of any complex society and acts as mechanism of motivation. Social mobility: the movement of individuals/groups from one position in a stratification system to another.