SOC100H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Innocent Victims, Conspicuous Consumption, Signify
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SOC100H1 Full Course Notes
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All societies display social inequalities of varying kinds. Economic and class based inequalities directly affect problems of poverty, illness, crime, personal violence, and social unrest. Class inequality is about unequal wealth, life chances, and expectations. In all societies of any complexity (i. e. > hunter gatherer), we find social classes. A social class is a set of people who share similar chances (weber, came a generation after marx) Weber"s definition suits a modern society better than marx"s. Also, a similar income and standard of living. Often, also share certain values, expectations, goals, and behaviors. Ex: if you"re in the upper/middle class, it is taken for granted that you are going to get a university education/profession. It is assumed that this is what your life will be like. If somebody else from your class asks what your son/daughter is doing, they will expect to hear that the kid is a doctor/lawyer/etc, rather than a bus-driver or cashier.