SOCL 1101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Class Consciousness
6 Jun 2018
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Stratification and Class Inequality
A Geological Metaphor
● Like the earth, societies
○ Organized into strata
○ Seem solid, but are often fluid
○ Subjects to upheaval
Social Stratification
● Stratification: socially constructed distinctions between privileged and deprived
○ Individual and collective mobility occur but in ways shaped by social context
○ Varies culturally
● Why?
Not just an Academic Concern
● Political rhetoric fueled by stratification and class inequality
○ Labor market uncertainty → anti immigrant sentiment
○ Populist movements opposed to wall street
○ 1% vs 99%
○ Citizens United (no limits on corporate contributions to political campaigns)
● These are only the most obvious ways in which class affects social life. At stake are...
○ Shape of our society
○ Access to rewarding jobs
○ Health, longevity, family stability
How do Sociologists Approach Stratification
● Key questions
○ Ejay social influences affect who gets ahead?
○ What does class mean? How has the class structure changed in recent
decades?
○ How does class and inequality drive public policy making? Meaning as
democracy
○ Is the US really an open society, relative to European societies?
4 Key Propositions
● Individual attributes cannot explain stratification
○ Examine systemic aspects → slavery, caste systems, colonization
● Even seemingly ‘obvious’ physical differences have meanings that are socially
constructed
○ Height, beauty, vocal attributes
○ ‘Whiteness’ as a social convention
● Almost any marker can become the basis for exclusion from privilege
○ Religion, hair color, language
● The ‘same’ features will hold different meanings in different societies or at different times
○ Shakespeare moves from low brow to high brow
Stratification Through the Lenses of Social Theory
● Functionalist
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Stratification: socially constructed distinctions between privileged and deprived. Individual and collective mobility occur but in ways shaped by social context. Political rhetoric fueled by stratification and class inequality. Labor market uncertainty anti immigrant sentiment. Citizens united (no limits on corporate contributions to political campaigns) These are only the most obvious ways in which class affects social life. Examine systemic aspects slavery, caste systems, colonization. Even seemingly obvious" physical differences have meanings that are socially constructed. Almost any marker can become the basis for exclusion from privilege. The same" features will hold different meanings in different societies or at different times. Shakespeare moves from low brow to high brow. There must be a reason for this persistence. All societies have a scarcity of talent. Some positions are functionally more important to the society"s survival and therefore require the highest rewards to motivate people to do them.
