SOC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Elite, Bourgeoisie, Dependency Theory
Katie’s Lecture
United States is VERY PROSPEROUS
• We are the rich neighborhood in the world
o About 5% of the world’s population
o Consume 20% of the world’s resources (oil, coal, natural gas)
• Half of the world lives on less than $2 a day!
o The American under class is $10,000 per year, roughly $27 a day
Global Elite
• Global elite – trans-global class of professionals who exercise considerable economic and
political power that is not limited by the national borders
o Uses wealth and power to influence individual nations
o E.g. oil companies, the Clintons, etc.
Sociological Explanations for Poverty and Social Stratification
• Functionalism
o Built on the assumption that rewards (money) are rightfully distributed to those
who achieve it
o Stratification of society, and the associated differential distribution of rewards,
ensures that highly valued positions are filled by the well-prepared and motivated
people
o Gans (1972) outlined functions
▪ Work force for the dirty jobs
▪ Jobs for others to help the poor
▪ Scapegoat of society’s problems
• Conflict Perspective
o Stratification is due to the bourgeoisie, who owns the means of production and
use their assets to make more money and secure their position in society
▪ Someone needs to run the factory of the capitalists
Global Inequality
• Global inequality – systematic disparities in income, wealth, health, education, access to
technology, opportunity, and power among countries, communities, and households
around the world
o World Bank categorizes countries
▪ Low Income Countries: Agricultural and Rural
▪ Middle Income Countries:
▪ High Income Countries:
• 4 Major Measures of Global Inequality
o Health
▪ How do we measure health?
• Life expectancy: how many years do people typically live?
• Infant mortality rate: infant deaths (age < 1) per 1,000 live births
• Fertility rate: average number of children a woman will have in her
lifetime
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