SOC 103 Lecture Notes - Social Inequality, Financial Planner, Meritocracy

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 103
• Professor: Kelly Train

Document Summary

When marx talked about class, he talked about your relationship to the means of production. If you sold your labour for a wage you were working class - or proletariat according to. This was subject to change, and not just upwardly, but downwardly. Class isn"t about your income, it is about your relationship to the means of production. Owners have financial security whereas anyone who sells their labour for a wage has no job security: symbolic markers of social inequality. Even though the vast majority of people sell their labour for a wage, we still live in a capitalist society and it all depends on your access to resources. You are of higher value if you have a greater access to resources. Class, gender, race are all factors that determine how people treat you. People want to be seen as having great access to resources, especially those who don"t have access.