SOC 032 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Upper Class, Social Inequality, Karl Marx
12 Oct 2018
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Department
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SOC 032
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
SOC 032 – Class Notes (Sep 3rd, 2018)
The Conservative View
• The market has a self-regulating mechanism; the government shouldn’t interfere
• The Invisible Hand (Adam Smith)
• Laissez-faire system
o “Hands off”
• Survival of the fittest
o Poor are blamed for being poor
• The rich benefit from corporate welfare
o Large corporation have tax cuts, so the middle class pays more; 1980s scandal
• The federal government is quick to say that there is money to give
The Bell Curve
• Those who are poor are not intelligent
• Intelligence is innate (those with a higher IQ will succeed)
Functionalist Theory of Social Inequality
• Herbert Spencer
o Sees social inequality as inevitable
o Social Inequality based on birth
o Society needs poverty to fill low-income jobs
The poor deviate from the normal order
Deviant “If you don’t work hard, you will be poor”
Negative Reference Group
Conflict Theory of Social Inequality
• Systemic, structural factors
o Environment is putting poor out of the mainframe
• Socioeconomic variables
o Education, housing, etc.
• Absolute deprivation
• “The richer get richer, the poor get prison” – James Raymond
o The poor are more likely to be incarcerated
• Karl Marx – social inequality is a systematic problem
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
SOC 032 – Marxist Theory
Failure of Marxist Theory of Social Inequality
• Didn’t expect the emergence / rise of the middle class because the Marxist class is bipolar
• Dialectical materialism and historical materialism
o Dialectical is the process of change resulting from class contradictions
• Marx didn’t take race into account. He only looked at those who owned capital and those
who didn’t
• The embourgeoisement of the labor movement
o The labor force didn’t revolt; acted like the bourgeoise
• Marx didn’t see the resilliance of capitalism
o Standard of living increases
o Emergence of the managerial class
o Globalization
o Automation replace labor
• There hasn’t been a final demise of capitalism like Marx predicted
• Marx suggested social change comes from the labor union, but today gender,
sociocultural ideas lead social change (race, religion, environment)
• Marx didn’t see the mobility of capital – online banking, venmo
• Marx didn’t think about the status or different forms of capital
• The classes didn’t polarize; they diversified – no class rivalry
o Workers can invest in the market
o Social capital – it’s expected to give back to your community
• The leisure class
o Conspicuous leisure
o Conspicuous consumption
• Valuation projects
The Enduring Legacy of Marx
• The dominate class still sets the norms of society
o There is still a large divide between the have and have not
o Class structure and confrontation still exists
• Socializing agents are still valuable
o Family, education, religion
o Inserts a conservative value
• Alienation
• Negation of authority
o Change cannot occur without confrontation
▪ Intellectual confrontation
Is America a Modern Class Society?
• We are a “melting pot” society
o Our cultures can mix together, but who is the dominant culture? What happened
to those who melted?
o People are assimilating – the melting pot forces people to do this
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Soc 032 class notes (sep 3rd, 2018) The bell curve: those who are poor are not intelligent. Intelligence is innate (those with a higher iq will succeed) Functionalist theory of social inequality: herbert spencer, sees social inequality as inevitable, social inequality based on birth, society needs poverty to fill low-income jobs. Conflict theory of social inequality: systemic, structural factors. What happened to those who melted: people are assimilating the melting pot forces people to do this. Soc 032 class notes (september 21st 2018: those in the same class are similar in socioeconomic standing, education, wealth, income, property, gender, race, leisure activities, etc. Intergenerational mobility comparing your mobility and social standing with members of your family. Intragenerational mobility comparing yourself within a cohort. Street corner society: drug sellers are more likely to avoid education, cutting corners, these kids cannot move up in the world even though they are trying to.
