Chapter 8 Social Stratification

1. Chapter 8 Social Stratification • Social Categories • “Open” and “Closed” Stratification Systems • Theories of Stratification • Analyses of Social Class

2. Social Categories • Every society classifies its’ people into categories. • Ascribed characteristics: skin color, sex, hair color, national origin, religious affiliation. • Achieved characteristics: occupation, marital status, level of education and income.

3. Characteristics That Distinguish a Caste System From a Class System • Rigidity - how difficult it is for people to change their category. • Relative importance of ascribed and achieved characteristics in determining life chances. • Extent to which restrictions are placed on social interaction between people in different categories.

4. Why the U.S. Seems a Model of Equality • We can find examples of people from all racial, ethnic, sex, and age groups who achieve rewards. • No obvious laws govern ascribed characteristics and life chances. • We believe that anyone can transcend his or her environment through hard work.

5. Functionalist Theory of Stratification • Social inequality ensured that important occupations are filled by the best people. • Indicators of an occupation's importance. • Degree to which the occupation is functionally unique. • Degree to which other occupations depend on the one in question.

6. Karl Marx and Social Class • Conflict between two distinct classes propels us from one historical epoch to another. • Viewed social claass in terms of source of income.

7. Max Weber and Social Class • A person’s status in society is based on his or her relationship to the means of production and sources of income. • People’s class standing depends on their marketable abilities, access to goods and services, control over production and ability to invest in property or other sources of income.