INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY 3E
Chapter 9 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN THE UNITED STATES
PowerPoint Image Slideshow
FIGURE 9.1
Figure 9.1 This house, formerly owned by the famous television producer, Aaron Spelling, sold in 2019 for $119 million, which set the record for the highest individual home sale in California history. It is the largest private home in Los Angeles, and is considered one of the most extravagant homes in the United States. (Credit: Atwater Village Newbie/flickr)
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FIGURE 9.3
Strata in rock illustrate social stratification. People are sorted, or layered, into social categories. Many factors determine a person’s social standing, such as income, education, occupation, as well as age, race, gender, and even physical abilities. (Photo courtesy of Just a Prairie Boy/flickr)
STRATIFICATION
Social Stratification is a socioeconomic system that divides society’s members into categories ranking from high to low, based on things like wealth, power, and prestige
Wealth refers to the value of money and assets a person has from, for example, inheritance
Income refers to the money a person earns from work or investments
SYSTEMS OF STRATIFICATION
Caste System is a system in which people are born into a social standing that they will retain their entire lives
Class System refers to social standing based on social factors and individual accomplishments
Class refers to a group who shares a common social status based on factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation
Exogamous Marriages are unions of spouses from different social categories
Endogamous Unions are unions of people within the same social category
Meritocracy is an ideal system in which personal effort—or merit—determines social standing
STATUS CONSISTENCY
Status Consistency is the consistency, or lack thereof, of an individual’s rank across social categories like income, education, and occupation
FIGURE 9.4
The people who live in these houses most likely share similar levels of income and education. Neighborhoods often house people of the same social standing. Wealthy families do not typically live next door to poorer families, though this varies depending on the particular city and country. (Photo courtesy of Orin Zebest/flickr)
FIGURE 9.5
India used to have a rigid caste system. The people in the lowest caste suffered from extreme poverty and were shunned by society. Some aspects of India’s defunct caste system remain socially relevant. In this photo, an Indian woman of a specific Hindu caste works in construction, and she demolishes and builds houses. (Photo courtesy of Elessar/flickr)
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FIGURE 9.6
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with other members of the Royal family, in 2017. One year later, the couple would wed and the American-born actress and fashion-designer would immediately become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex, a position and title that bestows significant benefits of social class (Credit: Mark Jones/Wikimedia Commons)
SOCIAL CLASS
SOCIAL MOBILITY
Social Mobility is the ability to change positions within a social stratification system
Upward Mobility is an increase—or upward shift—in social class
Downward Mobility is a lowering of one’s social class
Intergenerational Mobility is a difference in social class between different generations of a family
Intragenerational Mobility is a difference in social class between different members of the same generation
Structural Mobility is a societal change that enables a whole group of people to move up or down the class ladder
FIGURE 9.8
Members of the upper class can afford to live, work, and play in exclusive places designed for luxury and comfort. (Photo courtesy of PrimeImageMedia.com/flickr)
FIGURE 9.9
These members of a club likely consider themselves middle class. (Photo courtesy of United Way Canada- Centraide Canada/flickr)
FIGURE 9.10
Bike messengers and bike delivery people are often considered members of the working class. They endure difficult and dangerous conditions to do their work, and they are not always well represented by government agencies and in regulations designed for safety or fairness. (Credit: edwardhblake/flickr)
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CLASS TRAITS
Class Traits (Class Markers) are the typical behaviors, customs, and norms that define each class
Class traits can often be associated with stereotypes and expectations, which can lead to commentary, insult, and harassment:
GLOBAL STRATIFICTION
Global Stratification is a comparison of the wealth, economic stability, status, and power of countries as a whole
FIGURE 9.11
A family lives in this grass hut in Ethiopia. Another family lives in a single-wide trailer in the trailer park in the United States. Both families are considered poor, or lower class. With such differences in global stratification, what constitutes poverty? (Photo (a) courtesy of Canned Muffins/flickr; Photo (b) courtesy of Herb Neufeld/flickr)
FIGURE 9.12
Luxury vacation resorts can contribute to a poorer country’s economy. This one, in Jamaica, attracts middle and upper-middle class people from wealthier nations. The resort is a source of income and provides jobs for local people. Just outside its borders, however, are poverty-stricken neighborhoods. (Credit, both photos: Gail Frederick/flickr)
FUNCTIONALISM
Davis-Moore Thesis is a thesis that argues some social stratification is a social necessity
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
Conspicuous Consumption is the act of buying and using products to make a statement about social standing
FIGURE 9.13
These people are protesting a decision made by Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, to lay off custodians and outsource the jobs to a private firm to avoid paying employee benefits. Private job agencies often pay lower hourly wages. Is the decision fair? (Photo courtesy of Brian Stansberry/Wikimedia Commons)
FIGURE 9.14
A group of construction workers on the job site, and businesspeople in a meeting. What categories of stratification do these construction workers share? How do construction workers differ from executives or custodians? Who is more skilled? Who has greater prestige in society? (Credit: (a) Wikimedia Commons; Photo (b) Chun Kit/flickr)
This OpenStax ancillary resource is © Rice University under a CC-BY 4.0 International license; it may be reproduced or modified but must be attributed to OpenStax, Rice University and any changes must be noted.