status
the social honor or prestige that a particular group is accorded by other members of a society. status groups normally display distinct styles of life; patterns of behavior that the group members follow. status privilege may be positive or negative. Pariah status groups are regarded with disdain or treated as outcasts by the majority of the population.
social stratification
the existence of structured inequalities between groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards. while all societies involve some forms of stratification, only with the development of state-based systems did wide differences in wealth & power arise. the most distinctive form of stratification in modern societies is class divisions.
structured inequalities
social inequalities that result from patterns in the social structure.
slavery
a form of social stratification in which some people are literally owned by others as their property.
caste system
a social system in which one's social status is given for life.
class
although it is one of the most frequently used concepts in sociology, there is no clear agreement about how the notion should be defined. most sociologists use the term to refer to socioeconomic variations between groups of individuals that create variations in their material prosperity & power.
life chances
a term introduced by Max Weber to signify a person's opportunities for achieving economic prosperity.
Kuznets curve
a formula showing that inequality increases during the early stages of capitalist development, then declines, & eventually stabilizes at a relatively low level; advanced by the economist Simon Kuznets.
income
payment, usually derived from wages, salaries, or investments.
wealth
money & material possessions held by an individual or group.
upper class
a social class broadly composed of the more affluent members of society, especially those who have inherited wealth, own businesses, or hold large numbers of stocks (shares).
middle class
a social class composed broadly of those working in white-collar & lower managerial occupations.
working class
a social class broadly composed of people working in blue-collar, or manual, occupations.
lower class
a social class comprised of those who work part time or not at all & whose household income is typically lower than $30,000 a year.
underclass
a class of individuals situated at the bottom of the class system, normally composed of people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
social mobility
movement of individuals or groups between different social positions.
intragenerational mobility
movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career.
intergenerational mobility
movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy from 1 generation to another.
exchange mobility
the exchange of positions on the socioeconomic scale such that talented people move up the economic hierarchy while the less talented move down.
structural mobility
mobility resulting from changes in the number & kinds of jobs available in a society.
industrialism hypothesis
theory that societies become more open to social mobility as they become more industrialized.
ascription
placement in a particular social status based on characteristics such as family of origin, race, & gender.
vertical mobility
movement up or down a hierarchy of positions in a social stratification system.
absolute poverty
the minimal requirements necessary to sustain a healthy existence.
relative poverty
poverty defined according to the living standards of the majority in any given society.
poverty line
an official government measure to define those living in poverty in the United States.
working poor
people who work, but whose earnings are not enough to lift them above the poverty line.
feminization of poverty
an increase in the proportion of the poor who are female.
culture of poverty
the thesis, popularized by Oscar Lewis, that poverty is not a result of individual inadequacies but is instead the outcome of a larger social & cultural atmosphere into which successive generations of children are socialized. the culture of poverty refers to the values, beliefs, lifestyles, habits, & traditions that are common among people living under conditions of material deprivation.
dependency culture
popularized by Charles Murray, describes individuals who rely on state welfare provision rather than entering the labor market. the dependency culture is seen as the outcome of the "paternalistic" welfare state that undermines individual ambition & people's capacity for self-help.
social exclusion
the outcome of multiple deprivations that prevent individuals or groups from participating fully in the economic, social, & political life of the society in which they live.
homeless
people who have no place to sleep & either stay in free shelters or sleep in public places not meant for habituation.
means of production
the means whereby the production of material goods is carried on in a society, including not just technology but the social relations between producers.
capitalists
people who own companies, land, or stocks (shares), & use these to generate economic returns.
surplus value
the value of a worker's labor power, in Marxist theory, left over when an employer has repaid the cost of hiring the worker.
pariah groups
groups who suffer from negative status discrimination; they are looked down on by most other members of society. Ex: the Jews, have been a pariah group throughout much of European history.
contradictory class locations
positions in the class structure, particularly routine white-collar & lower managerial jobs, that share characteristics of the class positions both above & below them.
social closure
practices by which groups separate themselves from other groups.