2.2 Study guide for part i

Study guide for part i

• Be able to define and discuss stratification/inequalityStratification
  • The unequal distribution of the goods of society
    • Wealth, power, status
  • Social inequality
    • A system in which people are denied access to the goods of society based on their group membership
• Define, discuss, and give examples of master statusReview master statusRace or ethnicity, sex or gender, age, religion, disability, and SESSES
  • S ocio e conomic S tatus= income+education+occupation
• Define and discuss SES
  • What is SES and how does it impact peoples’ lives?
• The stratification hierarchy
  • Where someone is placed in terms of access to wealth, power, and status
  • Based on various aspects of their master status
  • How does the stratification hierarchy affect
    • Racial and ethnic minorities?
    • Women?
    • Sexual orientation minorities?
    • Religious minorities?
    • The disabled?
• Define Thomas’s Theorem and explain how it relates to issues of stratification/inequality
  • How do our concepts of reality affect the way we judge others?
  • Discuss the ways in which the human mind creates social categories
  • Define and discuss stereotypes
    • How many stereotypes about groups other than your own can you list?
      • Are any of these stereotypes true?
      • Why or why not?
    • How many stereotypes about your own group can you list?
      • Are any of these stereotypes true?
      • Why or why not?
• Define and describe social differentiation
• Explain and give examples of social positions
  • Rankings of roles and statuses
• Explain and give examples of social mobility
  • What is the social mobility in your family?
• Define and discuss the various dimensions of and theories of stratification/inequality
  • Marx
    • Bourgeoisie and Proletariat
    • Based on the economic system
  • Weber
    • The bureaucracy
    • Wealth
      • A person’s total economic access
      • Give an example
    • Power
      • The ability to influence over resistance
      • Give an example
    • Status
      • The esteem that society gives to social statuses and social roles
      • Give an example
  • Models of power
    • C. Wright Mills: The Power Elite
      • Power is held at the top of society by a handful of people
      • Give an example
    • Robert Dahl: Pluralistic model
      • Power is relatively evenly distributed
      • Give an example
    • Which model is correct?
      • Why?
  • The Davis-Moore Debate
    • What are the main points of Davis-Moore’s argument?
    • Why do they say that stratification is functional for society?
    • Do you agree?
      • Why or why not?
  • Melvin Tumin’s response to Davis-Moore
    • What are the main points of Tumin’s argument?
    • Why does he disagree with Davis-Moore?
    • Do you agree with Tumin?
      • Why or why not?
• Be able to discuss the following dimensions of and theories of stratification/inequality
  • E. Digby Baltzell: WASP
    • Who are the WASPs?
    • Are they still “in charge”
  • Thorstein Veblen
    • Conspicuous Leisure
      • Give three modern examples
      • Look on Forbes
    • Conspicuous Consumption
      • Give three modern examples
      • Look on Forbes
  • Oscar LewisCulture of poverty
    • What are the main characteristics of the culture of poverty?
    • Is the culture of poverty real?
      • Why or why not?
  • Charles Murray Losing Ground and The Bell Curve
    • What are Murray’s primary arguments?
    • Do you agree or disagree?
      • Why?
  • William Julius Wilson
    • The Truly Disadvantaged
    • When Work Disappears
    • Hyperghettoization
      • What are WJ Wilson’s major arguments?
      • What data sources does he use?
      • Do you agree with his conclusions?
        • Why or why not?
  • Herbert Gans
    • The functionality of poverty
    • The War against the Poor
      • What are Gans’s primary points of argument?
      • What are his data sources?
      • Do you agree with his conclusions?
        • Why or why not?
• Wealth
  • The billionaire’s club
    • Who are the richest people in the world and how rich are they?
    • What are the most expensive consumer items in the world and who buys them?
      • Use the Internet to look at Forbes Magazine’s lists
      • Use the Internet to find census data
  • What are the richest countries in the world and how does the US compare?Use the Internet to find data
    • The CIA World Factbook
    • The G8
  • What are the richest companies in the world and how do they compare to the economies of countries?
    • Forbes Magazine’s lists
    • Use the Internet to find data
• Find and explain data about the demographics of poverty in the US
  • Poverty thresholds
• Find and explain data about the feminization of poverty
  • The Statistical Abstract of the United States
  • Use the Internet to find data about women and poverty
• Find information about and explain public policies and poverty programs
  • Find and explain data about poverty legislation
    • Georgetown Law Library
    • The Congressional Record
  • Use these sites ( The Statistical Abstract of the United States ; ACORN Housing ) to find and explain data about inequality in:
    • Housing
    • Health care
    • Home ownership
    • Business ownership
    • Educational attainment
    • Labor force participation
• Find data about the minimum wage vs. the living wage
  • What is the minimum wage?
  • What are the criteria used to determine what the minimum wage will be?
  • Find information about the history of the minimum wage and explain how it relates to the cost of living
    • Minimum wage historical chart
    • Minimum wages by state
    • US Department of Labor Minimum Wage Page
  • Find information about the living wage; explain what it is and its ramifications for society
    • The Living Wage Resource Center
    • The Economic Policy Institute
    • Living Wage Calculator
    • What is a living wage?
    • How would a living wage impact the US economy?
• Look at the World Demographic “Clock” and explain what it shows
  • What did you learn from this that you did not know before?
• Explain the US and World Population “Clocks”
• Find data that break down world demographics into percentages.“If the World Were a Village of 100 People.”
  • If the World Were a Village of 100 People
  • If the World Were a Village of 100 People (2)
  • If the World Were a Village of 100 People (YouTube video)
• Define, discuss, and give examples of Infant Mortality Rates, Literacy Rates, Life Expectancy, and GDP/GNP in the richest and poorest nations in the world
  • The World Health Organization
  • The United Nations
• How do most people perceive World Inequality?
  • Why?
  • What information is available about world inequality to most people?
• Identify the levels into which the world is stratified and what those levels mean in terms of life chances
  • United Nations Summit on World Poverty
  • First, Second, Third, and Fourth Worlds
• Define and give examples of:
  • First World countries
  • Second World countries
  • Third World countries
  • Fourth World countries
• Find data about and discuss carrying capacity and world hunger
  • Define carrying capacity
  • In the late spring of 2008, there have been food riots in some parts of the world and food prices in some parts of the world have reached an all-time high
    • Find data that explain this
  • United Nations Summit on World Hunger
• Discuss the health concerns of First, Second, and Third World countries
  • What are their health concerns?
  • Who does and does not have access to health care?
  • Where does the US rank in terms of access to and quality of health care in the world?
  • United Nations: Economic and Social Development
  • The World Health Organization
• Find and explain data about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and how it impacts world poverty
  • UNAIDS: Joint United Programme on HIV/AIDS
  • Human Rights Watch: AIDS
  • World Health Organization: AIDS Day Message
  • The World Bank: HIV/AIDS in Africa
• Identify and differentiate among the various theories of inequality in the world
  • Conquest
  • Migration
  • Colonialism and Empire
  • Neo-Colonialism
  • World Systems Theory
  • Modernization Theory
  • Globalization and Glocalization
    • George Ritzer’s McDonaldization theory.
    • Thomas Friedman’s “Flat World” theory.
• Find and explain statistical information concerning world stratification/inequality including such statistical referents as Infant Mortality Rates, Literacy Rates, Life Expectancy, and GDP or GNP.
  • The CIA World Factbook
• Find and explain data about the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the ways in which their policies impact global inequality.
  • The World Bank
  • The International Monetary Fund