SOC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: English Canadian, Social Capital, Social Stratification
9 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Class, Status, and Social Inequality
Social Stratification
-hierarchical arrangement of individuals based on wealth, power and prestige
-structural patterns of economic inequality in society
-impacts our health, educational attainment and where we live
Socio-Economic Status:
-also alled class
-refers to oes position in the economic hierarchy
-hat youre orth i ters of oey
- upper, middle, lower designations
Social Status:
-refers to oes soial positio i ters of priilege ad esteem (beyond economic station)
-may be achieved or ascribed
-Power and Prestige
(Socio-Economic Status
-can be rich and not have prestige, power, or social status
--iludes the ely rih
---think the home lottery winner moving into a fancy new neighbourhood with their dream home and being judged
by other residents
Social status
-can have power and prestige without necessarily having a lot of money
--religious leaders are often not wealthy but have immense power and prestige.)
Achieved & Ascribed Socio-Economic Status
Achieved Status (earn it)
-compared to many other countries, Canada has an open stratification system
-ased o ahieeet of The [Caadia] drea
-deostrates that ayoe a ake it through hard ork eritoray
Ascribed Status (born with it)
-social mobility overall limited
e.g., our social class is generally that of our parents
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
-that which is required to improve social status (e.g., education) is unavailable to those of
limited means
-Caadas iheritae structure serves to maintain status quo***
(Can be born into wealth, or one can achieve wealth
Belief in Meritocracy produces a certain prejudice against the poor.
-Canada is not the society with social mobility as we like to think it is
We do not tax inheritance in Canada)
Intersectionality
• Class intersects with other arenas of stratification: gender, age, immigrant status, disability and
race/ethnicity
• Aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, women, recent immigrants, those with disabilities, lone
mothers and unattached individuals all experience disproportionate levels of poverty in Canada
• layers of disadatage ***
(A single minority female with a disability is 4x disadvaged )
Classism
Individual Classism
• classism on a personal or individual level
• behaviour or attitudes
• conscious & intentional; unconscious & unintentional
Institutional Classism
• conscious or unconscious classism manifested in societal institutions
Cultural Classism
• classism manifest through our cultural norms and practices
(Individual Classism
-One on one classist attitudes and behaviors
-Examples:
--cashing welfare check at the bank
--akig fu of hoeless as lothes
Institutional Classism
-example
--medicare should be based on a need program
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
---though today, some privatization has been allowed in the healthcare sphere
----private MRI and x-ray clinics
--police system, court system, education system etc
Cultural Classism
-ex.
--Salvation Army commercial
--telling people to leave where they are soliciting or sleeping for example)
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Physiological
-access to food, water, sex, access to washrooms
--many poor people do not have access to washrooms
--first nations people on reserves can not have access to clean water (on boil advisories)
Safety
-housing, shelter, security from physical harm etc
Love/Belonging
-having family and friends
Esteem
-having self-respect for yourself and others
Self-actualization
-here ere liig a ethial life ith high orals, seurity, reatiity et
if youre poor ad liig in poverty you will never rise above the first two levels
Measures of Poverty
• Absolute Poverty***:
• lack of basic necessities
• Relative Poverty***:
• inadequacy compared to average living standards in the place you live
Low Income Indices:
a) Incidence: % living below the poverty line
b) Gap Ratio: differee etee a failys atual income and the poverty line
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Hierarchical arrangement of individuals based on wealth, power and prestige. Impacts our health, educational attainment and where we live. Refers to o(cid:374)e(cid:859)s position in the economic hierarchy. Refers to o(cid:374)e(cid:859)s so(cid:272)ial positio(cid:374) i(cid:374) ter(cid:373)s of pri(cid:448)ilege a(cid:374)d esteem (beyond economic station) Can be rich and not have prestige, power, or social status. --think the home lottery winner moving into a fancy new neighbourhood with their dream home and being judged by other residents. Can have power and prestige without necessarily having a lot of money. -religious leaders are often not wealthy but have immense power and prestige. ) Compared to many other countries, canada has an open stratification system. De(cid:373)o(cid:374)strates that (cid:858)a(cid:374)yo(cid:374)e (cid:272)a(cid:374) (cid:373)ake it through hard (cid:449)ork(cid:859) (cid:894)(cid:373)erito(cid:272)ra(cid:272)y(cid:895) Social mobility overall limited e. g. , our social class is generally that of our parents. That which is required to improve social status (e. g. , education) is unavailable to those of limited means.
