SOCA01H3 Lecture Notes - Meritocracy, Social Inequality, Class Conflict
Document Summary
Social inequality: inequality in the distribution of societal values (wealth, power and prestige), caused by any ascribed or achieved characteristics. Includes gender, ethnic, racial, etc. inequality and socio-economic (class/status) inequality. Socio-economic inequality is a relatively stable pattern (hierarchy) of socially sanctioned, economic inequality. Inequality exists in all known societies, socio-economic inequality exists in nearly all known societies (hunting/gathering societies: gender and age inequality, but no economic inequality. Neo marxists said income from capital is much more stable than income from labor. Did not have socio economic stability for hunting/gathering societies since they don"t own land/ have territories. Socio economic inequality can be described and analyzed in two ways: distributional: the hierarchal arrangement of individuals based upon wealth, power and prestige. Socio economic status (ses) is an individual"s position in this hierarchy. Ses indicators: property, income, education, occupation, occupational prestige, political participation, political power, consumption patterns etc. Stratum is a category of people with similar amounts of wealth, power and prestige.
