Social Stratification in Global Perspective

Chapter 7

Chapter OverviewI. IntroductionII. The meaning of Social Class in

Industrialized NationsIII. Why Stratification?IV. How to Maintain National StratificationV. A Model of Global StratificationVI. Theories on the Origins of

StratificationVII. Maintaining International

StratificationVIII.Review

I. Introduction

A.“Quiz”

1. Racism causes slavery.False

2. American culture includes a caste system (a system in which status is

determined by birth) and is life-long.

True, but it’s debatable

3. People are sorted into categories by sex and men

are always favored.

Yup.

4. Prestige is not always based on money.

True

5. Universally, schools teach that their nation’s form of government is

the best.True

6. In democratic societies, the ruling elite manipulate

the media through the selective release of

information, which they justify as “in the interest of

national security.”True

7. It was only by luck that 18 English prime ministers

came from Eton, an exclusive British school.

False

8. The Communist Party is not stratified.

False

9. In Brazil they solve the problem of impoverished

children by murdering them.True

10. In some countries, farmers do not use technology

to increase their yield because a poor yield might be

God’s will.True

B. Background1. What’s in your Wallet?2. The Muleta and the Skeen

Families3. Some charts and graphs

Disparity of Global Wealth

Distribution of World Income by World Bank Strata (1996)

• Slavery• Caste• Class

•Global Stratification and the Status of Females

Ideal-Type Formulation of Stratification Systems

A.Marx:The means of

production

B.Weber:Property,

prestige, and power

II. The Meaning of Social Class in Industrialized Nations

III. Why Stratification?A. Davis and Moore (functionalist

theory)1. Society must make certain that its

positions are filled.2. Some positions are more important

than others.3. The more important positions must

be filled by the more qualified people.

4. To motivate the more qualified people to fill these positions, society must offer them greater rewards.

Y.J.U.: Davis and Moore are right on.

B. Mosca’ Argument (conflict theory)

1. No society can exist unless it is organized (this requires leadership).

2. Leadership (political organization) means inequality of power.

3. People are selfish. People in power will try to acquire more resources.

► Dramatic Demonstration

Y.J.U.: Mosca is right on.

C. Lenski’s Synthesis1. Functionalists are right in hunting

and gathering societies.2. Conflict Theorists are right regarding

societies with excesses of goods.What do you think of Lenski’s

Synthesis?

IV. How to Maintain National Stratification

A. Use of Social NetworksB. Use of ForceC. Control of Ideas &

Information

IV. How to Maintain National Stratification

A. Use of Social Networks► This begs the question, Why do

women want to join men’s clubs?

B. Use of ForceC. Control of Ideas &

Information

IV. How to Maintain National Stratification

A. Use of Social NetworksB. Use of Force

► Another “Quiz”

C. Control of Ideas & Information

1. Eight of the world’s ten richest people are

U.S. citizens.

False.

In 1996, only three of the world’s richest people (Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Paul G. Allen) were U.S. citizens. Five of the world’s ten richest were Asians residing in China, Japan, or Taiwan.

2. Although the percentage of the world’s people living in absolute

poverty has declined over the past decade, the total number of people

living in poverty has increased.

True.

The percentage has declined since the mid-1980s, particularly in Asia.

However, other regions have not reduced the

incidence of poverty to the same degree, and the total number of people living in poverty had risen to about

1.4 billion in the mid-1990s.

3. The richest fifth of the world’s population receives

about 50% of the total world income.

False.

According to the United Nations Development

Programme (1996), the richest fifth receive more than 80 percent of total world income. This ratio

doubled between the 1950s and 1990s.

4. The political role of governments in policing

the activities of transnational corporations

has expanded as companies’ operations

have become more globalized.

False.

Governmental restrictions have become less effective

in controlling these companies’ activities. It is easy for transnationals to

avoid governmental restrictions based on old

assumptions about national economies and

foreign policy.

5. Most analysts agree that the World Bank was created

to serve the poor of the world and their borrowing

governments.

False.

Some analysis see transnational corporations borrowing and

lending most heavily from the World Bank. Although the

bank is supposedly owned by its members’ governments and

lends money only to governments, many of its

projects involve vast financial dealings with transnational

corporate interests.

6. In low-income countries, the problem of poverty is unequally

shared between men and women.

True.

In almost all countries, poverty is a more chronic problem for women due to

sexual discrimination, resulting in a lack of

educational and employment opportunities.

7. Income and standard of living have increased significantly for most Russians as the transition

from centrally planned economies to a market

orientation has taken place in recent years.

False. Not everyone has shared equally in the transition to the

market economy.

8. Poverty levels have declined somewhat in East Asia, the Middle East, and

North Africa in recent years.

True.

These have been the primary regions in which poverty has

decreased somewhat and infant mortality rates have fallen. Factors such as economic

growth, oil production, foreign investment, and overall development have been

credited with the decrease in poverty in these countries.

9. The majority of people with incomes below the poverty line live in rural areas of the world.True. However, the number of poor

people residing in urban areas is growing rapidly. In fact, most

people living in poverty in Latin America are urban dwellers.

10. Poor people in low-income countries meet most of their

energy needs by burning wood, dung, and agricultural wastes, which increase health hazards

and environmental degradation.

True.

Many low-income people cannot afford appliances,

connection charges, and so forth. In some areas,

electric hookups are not available.

IV. How to Maintain National Stratification

A. Use of Social NetworksB. Use of ForceC. Control of Ideas & Information

Propaganda: The Art of Persuasion

V. A Model of Global Stratification

1. Most Industrialized Nations2. Industrializing Nations3. Least Industrialized Nations

An Alternative Model of Global Stratification

Y.J.U.: Being a woman is a liability.

VI. Theories on the Origins of Stratification

A.Colonialism1.What is a colony?2.Do we still have colonies?

B. World Systems Theory:How a country is

incorporated into the global capitalist economy (i.e., core, semiperipheral, or peripheral nation) is the key feature in determining how economic development takes place in that nation.

1. Core Nations = those that industrialized first and became rich.

2. Semiperipheral Nations = those in the Mediterranean area that stagnated because they grew dependent on trade with the core nations.

3. Peripheral Nations = those that sold cash crops to the core nations and developed even less.

4. External Areas are left out of the development of capitalism altogether (most of Africa and Asia).

C. Dependency Theory1. Global poverty can at least

partially be attributed to low-income countries being exploited by high-income economies; the poor nations are trapped in a cycle of dependency on richer nations.

2. Demonstration

D. Culture of Poverty1. Use of traditional ways because

they are tried and true.2. Religion reinforces traditionalism

through fatalism (the acceptance of one’s lot in life as “God’s will”).

VII. Maintaining International Stratification

A. NeocolonialismB. Dominance of least industrialized

nations by most industrialized nations

C. MultinationalsD. New technology

VIII.Additional Key Terms

Key TermAnother TermYet Another TermYou Guessed It

VIII. Review

1.What is social stratification and why is it sociologically important?

2.What is slavery?3.What is a caste system?

4.What is a class system?5.What does gender have

to do with social stratification?

6.What did Karl Marx believe determined social class?

7.What did Weber believe about social class?

8.What did Davis and Moore believe about social class?

9.What was Mosca’s theory about social class?

10.What was Lenski’s synthesis?

11.How do the elite maintain stratification?

12.What are the three worlds of development?

13.What are some of the problems presented by this classification system?

14.How did the world’s nations become stratified? Discuss several theories.

15.How is global stratification been maintained?