Notes:
social class, a category of people with similar status, culture, and wealth
class consciousness, an awareness of one’s social category within a social hierarchy
social status, an individual’s position, or rank within a social system.
social stratification, a system in which categories of people are ranked in a hierarchy
socioeconomic status (SES), an individual’s social position based on education, occupation, income, and place of residence.
blue-collar worker, an individual who engages in manual labor,
pink-collar worker, an individual who works in female-dominated jobs with low pay
white-collar worker, an individual employed in a salaried professional, managerial, or administrative position
Power, the ability to exert control over others and achieve goals with or without the support of society
prestige, the level of esteem and respect afforded to an individual often associated with one’s occupation or membership in a group or organization
occupational prestige, a consensus of the value of a job or profession
social inequality, a system that unequally rewards individuals based on characteristics such as sex, income, age, race, and ethnicity
open systems, social systems that encourage and allow for social mobility,
closed systems, social systems that do not allow for social mobility
slavery system, a closed stratified system in which slaves and owners exist
caste system, a closed stratification system in which people are designated to a particular social position based on their parents’ social status.
estate system, a closed stratified system in which wealthy landowners and peasants exist
class system, an open stratified system that allows social mobility
ascribed status, a position in a social system that is assigned based on characteristics such as race, sex, or class,
Triple oppression, combined characteristics of being a woman, minority, and poor,
achieved status, a position in a social system that is gained through merit.
American dream, a commonly held belief in the U.S. suggesting that anyone can overcome obstacles and get ahead in life through hard work and determination
upper class, a category of people who maintain the highest status and resources in a society
middle class, the category of people at the center of a social hierarchy,
lower class, the lowest category of people in a social hierarchy
Federal Poverty Line (FPL), a governmental standard of measurement indicating the income level of when an individual or family is designated as poor
working poor, individuals who spend more than 27 weeks per year in the paid labor force and live below the poverty line,
social reproduction, the process of children remaining in the same social class through intergenerational transmission of various types of capital
absolute poverty, a threshold in which an individual does not have enough resources to meet their basic survival needs
relative poverty, a subjective level at which an individual or family experiences a deprived lifestyle
modernization theory, a macro theory indicating the process by which nations progress through stages of development,
dependency theory, a macro theory indicating the stratified world economic system keeps peripheral nations dependent on core nations
world-system, any historical social system of interdependent parts that form a bonded structure and operate according to distinct rules
social mobility, an individual’s or group’s movement up or down the system of stratification in society
life chances, the opportunities and resources a person has at their disposal to improve their quality of life
cultural capital, the information, knowledge, and ideas people use to support their social mobility
Social capital, the social networks that people can use to enhance their societal position,
digital divide, the access to and ability to use technology like computers and the Internet
Vertical mobility, movement up or down the system of stratification
intragenerational mobility, an individual’s change in status during a lifetime,
intergenerational mobility, an individual’s change in social status that results from mobility on a generational level,
structural mobility, changes in the social position of a group that result from shifts in the larger society
feminization of poverty, the disproportionate number of women among the world’s poor.
global inequality, the stratification that exists between people living in different nations.