Systems of Social Stratification

 In a U.S. town, a mining company owns all the stores and most of the houses. It sells goods to the workers at inflated prices, offers house rentals for twice what a mortgage would be, and makes sure to always pay the workers less than needed to cover food and rent. Once the workers are in debt, they have no choice but to continue working for the company, since their skills will not transfer to a new position. This situation most closely resembles ________.

Responses

• endogamy

  endogamy
• chattel slavery

  chattel slavery
• child slavery

  child slavery
• debt slavery

  debt slavery

• Correct. This phrase refers to an arrangement where workers are trapped in a cycle of poverty that is reinforced by the dominant company controlling one’s laboring, consuming, and residential conditions.

What factor makes class systems open?

Responses

• They do not have clearly defined layers.

  They do not have clearly defined layers.
• People are encouraged to socialize within their class.

  People are encouraged to socialize within their class.
• They allow for movement between the classes.

  They allow for movement between the classes.
• There are located in rural areas.

  There are located in rural areas.

• Correct. An open system is based on achievement, and is to some degree meritocratic in that it allows for movement and interaction between different class statuses.

What factor makes caste systems closed?

Responses

• They exist only in rural areas.

  They exist only in rural areas.
• People cannot change their social standings.

  People cannot change their social standings.
• Most have been outlawed.

  Most have been outlawed.
• They are run by secretive governments.

  They are run by secretive governments.

• Correct. A closed system is one where no socioeconomic mobility is possible, and meritocratic advancement is not an option.

Slavery in the pre-Civil War U.S. South most closely resembled________.

Responses

• chattel slavery

  chattel slavery
• debt bondage

  debt bondage
• This phrase refers to an arrangement where one person owns another as property in much the same way as cattle or horses might be owned.

  This phrase refers to an arrangement where one person owns another as property in much the same way as cattle or horses might be owned.
• relative poverty

  relative poverty
• extreme poverty

  extreme poverty

Based on meritocracy, a physician’s assistant would

Responses

• receive the same pay as all the other physician’s assistants.

  receive the same pay as all the other physician’s assistants.
• earn a pay raise for doing excellent work.

  earn a pay raise for doing excellent work.
• most likely marry a professional at the same level.

  most likely marry a professional at the same level.
• be discouraged from earning a higher degree to seek a better position.

  be discouraged from earning a higher degree to seek a better position.

• Correct. A meritocracy emphasizes advancement and reward through the demonstration of ability.
• 
  

chapter 7 quizz

social stratification

division of nations, as well as the layering of groups of people within a nation; affects our life chances—from our access to material possessions to the age at which we die. a system in which groups of people are divided into layers according to their relative property, power, and prestige.

Four major systems of social stratification

1. Slavery
2. Caste
3. Estate
4. Class

causes of slavery

1. debt
2. crime
3. war

Conditions of Slavery

*In some places, slavery was temporary
Slavery was not necessarily inheritable
Slaves were not necessarily powerless and poor

bonded labor (indentured service)

a contractual system in which someone sells his or her body (services) for a specified period of time in an arrangement very close to slavery, except that it is entered into voluntarily; Gray area between slavery and contract labor
Ex: When the people settled over here, they sold themselves to be servants until they could have their own land.

Because slavery has a broad range of causes, some analysts conclude that racism didn't lead to slavery but, rather, that slavery led to racism.

True

Ideology

beliefs about the way things ought to be that justify social arrangements
Ex: Slave owners wanted slaves to seem inferior

the babies born to slaves became the property of the slave owners (Stampp 1956). These children could be sold, bartered, or traded. To strengthen their control, slave states passed laws making it illegal for slaves to hold meetings or to be away from the master's premises without carrying a pass

True

ISIS practices slavery. After killing the adult men, "infidels" to them, they sell the girls and women as sex slaves, a reward to their fighters

The sad truth of the wickedness in this world.

Caste System

A Hindu social class system that controlled every aspect of daily life. birth determines status, which is lifelong. Someone who is born into a low-status group will always have low status, no matter how much that person may accomplish in life.

Social stratification

some nations are wealthy, others poor, and some in between- this division of nations, as well as the layering of groups of people within a nation is called social stratification. It profoundly affects are life chances-from our access to material possessions to the age at which we die. It is a system in which groups of people are divided into layers according to their relative property, power, and prestige.

Causes of slavery

1. debt 2. crime 3. war

ideology

beliefs that justify social arrangements, making those arrangements seem necessary and fair

Caste system

birth determines status, which is lifelong. , a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity

endogamy

marriage within their own group, and prohibit intermarriage

ablution

washing ritual to restore purity

racial caste system

from moment of birth, race marked everyone for life

class system

based primarily on money or material possessions. Is in place at birth, where children are ascribed the status of their parents. Individuals can change their social class by what they achieve or fail to achieve

social mobility

movement up or down the class ladder

global superclass

a small group of highly interconnected individuals in which wealth and power are so concentrated that they make the world's major decisions- the world's wealthiest people