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Social Inequality-Poverty, Gender, Ethnic, and Social Class
Social Inequality-Poverty, Gender, Ethnic, and Social Class
Inequality : Poverty,
Gender, Ethnic and Social
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class
Class Questions
Questions Page
Page 94
94
A. POVERTY
Key Term
Poverty line: the level of
income below which
people are judged to be in
poverty.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class
Class Questions
Questions Page
Page 94
94
B. ETHNICITY
Top Tip
!
The term ethnicity is usually preferable to race because race
means an ascribed status. Ethnicity recognises that there can
be some degree of choice. For example, a White European
converting from Christianity to Islam would adopt an Islamic
ethnic identity.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class
Class Questions
Questions Page
Page 99
99
Ethnicity
► In sociology the term race is now rarely used and has
largely been replaced by ethnicity. Race refers to the
once common belief that humans could be divided into
biologically distinct races.
► One common division was into Caucasoid (White),
Negroid (Black African) and Mongoloid (Asian). These
labels allegedly go together with physical characteristics
and often mental and behavioural traits, decided by the
unique biological
make-up of the group.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class
Class Questions
Questions Page
Page 99
99
Ethnicity
► Although few people now believe that humans can be divided
into races in this way, we still use the term race when people
act as if race did exist, for example in the terms racism and
racial discrimination.
► Racial prejudice refers to beliefs that another racial group is
inferior in some way. Racial or race discrimination is when
someone suffers disadvantage because of their ethnic or
perceived racial group. Someone who is prejudiced may be in
a position to discriminate against people, for example by not
giving them a job or a promotion.
Key Term
Racism: prejudice or discrimination against an individual or group
because of their ethnicity or perceived race. Prejudice: an
unexamined opinion that a group of people are inferior or different.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class
Class Questions
Questions Page
Page 99
99
Ethnicity
► Racism is a more general term used interchangeably with
racial discrimination. Institutional racism refers to racism
that is built into the way that an organisation or system
works so that discrimination is not the result of individual’s
prejudice or discriminatory actions.
► During the colonial period when European states
established empires, racial inequality was common and
expected. The European rulers and administrators formed a
privileged elite while the life chances of the indigenous
people were limited. In some countries,
when independence was achieved and
colonialism ended the Europeans left or
stayed on as a less privileged minority.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class
Class Questions
Questions Page
Page 99
99
Key Term
Institutional racism: when the way that an organisation
works has racist results, even when individuals do not
intend this.
Elite: a privileged group at the top of a stratification
system.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 100
100
Ethnicity
► In the lands of White settlement (such as the USA,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand) the indigenous
people often faced discrimination and second-class status.
► In South Africa this was formalised in the apartheid system
of racial segregation. South Africa’s inhabitants were
classified into four racial groups (Native, White, Coloured
and Asian).
► Laws kept the groups
apart in terms of where
they lived, their work and
their access to health and
education services.
Ethnicity
► Services for the Black South African majority (who made
up three-quarters of the population) were inferior and they
had few political rights.
► There was a long struggle for freedom from apartheid and
the system was eventually abolished. When Black South
Africans were finally able to vote the White minority lost
power. The apartheid period
represents an extreme form of
racial stratification.
Key Term
Apartheid: the stratification system
in South Africa until 1994 based on
keeping racial groups apart.
02 – Social Inequality Features?
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 102
102
C. GENDER INEQUALITY
03 – Gender and Life Chances
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 104
104
Key Term
Glass ceiling: the unseen barrier that seems to prevent
women Tom achieving the highest positions at work.
03 – Gender and Life Chances
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 105
105
Social class
► In this section we describe
ways of defining and measuring
social class.
04 – Social Class
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 109
109
Measuring class
► For Marxists there are only two main
classes, the bourgeoisie and the
proletariat. Most other sociologists
find it difficult to operationalise the
idea of social class by deciding where
the boundaries lie between the
classes and putting individuals into
these classes. There is no agreement
on the best way of measuring class.
04 – Social Class
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 112
112
Measuring class
► Factors that can be taken into account when deciding
which class someone belongs to are:
wealth
income
occupation
status
housing (number of houses, size and location)
level of education and qualifications
lifestyle - some research has even used the type of car
people drive or their choice of shops to buy their goods.
► The most commonly used category of these is the person’s
occupation. This is because occupation is closely
connected to income, status and living standards.
04 – Social Class
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 112
112
Measuring class
► Occupations can be ranked in a hierarchy, with the highest
paid and most rewarding occupations at the top and others
below. This is called the occupational structure.
► Occupations are either non-manual or manual. Non-manual
jobs involve mental rather than physical work, such as the
professions and office and sales work. These are white-
collar occupations and are seen as middle class.
Key Term
Occupational structure: the hierarchy of occupations in a
society.
Professions: occupations that require specialised higher level
education.
White-collar worker: anon- manual worker, member of the
middle class.
04 – Social Class
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 112
112
Measuring class
► Manual jobs are blue-collar
jobs and involve some physical
effort. They are seen as
working class. These two broad
groups can be further divided
according to the level of skill
involved and the qualifications
or training required.
Key Term
Blue-collar worker: a manual worker, member of the
working class.
ACTIVITY
1
1–– Social
Social Stratification
Stratification 2
2–– Social
Social Inequality
Inequality 3
3 -- Gender
Gender 4
4–– Social
Social Class Questions Page
Class Questions Page 112
112
Revision Checklist
These are hints for our upcoming final exam.
Make sure that you :
1. Know all the key terms of unit 2 and 3 (that we have discussed
only)
2. Understand the following:
● Elements of culture
● Conformity and social control
● Social mobility
● Gender, Social Class, Ethnicity and its influence on life expectancy
● Feral or Isolated Children and the difficulties they may face to fit in the
society
● Primary and secondary socialisation
● Social stratification (class and caste); types of status
● Gender inequality
● Poverty (the types, the causes, the cycle)
● Ethnic minority discrimination
● Welfare states