SOCIOL 100

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Working/Stratifying:
Karl Marx focused on
resources and means of
production as aspects that
determine class.

Max Weber focused on

layers of modern society
based on class, party, and
status.
 SOCIOL 100

Why Study Inequality in Aotearoa/NZ?

Dividing MMA

Where are the jobs? Youth unemployment crisis in the

north (www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10731518 )
 9% of Northland’s working-age population are unemployed (highest since 2003)
 29% of the region’s 18- to 24-year-olds are unemployed
 48% of working-age Māori are unemployed

Youth unemployment could lead to suicides

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10740014 | 2011

| 2019
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/106532292/new-zealand-suicide-rate-highest-since-records-began

“…there is a "toxic mix" of very high rates of family violence, child abuse
and child poverty that need to be addressed to tackle the problem.”
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40284130
 SOCIOL 100
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Thinking about Inequality

 Inequality is not just about poverty.

 Inequality is a divided relationship – between the rich and

the poor, the haves and the have not’s.

 Inequality is another name for the distribution of

opportunity, life chances, rights, power, status, existence.
 SOCIOL 100
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Thinking about Inequality

 Every society has inequalities.

 But how much inequality varies greatly.

 As do the ways in which inequality is justified.

 Sociology shows how things thought to be natural and

inevitable are in fact social and contested – social
things are variable, changeable, and in the process of
changing.
 SOCIOL 100
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(In)equality from a Capitalist

Perspective
 In capitalism, people are not actually equal, and this is
viewed by supporters of capitalism a “good” or “natural”
thing.

 There is said to be equality between work and reward.

 Any inequality is said to be due to inequality of effort –

hard work or laziness.
 SOCIOL 100
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NZ in the 1980s & 90s

High-income countries: How much richer the richest
• Union power curbed 20% of the population is compared to the poorest 20%
Singapore
• Cut away worker USA
Portugal
protections UK
Australia

• Pruned back the New Zealand

Israel
welfare state Italy
Greece

• Now one of the more Ireland

Switzerland

unequal high-income Canada

France
societies Spain
Netherlands
Germany

In New Zealand, the richest 20% Austria

Belgium
of the population are about 6.8 Denmark
Sweden
times richer than the poorest Norway
20% of the population (Wilkinson, R., & Finland
Japan
Pickett, K., 2011, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality
Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press). 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
 Health, Social Problems, and Income SOCIOL 100
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Inequality
USA
• Level of trust
High • Mental illness (drug
addiction)
• Life expectancy/infant

Index of health and social problems

mortality Portugal
• Obesity
• Children’s educational UK
performance
• Teen births
• Homicides
• Imprisonment rates
Greece
• Social mobility New Zealand
Austria France
Australia
Germany Canada
Denmark Italy
Belgium Spain
Poland
Norway Netherlands Switzerland

Sweden
Low Japan

Low income High income

inequality
Income inequality in society inequality

(Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K., 2011, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press).
 Health, Social Problems, and Income SOCIOL 100
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Inequality
USA
High • Anxiety disorders
• Mood disorders Australia UK
• Impulse-control
disorders New Zealand
Percent with any mental illness • Additions
Canada
France

Netherlands

Belgium

Japan Germany Spain

Italy

Low

Low income High income

inequality
Income inequality in society inequality

(Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K., 2011, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press).
 Health, Social Problems, and Income SOCIOL 100
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Inequality
High Australia
USA
New Zealand UK

Index of drug use

Canada Italy
Spain
Switzerland
Austria
Ireland
Denmark Israel
Belgium Netherlands
Germany Portugal
France
Norway
Finland Greece
Sweden
Low Japan

Low income High income

inequality
Income inequality in society inequality

(Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K., 2011, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press).
 Health, Social Problems, and Income SOCIOL 100
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Inequality USA
50

Births per 1000 women aged 15-19

40

UK
30 New Zealand

Canada
Ireland
20 Portugal

Belgium Austria Australia

Poland Germany
Greece
Norway Denmark France
10 Sweden Spain
Japan Netherlands
Switzerland Italy

0
Low income High income
inequality
Income inequality in society inequality

(Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K., 2011, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press).
 Health, Social Problems, and Income SOCIOL 100
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Inequality
USA

1,100

Prisoners per 100,000 in population

Singapore
400 UK

Israel
New Zealand
Portugal
150 Canada Australia
Spain
Germany
Austria
France Ireland Italy
Belgium Switzerland
Poland Denmark
Netherlands
50 Norway Sweden
Japan
Greece
20

Low income High income

inequality
Income inequality in society inequality

(Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K., 2011, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press).
 SOCIOL 100
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Class as History’s Motor

“The history of all hitherto existing society is a
history of class struggles. Freeman and slave,
patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-
master and journeyman, in a word oppressor
and oppressed, carried on an uninterrupted,
now hidden, now open fight, a fight that each
time ended in a revolutionary re-constitution of
society at large, or in the common ruin of the
contending classes” (Marx 1978: 473-4).
 SOCIOL 100
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The easiest way for a capitalist

to profit is not to raise the sale
price of products, but to
decrease the cost of labour.
Bourgeoisie also control proletariat’s
workplace conditions, establishment of
dominant-subordinate relationships, and
distribution of profits.

 Class polarisation
 False consciousness
 Class consciousness
 SOCIOL 100

In a Capitalist Society, Private Enterprise Dividing MMA

 Profit, Profit, Profit

Sticking with a Marxist perspective, certain questions we want to ask:
• Who makes up the bourgeoisie, who makes up the proletariat?
• What product is being made?
• How is that product being made?
• What is their relationship, and how is that relationship driven by power
inequalities?
• What is our relationship to the company as potential consumers?

Mixed martial
arts (MMA)
 SOCIOL 100

What the heck is mixed martial arts?

Dividing MMA

Combat Sport:
1-on-1 hybrid competition involving any combination of “fighting”
disciplines
Referee
• Amateur wrestling present
• Boxing
• Kickboxing
• Jiu-jitsu (wrestling with submission holds)
• Karate
• Judo
• Kung Fu
• Etc.
 SOCIOL 100

What the heck is mixed martial arts?

Dividing MMA

Any Rules??? At highest level of competition…

 Three 5-minute rounds (1 minute rest in between)
 Some restrictions:

• Groin kicks
• Minimal clothing
• Fish-hooking
Shorts, top (for
• Eye poking
women), cup (for
• Strikes to back of head
men), gloves
• Strikes to throat
• No knees/kicks do downed opponent Medical staff present

Methods of Victory (or loss)

• Knockout your opponent (even for a split second)
• Make your opponent submit (give up or “tap out”)
• Win by “decision” (3 judges determine who won most of the match)
 SOCIOL 100

Bourgeoisie and Proletariat?

Dividing MMA

The Ultimate Fighting

Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta
Championship (UFC) – biggest
(made $$$ as Las Vegas
MMA organization
casino owners)

Dana White – 10% owner, president, and public face of UFC

Proletariat – Workers - Fighters
Bourgeoisie

What product is being Violent entertainment

made?
Through conflict between
How is that product being made?
individuals within proletariat
 Bourgeoisie and SOCIOL 100
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Proletariat?
What is their relationship, and how is that relationship driven
by power inequalities?
If owners want to maximize profits, must minimize worker
compensation. Thus, workers and owners always at odds in contract
agreements.

Stratification/Division among UFC athletes:

(495 payments to fighters July 2015-March 2017) $10k-$22k
$160k+
Average (mean) = US$131,039* per fight
Average (median) = US$46,000 per fight
Average (mode) = US$14,500 per fight
$23k-$33k
$65k-$157k
$160,000+ 20%
$64,500-$157,000 20%
$33,000-$63,000 20%
$22,500-$32,500 20% $33k-$63k
$10,000-$22,000 20%
 Bourgeoisie and SOCIOL 100
Dividing MMA

Proletariat?
What is their relationship, and how is that
relationship driven by power inequalities?
20% of payments:
$10k-$22k $160k+
> $160,000
20% of payments:
$65,000-$157,000 $65k-$157k
$23k-$33k
60% of payments: $63,000 or less
$33k-$63k
Fighters have additional expenses:
• General life expenses
• Payments get taxed
• Must pay their coaches Fighters compete 3X/year max,
• Must pay nutritionists (if they can afford one) usually less due to injuries and
• Might pay training partners contract disputes, and they have a
• Used to pay own health insurance short “fight life.”
 SOCIOL 100
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From a Marxist perspective, what do fighters/workers

use as currency in gaining power?

Their physical labour - bodies

What do owners/management make? UFC worth US$4 billion

20% of payments:
> $1600,000

20% of payments:
$65,000-$157,000

60% of payments: $63,000 or less

 SOCIOL 100
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Have fighter salaries increased over years to shrink

social stratification/class divisions?
UFC created in 1993, but purchased by Fertittas/White in 2001 for US$2 million.

2001 company value: US$2 million

2016 company value: US$4 billion
~199,900% increase in company value.

Median fighter salary 2003-2005 (before sport gains

mainstream popularity): US$8,000
Median fighter salary 2015-2017 (7 years after sport gains
mainstream popularity): US$46,000
~475% increase in fighter payments

Guy Mezger: “… to be honest man, most of the guys, a lot of the guys, they think there’s a huge
amount of money in this sport, and there is, for a very small amount of people.”
 Bourgeoisie and SOCIOL 100
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Proletariat?
Owners have the power to set working conditions:
• Consumption driven by increased conflict
• Consumption driven by increased physical danger
• Fighters have no collective bargaining unit/union

Financial “incentive bonuses”

for “Fights of the Night” at
each event – incentives for
increased violence.

“The Ultimate Fighter”

reality TV show Financial “incentive bonuses”
for increased online
popularity.
 SOCIOL 100
Dividing MMA

Why do fighters (proletariat) keep working? Why no

class consciousness against management/owners?
False consciousness:
• Belief the company and system benefits them
• Belief in sporting culture positive values
• “Divide and conquer” tactics working
• As individuals, fighters benefit by defeating each other, physically and verbally
• Fighters at odds with each other, not with management/ownership

MMA becomes more popular  number fighters/workers increases 

fighters/workers more expendable for management/ownership.
Fans do not support fighter rights because we want to consume entertainment
(i.e., our thirst for violence).
 SOCIOL 100

Thorstein Veblen and conspicuous consumption

Dividing MMA

The display and possession of goods or

services whose purpose is for
someone to be seen in possession of
them (the goods or services).
Possession of goods becomes a marker
that one is a member of the leisure
class, and the goods exploit the
productive energies of others.

Adesanya: “I’m not flexin’…

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2019/10/ufc-israel-adesanya-compared-new-mclaren-to-spaceship.html
 SOCIOL 100
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Karl Marx vs Max Weber

 Privileges social structure over individual agency in class formation –
Marx
 Membership of either the bourgeoisie or proletariat is objectively
determined, you either own property and derive your income from the
labour of others, or you own nothing and must sell your labour power
to those who own property – Marx
 So is all production exploitation under capitalism? Don’t workers get
paid a wage? Shouldn’t that cover the value of the commodities the
worker produces? – Weber
 SOCIOL 100
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Max Weber
Rationalisation is characterised by:
1) an increasingly efficient division of labour
2) the progressive application of scientific or instrumental reason
to aspects of social life previously governed by (irrational)
tradition
All (including workers) in society have assets to use at their disposal, which assist
them with social mobility.

• Wealth/class (resources – economic)

• Party (power – ability to influence others and self)
• Status (prestige)

Weber’s Three Dimensions of Stratification
Class
 Determined in relation to the
capitalist market
 Individuals possess more or
less assets to exchange in the
market
 A class is formed on the basis
of individuals who share the
same position in the market
e.g. Landowners, Manual
Workers, Sole Traders, “White
Collar” Workers
 However, class membership
does not instantly translate to
‘class interest’, this requires
the addition of other cultural
factors
Status
 Groups are determined by
the distribution of social
honour
 Characterised by a specific
lifestyle and patterns of
consumption
 Members of different social
classes may share the same
status group, and a high
position in the class order
does not always translate
into a high status
SOCIOL 100
Dividing MMA
Party
 An individual’s Party
affiliation refers to his/her
access to political power
 Not just political parties,
Labour/National etc
 Any group of individuals
who associate to advance
their class and/or status
position constitute a ‘Party’
in this sense
“Life Chances”
 SOCIOL 100
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Weberian Interpretation of MMA

Individual workers (fighters) are not entirely stuck in the proletariat
class, but system never changes.
• Class/wealth (resources) can be used to purchase advocacy:
• Agent/manager
• Publicist
• Attorney
• Status (prestige) can be increased by catering to market demands
• Improve win-loss record
• Be an exciting fighter
• Make yourself more (in)famous (via increased conflict)

• Use increased wealth and prestige to leverage power (influence) –

push for more lucrative contracts.
 SOCIOL 100

Weberian Interpretation of MMA

Dividing MMA

$10k-$22k $160k+

$23k-$33k $65k-$157k

Mark Hunt: $700,000

$33k-$63k
James Toney: Brock Lesnar: $2,500,000
• former pro boxer
• big trash talker

Randy Couture:
Couture earns US$250,000 in win.
• legend in MMA
Toney earns US$500,000 in loss.
• elder (age 48)
• highly respected among fans Both have very high status.
 SOCIOL 100

Weberian Interpretation of MMA

Dividing MMA

What about workers that do not already

$10k-$22k $160k+ have high status, power, wealth? As
individuals, how can workers increase life
chances and social mobility?
$65k-$157k
$23k-$33k

$33k-$63k Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, pre-fight hype:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNMMTYmBdhw

Manufacture “heat,” or
fan interest, before
competition. Use the
market.

http://www.sociologyinfocus.com/2012/07/06/the-sociology-of-mma-
fight-sport-theatre-silva-vs-sonnen-ii/
 SOCIOL 100

Gender Stratification in MMA?

Dividing MMA

The gender differences we see in society are connected to power

differences – gender inequality

Patriarchy – male dominance is built into social institutions

Payouts to 437 male payouts; 58 female payouts
Males: Females:
Mean: $130,299 Mean: $136,608
Median: $46,000 Median: $44,500

Female mean skewed by 1

payout of $3,040,000.

Female mean skewed Rhonda Rousey vs Amanda Nunes.

 SOCIOL 100

Gender Stratification in MMA?

Dividing MMA

How can female mixed martial

artists leverage their status,
secure more power, attain more
resources? How can they move
up the stratified ladder?

“Everyone talks about how awesome the Olympics are, but you know what? After the
Olympics they give you ten grand a handshake. And you know what, it costs way more
than ten grand to get there. The Olympics didn’t give a damn about me after I was done.
And I gotta do what I gotta do to make a living. If I gotta pose for some magazines…I’m
not gonna show my nipples or [buttocks] or anything like that but if I gotta walk around at
the beach in a bikini, why not let someone take a picture of me and put it in a magazine?”
The Sociology of MMA: Breaking Arms and Making Patriarchal Bargains:
http://www.sociologyinfocus.com/2012/03/12/the-sociology-of-mma-breaking-arms-making-patriarchal-bargains/
 SOCIOL 100

Gender Stratification in MMA?

Dividing MMA

Amanda Nunes (in 2021)

Bantamweight Champ since 2016
Featherweight Champ since 2018

https://thesportsdaily.com/2021/03/07/ufc-259-fighter-salaries-incentive-pay-fox11/
 SOCIOL 100
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So what? So social stratification

exists in society, what’s the big deal?
As the gaps between the rich and poor in society increase, what also
tends to increase? If huge groups of poor people see smaller groups of
wealthier people showcasing their wealth, what will probably happen?

Gangs Teen Mental health

pregnancy illnesses
Crime
Homelessness

Substance Sexism
use Incarceration
 SOCIOL 100

So what? So social stratification

Dividing MMA

exists in society, what’s the big deal?

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
1. Australia 9. Finland 17. Italy 25. Norway
2. Austria 10. France 18. Japan 26. Poland
3. Belgium 11. Germany 19. Korea 27. Slovakia
4. Canada 12. Greece 20. Latvia 28. Slovenia
5. Chile 13. Hungary 21. Luxembourg 29. Spain
6. Czech Republic 14. Iceland 22. Mexico 30. Sweden
7. Denmark 15. Ireland 23. Netherlands 31. Switzerland
8. Estonia 16. Israel 24. New Zealand 32. Turkey
33. United Kingdom
34. United States
New Zealand, among highest in OECD:
• Intimate Partner Violence (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/70752097/government-aims-to-tackle-high-domestic-violence-rates) (HIGHEST)
• Teen Suicide (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40284130 | https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/106532292/new-zealand-suicide-rate-highest-since-records-began)
(HIGHEST).
• Homelessness (http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/nz-s-homelessness-the-worst-in-oecd-by-far.html)