SOCI 210: Sociological Perspectives Oct. 13 1. Inequality & - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SOCI 210: Sociological Perspectives

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• Oct. 13
• 1. Inequality & mobility
• 2. Social divisions and class
• 3. Global inequality

1.Foundations


Methods overview
 Classical (European) social theory

2.The individual in society (bottom-up)


Ethnicity, race, and nationality
 Disability
 Gender and sexuality
 Class and culture

3.Populations and publics (top-down)


Inequality and stratification
 Demography
 Politics and economy
 Social movements

4.Social systems (middle-out)


Interaction
 Institutional change
 Organizations and groups
 Media and technology

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Roadmap

1.Foundations


Methods overview
 Classical (European) social theory

2.The individual in society (bottom-up)


Ethnicity, race, and nationality
 Disability
 Gender and sexuality
 Class and culture

3.Populations and publics (top-down)


Inequality and stratification
 Demography
 Politics and economy
 Social movements

4.Social systems (middle-out)


Interaction
 Institutional change
 Organizations and groups
 Media and technology

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Roadmap

1.Foundations


Methods overview
 Classical (European) social theory

2.The individual in society (bottom-up)


Ethnicity, race, and nationality
 Disability
 Gender and sexuality
 Class and culture

3.Populations and publics (top-down)


Inequality and stratification
 Demography
 Politics and economy
 Social movements

4.Social systems (middle-out)


Interaction
 Institutional change
 Organizations and groups
 Media and technology

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Roadmap

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Inequality
 Mobility &

What is inequality?

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Unequal distribution of resources

⦙ Some people have more than others ⦙ Predictable patterns of inequality

Types of resources

⦙ Money! ⦙ But also: power, opportunity, geographic mobility, social capital, legal protections, …

Ubiquitous

⦙ Empirically, high levels of inequality are present in virtually every human society

Inequality

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⦙ Present everywhere, but to what degree? ⦙ Multiple dimensions complicate description ⦙ Measurement helps determine both rates of poverty and wealth disparity ⦙ Measurement helps compare across populations and across time

Measuring inequality and poverty

Inequality

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Absolute measures Relative measures

⦙ Define poverty according to a ‘universal’ baseline ⦙ “Basket of goods”:


Calculate the local cost of a collection of essential household items

⦙ “Poverty line”:


Household income used as the

• fficial threshold for poverty

⦙ Define poverty relative to what is ‘normal’ in a society ⦙ Calculated in reference to society’s median income ⦙ E.g. 50% of the median income

vs.

Paraisopolis and Morumbi neighborhoods in São Paulo


 Photo: Tuca Vieira

Inequality

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1980 1990 2000 2010 32 34 Canada Gini Index Year 36 38 40

World Bank, Development Research Group. (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm). Source:

Gini index (or Gini coefficient)

⦙ Very common measure of inequality ⦙ Ranges from 0–1 (or 0–100)


From absolute equality to absolute inequality

⦙ “Relative, not absolute


Could have a population with low inequality but widespread poverty, or a population with high inequality and no poverty

Gini index (income)

Inequality

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1980 1990 2000 2010 32 34 Canada Gini Index Year United States 36 38 40

World Bank, Development Research Group. (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm). Source:

Gini index (or Gini coefficient)

⦙ Very common measure of inequality ⦙ Ranges from 0–1 (or 0–100)


From absolute equality to absolute inequality

⦙ “Relative, not absolute


Could have a population with low inequality but widespread poverty, or a population with high inequality and no poverty

Gini index (income)

Mobility

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+

?

Patterns of inequality

⦙ Wealth is not a random lottery ⦙ Predictable structure to who has more and who has less

Inheritance of opportunity

⦙ Empirically, income and wealth are largely predicted by family ⦙ Wealthy people are much more likely to come from wealthy families than poor families, and vice versa

Mobility refers to these patterns

⦙ ‘Stickiness’ of who is where in the unequal income distribution ⦙ How hard is it to move up or down in a society’s income distribution?

Mobility

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Stratification

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Stratification

⦙ Term to describe patterns of inequality ⦙ Geological metaphor


Differences appear categorical
 Vertical dimension

Stratification and Mobility

⦙ People are born into particular strata ⦙ How easy is it to get to a different stratum? ⦙ Direction matters


Upward mobility versus
 downward mobility

Barriers to mobility

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Why is mobility low?

Structural barriers (external)

⦙ Material


Family wealth, area of residence, …

⦙ Institutional


Access to schools and clubs, social relationships, …

Socialized barriers (internalized)

⦙ Socialized traits


Habits, language, skills, aesthetic, …

⦙ Internalized expectations

Highly interrelated

⦙ Behavioral differences are linked to material context ⦙ E.g. Stanford Marshmallow Experiment