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Social Stratification
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0:02
So just like when we got to deviance, I generally said that deviance is that point in an introduction to sociology class where I feel like we turn a corner. The reason that I said that is because for so long when you're setting up what sociology is about or trying to understand what a society is, sort of this group with shared boundaries and a shared culture, one of the things that we're doing, we're kind of painting an ideal type society. When I talk social structure, I'm usually saying
0:31
that that is the thing that we use to understand or sort of guide our behavior within that particular society. And it's a framework. It's a really useful framework. If there was ever a society that I want to understand, I could zero in on any parts of that as if I can just contextualize and compartmentalize everything about that society and understand it with that framework. Or if there was the possibility to build a society from the ground -- ground up block
0:57
by block, I can use that same structure. We've got to make these distinctions. What are our statuses? What are the roles? What kind of ways that the groups are going to be? You know, all of that. It's very useful as a study tool or conceptualization of how we understand our position and our expectations in societies and the impact on our behavior. Well, deviance is the thing that throws that out of whack because we know that there is always going to be an amount of
1:25
deviance because nobody's going to do everything exactly. No institution is going to do exactly the way that maybe the imagination is or even maybe ways that we think is best because we can't even depend or dependably agree on what is best. Social stratification is another one of those ways to think about how this thing is out of whack because it always is. Real societies always have deviance and they always have inequalities. And the question of stratification is a question
1:56
of how are those things in society not distributed equally, for instance? How are those statuses -- you may have an organization of multiple statuses, but all those statuses are not the same. All societies are going to have a certain amount of inequalities based on something. And this isn't the part yet where we start to talk about why that is or whether that's a good or bad thing. It's just a matter of fact that there is always going to be stratification in societies.
2:29
And so there's this video that I like to use that is linked to the textbook. So if you're in EAGLE, for instance, and you're looking at the online textbook with those videos that are associated with it. And if you're in my face to face classes, then it's very likely that you've seen this video in the face to face class. And I will do that thing where the link for it pops up right here and put in the description of this video. But there's a Crash Course Sociology video that
2:57
talks about or introduces social stratification. And so if you haven't already seen that, I'm suggesting that you pause this video, go to watch it, and then come back. Because I like to use that as a framework to talk about stratification in the way that our textbook does not. And then sort of add my two cents in that conversation with that video. So go watch it and then come back.
3:22
And in the meantime, I'm going to open the whiteboard.
3:31
So one of the things that I certainly want you to take away, obviously, is that she gives the definition that social stratification is the system by which society categorizes people and ranks them in a hierarchy. Your book's definition is very similar, it's a little longer. Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its people into rankings based on factors like wealth, income, education, family background, and power. The important word here in this case, one, is system.
4:04
And so I want you to keep that in mind as we're talking about this thing as a society-based thing. And that there is a rank and a hierarchy. When we were talking about groups and organizations and bureaucracies, we talked very, very simply about you might have a division of labor, but it's not just the division of labor, it's the ranking of that. It's the hierarchy of authority in a particular organization. Well, similarly in a society, it's not just
4:32
a difference amongst people based on their status or their wealth or their position at work or at home or whatever, it's the ranking of those people in a particular order. There is a top and there is a bottom, which means that there's going to be an unequal distribution of resources, of prestige, of opportunity, of power. So it's not just a description of the difference, it's a judgment of the value of those differences because all resources are finite.
5:05
They're always going to be distributed in some way that is unequal. This video says that this matters because your ranking determines your social status, your prestige, the kind of job that you have, and your chances of living in poverty or wealth, for instance. That first principle of stratification is that this happens in all societies. It is universal. It is universally a description of societies, but it is different in that it is not the same in all societies.
5:41
The axis that is determining your position on that ladder, how far at the top or how far at the bottom might be different and the reasons why it might be different. That second category or that second principle that she talks about is that it is a characteristic of society, not about the individuals.
6:03
And that's important for you to remember. Again, in that definition, we're talking about something that is systematically happening. Again, we've not gone anywhere to talk about whether or not one believes that the stratification system in our society still is based on class. Some people believe it's not based on class at all. It's based on race. Some people believe that it's not based on race at all. It's based on gender. There's so many ways, again, that this can
6:29
be variable across societies, but it is characteristic of society, not the individuals. So when we think about the children of a wealthy family, for instance, we know that they have a greater likelihood to be homeowners. We know that there's a greater likelihood that they will have access to health insurance and medical care and clean air and participate in more outdoor activities and have greater exposure to new things, a larger array to cultural capital
6:59
or cultural understanding and social exposure to things. So there are literal differences in what their life looks like at higher ranks in that stratification system than other people who are at the lower ranks of that stratification system. And there's something that I would like to share that I try to share in class. So let me share my screen here.
7:30
It's more important that you see me or see the screen, not me in this case. So I want to talk to you about life expectancy. When we think about the social determinants of life expectancy, it's very much so that thing: access to outdoor activities, access to health care, access to higher education, social support, cultural support, social integration, all of these things that seem to not have to do with how much or how many years a person lives, but
8:02
absolutely does contribute to the quality of their life. And so what I want to show you in this page is no longer being updated (so this is not the most immediate Census data for the area), but you can see I'm looking at a map of the United States through the CDC. And if I ask it to show me the state of Illinois, and then specifically ask it to show me Winnebago County, which is where we are at Rock Valley College, then I can see the life expectancy rates of people in Winnebago County.
8:36
And let me try to zoom in on this without messing up too much.
8:42
Nope, it zoomed out, sorry.
8:53
Here's my plus sign. It's the whole county, but as you can imagine, this area here is Rockford.
8:59
And if you zoom in a little bit more, this curvy line here that goes through the city, you can imagine is the Rock River. And if you are from Rockford area, obviously you go to school at Rock Valley College, then some of these neighborhoods might be familiar to you. But what I want you to see, if you look at the key, is that those red lines, those red colors are lower rates of life expectancy. So again, when we think about the social
9:28
determinants of health, what's happening in these neighborhoods by pattern that tells me that people in these neighborhoods tend to live shorter lives than people who live in these dark blue neighborhoods, or these lighter blue neighborhoods, or this one neighborhood. So this table shows me life expectancy rates based on where you live. Now, when I point out this thing as social determinant and part of a system, not individuals, it's important that you don't look at
10:01
any individual in any one of these areas and say, it's just because of the choices that they make, for instance. Because we live in a society where we all legally have the same opportunities, we like to imagine that if you just do what you're supposed to do, then you will do well in life and you will have greater access to those things in life -- health, education, joy, clean air, right? But if we look at this map and see across the river, where those people with
10:32
shorter lifespans compare, how they compare to areas with higher lifespans, these blue areas. And then I show you another map of what it used to be.
10:46
This is the map that we see that is representative of something that we call redlining. And this is a Rockford map.
10:55
And I wish if I can find it really, really quickly, I'll give you the link to it so that you can find it yourself on what year this map is. But this is a map that banks, mortgage companies, and real estate agents would use in making determinations on whether or not they should invest in a particular area. So if you were a family trying to get a home loan, or if you were a business looking to potentially invest in a particular neighborhood, this map would be the guidelines
11:23
on whether or not this is a good idea. Is that a really good idea to invest in those places? What are those best neighborhoods? And which of those places are hazardous neighborhoods? And in this case, I want you to find that same Rock River and see where these red spaces are. We talk about this as redlining because they're literal red lines drawn around certain areas. If you look at where these red lines are, where we say these places are hazardous, they're not good for new development.
11:52
And we look at where these green ones are. These are desirable, highly desirable places. These are the best places. These are close to the best places, highly desirable. And if you're in one of those places that's bordering the red space, then that one is, you know, it's on the decline. When you look at this map, which is how we invested in these communities, then we see that same development when we look at the life expectancy. You don't accidentally get blue neighborhoods here in
12:24
the county where you've got high levels, high life expectancy rates in these areas here right across the river, or maybe right across from the river, up from the river on the east side, or over here where Rock Valley College is, right? You don't accidentally get these higher life expectancy rates and these extremely lower ones accidentally because systematically that's what we always built. And again, I will give you this link so that you can play around in here
12:56
because at some point we'll talk about this particular type of map. It's important to see what are some of the descriptions that are given about these places? Who lives in these places by race? What are some of their issues, right? What are the things that is making a company or bank or developer invest or not into a particular area? And so when we talk about how does one understand life expectancy through social determination, then we see that life expectancy is a systematic
13:29
question, not just a question of individual people making individual decisions. So I'll make sure that I share that link with you. And in the video, she definitely says -- your book, I think, might mention this terminology, but it doesn't go very deeply into it -- (Let me try to open the whiteboard that we had.)
13:52
A phrase that I want you to keep in mind is something called life chances.
14:00
(You see how I pulled that A? That's really weird. I'm not going to bother with it.) Life chances by definition is just the extent to which people have positive experiences in life. It's how or whether they can secure the good things in life. And I mean good things like food, education, shelter, clean air, good health, so that they can live a good life because they have the resources to do so. Life chances is the extent to which people have positive experiences and can secure the good
14:38
things in life because they have the resources to do so. So when we think about where you are in that ranking of society or where your parents were in that ranking of society when you were born has everything to do with what your life chances are. And that brings us to the third principle
14:56
of stratification, that it persists across generations.
15:04
It's very hard to break the cycle.
15:08
You are more likely to be in the social position that your parents are in. And there is the potential, however, because we live in a society where our stratification system is open, that you may figure a way by virtue of your education or your opportunity somehow to move to another rank. But that mobility is important because you can move up in your ranking, but you can also move down in your ranking. And she also talked about sort of horizontal movements.
15:37
You can mostly do something different and generally stay in the same place. Social mobility is simply the ability of individuals to change positions within a social stratification system. But social stratification systems tend to be very persistent and very systematic. And it's very difficult often to change positions within that social hierarchy. Your book gives you a distinction between intergenerational mobility and intragenerational mobility. You might be in a different position in
16:10
that status hierarchy compared to your parents of a different generation. Or you might be in a different position based on your status and that hierarchy than your siblings, for instance. So it is possible, but it's difficult because the stratification system itself has characteristics that allow for it to persist across generations again. And it's not always built again on the individual choices of people because it is a characteristic of society and it is very persistent.
16:40
The fourth principle of stratification that's mentioned in the book is that it's not just economic. In fact, it is based also, or it persists based on values and the belief systems that go along with that. In our society, we have an open stratification system that for the most part is based on class. One would argue that race is more important than class, or maybe even gender is more important than class. But legally, we have no barriers to one's ability to be socially mobile.
17:21
Our system does not say that if you were born in one position in that stratification system that you must stay there. And we no longer have legalized discrimination or segregation laws that keep you from participating in society based on your race or based on your gender. So in theory, we should be able to move up and down with ease. However, those are sort of economic determinations, maybe even political determinations that allow for that mobility.
17:51
It is, however, a set of values and beliefs that also make that difficult. And this is why these principles are important for you to recognize: because we also have a value for meritocracy in our society. We believe in general that if you work hard, then you should be able to do well. Your life chances are great if you work hard. If you work hard and you do well, then you will be able to move up in this stratification system. That is our ideology. And so because our ideology is meritocratist, we
18:28
often, as a society, ignore that there is a stratification system and that it is, for the most part, quite responsible for the unequal distribution of resources. Again, this isn't yet an argument or a question on whether or not that's based on class or race or gender or some other axis, only that our resources are absolutely unequally distributed. And it's not by accident that they are unequally distributed when you look, for instance, at redlining maps from the past and the social
19:09
determinants of health that have actual outcomes in the present for one's life expectancy or for one's general life chances, their access to food and health and education, and in generally a positive life. How does one get past that? Or how does one actually find themselves to be socially mobile within that stratification system? It's not just the ability to overcome those economic barriers, for instance, but to get through those barriers in ways that their own generational
19:44
ancestry hasn't been able to, or the fact that this system persists over generations.
19:50
And because we have the values or an ideology where we believe meritocracy is what makes it happen, it's hard for people to find the support that they need or even have the belief that they can get past it, because we tend to think that it's very individual in its choices. So there's so much to say about stratification and the effects of stratification that really form a big foundation for the remainder of the course. So there's a handful of additional videos, additional
20:20
things for me to say that will in some ways rely on that Crash Sociology Course. So hopefully this is helpful, and I'll see you in the next video. Thanks for watching.
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