Social Stratification

CSOC 204

Richard Anderson-Connolly

 

Summer 2003

Wyatt 313

M, T, Th, F 10:00-12:00

 

 

Professor Richard Anderson-Connolly

Office: McIntyre 213N

Phone: 879-3597

Office Hours:  Before and after class, and by appointment

e-mail: raconnolly@ups.edu

 

 

Course Description:

This semester we will examine a number of issues related to the distribution of resources, primarily income, in society.  To do this we must confront the ethical issues surrounding inequality, obtain an accurate description of inequality, and finally, make a theoretical and empirical attempt to explain stratification. 

 

Stratification, within any particular economic (national) system, must be thought of in two important ways.  First, we can conceive of  the distribution of income without considering how the particular individuals got to where they are.  We could look at the percentage of the population that makes less than $10,000 a year, for example, without examining the characteristics of the people in this category.  This will be referred to as a “structural” analysis of stratification.

 

The second approach to stratification focuses on why certain people are more likely to be poor and others are more likely to be rich, without analyzing why the particular extremes of wealth and poverty exist.  In this line of research, known as “social mobility” or “social reproduction,” we will examine such factors as education, inheritance, and discrimination.

 

For most sociologists, and for the department of Comparative Sociology at UPS, this course is regarded as one of the pillars of the discipline.  Therefore, it is my goal that you find this course fairly challenging yet very rewarding.  Many of the readings are fairly complex, either theoretically or empirically, and will require time and care.  You will also be expected to participate in the presentation and discussion of the material.

Course Material

There are no books required for this course.  Instead, there is a hefty reading packet on sale at the bookstore.  The same readings are on reserve at the library.

 

Assignments and Grading

 

Assignment

Component of Grade

Midterm Exam #1

20%

Midterm Exam #2

25%

Final Exam

25%

Research paper

20%

Participation and Minor Assignments

10%

 

100%

 

 

Exams: 

The exams will consist primarily of definitions and essay questions.  More information regarding the types of questions will be provided in class and we will have an opportunity to review before each exam.  The exams will be held on the following dates:

            Midterm Exam #1:            Friday, May 30th

            Midterm Exam #2:            Friday, June 13th

            Final:                           Last Day of Class, June 27th

 

Research Paper:

This paper should be 8-12 pages in length and address in greater detail some issue covered in the course.  A list of topics will be provided and other topics can be covered with instructor’s approval.  We will discuss the requirements in class.  The essay is due on the penultimate of class, June 26th.

 

Participation and Minor Assignments

 

Topic and Readings

 

Date

Introduction to the Course

 

5/19

The Ethics of Equality

 

5/20 & 22

Dahl, Robert. 1985. “Democracy, Political Equality, and Economic Liberty” Chapter 2, A Preface to Economic Democracy.

 

Rawls, John. 1971.  “The Principles of Justice” Chapter 2, A Theory of Fairness.

 

Nozick, Robert. 1974. “Distributive Justice” Chapter 7, Anarchy, State, and Utopia.

 

Sennett, Richard & Jonathan Cobb. 1972. The Hidden Injuries of Class, pages 245-271.

 

What is Capitalism?   Some Key Terms and Definitions

 

5/23 & 26

Heilbroner, Robert and Lester Thurow. 1984. “The Evolution of Capitalism,” Chapter 2, The Economic Problem.

 

Bolwes, Samuel and Richard Edwards. 1985. “Capitalism and Other Economic Systems,” Chapter 4, Understanding Capitalism.

 

Eisner, Robert. 1994. “Measuring Economic Welfare,” Chapter 2, The Misunderstood Economy.

 

Piore, Michael and Charles Sabel. 1984. “Stabilizing the Economy,” Chapter 4, The Second Industrial Divide.

Previous Systems: Feudalism & Slavery

 

5/27

Heilbroner, Robert. 1985. “The Pre-market Economy,” Chapter 2, The Making of Economic Society.

 

Finley, M.I. 1980. “The Emergence of a Slave Society,” Chapter 2, Ancient Slavery & Modern Ideology.

 

Roemer, John. 1988. “Feudalism and Capitalism,” Chapter 3, Free to Lose.

 

 

 

Catch-up and Review

5/29

 

Midterm Exam #1

5/30

 

Inequality in the US

 

6/2

“Money Income in the United States: 2000,” Current Population Reports, September 2001.

 

“Poverty in the United States: 2000,” Current Population Reports, September 2001.

 

Bernstein, Jared, et al. 2000 “How Much is Enough?” Economic Policy Institute.

 

“The State of Working America 2000-2001,” 2001. Economic Policy Institute.

 

Handler, Joel F. 1995. “The Problem of Poverty, the Problem of Work,” Chapter 3, The Poverty of Welfare Reform.

 

Stratification in other Industrial Democracies

 

6/3 & 5

Albert, Michel. 1993. “The Social Superiority of the Rhine Model,” Chapter 8, Capitalism vs. Capitalism.

 

Freeman, Richard. 1994. “How Labor Fares in Advanced Economies,” Chapter 1, Working Under Different Rules.

 

Rogers, Joel and Wolfgang Streeck. 1994. “Workplace Representation Overseas: The Works Councils Story,” from Richard Freeman, ed., Working Under Different Rules.

 

Explanations of Stratification: Power and Culture

 

6/6 & 9

Card, David and Richard Freeman. 1993. “Introduction,” from Small Differences that Matter

 

Harrison, Bennet. 1997. “The Dark Side of Flexible Production,” Chapter 9, Lean and Mean.

 

Smith, Tom W. 1987. “The Welfare State in Cross-National Perspective,” Public Opinion Quarterly 51(3):404-21

 

Domhoff, G. William. 1983. “The Power Elite and Government.” Who Rules America Now?

 

Domhoff, G. William. 1996. “The Decline of Disruption and the Return of Conservatism.” The Power Elite and the State: How Policy is Made in America.

Alternative Systems of Stratification

 

6/10

Nove, Alex. 1991. “Feasible Socialism?” The Economics of Feasible Socialism Revisited.

 

Van Parijs, Philippe. 1992. “Competing Justifications of Basic Income” Arguing for Basic Income: Ethical Foundations for a Radical Reform.

 

Catch-up and Review

6/12

 

Midterm Exam #2

6/13

 

Inequality of Mobility: Introduction

 

6/16

 

Rodgers, Joan R. 1995. “An Empirical Study of Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty in the United States,” Social Science Quarterly 761:178-193.

 

Biblarz, Timothy J. and Adrian E. Raftery. 1993. “The Effects of Family Disruption on Social Mobility” ASR 58:97-109.

 

Granovetter, Mark. 1994. “Toward a Sociological theory of income differences” from Grusky, Social Stratification.

 

Qualitative Description of Inequality in the US

 

6/17

Edin, Kathryn. 1991. “Surviving the Welfare System: How AFDC Recipients Make Ends Meet in Chicago.” Social Problems 38(4):462-474

 

Terkel, Studs. 1975. “Who Built the Pyramids” from Working

 

Jarrett, Robin. 1994. “Living Poor: Family Life among single, parent African American Women” Social Problems 41(1):30-49.

 

Explanations of Inequality of Mobility: Inheritance

 

6/19

Gale, William and John Karl Scholz. 1994. “Intergenerational Transfers and the Accumulation of Wealth,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 8(4):145-160.

 

Wolff, Edward. 1992. “Changing Inequality of Wealth” The American Economic Review 82(2):552-558.

 

Explanations of Inequality of Mobility: Education/Skills/Cultural Capital

 

6/20

MacLeod, Jay 1995. “Teenagers in Clarendon Heights: The Hallway Hangers and the Brothers,” Chapter 3, Aint No Makin It.

 

Wilson, William Julius. 1996. “Ghetto-Related Behavior and the Structure of Opportunity,” Chapter3, When Work Disappears.

 

Savage, Mike and Muriel Egerton. 1997. “Social mobility, individual ability and the inheritance of class inequality.” Sociology 31(4):645-73.

 

 Venkatesh, Sudhir Alladi. 1994. “Getting Ahead: Social Mobility Among the Urban Poor.” Sociological Perspectives 37(2):157-182.

 

Explanations of Inequality of Mobility: Sexism

 

6/23

Saltzman Chafetz, Janet. 1991. “The Gender Division of Labor and the Reproduction of Female Disadvantage.” From Blumberg, Gender, Family, and Economy.

 

Kelly, Rita Mae. 1991. “Sex-Role Ideology, the Constitution, and Gender Equality in the Labor Force.” Chapter 2, The Gendered Economy.

 

Reskin, Barbara. 1993. “Sex segregation in the workplace.” Annual Review of Sociology 19:241-270.

 

Explanations of Inequality of Mobility: Racism

 

6/24

Reich, Michael. 1994. “The economics of racism” from Grusky, Social Stratification

 

Smith, Robert C. 1995. “Racism in the Emergence and Persistence of the Black ‘Underclass’: A Critique of the Wilson Paradigm,” Chapter 6, Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era.

 

Massey, Douglas S. et al. 1994. “Migration, Segregation, and the Geographic Concentration of Poverty” ASR 59(3):425-445.

 

Catch-up and Review

 

Term Paper Due

 

6/26

 

Final Exam

6/27