48-110 (Foundations of Social Life) - Lesson Objectives: 1. Define and describe social stratification; 2. Identify, define and give examples of the three most common social stratification systems; 3. Discuss the basic ideas of Marx's theory of class structure; 4. Discuss the basic ideas of Weber's class system; 5. Identify and discuss factors contributing to the gender wage gap; 6. Distinguish between absolute and relative poverty; 7. Define what is meant by 'feminization of poverty' and 'cycle of poverty'; 8. Identify and discuss common stereotypes associated with poverty and homelessness; 9. Differentiate between types of social mobility; 10. Discuss the role of social class in crime, victimization, and criminal justice

1. SOCIAL INEQUALITY

2. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• Way society is organized
into hierarchical layers or
strata
• Unequal distribution of
society’s rewards

3. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• Income and wealth
• Race and ethnicity
• Gender
• Age
Every society has some system of stratification, and
each system of stratification tends to endure from
generation to generation.

4. STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS
Societies use stratification systems to
rank different groups.
• SLAVERY
• CASTE
• CLASS

5. SLAVERY
• Stratification system in which one person
has complete control over another
Slavery in Doctor Who:
The Ood
[clip]

6. MODERN SLAVERY
• Modern slaves exist in countries all
around the world
• Kevin Bales  millions of ‘disposable
people’ trapped in incredibly harsh
conditions of forced servitude
[clip]

7. MODERN SLAVERY
Season 3 of American Crime brings to light
21st century slavery.
Highlights the deplorable conditions under
which migrant workers on a tomato farm are
forced to live and toil.

8. CASTE
• Stratification system in which people are
assigned to the social group (caste) of
their parents
The Indian Caste System

9. CASTE: Brave New World
The 1931 novel depicts a futuristic
society that is split into five
castes: Alphas, Betas, Gammas,
Deltas, and Epsilons.
Caste is pre-determined and
humans are grown in a manner
appropriate to their status.
[clip]

10. CLASS
• In a class system, a person’s place in the
social system is based on achieved
statuses, which are earned or chosen.
• Those born in a class system can choose
their educational level, careers, and
spouses.
• Movement up or down the social hierarchy
is a major characteristic of the class
system.

11. CLASS: The RMS Titanic
Survivors
• 63% first-class
• 44% second-class
• 25% third-class

12. CLASS: Snowpiercer (2013)
“[We are not that far from]
becoming a cramped train
where the greedy 1%-ers enjoy
nightclubs and lavish
restaurants while the poor in
the tail section eat black
sludge-looking protein bars
and freeze to death.”

13. Stratification in Red Rising
Pierce Brown (2014)
presents a future colour-
coded society that depicts all
three stratification systems
as part of the overarching
societal organization.

14. THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION
• Karl Marx: Conflict Theory
• Max Weber: Wealth, Power and Prestige

15. KARL MARX: Conflict Theory
• Class structure of Western Europe consisted of
two primary groups: bourgeoisie (ruling class) and
the proletariat (working class)
• Bourgeoisie were the owners of factories and the
proletariat were the factory workers

16. KARL MARX: Conflict Theory
• Bourgeoisie exploit the workers
• Have a false consciousness, or a mistaken sense that
they are well off
• Workers would develop a true class consciousness, a
sense of shared identity based on their common
experience of exploitation
• Workers would unite and rise up in global revolution
• This would result in a classless society

17. Marx’s Vision Did Not Happen. Why?
Working Class:
• More educated
• Specialized job skills
• Financial well-being
• Workers came under the protection of unions and
labour laws so a true class consciousness was never
achieved

18. The film follows the life of
a young ant, Flik, who
leads a rebellion against
greedy grasshoppers that
feed on food harvested by
the ants.
Grasshoppers  bourgeoisie (ruling class)
Ants  proletariat (working class)
Marxism in a bug’s life

19. Weber’s Class System
• Rentiers
• Entrepreneurs
• Petite Bourgeoisie
• Bureaucrats
• Labourers

20. MAX WEBER: Social Class
• Differing levels of wealth, power and prestige
• Upper class are those with the most of all three
components
• Non-owners who possess useful skills can also
have some power

21. Wealth, Power and Prestige
“Such a waste of talent. He
chose money over power –
in this town, a mistake
nearly everyone makes.
Money is the McMansion in
Sarasota that starts falling
apart after ten years. Power
is the old stone building that
stands for centuries.”
Frank Underwood

22. SOCIAL INEQUALITY
• Social inequality  people have unequal
access to scarce and valued resources in
society

23. INCOME INEQUALITY: The Gender Wage Gap
• Canadian women still take home, on average,
30% less each year than what men earn
• We call this shortfall the gender wage gap
• Gap is greater for racialized women (over 35%)
and Aboriginal women (over 40%)
The Gender Wage Gap

24. INCOME INEQUALITY: The Gender Wage Gap
• Gender Discrimination
Glass ceiling
• Occupational Segregation
Pink ghetto
• Second Shift

25. INCOME INEQUALITY: The Gender Wage Gap
• What about men and women who work the same
job?
• Still a discrepancy in earnings, with men earning
slightly more than their female co-workers
• Pregnancy and childcare

26. POVERTY: Absolute and Relative
• A person who experiences absolute poverty is so poor
that he or she doesn’t have the resources to survive
• The people who are starving to death in the Darfur
region of the Sudan are living in absolute poverty
• Relative poverty is based on comparing ourselves to
those around us
• You might experience relative poverty if you feel like
your cell phone is old and insufficient compared with
your friend’s phone, and you cannot afford a new one

27. Feminization of Poverty
• Around the world, women experience
poverty at far higher rates than men

28. Cycle of Poverty
• Vicious circle in which poor children are
more likely to be poor as adults

29. THE HUNGER GAMES

30. THE HUNGER GAMES
• The Games create and reinforce inequalities among
the districts
• Tributes from wealthier districts are healthier and
more likely to win, which in turn maintains that
district’s wealth
• Disproportionately punishes the poorest citizens;
residents can buy tesserae (food vouchers) for extra
slips in the reaping

31. • Tesserae is more common
among residents of the
poorest districts
• District 12
• District 11
• District 10

32. POVERTY THEME IN MUSIC
Hardship of poverty and the
struggles often faced by blacks
‘spending a dime while earning a nickel’

33. POVERTY THEME IN MUSIC
She calls out to the man on the street
‘Sir, can you help me?
It’s cold and I’ve nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?’
He walks on, doesn’t look back
He pretends he can’t hear her
Starts to whistle as he crosses the street
Seems embarrassed to be there

34. Homelessness
• One manifestation of poverty
• Single males between 25 and 55
• LGBTQ+ youth between 16 and 24
• Aboriginal people are overrepresented
among the homeless

35. DIVERGENT: Factionless
• Those who fail to successfully join a
faction become outcasts
• Factionless live in poverty and have no
place to live
• Homeless underclass

36. Parked (2010): Homelessness
This Irish Indie film focuses on Fred,
recently homeless and living in his
car, which is parked in a deserted car
park. Fred befriends Cathal, a 20
year old drug addict in a similar
situation parked a few spaces down.
The film highlights the trials of the homeless, including the shame
that often goes along with having no place to live.

37. Stereotypes of Poverty/Homelessness
• Poor people are lazy
• Poor people abuse drugs and alcohol
• Poor people are dumb or uneducated
• Poor people are minorities in large cities
• Social mobility is possible by working hard
5 Poverty Myths Debunked

38. Stereotypes of Poverty/Homelessness
Although media creates and reinforces many
of these stereotypes, there are also examples
in which these stereotypes are challenged:
‘Bubbles’ in The Wire

39. Stereotypes of Poverty/Homelessness

40. SOCIAL MOBILITY
• Movement in the stratification system

41. Vertical Social Mobility Movement up or down the social hierarchy or
from one social status to another
Horizontal Social
Mobility
Movement between two equally ranked social
positions
Intragenerational
Mobility
Social mobility within a single generation; for
example, comparing your first job to your
current job
Intergenerational
Mobility
Social mobility between generations; for
example, comparing your parents’ jobs with
your current job

42. SOCIAL MOBILITY: Leveling UP
Players work to develop their
characters and acquire new skills
in order to ‘level up’.
Leveling up is akin to social mobility.

43. GLOBAL INEQUALITY
• Global stratification refers to the ranking of
countries that highlights social and economic
inequality throughout the world
• Canada is among the top 20 richest countries in
the world but wealth is not evenly distributed
within Canada

44. GLOBAL INEQUALITY
• The Vertical Mosaic (John Porter)
• Although ‘mosaic’ refers to the rich diversity of
languages, cultures, ethnicities and religions that
make up Canadian society, not all groups enjoy the
same power and status
• There is a hierarchy and so the mosaic is also
‘vertical’, with some groups higher than others

45. GLOBAL POVERTY
• Around 1 billion people live on $1.25 or less each day
Four friends live in Guatemala for
two months with only $1 to spend
each day for food, shelter and
medical care.

46. CONNECTIONS: Criminology
• Relationship between social class and crime is
debatable
• Is crime a lower-class thing?
• Is there something about a lower-class lifestyle that is
inherently criminogenic?
• More about power than economics

47. Media Focus on ‘Street Crime’
• Television crime dramas tend to focus more on
traditional street crime than on white collar crime
Focuses on a white collar criminal who
agrees to help the FBI investigate and
track other white collar criminals using
his own expert experience.
Article: White Collar Crime in Popular Culture