Introduction to Sociology
Professor Munshi
Fall 2015
Defining “Class”
Class:
the economic position in which one is located
and the opportunities associated with this
position;
class position is a product of forces beyond
individual control
Why is it hard to talk about class?
Myths about class in the United States:
• The U.S. is a middle-class country.
• Class doesn’t matter in the U.S.
• We live in a land of upward mobility.
• Everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
[from the Mantsios reading]
Realities about class in the U.S.
• Richest 20% hold 90% of the wealth in the U.S.
– This means 80% of the population shares 10% of
the wealth.
• Wealthiest 1% has 36% of the wealth
• 1 out of 7 people live below the poverty line
• 42 million poor people (2010)
• 1 out of 5 children live in poverty (2010)
Realities about class in the U.S.
1. We do not live in a classless society
2. The middle class holds only a small share of the
wealth and that share is shrinking
3. Class position affects our well-being
4. Class position is not easy to change [79% of
people move up or down one quintile; most stay
in the same quintile.]
5. Wealth and power are linked
6. Race, class and gender intersect & racism and
sexism grow the impacts of class in society.
Global Inequality
U.S. Inequality
Period of prosperity: postWW 2 late 1970s
Education: G.I. Bill [Serviceman’s Readjustment Act 1944];
Increase in investments in public universities
Labor Unions: grew in size/power
What happened in the late
1970s/afterwards?
– Decreases in the power of labor unions
• PATCO strike broken by Reagan (1981)
– Flattening of public education
– Globalization and technology
– Decline in wages
• More women in the workforce
• People are working more
• People are more in debt
Neoliberal Capitalism
(1970s onward)
Form of capitalism that believes in and
practices:
– The government should not regulate the market
– Privatization of social welfare/reduction in
government spending