Chapter 9, Social Class in the U.S.
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Income and Wealth Differences in the United
States
Classical Perspectives on Social Class
Contemporary Sociological Models of the U.S.
Class Structure
Chapter 9, Social Class in the U.S.
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
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Consequences of Inequality
Poverty in the United States
Sociological Explanations of Social Inequality
in the United States
U.S. Stratification in the Future
Perspectives of Social Class

Marx - Class position is determined by
people’s relationship to the means of
production.
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Weber - Developed an approach that focused
on the interplay among wealth, prestige and
power in determining class.
The Weberian Model of the U.S.
Class Structure
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The Upper Class - comprised of people who
own substantial income-producing assets.
The Upper-Middle Class - based on university
degrees, authority on the job, and high income.
The Middle Class - a minimum of a high
school diploma or a community college degree.
The Weberian Model of the U.S.
Class Structure
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
The Working Class - semiskilled workers, in
routine, mechanized jobs, and workers in pink
collar occupations.
The Working Poor - live just above to just
below the poverty line.
The Underclass - includes people who are
poor, seldom employed, and caught in longterm deprivation.
Marxian Criteria for Class Structure
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ownership of the means of production.
Purchase of the labor of others (employing
others).
Control of the labor of others (supervising
others on the job).
Sale of one's own labor (being employed by
someone else).
Marxian Model of the Class
Structure
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
Capitalist Class - those who have inherited
fortunes, own major corporations, or corporate
executives who own stock or control company
investments.
Managerial Class - upper- and lower-level
managers who may have some control over
employment practices.
Marxian Model of the Class
Structure
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
Small-Business Class - small business
owners, craftspeople, and professionals who
largely do their own work.
Working Class - blue-collar workers and
white-collar workers who do not own the
means of production.
Poverty in the U.S.
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1 out of 3 persons below the poverty line are
under 18 years of age.
2/3 of all adults living in poverty are women.
White Americans account for 2/3 of those
below the official poverty line.
Functionalist Perspective: The
Davis-Moore Thesis
1.
2.
3.
Societies have tasks that must be
accomplished and positions that must be
filled.
Some positions are more important than
others.
The most important positions must be filled by
the most qualified people.
Functionalist Perspective: The
Davis-Moore Thesis
4.
5.
The positions that require the most training
are the most highly rewarded.
The most highly rewarded positions are
functionally unique and positions upon which
others rely for expertise, direction, or
financing.
Conflict Perspective on Social
Inequality
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Inequality does not serve as a source of
motivation for people.
Powerful individuals and groups use ideology
to maintain their positions at the expense of
others.
Laws and informal social norms support
inequality in the United States.
Symbolic Interactionist
Perspectives on Social Inequality
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Study social and psychological facts that
influence members of the upper class to
contribute to charitable and arts organizations.
Study social interactions between people from
divergent class locations.