Slide 1
SOCIOLOGY
Richard T. Schaefer
10
McGraw-Hill
Global Inequality
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 2
10. Global Inequality
• Stratification in the World System
• Case Study: Stratification in Mexico
• Social Policy and Social Inequality Worldwide
McGraw-Hill
© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Slide 3
Stratification in the World System
• The Global Divide
– Inequality a significant determinant of
human behavior
– Divides in global wealth emerged as
result of Industrial Revolution
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 4
Stratification in the World System
• The Legacy of Colonialism
– Colonialism: when foreign power
maintains of political, social, economic,
and cultural domination over people for
an extended period
– Neocolonialism: continued dependence
on more industrialized nations for
managerial and technical expertise by
former colonies
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 5
Stratification in the World System
• The Legacy of Colonialism
– Wallerstein’s World
Systems Analysis
Dependency Theory:
even as developing
• Unequal economic and
countries make
political relationships in
economic advances,
which certain
they remain weak and
industrialized nations and
subservient to core
their global corporations
nations and
dominate core of the
corporations
world’s economic system
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 6
Stratification in the World System
• The Legacy of Colonialism
– Globalization: worldwide integration of
government policies, cultures, social
movements, and financial markets through
trade and the exchange of ideas
– Multinational Corporations:
commercial organizations headquartered
in one country but do business
throughout the world
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 7
Stratification in the World System
Figure 10-1. Fundamental
Global Inequality
Source:Adapted from Sutcliffe 2005:18
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 8
Stratification in the World System
Figure 10-2 Gross National Income per Capita
Sources: Haub 2003; Weeks 2002:22-23
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 9
Stratification in the World System
Figure 10-3 World Systems Analysis at the Beginning of
the 21st Century
Sources: Haub 2003; Weeks 2002:22-23
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 10
Stratification in the World System
• Multinational Corporations
– Commercial organizations headquartered in
one country and doing business throughout
the world
– Functionalist View
• Through international ties, multinational
corporations make nations of the world more
interdependent
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 11
Stratification in the World System
• Multinational Corporations
– Conflict View
• Multinational corporations exploit local
workers to maximize profits
Investment by multinationals initially contributes to host
nation’s wealth, but eventually it increases economic
inequality within developing nations
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 12
Stratification in the World System
Table 10-1 Multinational Corporations Compared to Nations
Sources: For corporate data, Hjelt 2004; World Bank 2004b:260—261
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 13
Stratification in the World System
• Modernization
– Far reaching process by which peripheral
nations move from traditional institutions
to those characteristic of more developed
societies
• Modernization Theory: functionalist view
that modernization and development will
gradually improve the lives of people in
developing nations
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 14
Stratification within Nations: A
Comparative Perspective
• Distribution of Wealth and Income
– In at least 26 nations around the world,
the most affluent 10 percent of the
population receives at least 40 percent of
all income
– Women in developing countries find life
especially difficult
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 15
Stratification within Nations: A
Comparative Perspective
•
Social Mobility
– Mobility in Industrial Nations
• Patterns of intergenerational mobility in
industrialized nations:
1. Similarities in ways parent’s positions in
stratification systems are transmitted to children
2. Mobility opportunities influenced by structural
factors, such as labor market changes
3. Immigration significant factor shaping a society’s
level of intergenerational mobility
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 16
Stratification within Nations: A
Comparative Perspective
• Social Mobility
– Mobility in developing nations:
• Macro-level social and economic changes often
overshadow micro-level movement from one
occupation to another
– Gender Differences and Mobility
• As country develops and modernizes, women’s
vital role in food production deteriorates
– Jeopardizes autonomy and material well-being
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 17
Stratification within Nations: A
Comparative Perspective
Table 10-2 Three Approaches to Global Inequality
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 18
Stratification within Nations: A
Comparative Perspective
Figure 10-4 Distribution of Income in Nine Nations
Source: World Bank 1993 to 2000a/2004:60—62
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 19
Stratification within Nations: A
Comparative Perspective
Figure 10-5 The Borderlands
Source: Prepared by author based on Ellingwood 2001; Thompson 2001a2
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 20
Case Study: Stratification in
Mexico
• Mexico’s Economy
– North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
opened U.S. consumer market
– Collapse of peso and competition from China
undercut benefits
– Mexico unquestionably poor country, but gap
between richest and poorest citizens one of the
widest
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.
Slide 21
Case Study: Stratification in
Mexico
• Race Relations in Mexico: The Color
Hierarchy
– Law on Indian Rights and Culture
• Allows 62 recognized Indian groups to apply
own customs in resolving conflicts and electing
leaders
– Social class linked to appearance of racial
purity
McGraw-Hill
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.
Slide 22
Case Study: Stratification in
Mexico
• The Status of Women in Mexico
– Constitute 42% of labor force
– More mired in lowest-paying jobs than
counterparts in industrial nations
• The Borderlands
– Maquiladoras: foreign-owned factories where
companies that own them do not have to pay
taxes or provide benefits to workers
McGraw-Hill
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.
Slide 23
Case Study: Stratification in
Mexico
• The Borderlands
– Many Mexicans who have come to U.S. send
some part of their earnings back, called
remittances
• Estimated at a minimum of $15 billion a year
From Mexican point of view, U.S. too often regards
Mexico as a reserve pool of cheap labor
McGraw-Hill
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.
Slide 24
Social Policy and Social Inequality
Worldwide
• Universal Human Rights
– The Issue
• Human rights: universal moral rights
belonging to all people because they are
human
• Elaboration of human rights appears in
Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
adopted by the United Nations
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 25
Social Policy and Social Inequality
Worldwide
• Universal Human Rights
– The Setting
• United Nations can condemn countries and
adopt resolutions expressing concern over
nations whose practices violate the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
• The U.S. used the Declaration to promote
democracy abroad
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 26
Social Policy and Social Inequality
Worldwide
• Universal Human Rights
– Sociological Insights
• Cultural relativism encourages understanding
and respecting the distinctive norms, values,
and customs of each culture
• Conflicts arise between human rights standards
and local social practices that rest on
alternative views of human dignity in some
countries
McGraw-Hill
Continued...
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Slide 27
Social Policy and Social Inequality
Worldwide
• Universal Human Rights
– Sociological Insights
• Policymakers frequently look at human rights
from an economic perspective
• Functionalists point out how much more quickly
we become embroiled in “human rights”
concerns when oil is at stake
• Intersection of economics and human rights
issues led to the creation of a Human Rights
Index (HRI)
McGraw-Hill
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Slide 28
Social Policy and Social Inequality
Worldwide
• Universal Human Rights
– Policy Initiatives
• Many national policymakers hesitate to
interfere in worldwide human rights issues
• Most initiatives come from international bodies
• Universal human rights remain an ideal and not
a reality
McGraw-Hill
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