SOCI 325
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
KOÇ UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
SPRING 2010
Instructor: Dikmen Bezmez
Office: Social Sciences 185
Phone: (212) 338 1472
Email: dbezmez@ku.edu.tr
Office Hours: Monday 14:00-15:00, Wednesday 14:00-15:00 and by appointment
Class Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 15:30-16:45
COURSE DESCRIPTION
No matter where we look, there are disparities in wealth, income, power and prestige. Social
stratification is a crucial subject of sociological investigation. This course aims to provide a
theoretical and empirical framework for the analysis of structured social inequality. It starts
with an introduction to key concepts and early statements; continues with a discussion on the
rising new forms of poverty; subsequent weeks focus on stratification based on race &
ethnicity, which is followed by a discussion on gender stratification; finally the course
examines stratification on the basis of disability.
COURSE ORGANIZATION AND REQUIREMENTS
Lectures: Lectures will not only focus and clarify material in the readings but also provide
additional information. Students are expected to do the readings before each class and are
required to be informed about both the reading material content and in-class lectures and
discussions.
Exams: There will be five pop-up quizzes, one mid-term and one group project. The group
projects will be presented at the end of the semester. Student groups are also expected to write
a 10 page, double-spaced paper on their projects. This paper will replace the final exam. The
details of the project will be discussed in the classroom.
Grading: The final grade will be computed as follows:
 Pop-up quizzes
15 %
 Mid-term
30 %
 Group project presentation
20 %
 Group project paper
35 %
Make-up exams: You can take make-up exams only for the mid-term and only if you have
documented medical emergencies (There will be no make-up exams for the pop-up quizzes).
There will be only one make-up exam and it will be in essay format.
In-class participation: Your participation in class discussions will be considered during final
grading as well.
The syllabus: This document is a contract between you and me. By taking this course, you
agree to comply with all course requirements. By giving this syllabus to you, I agree to follow
everything in it. However, the instructor can make changes to the syllabus under extenuating
circumstances.
Announcements in class: Students are responsible for all announcements made in classes even
if they are absent that day.
COURSE SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1: An Introduction to Social Stratification
(Feb 15) Going over the syllabus, requirements, how to access reading material. Group
project requirements will be discussed.
(Feb 17) Kerbo, H. R. (2006) Social Stratification and Inequality. McGraw-Hill.
“Perspectives and Concepts in the Study of Social Stratification”, p. 1-10.
Week 2: The History of Inequality & Early Statements
(Feb 22) Kerbo, H. R. (2006) Social Stratification and Inequality. McGraw-Hill. “Social
Stratification in Human Societies: The History of Inequality”, p. 48-77.
(Feb 24) Kerbo, H. R. (2006) Social Stratification and Inequality. McGraw-Hill. “Social
Stratification Theory: Early Statements”, p. 79-110.
Recommended:
Marx, K. (2001) “Classes in Capitalism and Precapitalism”, in D. Gursky (ed.) Social Stratification: Class,
Race and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Colorado: Westview Press.
Weber, M. (2001) “Class, Status, Party”, in D. Gursky (ed.) Social Stratification: Class, Race and Gender
in Sociological Perspective. Colorado: Westview Press.
Week 3: Early Statements continued & New Forms of Poverty
(March 1) Early statements continued…
(This week students are expected to decide on their group project topics and discuss it with
the instructor).
(March 3) Wilson, W. J. (2007) “Jobless Poverty: A New Form of Social Dislocation in the
Inner-city Ghetto”, in D. Grusky and S. Szelenyi (eds.), The Inequality Reader:
Contemporary and Foundational Readings in Race, Class and Gender. Boulder, Colo. :
Westview Press.
Week 4: New Forms of Poverty
(March 8) Kuyucu, T. and Ünsal, Ö. (2010) “'Urban Transformation' as State-Led Property
Transfer: An Analysis of Two Cases of Urban Renewal in Istanbul” , Urban Studies.
(March 10) Caldeira, T.P.R. (1996) “Building Up Walls: The New Pattern of Spatial
Segregation in Sao Paulo”, International Social Science Journal, 48 (1): 55-66.
Week 5: Race and Ethnicity
(March 15) Kerbo, H. R. (2006) Social Stratification and Inequality. McGraw-Hill. “Race and
Ethnicity: Some Definitions”, p. 328-329 and “A History of Race and Ethnic Stratification”,
p. 343-345.
(March 17) Feagin, J. R. and Clairece, B. F. (1999) “Adaptation and Conflict: Racial and
Ethnic Relations in Theoretical Perspective”, Racial and Ethnic Relations. Upper Saddle
River, N.J. : Prentice Hall.
Week 6: Midterm & Race and Ethnicity
(March 22) Mid-term
(March 24) Massey, D. S. and Denton, N. A. (2001) “American Apartheid: Segregation and
the Making of the Underclass”, in D. B. Grusky (ed.), Social Stratification: Class, Race, and
Gender in Sociological Perspective. Colorado: Westview Press.
Week 7: Race & Ethnicity
(March 29) İçduygu, A.; Romano, D. and Sirkeci, I. (1999) “The Ethnic Question in an
environment of insecurity: The Kurds in Turkey”, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 22 (6): 9911010.
(March 31) Çelik, A. B. (2005) “‘I miss my village!’ Forced Kurdish Migrants in Istanbul and
their Representation in Associations”, New Perspectives on Turkey, 32: 137-165.
Week 8: Spring Break
(Apr 5, 7) No Class
Week 9: Gender
(Apr 12) Kerbo, H. R. (2006) Social Stratification and Inequality. McGraw-Hill. “Gender
Stratification and Inequalities: The Persistence of Ascription”, p. 306-324.
(Apr 14) Lorber, J. (2007) “The Social Construction of Gender”, in D. Grusky and S. Szelenyi
(eds.), The Inequality Reader: Contemporary and Foundational Readings in Race, Class and
Gender. Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press.
Week 10: Gender
(Apr 19) Özyeğin, G. (2002) “The Doorkeeper, the Maid, and the Tenant: Troubling
Encounters in the Turkish Urban Landscape”, in D. Kandiyoti and A. Saktanber (eds.),
Fragments of Culture: The Everyday of Modern Turkey. New Brunswick, New Jersey:
Rutgers University Pres (available at the reserve desk).
(April 21) Kandiyoti, D. (2002) “Pink Card Blues: Trouble and Strife at the Crossroads of
Gender”, in D. Kandiyoti and A. Saktanber (eds.), Fragments of Culture: The Everyday of
Modern Turkey. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
Week 11: Disability
(Apr 26) Garland-Thomson, R. (2006) “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist
Theory” in Davis. L. (ed) The Disability Studies Reader, New York: Routledge, 257-274.
(Apr 28) Davis, L. J. (2006) “Constructing Normalcy: The Bell Curve, the Novel and the
Invention of the Disabled Body in the Nineteenth Century”, in L. Davis (ed.), The Disability
Studies Reader, London: Routledge: 3-16.
Week 12: Disability
(May 3) Oliver, M. (1990) “Disability and the Rise of Capitalism”, “The Ideological
Construction of Disability”, in Politics of Disablement, London: Macmillan,
(May 5) Baynton, D. (2006) “The Undesirability of Admitting Deaf Mutes: US Immigration
Policy and Deaf Immigrants, 1882-1924”, Sign Language Studies, 6 (4): 391-415.
Week 13
(May 10, 12): Student Group Presentations & Discussion
Week 14
(May 17, 19): Student Group Presentations & Discussion
Week 15
(May 24, 26): Student Group Presentations & Discussion