Social stratification and class
Сайт курса http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~soc130/index.html
Instructor: Neil Fligstein
Office: 440 Barrows Hall
Office hours: Tues 10-12 p.m. or by apointment
E-mail: fligst@uclink4.berkeley.edu
We live in a time where there has been massive economic growth and huge increases in wealth and income created mostly by the emergence of new markets in telecommunications, computers, and biotechnology. The core ideology of our "new economy" is that these rewards that have accrued have been distributed in a meritorious fashion. Put simply, people who get ahead deserve their wealth because they are producing things of value.
Living in this time presents a huge public relations problem for sociology. Sociology is mostly postured to be critical of the existing social order. In this time where markets are supposed to be the arbiter of people's worth, no one wants to hear that America does not treat everyone fairly. So, sociology's unpleasant message is a subject of scorn (or more frequently, sociology's message is ignored) that is countered by assertions that if people get educated and work hard, they will overcome any barriers that life has presented them.
My way of looking at this, is that there has been great economic progress in America, particularly in the past 10 years. There is also clearly more opportunity for groups who have experienced discrimination historically. But, there still are important sources of inequality in America. Families continue to play an important role in the intergenerational transmission of opportunities for schooling and jobs. This means that people with higher socioeconomic status are able to reproduce privileges for their children. There is evidence that discrimination against women and various minority groups (particularly Afircan-Americans) continues.
We know that income and wealth inequality have been increasing in the U.S. since 1980. "Lean and mean" corporations have made workers insecure, decreased their benefits and lowered the wages for those in the bottom 80% of the education distribution. The Federal government since 1980 has been engaged in social policies that have made it difficult for workers to organize, favored tax policies that benefit the more well off, and generally removed pieces of the social safety net. The negative effects of inequality; less access to health care and the political system and the use of prisons to control poor people, means that for those in the bottom half of the income distribution, life is still difficult.
One way to get some perspective on the American experience is to consider what has happened in the other advanced industrial societies. In this class, we will consider how Europe and Japan have dealt with issues of societal inequality. Finally, we will consider how the developing world has fared in the past 10 years. While parts of Asia have developed rapidly and are now approaching Europe and America in terms of levels of income, the less developed parts of the world, particularly Africa are in dire straits. Indeed, the stratification between the developed and least developed part of the world is growing.
The problem of inequality, who gets what and why, and the enduring structure and reproduction of inequality are at the core of sociology. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the central ideas

in the field of social stratification and class, to consider the experiences of various groups from the point of view of these theories, and consider how unequal resources affect many kinds of life chances. We compare the experiences of America to those in Western Europe and the rest of the world.
The course begins by considering the philosophical issues surrounding how we justify inequality. Most of us think that people with educational credentials should be paid more than people without them. But, most of us would also agree that employers should not systematically decide to pay women less for the same job as men perform. Both are forms of discrimination and require justification. What principles justify unequal outcomes for people?
We then, discuss the classical sociological theories that attempt to explain stratification: ie., Marx, Weber, and the functional theory of stratification. Then we consider more contemporary versions of these theories: status attainment research (which examines the role of families and other social statuses in the process of attainment), economic perspectives (which considers how human capital and labor market structures effect stratification), and other contemporary views on stratification and labor markets. These perspectives will then be used to shed some light on the causes of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination.
Finally, we consider some contemporary issues concerning stratification. First, we take up how stratification effects political participation, health and mortality, and the intersection between the stratification system and the prison system. Then, we consider the role of the government in lessening inequality through affirmative action and other anti-discrimination laws. Finally, we look at inequality around the world and see how other advanced industrial societies and less developed societies deal with inequality and poverty.
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Introduction
Readings on equality and inequality: F. Oppenheim "Equality", International
Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences , p. 102-108; I. Kristol "Equality as an
Ideal", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences , p. 108-111. M.
Walzer "In defense of equality", Dissent , 1973, pp. 399-408;
Readings on income distribution and fairness: J. Dick "How to justify a distribution of earnings" Philosophy and Public Affairs 1975, 248-72. M.
Friedman "The distribution of income", Commentary , 1975, pp. 235-45; M.
Kelman "The Social Costs of Inequality" Dissent , 1976, pp. 291-98.
Marx's theory of class: K. Marx, Selected readings from J. Lopreato and L.
Lewis (ed.) Social Stratification: A Reader , New York: Harper Row, 1974, pp.
17-37.
Marx's theory of class: K. Marx "A note on classes" in E. Laumann, et. al.
(ed.) The Logic of Social Hierarchies , Chicago: Markham, 1970, pp. 5-6; R.
Bendix and S.L. Lipset "Marx's theory of social class" in E. Laumann, et. al.
(ed.), 1970, pp. 7-11; S. Ossowski "The Marxian synthesis" in E. Laumann, et. al. (ed.), 1970, pp. 149-168.
Weber's theory of class, status, and power: M. Weber "Class, status, party" in E. Laumann, et. al. (ed.), 1970, pp. 66-82.
The functional theory of stratification: K. Davis and W. Moore "Some principles of stratification" in E. Laumann, et. al. (ed.), 1970, pp. 49-55; M.
Tumin "A critical analysis" in Laumann, et. al., 1970, pp. 56-58. "Replies to
Tumin" in E. Laumann, et. al., 1970, pp. 59-65; Dennis Wrong "The functional theory of stratification: some neglected considerations" in L.
Lopreato and L. Lewis (ed.), 1974, pp. 115-124.
Modern theoretical discussions of stratification: P. Bourdieu Distinctions ,
1984, p. 101- 43; 168-225.
Modern theoretical discussions of stratification: C. Tilly, Durable Inequalities ,
1998, p. 1-40; 193-228.

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Modern approaches to stratification: social mobility and status attainment: G.
Hurst, 1995, 267-97.
Modern approaches to stratification: human capital and labor market theory in economics: M. Granovetter "Towards a sociological theory of income differences" in I. Berg (ed.) Sociological Approaches to the Labor Market
New York: Academic Press, 1982.
Modern approaches to stratification: neomarxism: H. Braverman Labor and
Monopoly Capital New York, Monthly Review Press, 1974, ch. 17, 20. R.
Edwards Contested Terrain New York: Basic Books, 1978 ch. 1,2,7,8. E.
Wright and B. Martin "The transformation of the American class structure"
American Journal of Sociology , 1987, pp. 1-29.
Causes of race discrimination: neomarxist and economic: E. Bonacich
"Advanced capitalism and black/white race relations in the United States"
American Sociological Review , 1976, pp. 34-51. Causes of race discrimination: economic: P. Doeringer and M. Piore Internal Labor Markets and Manpower Analysis , Lexington, Ma.: Heath, 1971, ch. 7.
Causes of race differences: race and wealth, D. Conley, 1999, Being Black,
Living in the Red , p. 55-82; 133-52.
Race discrimination and the underclass: W.J. Wilson The Truly
Disadvantaged Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989, ch. 2,3. D.
Massey and N. Denton, American Apartheid , 1993, ch. 1, 6; J. Kirschenman and K. Neckerman "We'd love to hire them, but...", 1991, in The Urban
Underclass .
Ethnic attainment and immigration: theory and evidence: R. Jiobu Ethnicity and inequality , 1988, Albany: SUNY Press, ch. 2,3; R. Jiobu Ethnicity and
Assimilation , 1990 Albany: SUNY Press, ch. 2 ,7.
Stratification and Immigration: G. Borjas, Heaven’s Door , ch. 1,7.
Gender and stratification: Marxist view: H. Hartmann "The unhappy marriage of marxism and feminism" Capital and Class , 1979, pp. 2-41; H. Hartmann
"Capitalism, patriarchy, and job segregation by sex" Signs , 1976, pp. 137-67.
Gender and stratification: Economic view: C. Lloyd The Division of Labor between the Sexes New York: MacMillan Press, 1978, ch. 1.
Gender and Stratification: Status attainment; B. Reskin and I. Padavic
Women and Men at Work , 1994, ch. 6 and E. Wright, et. al. "The gender gap in workplace authority", American Sociological Review , 1995, 407-36. P.
England, et. al. "Explaining occupational sex segregation and wages"
American Sociological Review , 1988, pp. 544-558.
Have women and minorities reached the top? R. Zweigenhaft and W.
Domhoff Diversity in the Power Elite , Introduction, ch. 7.
Stratification and life chances: mortality, access to politics, crime: G. Kaplan
“Inequality in income and mortality” British Medical Journal , 1996; G. Singh and S. Yu “US Childhood mortality” American Journal of Public Health , 1996;
Verba, et. al. “The Big Tilt: Participatory Inequality in America” The American
Prospect 1997; C. Hsieh and M. Pugh “Poverty, income inequality, and violent crime” Criminal Justice Review 1993; S. B. Western and K. Beckett
"How unregulated is the US labor market? The Penal system as a labor market institution" American Journal of Sociology , 1999.
The debate over affirmative action: Empirical studies: J. Donohue and J.
Heckman "The impact of civil rights policy on the economic status of blacks",
1994, p. 155-182; M. Gunderson, "Male-female differentials and policy responses," 1994, Political positions: C. Ellison and W. Martin (ed.)
"Affirmative Action", p. 293-323.
Rising inequality in America I: Trends and causes: “Income and inequality” by Ginsburg, et. al., 1999; Bluestone "The inequality express", The American

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Prospect , 1995, p. 81-93. E. W Wolff, "How the pie is sliced", The American
Prospect , 1995, p. 58-66.
Rising inequality in America II: Overworked and over consumed: Americans at the turn of the century: J. Schorr The Overworked American , ch. 2,3,
1992; J. Schorr The Overspent American , ch. 1-3, 1998.
Thanksgiving Holiday
Rising Inequality in the U.S. III: Macro Views: D. Gordon, Fat and Mean , ch.
1-3 1996. R. Reich, The Work of Nations , 1991, ch. 14, 17. R. Frank,
"Winner take all labor markets", 1995
Comparing America to other Advanced Industrial Societies: L. Casper, S.
McLanahan, and I. Garfinkel "The gender-poverty gap" American
Sociological Review , 1994, p. 594-605; L. Rainwater and T. Smeeding,
"Poverty and income distribution in modern countries." 1995, Unpublished tables.
Poverty in the World: U.N. Economic and Social Council: Summary of the
Economic and Social Situation in Africa in 1999; Summary of the Economic and Social Situation of Asia and the Pacific; United Nations, Human
Development Report , 2000. C. Leys, “Africa’s Tragedy”, New Left Review ,
1994; UNAIDS, Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic , 2000
Conclusion: Stratification and Life Chances in the Year 2000 December 7