Social Inequality
Chapter 9 – Contemporary Theories
Dr. Roderick Graham
Fordham University
Structure vs. Individual
Structure?
(Labor Market,
Institutions)
INEQUALITY?
Individual?
(Culture, education,
personal traits)
Functionalist Theories
“Society is an organism that survives because certain
components perform vital functions” (like how the liver
and heart performs functions for the human body)
- Durkheimian Approach
Davis and Moore Theory
Answer two questions…
(1) why do we have social stratification in our society
(2) why positions, not people, are ranked
Davis and Moore Theory
1. Jobs whose
skills are more
scarce or jobs
that are most
important for the
functioning of
society are given
more rewards
2. People
compete for
vigorously for
these high
reward jobs
3. The most
talented people
fill the most
important
positions for
society
??? What do we mean by “important”?
??? Do you agree with this theory?
Criticism of Davis-Moore

They posit a utopia where everyone gets the position in which
they competed the hardest for (due to racism, class
constraints, etc)

Stratification need not be functional and work for the
betterment of society. Stratification can be “dysfunctional” and
lead to a less prosperous society.
How can stratification be dysfunctional?
(many modern scholars do not accept the idea that stratification
is always functional…instead concern themselves with how the
system is reproduced)
Theories of Reproduction

How do groups in power maintain their monopolization
of resources?
Theories look at the roles of…
1.
2.
3.
Institutions
Cultural patterns
Individual strengths/weaknesses
Theories of Reproduction - Institutions

Oliver and Shapiro – unfair housing practices have
systematically led blacks to get less from their home
investment…slaverly leads to less wealth investment over
time

Bowles and Gintis – schools reproduce inequality by (1)
setting up a system where failure in school justifies failure
in job market, and (2) different schools produce different
skills…leading to differences in occupations
Theories of Reproduction - Culture
Bourdieu and Cultural Capital
-
Cultural capital – knowledge, experience, and attitudes
one develops over a lifetime
The cultural capital of the upper classes is more valued
than the capital of the lower classes
How does one end up in a class (with more or less cultural
capital)?...
Theories of Reproduction - Culture
Produces Upper
and Lower Classes
Struggle over
Capital in Fields
People tend to
make class based
decisions keeping
them in same class
People born in
diff’t class have
diff’t habitus
Habitus orders
decisions made
Theories of Reproduction - Culture

Because of a person’s habitus (attitudes about life) they
tend to choose careers that reproduce their class
position…they tend to choose cultural activities that are
of their class…as a consequence they never increase
their cultural capital (or allow it to decrease)

What are some cultural activities of the “upper classes”?
Do you think that “upper classes” choose different
majors?
What about clothes?


Role of the Individual

Recall from the opening that sociologists constantly
struggle between privileging the role of structure or the
role of the individual. The prior theories focused on
structure.

Social constructionists privilege the individual

What do we mean by social construction?
Role of the Individual

An example of looking at inequality through how the
individual constructs their world…

Macleod’s Aint no Making It.

Case study suggesting that there is individual agency, and
that people can affect the structure that one is enmeshed
in
Labor Market Theories

Derived from economics

Focus on differences in income/wages
Labor Market Theories: Neo-Classical

The resources a person contributes to society receives a
wage equal to those resources

As demand for an individual’s skills increases, his wages
should increase (supply and demand model)

In this model, the way to combat poverty and inequality is
to invest more in training and education

This model seems logical…from your experiences, do you
think this model explains inequality?
Neo-Classical Model…Education and
Earnings
Labor Market Theories – NeoClassical


1.
2.
3.
It seems logical…but even with more people going to
college, there is MORE inequality in the US than ever
before….
There are some problems with the neoclassical model
when trying to explain the reproduction of inequality…
It cannot take into account discrimination
sex segregation
limits in opportunity for investment in human capital
Sociologists often turn to other models…
Dual Labor Market Thesis
Attempts to improve on the neoclassical model…



Why education and training programs do not reduce inequality
Why discrimination against minorities?
Why employers use education as a “screening device” to hire
culturally acceptable people?
Dual Labor Market Thesis
There are two qualitatively distinct labor markets (job
markets) in America. These two labor markets are
associated with two qualitatively distinct economic
sectors (industries).
Dual Labor Market Thesis
Primary Labor Market
Core/Monopoly Sector
•
•
•
•
Higher Wages
Benefits
Stable salaries
Human capital is important!
• Large corporations (Microsoft, Bank
of America)
• Large Industries (oil companies,
steel, auto)
Secondary Labor Market
Peripheral/Competitive Sector
• Low wages (determined by
hours worked…not education)
• Benefits are rare
• Salaries go up and down with
economy
• Less chance for advancement
• Smaller business (bodegas,
restaurants)
• Service industries (security jobs,
cleaning jobs, catering)
• More labor intensive
Dual Labor Market Thesis


Minorities and women are disproportionately found in the
secondary sector
There is very low movement between these labor markets.
Workers are poor not because they do not participate in the
economy, but because they are excluded from the benefits
found in the core/monopoly sector.
Arguments for the working poor and missing class focus on
the troubles that people have who work 9 to 5 in jobs that do
not provide the advantages of jobs in the core sector
Radical Perspective

Emphasis on the historical development of the labor
market (Marxist approach)
Development of Occupations
1. With the introduction of mass production, workers
were working side by side…this was a problem for
capitalists…why?
2. Capitalists promoted labor segmentation (managers,
administrators, and middle managers)
3. The growth of bureaucracy supported this labor
segemnations
Radical Perspective
Development of Dual Sectors (Historical Development)
1.
2.
The primary/core sector developed first (manufacture,
industry, banking)
Businesses developed around the primary sector.
Workers had disposable incomes and needed to be fed
(restaurants/deli)…the businesses needed to be cleaned
(housekeeping). Unlike the primary sector, these jobs
were seasonal or sporadic, as they depended upon the
fortunes of the primary sector.
End