Deck 10: Contemporary Explanations of Inequality

Question 1

When examining a society with a functionalist framework, what do we see?

A) A functional perspective views societies as social systems that have certain basic problems to solve (motivation, apathy) or functions that have to be performed if the society is to survive.
B) The functionalist perspective looks at individuals and their roles in making the society work.
C) The functional perspective considers foremost the role of individual differences in qualities (traits, talents, education, etc.).
D) Functions in society are positionally ranked.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

As did Durkheim, Davis and More saw that an unequal distribution of rewards was necessary for a well-ordered society, for certain individual to do certain tasks or to do more than others. Does inequality serve a function then?

A) Yes, social inequality ensures that the most important positions are conscientiously filled by the most qualified persons.
B) No, because it subtracts from the self-respect and ego expansion of others and that leads to anomie.
C) No, because this leads to societal stratification and dysfunctional forms of inequality.
D) Yes, as long the inequality finds social "agreement," that is, we allow for a person to be paid a million to be a CEO because her function deserves such a salary.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

One of the main problems of the Davis-Moore Theory can be seen in the example of a CEO who requires a $1 million salary. What is their yardstick for the CEO's functional necessity?

A) There are no functional alternative to the CEO position, and the CEO is needed for other positions to function.
B) Performing a subjective evaluation of the CEO-ship.
C) Can another person do the job? If supply outstrips demand, then the necessity, too, is reduced.
D) Hierarchies are required to give those employees in lower positions an objective standard.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What other weakness can be found in the Davis-Moore theory?

A) Such real-world considerations as nepotism and favoritism did not factor enough into how functions are actually assigned and rewarded.
B) The lack of opportunity there really is for the lower strata.
C) Davis and Moore simply wanted to present a utopia, a goal for society, much as Marx did.
D) The determinants of reward and function are ultimately corrupted over time and societies collapse.

Question 5

Tumin noted in Davis and Moore that stratification weakens the self-image of those at the bottom. How might full equality weaken self-image, too?

A) Talented and unrewarded individuals would suffer feelings of inequity.
B) They would suffer their failures acutely and blame the system.
C) They would not be full participants and feel less loyal to the society and less inclined to help those above them.
D) Like stratification, full equality would punish talent. Instead of wealth and power, there would mandated set-asides.

Question 6

A social constructionist approach looks at what first in explaining how as well as why inequality is produced?

A) As a micro-level phenomenon, that is, how and why inequality is produced by and among individuals.
B) The way individuals interact with groups.
C) The way groups condition individuals to produce and perpetuate inequality.
D) As a macro-level phenomenon, that is, how and why inequality is produced by and among groups.

Question 7

Which of the following describes the primary mechanism that transforms race and gender into subjective rankings that are higher or lower in status and so produce inequalities?

A) When there is a correlation between a valued/devalued quality that takes on a status value in social situations.
B) When enough interactions occur for a status value to become permanent and transferable.
C) The process of individuals carrying their prejudices from one social situation to another.
D) When people of higher social status invent the status for those under them.

Question 8

What does it mean when people are "doing race" or "doing gender" from a sociological perspective?

A) They engage in learned behaviors and conversations that create or reinforce differences between groups.
B) They learn the terms, definitions, classifications, and so forth that proliferate in society.
C) They mimic a special kind of language and set of actions suited for their race and ethnicity.
D) People act Black or White and how to act when with a Black or a White. This paradigm would include other races and ethnicities as well.

Question 9

Tilly identifies two mechanisms that produce "durable" inequality, exploitation and opportunity hoarding. What is the latter and how does it relate to exploitation?

A) The deprivation of access of other groups or categories of people to valued resources. To have access, one must exchange something (e.g. work, money) for it (i.e. be exploited).
B) Valued resources, such as money and labor, which are exchanged for what one "buys," which can be anything from consumer goods to police protection (that is, exploitation).
C) Those things people need, which can be determined by race and gender and what they will do anything for.
D) Opportunity hoarding is the pool of jobs that can be held back and sold, much like in market capitalism, for anything a have wants from a have not.

Question 10

What does a social reproduction theory seek to explain?

A) Social reproduction theory explains how institutions perpetuate the social relationships and attitudes needed to sustain the existing relations of production in a capitalist society.
B) Social reproduction theory is a Marxian conflict model that explains how individuals, with and without power, spread the language and behavior that engender status and inequality and thereby reproduces entire societies of inequality.
C) Social reproduction theory looks at institutions, culture, and individuals as perpetuators of Marxian class conflict.
D) Social reproduction is the way institutions are exponentially established in order to exploit individuals on a scale that prevents them from challenging the status quo.

Question 11

How do schools function as a means of social reproduction?

A) Schools train, reward, and sort students into social classes and for future roles in a "justified" capitalist society.
B) Schools mirror the workplace in such a way that students are acclimated for capitalism the moment they graduate.
C) Students are managed, leveraged into the roles that make them useful. Students who refuse to be useful are leveraged out. In this way, inequalities are both established and perpetuated.
D) The schools harness the creative power and intelligence of their students and channel them to serve the interest of the oppressor.

Question 12

In Bourdieu's theory of social reproduction, what is an individual's habitus?

A) It is a worldview that embodies the observable conditions in which one lives.
B) Simply put, one's life conditions that are acceptable and maintained.
C) A complex of habits and a corresponding sense of place that conditions thinking.
D) It is a constraining effect on a person's willingness to challenge authority, oppressors, even himself, because it would make his life unstable.

Question 13

The essential premise of neoclassical labor market theories is that "you take out what you put in"? What makes this unrealistic in practice?

A) It assumes one can invest in her human capital investments (education, training, and so) and get back an occupation irrespective of the labor market.
B) It assumes that everyone is White and male and leaves out the systemic inequalities and a real marketplace that limits opportunities.
C) This would only work if there were always seller's market for one's services.
D) This adage is utopian and leaves out scarcity and functional-importance factors.

Question 14

In dual labor market theories, the primary labor market is limited to a certain sector of the private economy. What is another name for this market and an illustrative industry or company?

A) a core sector such as BNSF Railway
B) a core economy such as steel
C) a monopoly economy, such as the electric power grid corporations
D) a core sector, such as retail (e.g. Federated Department Stores)

Question 15

What theories of global inequality describe a core group of countries (which control the world economy), and periphery nations (which provide labor, natural resources, and services)?

A) dependency and world system theories
B) world system and multinational exploitation theories
C) multinational and transnational theories
D) Marxian theory