Subject 4. Social structure and stratification

Occupation purpose: studying of theories of an origin of an inequality; analysis of various types of stratification systems; characteristic of stratification system of modern industrial society; formation of ideas of mobility and marginality; analysis of evolution of stratification system of the Kazakhstan society.

Basic concepts: inequality, stratification, class, middle class, social mobility, marginality.

Plan:

1. Social structure of society and its basic elements.

2. Historical types of stratification. Theories of stratification in the western sociology.

3. Classes in modern society and a tendency of their development.

Questions for reflection, self-examination and repetition:

1. What includes the concept "social structure of society"? What concepts of social structure of society you know?

2. What represents a public class? What reasons of division of society into the main and nonbasic classes, social groups?

3. What definition of classes was given by V. I. Lenin? As far as it is true and full?

4. What essence of stratification theories: criteria of division of society into the striations developed by T. Parsons, stratification according to L. Uorner, according to P. A. Sorokin?

5. Social equality has three important signs: equality before the law, equal opportunities, equality of results. What is it?

6. Than differ among themselves a social and economic inequality? How to measure that and another?

7. What role in society is played by middle class? Why its specific weight in Kazakhstan is less, than in the USA and Western Europe?

8. What is the political stratification? What lies in its basis? Characterize Weber's classification of the power.

9. What role in social structure of the Soviet society was played by the intellectuals? Who such "workers intellectuals"?

10. As described class structure of the Soviet society of A. Inkels.

11. What is the living wage and a consumer basket? How they characterize poverty? How the living minimum is measured?

12. What is the threshold of poverty and how it is established in the different countries?

13. Why scientists consider, what in the rich and stable countries one methods of measurement of poverty, and in poor and crisis – others are applicable?

14. What is the relative poverty? What methods of its measurement?

15. What is the elite and what function in society it carries out?

16. How the political elite in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan was formed?

17. Than businessmen and capitalists differ? Who treats a business layer in the Kazakhstan society?

18. In what process of degeneration of administrative elite is shown?

19. What is "a social bottom"? What makes related these phenomena?

20. Than differ individual and group mobility, structural and interclass, between - and intra-generation? Characterize types and types of social mobility known to you.

21. Explain contents of such terms as mobility scale, mobility coefficient, a mobility distance, mobility degree, mobility range.

22. How changed and than social mobility in the Soviet society was characterized? What happened to it in Post-Soviet society?

23. Characterize channels of vertical mobility.

24. Whether such phenomena how nomenclature career and group isolation are connected among themselves?

25. Who such outcasts and who gets to this category today?

Tasks and exercises:

1. Compare three signs of an economic inequality – the income, wealth and a salary. How with their help it is possible to express distinctions in a standard of living of the population?

2. Compare among themselves three models of dynamics of an inequality – G. Lenski, K. Marx and P. Sorokin. Than they differ and in what their similarity?

3. Characterizing structure of antique society, Platon allocated three classes (remember them). And what classes in the Russian society you can allocate? Characterize them.

4. At the time of Aristotle and Platon the highest class was allocated with huge privileges, it constantly abused the power. And how occurs today? In your opinion, something changed in regularities of development of human society for two and a half thousand years?

5. The question of a private property was brought up in the history of social thought repeatedly. Many thinkers considered her as a source of an inequality and the social evil, suggesting to abolish her. And what you think in this occasion? Relationship between people will improve if to replace private property public? Reason the point of view.

6. Having got acquainted with available historical literature, answer questions: What duties were assigned to each estate? What types of duties lay on peasants?

7. As you understand thought F. Tennis that estates are based on a community, and classes – on society. Reason the answer. Address to works F. Tennis.

8. Open essence of the functional theory of an inequality of K. Davies and U. Moore.

9. Describe a way of life, the income, living conditions, purchasing opportunities of two social classes (or two layers) at a free choice.

10. Open the maintenance of a scale of professional prestige in the USA. How you think why we have no such scale?

11. Characterize the main features of the theory of classes of K. Marx? In what you see its merits and demerits?

12. In what an essence of the theory of classes of M. Weber? What is the vital chances and a class situation? What three criteria are put by it in the basis of social stratification? Than classes and status groups differ?

13. Open the theory of a new class of A. Gouldner. What class he called "the cultural bourgeoisie"?

14. Try to understand, the following statement is true or false:

"The remains of a social inequality remain at socialism only because: level of production of goods is low, there are distinctions between intellectual and physical work, the city and the village, the principle of distribution on work isn't observed".

15. Offer ways, system of social actions by means of which it is possible to liquidate absolute poverty, relative poverty.

16. In what cases at the description of relative poverty it is possible to use comparison of financial position of the social group with (and) position of other social group, with position of the social group in the past?

17. According to some scientists, people grow poor not because of industrial backwardness of the country, and because of excessive oppression by their state. The state suppressing an initiative destroys middle class. And where there is no powerful middle class, polarization on poor and rich is stronger. As if you commented on this point of view?

18. T. Maltus considered: poverty – a consequence of excessive growth of the population. The poor are guilty of poverty. Helping poor, the state encourages growth of the population and by that increases poverty. It is necessary, he considers, to cancel the state subsidies, and about poor entirely to assign care to private charity foundations. Whether you agree with such opinion? Whether Maltus's recipe approaches Kazakhstan? J. S. Mill considered birth rate restriction with the best means of fight against poverty. What your opinion in this respect?

19. There are two opposite points of view on poverty. One consider: the more rich, the there are more than beggars. Others object: the more rich, the population in general, therefore, less poor and needing is richer. And how you think? Prove the point of view.

20. One experts believe that people fall into poverty voluntary: they are lazy diligent to work, do nothing to get out upward, reconcile, lower hands. Others think differently: poverty is a state in which the person gets besides the will and desire, especially to the periods of economic crises, destructive wars, natural disasters, large public transformations, and also a physical infirmity, disability, disability. What position, in your opinion, is fair?

21. Among sociologists of the XIX century there was also such point of view: poverty not only evil, but also benefit. It — a necessary element of strengthening of a social order as clears society, the nation, race, group of the least adapted. And what your point of view? Prove it.

22. Ask the parents and the senior relatives how there was at them a social mobility, what channels they used for ascension upward.

24. Characterize a migratory picture of modern Kazakhstan.

Literature:

1. Гидденс Э. Социология. М., 1999.

2. Кравченко А.И. Социология: Учебник для вузов. М., 2008.

3. Социология: Учеб. для вузов / Под ред. В.Н. Лавриненко. 2-е изд., перераб., доп., М., 2000.

4. Фролов С.С. Основы социологии: Учебное пособие. М., 2004.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14