| SOC 435: Social Inequality, Fall 2002
OFFICE: Faner 3432, PHONE: 453-7629 OFFICE HOURS: T,W,Th 12:00-2:00 p.m. or by appointment Texts: Hurst, Charles E.: Social Inequality - Forms, Causes, and Consequences. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon 2001 Shapiro, Thomas M. (ed.): Great Divides, Readings in Social Inequality in the United States. 2nd ed. Mountain View: Mayfield, 2001 Materials on Reserve in the Library Topical Outline “Social inequality” refers to the unequal allotment, among a society’s individuals and families/households, of the advantages and burdens whose distribution is influenced by the society’s social and cultural structures. Concretely this inequality comprises many things, such as suffering from specific illnesses, having to sit in the back of the bus, dying a violent death, being excluded from priesthood, attending college, feeling good about one’s self, winding up in a particular type of occupation, but directly or indirectly all seem to reflect the impact of three major factors: money, political control of institutions, and dominant ideas about human worth. The set of social arrangements determining people’s unequal access to money, political representation, and the high regard bestowed on individuals deemed superior, may therefore be considered the foundation of social inequality. Besides providing information about the many manifestations of social inequality, particularly in the United States, this course aims above all to increase students’ understanding of the operation of the underlying social arrangements. To this end, a fair amount of time will be devoted to the discussion of various theories advanced in the literature to explain this complex configuration of phenomena. Week 1: Social Structure and Social Inequality - Some Remarks on the Sociological Approach Required reading: Hurst, chapter 1 and 11 Shapiro, selections 1, 2 Weeks 2-4: The Distribution of Income and Wealth in the U.S. Shapiro, selections 3, 4, 23, 31 Week 5: Poverty Required Readings: Hurst, chapter 16 Shapiro, selections 22, 24 Essay #1 Weeks 6-7 Marx’s Theory of Capitalist Development Required Reading: Hurst, chapter 9, pp 168-177 Shapiro, selection 5 Richard F. Hamilton: The Bourgeois Epoch, pp 4-9 (on reserve) Week 8: The Debate over the Middle Classes Required Reading: Michael D. Grimes: Class in the Twentieth-Century American Sociology. New York: Praeger, 1991. Pp 168-195 (on reserve) Barbara and John Ehrenreich: “The Professional-Managerial Class.” Radical America 11 #2 (March-April 1977):7-31; 11#3 (May-June 1977): 7-22 (on reserve) Week 9: Human Capital and Segmented Labor Markets Required Reading: Hurst, chapter 10, pp 190-195 Shapiro, selections 7, 8 Essay #2 Week 10: Social Mobility and Status Attainment Required Reading: Hurst, chapter 13 Shapiro, selections 9, 10, 42 Week 11: Political Power and Organization Shapiro, selection 19 Week 12: Who Rules? Politics and Class Struggle Required Reading: Hurst, chapters 12, 15 Shapiro, selection 21 Week 13: Functional Theory of Stratification and the Measurement of Social Status Required Reading: Hurst, chapter 3 Shapiro, selection 10 Week 14: Life Style and Social Worth Required Reading: Hurst, chapters 5 and 6 Shapiro selection 15 Week 15: Gender Inequality; Racial Inequality Required Reading: Hurst chapters 4, 6 Shapiro, selections 26, 29, 30, 32, 34, 35, 40 Essay #3 Basis for grade in course: Attendance, 25% (decrease of one letter grade for every five unexcused absences). Essay #1, 25% (10 page paper describing wealth and income distributions) Essay #2, 25% (10 page paper on Marx’s view of capitalism) Essay #3, 25% (10 page paper on social status inequality, based on lecturers and readings). There is no opportunity for extra credit. Graduate students must write
an additional paper on a subject of their choice (after consulting with
the instructor). |