...Social Inequality essay plans for Part b) 30 mark question Evaluate the usefulness of sociological explanations of ethnic inequalities.(30) Evaluate the view that society is institutionally racist (30) Adapt according to question given Introduction Ethnic inequalities are still significant in the UK – give a few examples. Suggest some explanations e.g Racism, Institutional racism, social class of ethnic minorities (Marxism), welfare dependency (New Right). This essay will identify and assess these explanations. AO1 Define types of Racism e.g Barker and new racism, institutional racism – McPhearson report on murder of stephen lawrence – racism in met police. Jenkins suggests recruitment to jobs is more word of mouth and disadvantages ethnic minorities. Modood 1994 28% of african caribbean people surveyed said they felt they had been refused a job on grounds of race. AO2 There are many government acts such as Race relations acts which should prevent discrimination AO2 However because racism is implicit (hidden) now it can be difficult to prove in court. AO1 Marxists such as Westergaard and Resler argue that race is a distraction from the real issue which is social class. It is capitalism which disadvantages certain groups and ethnic minorities are more likely to be in lower classes. AO2 However this ignores the existence of racism in society e.g in education where black boys have the highest exclusion rates in school. AO1 Another marxist explanation by Castles...
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...The growing problem of income inequality in New Zealand and around the world will have significant effects on the consumption or work, goods and services by myself and my family and society as a whole. This essay will discuss these effects on consumption should this inequality continue on its current path. I will begin by discussing income inequality and the evidence of it today and the issues that this inequality creates in society. The essay will then give an overview of my current position in society and the market and I will then discuss some issues and future implications of income inequality and how they will shape the consumption of work, goods and services by my family and myself. This section will also consider how the psychological aspects of consumption could be affected by income inequality and deal with the social ramifications of this inequality and look at any possible changes to our consumption from a cultural sense. This essay will argue that income inequality can have significant potential to change the future consumption of work, goods and services by myself and my family. The concept of income inequality is not new it has been discussed by politicians and economists for a number of years if not centuries, as the old adage says ‘the rich get richer the poor get poorer’. The ministry of social development defines it as, “The extent of disparity between high income and low income households” (Ministry of Social Development, 2010) and it essentially deals with...
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...Economy of Inequality Drivers of Inequality: socio-economic mechanisms Admin • Major Essay Guidelines in UoS pages 5-6 due Monday May 11th 40% of your total mark for ecop 2616 Submit on time. 2000 words maximum. Penalty for longer essays Prepare carefully What is required? • Critical review of the content of the book, not the author! • Locate the ‘field data’ (your book) within the conceptual, historical and empirical material covered in the course material. • Book summaries receive zero marks. Intro: (1) Short précis of the book. ‘This book covers….” (2) outline the specific issues/concerns that your essay will address; (3) identify the theoretical, conceptual, historical or empirical frameworks covered in the course material that you will use to interpret and critically evaluate the dynamics of inequality highlighted in your book. Body: • a coherent and well organised discussion of the issues you have elected to focus on. • Your argument must be substantiated in a proper academic manner. Use sub-headings if they help organise your ideas. Conclusion: • summary of your argument and any outstanding issues. Where are we up to? • Weeks 1-3: theoretical questions • Weeks 5-7: historical and contemporary patterns of distribution • Weeks 8-11: causal mechanisms • Weeks 12-13: alternatives and conclusion. The cumulative character of inequality • Consequences of inequality often become causes of inequality. - eg labour...
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...Inequalities, both domestic and global, illuminate the inevitability and functionality of stratification. Discuss. The title of this essay covers a very wide topic of stratification, and in this essay I will look at the many different forms of stratification that exist both at home here in Ireland and also on a worldwide scale, but to begin with I’m going to describe and define what stratification really means. In short stratification is basically how society ranks in hierarchy, which in detail means the vertical or hierarchical division of society according to rank, class or caste. Caste is defined as “a form of social stratification based on inherited status or ascription.” and this definition goes on to say that “ones social destiny is determined at birth with no chance or opportunity to change this class you have been born into.1”. It remains to be argued whether this statement is true or false, ! ! personally I think it is possible to change class or to move up or down a social class. Yes ones social destiny is determined at birth but it is possible to move up and down the social class ladder, all it takes is determination. Although if one is to begin at the bottom of the ladder, born into a family with harsh surroundings, it will be much harder to move up the ranks, as your success largely depends on your cultural background. If there is no one around you to support you with your studies or with any educational things you may be interested in, then doing any of...
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...Income inequality is one of the big issues in 21st century. Unequal distribution of income in society is considered to be an obstacle to economic growth. The income allocation of a country’s population can be measured by a Gini coefficient. The value of Gini coefficient can be between 0 and 1 and used to define the income gap between the rich and the poor. The value 0 shows perfect equality and value 1 illustrates perfect inequality. The US can be an example of country with high income inequality. The US Gini coefficient has risen by 20% between 1979 and 2010 (Frizell, 2014). Factors like family structure (i.e. how many earners are there in family), technology (i.e. changes the way that we live), and immigration (i.e. changes the supply of...
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...In ground and bottom, it does not matter if someone is white or black, American or Hispanic, we are all the same. Is it right to judge people by the color of their skin? Is treating people equally regardless of race somehow a paragon of inequality? Unfortunately, in today’s society we are judging people by the color of their skin, and not from their country of origin, ethnicity or biological. The American dream is based on the idea that; America where no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you come from, no matter what your last name is, no matter who you love, you can make it here if you try. While the United States was built on this idea, it is becoming harder and harder for people to move up in social status...
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...Social Inequality Unit 04 [pic] What are Marxist theories of inequality? Learning targets: • Marxism is concerned for the poor and powerless. • It claims that society is in conflict between the rich who control everything and the poor who must work for the rich and gain little in reward for their work. • The rich are able to maintain their position of power through control of the law, the police and other forms of authority. • The rich also control the manufacture of ideas about society through controlling the media and education so poor people are taught to believe that capitalism is a good thing. Key questions (AO1) What is the Marxist view of society? (AO1) What causes inequality according to Marxists? (AO2) What are the strengths of the Marxist view? (AO2) What are the weaknesses of the Marxist view of inequality? Summary of Key Points Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) was an economist, philosopher and journalist who was motivated by concern for workers who were experiencing terrible poverty while all around was great wealth and power. He was a revolutionary who believed in working for a classless society. Marxism was not a powerful force in sociology until the 1960s and 1970s when it formed the basis of a challenge to functionalism. It offered a better account of the divisions of society at that time than functional sociology did. Marxism also triggered many of the ideas that were...
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...Paul Krugman begins this article by asking the audience why rising inequality matters. This positions him to lead into the reasons why it is important to lower and middle class American’s. Coupled with his examples of importance, he suggests policy reform to help fix these issues. Krugman believes the middle class is disintegrating; he uses a simple quote from Thomas Jefferson to bring forward the idea that men who believed the middle class to be the most important part of the nation founded our country. He addresses the opposition that economic inequality is now balanced by social equality. Moving forward he breaks down the argument with the fact that middle class parents are willing to indebt themselves more than ever before in order to...
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...Assess the usefulness of Marxist approaches to crime In this essay I will be discussing the usefulness of Marxist approaches to crime. Marxists believe that the law is part of the superstructure which is used to socialise people therefore, benefiting capitalises. They argue that the law is only enforced on the working and middle class in order to maintain power of the ruling class. On the other hand, Marxists have been criticised by Neo-Marxists. Marxists state that laws maintain capitalist as capitalists define what behaviours are seen as criminal and not criminal. Chambliss supports this as he stated that that the law need to look at decision and non-decision making, this refers to categorising what is seen as criminal behaviour and what is not. There are certain behaviours aren’t defined as criminal because they help maintain wealth and power of the ruling class in society for example, cigarettes aren’t classed as criminal even though they are taxed and kill thousands every year. Snider also supports this as he believes the government are reluctant to pass laws which put capitalist profits at threat. A criticism of Marxism is that they focus on class inequality too much and ignore other inequalities relating to things like ethnicity and gender. From a feminist perspective Marxists ignore the role of patriarchy and how that influences the criminal justice system. For example, Durkheim argues that crime is needed in society to help individuals be aware of what is right...
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...Social class Murray Chapter 8 July 3rd – 2nd exam- Tuesday June 21st class cancelled Social class and stratification in Canada Essay topics 1250 words, 5-10 references 1. Sociological Imagination” of your life, gender, family, ses, ethnic, migration 2. Sociological Analysis of a current event Toronto star – police violence, poverty , loss ofmanufacturing jobs 3 other topics of personal interest or HR Interest Annotated bibliography due July 10l 50 – 150 words on 4 research sources; proposal includes theses and outline What does sociology know about this Chapter focus: how are the lives of Canadians affected by social inequality how do prestige , power and wealth determine socialclass? What roles does occuptational structure play in a functionalist perspective What is social stratification? the hierarchical arragngement of a large social groups based on their control over basic resources “Life changes” the extent to which individuals have access to important societal resources such as food, clothing, shelter, education and health (102) Stratification systems are described as being closed or open closed: the boundaries between levels in the hierarchies of social stratification are rigid and peoples position are set by ascribed status Open: the boundaries between levels in the hierarchies of social stratification are flexible and may be influenced (positively and negatively) by people’s achieved status Social mobility the movement of individuals...
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...King’s use of pathos created a personal connection with the audience. His pathos provoked rage and motivation, causing his readers to agree that the American Dream is alive, evolved and attainable. His targeted audience for this essay would be the middle to lower class, who themselves are either chancing the American Dream, or have lost all faith in it. He uses a sustainable emotion to create a personal connection with his readers, persuading them to agree and believe in his argument. “Many liberal economists and activists say that the American Dream is dead, but I say that it’s more alive and important than ever- and that it is the key to climbing out of the Great Recession, overcoming inequality and achieving true prosperity.” (611,1) The...
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...Outline and assess postmodernist explanation of age inequality (40 marks) Age explanations have changed over the years and various sociological theories have different explanation on age inequality. In this essay I’m going to analyse various explanation on age inequality by weberians, Marxist, functionalists and postmodernist. Postmodernist are the only theory which is applicable to today’s world. Postmodernists believe that age inequalities have been blurred due to various explanations. Jane Pilcher states that modernity and industrialisation are responsible for the low status of both young and old within society, as they have both been excluded from the workplace. The boundaries are becoming now blurred however, people are not acting in the way that they are expected to. Stages in the life course can no longer be clearly identified. Medical advances have lead to Ivf leads to older pregnancies, cosmetic surgery allows people to look younger for longer period of time, and children dress almost identical to adults. Various of phrases have even be developed to describe the blurring of age groups such as mutton dressed as lamb to describe the older ages dressing more younger. People now have choice in how age will affect their life. Pilcher however acknowledges that age inequality does still exist although she states that it is becoming less rigid. This belief can be supported by another postmodernist such as Featherstone and Hepworth as they go on to suggests that the...
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...Outline and assess postmodernist explanation of age inequality (40 marks) Age explanations have changed over the years and various sociological theories have different explanation on age inequality. In this essay I’m going to analyse various explanation on age inequality by weberians, Marxist, functionalists and postmodernist. Postmodernist are the only theory which is applicable to today’s world. Postmodernists believe that age inequalities have been blurred due to various explanations. Jane Pilcher states that modernity and industrialisation are responsible for the low status of both young and old within society, as they have both been excluded from the workplace. The boundaries are becoming now blurred however, people are not acting in the way that they are expected to. Stages in the life course can no longer be clearly identified. Medical advances have lead to Ivf leads to older pregnancies, cosmetic surgery allows people to look younger for longer period of time, and children dress almost identical to adults. Various of phrases have even be developed to describe the blurring of age groups such as mutton dressed as lamb to describe the older ages dressing more younger. People now have choice in how age will affect their life. Pilcher however acknowledges that age inequality does still exist although she states that it is becoming less rigid. This belief can be supported by another postmodernist such as Featherstone and Hepworth as they go on to suggests that the...
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...that the ruling class or 'bourgeoisie' rule the workers or 'proletariat'. • The bourgeoisie have the wealth and the power to rule. The proletariat are exploited because they are not treated fairly. • Marxists argue that the education system plays a key role in disseminating the ideology of the ruling class. • Education acts as a force of oppression for the children of the working classes Key questions (AO1) What do Marxists believe? (AO1) How do Marxist theories apply to the education system? (AO2) What strengths are there to the Marxist view of education system? (AO2) How have Marxist views been criticised by other writers? Summary of key points Marxists see capitalist society as being ruled by the economy. The minority, the ruling class or 'bourgeoisie' rule the majority, namely the workers or 'proletariat'. The bourgeoisie have the wealth and the power to rule. The proletariat are exploited because they are not treated fairly. This is the basis of class inequality. Institutions such as organised religion, the mass media, the political and the education systems all reinforce the ideology that the rich and powerful should control society. They promote an ideology or belief that our society is fair and just and that the proletariat should quietly accept capitalist society. Marxists argue that the education system plays a key role in promoting the ideology of the ruling class. Traditionally...
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...Academic essay Universally, it is almost an obligation for every government to ensure that its citizens have access to education. However, despite this expectation, the ability to have access to education in different parts of the world is still difficult. It is essential to promote education so as to enhance equal attainment of opportunities. The right to education has been influenced by a number of policies, globally; the right to education is spelt out in chapter 26 in the Universal Human Right Declaration. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also elaborates on the need for global education. In a nutshell, education can be used in any county to promote equality in accessing different opportunities. For instance, taking a look on imperialism days, the whites were using education as a tool to acquire more opportunities than the black. They believed that it was through education that the blacks would be in opposition to oppose them. This is because they would be enlightened and hence demand for equality (Douglas, 1845). Precisely, the purpose of this essay is to discuss how access to education is significant in enhancing equality of opportunity in the current Australia. The discussion begins by describing the role that education and training has in our society today. Furthermore, the discussion will outline different social groups and the way different factors influence the way they get access to education in different forms. This paper also explores...
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