...Running head: Social Inequalities: Race, Gender, and Age Discrimination Social Inequalities: Race, Gender, and Age Discrimination Austin M. Quick Grand Canyon University SOC 220 May 9, 2010 Social Inequalities: Race, Gender, and Age Discrimination In exploring the reasons that race, gender, and age discrimination occur in American society, this writer came upon an article entitled “Race, Gender, and Workplace Power” written by James R. Elliot and Ryan A. Smith, that helped formulate the reasons these social inequality issues happen in modern American society. The article helps clarify how many stumbling blocks we face as an American society in rectifying these issues as a whole. In reading this article, we all realize that race, gender, and workplace power has played a key role in society for decades and will always play a part in today’s world, whether we admit it or not. This article state how people struggle in life or rise to the top easily. A race, gender, and workplace power effect limits the rise of good, stable jobs, housing, and income. The rules are sometimes hidden to help people that are not educated enough to hold the positions (James R. Elliot and Ryan A. Smith, Race, Gender, and Workplace Power, 2004). For example, a company has an employee who has worked in the same position for five or more years. This employee has proved that they possess leadership skills and happen to the family member of someone in upper management. A...
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...“Wage Inequality” Centuries ago, it was socially and economically fit for the woman of the house to stay home adhering to household duties while the man of the house went out into the working world, being the sole bread-winner supporting the family. The “Leave it to Beaver” days are a product of the past, nearing ancient artifact status. Now, over half of the mothers and adolescents are forced to work outside of the home just to makes ends meet. This scenario forces children to day-long child care settings while both parents spend half of their days working to put food on the table. Financial stability is a necessity in this growing world thereby adding a great deal of stress onto those who are less fortunate. What constitutes for social inequality categorizing some as being financially less fortunate? In our society the “poor” usually account for either the homeless/jobless or those who have jobs that are far less skill-demanding such as a janitor or waiter. To a functionalist, a janitor may still make a contribution to society- but a lot less deserving of high wages such as an attorney, etc. This inequality is undeniable and still a functioning part of society. The conflict theory focuses on the competition between classes of society for these resources in an effort to maintain power and prestige. The capitalists battle with the under-class workers for control. “The United States has the fastest growing population by far and the greatest disparity between CEO pay...
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...Inequalities in Society P1 The society that we live in today isn’t equal, inequalities can be seen in every corner of the earth and there are a whole multitude of different explanations and factors that are causing this. When we talk about an unequal society we are referring to the why one person can and will achieve things such as obtaining their dream job and or fulfilling their lives ambition. But another person with just as much drive and determination, ability and intelligence as the previously stated, one who is equal to any other but does not live a life that holds the same opportunities as everyone else. For a very basic example we state that individuals of different ethnicity will have their thoughts and desires held at higher or lesser importance purely because of where they are from, this is called marginalisation. Stereotyping and prejudices are often interlinked but they are different and both play the part in inequalities, stereotyping being the act of assuming an idea and or image of something or someone while prejudice is a preconceived idea or perception that is formed without any actual experience. Discrimination and labelling are also major factors that can breed inequality, treating somebody different or valuing them differently based on a specific factor about them or assigning them to a category for the same reasons. From all of the above people can develop an attitude towards and person or thing, an example of this would be that say an individual is...
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...Social Inequality What is social inequality? What are the sources of social inequality? For me, social inequality cannot be described in one sentence. Factors such as race, wealth, class, gender, age, among others all play roles into why people can sometimes be treated unfairly. However before I introspectively reflect on social inequality, there is one theory that suggests where today’s society is heading for me. Karl Marx is known as a prominent economic and political influence that lived during the 19th century. Marx’s theory of stratification is very applicable to where society, especially in the United States, is heading today. According to Marx, society would become divided into two classes, the dominant capitalist or the working class. Essentially the capitalists consist of the owners of production within a country while the working class consists of the laborers. This represents uneven distribution of wealth and resources, which creates a system of stratification. According to Professor Domhoff of the University of California, the top 20% of the workforce owned 89% of all privately held wealth in the United States as of 2010. There is already a large gap between social classes and will only continue to get worse if we continue down the same path as a nation. Whether through higher taxes on the wealthy or tax breaks on the working class, the gap needs to be closed. Money is king of today’s society whether people want to admit it or not. For me I think the uneven...
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...The greatest challenge to the US in the future is social inequality. In American society, the three most important cultural factors are freedom, independence and equality. However, with the popularity of democracy and equality in America, many American people have suffered a severe inequality. In fact, over 80% of wealth is in the hands of 20% population. It is well-known money stands power and social status. However, it creates corruption, which will break American democracy and freedom. From the economic perspective, American government cannot control American fate totally. The central bank in America is the tool of wealthy group to accumulate capital and resource, which would worsen the economic situation of American citizens and the whole...
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...Income Inequality in America is a problem that’s been going on for decades, and many feel that it hardly exists, the many people that feel that way are highly uneducated, and seem to not really care about this tremendous problem that in one’s eyes really has no end in the near future, in fact it has been gradually rising and one feels that it’s just not fair. Unfortunately, there’s not much that can be done, only of course if the poor class of people decide to actually educate themselves and get a higher education. One says poor class, simply because that’s how they’re classified. There are five types of levels that Americans are classified as, and they are: 1. Upper Class, 2. Upper Middle Class, 3. Middle Class, 4. Working Class, 5. Poor. The highest percentage of Americans fall in the Poor department, and it has been that way for decades, and will continue to be that way for decades to come. It’s as if it has been programmed to be that way. The explanation of the Distribution of Wealth, Distribution of Income, Poverty and other topics that have to do with this saddening subject will be argued and clearly clarified for the reader. Income- money, or other benefit, periodically received; the amount so received. Inequality- differences between groups in wealth, status, or power. “Why are some men rich and others poor? The question has baffled philosophers for centuries, and modern economics has not taken us very far towards an answer either “(Jencks, Christopher). Still, we have...
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...fundamental spirit of American culture is social mobility, where it used to be a place of opportunity for the hard working people to find a successful life. However, since the early 1980’s income inequality has been increasing rapidly as proved by the forever widening gap between the country productivity and hourly earnings of a typical American worker. In fact, according to the Congressional Budget Office income distribution report, from 1979 to 2007 the average real after-tax household income growth for the top 1 percent was 275% while the middle class income growth stagnated under 40%, and this situation is only going to get worst according to empirical evidence. In other words, America is now a country regardless of how hard you are working, most of the gain form the productivity that the laborers contributed is only going...
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...The father of the very important social idea, social conflict, is Karl Marx. Karl Marx brought a social revolution with his idea. Social Conflict has to do with inequality of people. The theory is that social groups are unequal and that the higher up social groups with more material and nonmaterial things use the social power to exploit the lesser social groups. Social Conflict theory revolves around many things such as political and economic standings. Other things that matter could be race and gender. The social group that could be deemed as the higher up in our society could be middle aged white males. All these ideas about inequality from Karl Marx brought about a revolution with Marxism. Marxism was Karl Marx’s solution found in his Social...
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...A Presidential candidate must have intentions of narrowing the wage gap between corporate CEO’s and their employees in order for my vote to be casted for him or her. Inequality between citizens is a growing problem that needs to be addressed in our nation. According to Robert Reich, former United States Secretary of Labor under the Clinton administration, the financial top 1% in the United States takes in an increasingly larger annual income in comparison to the other 99% of Americans, whose wages remain relatively stagnant. Financial inequality comes with an inherent danger of bleeding through into social inequality in the form of severely contrasting classes. Healthy U.S. economy comes from a strong middle class. Consumer demand is crucial to the economic well-being of our country, however the bulk of consumers are not earning much and therefore not spending much. This lack of consumption leads to a slow in hiring and expansion. Reagan’s failed plan of trickle-down economics was a stark contrast to this reality. Not only that, but middle class is often forced to take loans in order to buy necessities and maintain a standard of living; and the debt grows in middle class while the top 1% is able to hold onto their money. Due to...
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...Lien Centre for Social Innovation Social Insight Research Series Inequality, Poverty and Unmet Social Needs in Singapore A Handbook on A Handbook on Inequality, Poverty and Unmet Social Needs in Singapore Lien Centre for Social Innovation CATHERINE J. SMITH (Additional research and writing by John Donaldson, Sanushka Mudaliar, Mumtaz Md Kadir and Yeoh Lam Keong) As this handbook is intended to provide an overview of the arguments of others, the role of the authors largely consisted of compiling, arranging, and contextualizing. Further, the ideas expressed herein, which are various and often contradictory, do not necessarily represent the views of the handbook’s authors, or of the staff and Board of the Lien Centre for Social Innovation. Copyright © March, 2015 by Lien Centre for Social Innovation. All rights reserved. Published by the Lien Centre for Social Innovation Singapore Management University, Administration Building, 81 Victoria Street, Singapore 188065 www.lcsi.smu.edu.sg No part nor entirety of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without the prior written permission of the Lien Centre. Readers should be aware that internet websites offered as citations and/ or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it was read. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and authors...
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...However, many of such explanations tend to be mostly speculative and they often fail to provide a consistent account of the causes of the riots based on solid evidence (the LSE/theguardian, 2011, Solomos, 2011). Against this background this essay attempts to disentangle the motives of the London 2011 riots, by focusing on the relations of causality between factors and events that led to the burst of the unrest. It argues that urban social inequalities as well as uneven processes of exclusion and inclusion of a marginalised class are the main factor underlying the disturbances. Yet this essay claims that these riots need also to be analysed in the very specific context in which they have arisen: the financial crisis, a society which is becoming increasingly consumerist in its orientation, the disputable role of the police, loss of faith in the political class and hopelessness towards the future amongst the urban youth. In the first part this essay analyses inequality indicators and trends embracing the multidimensional nature of social inequality (Bradley, 1996)....
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...Social inequalities include gender roles, social class, race, intelligence, and much more. Without these differences we wouldn’t be ourselves or our own person. As a society, we bring new ideas, customs, and standards. Authors use a variety of literary devices to teach us about our social inequalities. For instance, Kurt Vonnegut, uses imagery and flashbacks to show us severe equality. In his story, “Harrison Bergeron,” he uses vivid detail to describe what it looks and feels like to the characters to wear handicappers to neutralize their society. The handicappers in the story forces the characters to be equal to everyone. Vonnegut uses flashbacks from Harrison getting taken away to show how aggressive the government can be when dealing with someone who has different morals and beliefs. This tells you how much hatred and abandonment that comes from the government when they want society to be equal. On the other hand, Katherine Mansfield, uses point of view and imagery to show inequality of social classes. In the story, “The Dollhouse,” the author uses third person omniscient point of view to show us the thoughts of characters of different social classes. From Aunt Beryl’s point of view, you can see how she felt the need to disparage anyone of the lower class,...
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...7 up Social Inequality and Social Class- Response The clip of the film “7 Up” that we watched in class exemplifies the diversity of futures that are provided for people, depending on their socioeconomic status. “7 Up” proves that children from families that are affluent tend to have greater opportunities. The children Paul and Simon were raised in orphanages that were supported by charities. Interestingly, the portion of the film when higher education was discussed these children had no plans for furthering their education and one of them did not even understand what the word meant. By taking children from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds such as upper class or working class, we are able to visualize the differences between opportunities....
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...Outline and Asses Functionalist explanations of social inequality (40marks) Functionalism is a concencus theory that focused on the unity and harmony of society. Functionalists believe that society is a system that works together in order for it to funtction. Inequality is the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions in a society and recurrent patterns of unequal distributions of goods, wealth, opportunities etc. There are many types of inequality such as social class inequality, gender inequality, age inequality and ethnicity inequality. Functionalists believe that these inequalities do exist and that they are beneficial to the society and are vital for society to function. Parsons states that we need order, stability and cooperation based on a value consensus. He believes that the relationship between the different groups is one of reciprocity. This means that the different groups are good because they share a give and take relationship and are useful to each other. Parsons also talks about stratification systems (which is the existence of different layers in society)as inevitable and functional, we need this hierarchy in order to survive. Davis and Moore also look at the stratifications system and argue that it occurs in every known society and that in order for the stratification system to work we must have effective role allocation. Role allocation ensures that the roles in society are filled by those who are best suited to them...
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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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