Summary: Social Inequalities Of The Ws

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• Two type of matching processes

  First, different rewards are attached to different positions in society.
  Then members of society are allocated to these different positions and rewarded according to these positions

• Grusky's four parameters of how much social inequality there is

  - Degree of rigidity
  - Degree of crystallization
  - Degree of inequality
  - Role of ascriptive processes

• Role of ascriptive processes

  How do acribed characteristics (presented at birth) influence one's social standing?

• Class system, Grusky's parameters

  Assets: economic, means of production
  Strata: capitalists and workers
  Inequality: medium-high
  Rigidity: medium-high
  Crustallization: high
  Justifying ideology: classical liberalism

• Elements of the functionalist perspective

  Functionalists see society as a body: all parts work together for the whole (one common interest)
  
  Inequality is therefore seen as the necesaary outcome of rewuirements of social class systems.
  
   a necessity to let society run smooth.
  it is functional:
  - rewards reflect the importance of positions in society
  - differences in rewards are created because skills are scarce and investment in training is needed
  - these differences are needed to make occupations attractive to people. to make sure talented people will invest in obtaining a high positions

• Rewards are determined by (D&M)

  - the scarcity of the personnel for a certain position
  - the importance of a certain position for society

• Arguments against the Davis and Moore thesis

  Meta theoretical:
  It is an ideology rather than a theory
  
  Theoretical: Neglects the dysfunctional elements. inequality is rather a source of conflict.
  
  Emperical: in relaity, there is no relation between rewards and the importance of a position.
  Some talented people cannot afford to become qualified
  Network matters
  Not everybody is motivated by money

• relation between importance and rewards emperically

  Relation between importance and rewards:
  

  • Some important functions are not rewarded. (university teacher?)
  • Some unimportant functions are highly rewarded. (consultants, legal advisors, notary)
  • Some equally important functions are differently rewarded. (different medical

            specialists)
  

  • Do not the rewards create the importance? (reverse relationship)

  Perceived importance also determined by the rewards! So the rewards are not determined by their importance.

• elements of conflict sociology

  inewuality is seen as the outsome of concrete struggles between classes.
  
  here there is no common interests of functionality, inewuality is rather seen as a danger of society and needs to be overcome. different interests groups divide society
  education systems prepare students for the market, therefore education reproduces inequality

• closure theory by Weeden

  Why are some occupations more rewarded than others?
  
  An individuals' interests can be nehanced not only by their attainment of a high position in society but also by the collective upgrading of their position in society
  
  the greater extent of closure, the higher the rewards attached to that position. 
  
  social groups can create social and legal barriers that restrict acces to resources and opportunities to a limited circle of eligibles.