This journal entry is to help you start thinking through stratification, as we head into the next couple weeks of class. Aim for a brief paragraph in response to each of the following questions.
Remember to cite connections to ideas you are using from our text (Connerly et al. 2021).
1) What is social stratification? What scenes from the Wealth Divide video most caught your attention, and why? How do those scenes help us understand stratification?
2) How could you connect any parts from the video to what we’re covering in class this week regarding class, stratification, mobility, or life chances? Be sure to explain what those terms mean as you discuss them.
3) What is the difference between social stratification in general and global stratification? How can they both affect life chances?
4) What scenes or parts most stood out to you in the video regarding global stratification, patterns, or relationships? How could you use ideas from Chapter 10 to talk about those parts? Again, be sure to explain any terms as you use them.
5) So far, do you find the conflict theory or structural functionalist take on social class stratification more convincing, and why? What do you think symbolic-interactionists might say about class stratification?
6) How did our discussion of global objects affect how you would describe your own placement in the world in terms of global stratification? How do you fit into class strata in global terms?
Course Alignment:
This assignment corresponds to the Module Learning Objectives:
Define social stratification
Describe the consequences that membership in dominant and subordinate groups has for individuals
Define Class, Socioeconomic Status, and Life Chances
Describe how social mobility works in the U.S. AND in a global context
Apply functionalist, conflict theory, and interactionist perspectives to explain social stratification
