For this discussion board assignment, you should start with a brief summary of Chapter 12. Your summary should be about 100-150 words and the major response should be at least 150 words so in total your discussion post should be at least 250 words. Then, write a response to one the following major post questions.
Major Post Question Options (Please select at least one question from the list below):
The overall level of inequality in industrial societies is considerably less than that in agrarian societies of the past, or nonindustrial societies in the world today. On what evidence is this conclusion based? What are some of the most important reasons for this decline in inequality?
In what ways can it be misleading to compare the income share of a particular group (e.g., lowest earning 20 or 40 percent of the population) over time (e.g., from 1980 to the present)?
Major Post: Your original post should be at least 150 substantive words. When answering the question(s), you should attempt to critically engage with the literature. This means going beyond a summary of what the textbook says about the topic. Rather, you should use that as a starting point for your own contribution.
response 1
Chapter 12 discussed topics such as population, and factors of population which are fertility, mortality, and migration. We also learned about income and wealth distribution, vertical mobility, and trends in social inequality. We also discussed stratification such as political stratification, occupational stratification, educational stratification, racial and ethnic stratification, and age/sex stratification. Stratification is the arrangement or classification of something into groups. For example political stratification was regarding diversity among ranks in politics. Occupational stratification was about the range in income per occupation and it also talked about significant factors like being high or middle status. Educational stratification was about differences in intelligence, motivation, health, family, resources, etc. Racial and ethnic is about their background, occupation and background. Age and sex was discussing things like differences in wages between male and female. Something I found interesting was vertical mobility, I found it interesting to learn how there’s opportunities offered to improve status.
In what ways are recruitment and promotion in modern industry similar to recruitment and promotion in the military?
Recruitment is recruitment, just for different purposes. Companies will talk good about themselves saying what they can offer to have people join. For example the air force will mention their good quality of life such as staying in 5 star hotels and good meals, the army will tell you that its the only branch that will allow you to pick your own job, and the coast guard will tell you you get to stay in the country if travel outside the U.S. is not something you want. Some employees want to feel appreciated and companies will mention how their company is like a family, in the marines they will tell you in their branch you are not just another number and that if you join, you’ll be one of the strongest.
In modern industry, for example a job may offer you benefits such as working from home and having your own schedule, even travel. For the military, recruiters will tell you about all the benefits such as the military paying your college tuition, free housing when married, and things such as opportunities to travel to convince you to join Some companies that can’t find people to join their company or when the company is new and needs people, they may offer a bonus when joining, bonuses are even offered later on when you do something that will help them out such as offering you a $100-500 bonus for having the covid vaccine. In the military, they will tell you how you get 30 days of paid leave per year to travel or visit home. Recruitment tells you all the good benefits in order to convince you. Even for doing good performance, jobs will give raises to their employees, occasionally after a certain amount of time they will offer a certain raise. In the military doing good performance results in rank promotion or awards such as ribbons or medals. Going back to vertical mobility, this could be an example how if service members do more they can get promoted.
Recruitment is the same but for different purposes to convince people how they can help them if they help them by joining.
Reference:
Nolan, Patrick and Gerhard Lenski. 2015. Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. 12th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
response 2
This chapter talked about all things about industrial societies during and after the Industrial Revolution. First, the book mentioned the three ways why industrial societies populations had gone up significantly. And of course the three reasons for that are fertility, mortality, and migration (Lenski 2015). Political stratification was mentioned briefly, which also came with bigger populations of diverse individuals. The authors did claim that there is a symbiotic relationship between politicians and economic lite (Lenski 2015). The chapter went on to cover occupation, income and wealth, one interesting fact I wanted to include readings said CEO’s make over 200x more than a regular working employee in industrial societies (Lenski 2015). The chapter also covered educational standpoints, race and ethnicity, and how this was a popular way to divide societies. We were also introduced to the term “vertical mobility” which is present in industrial societies to all people the opportunity to improve their social status (Lenski 2015).
Why is it important to take age into account when trying to determine the extent to which wealth and income are equally/unequally distributed in a society?
Going straight to the book, the authors made it clear that one of the main reasons for the income inequality with age stratification was the fact that “adults have always been larger, stronger, and more knowledgeable than children.” The book mentioned that industrial societies still resembled preindustrial societies, being that older men between the ages of 40 and 55, still ran and held control over powerful organizations. According to the book, the prevailing rates of social change is what really affects the social and income status of older and younger people (Lenski 2015). For example, in societies where social change is slow and there is not a ton of new information and technology, of course older people will be making most of the money because their experience and knowledge is high. On the other hand, in societies where social change is happening rather fast, especially introducing more technology, older people will not have as much knowledge and experience (Lenski 2015). Their prior knowledge and experience will not provide any more help. That is when younger, more experienced workers will start to make more of the income and start taking the jobs because they know how to operate new appliances and what not.
CHAPTER 12SOCI 1013.50, 1013.51, 1013.52 – Introductory SociologyFall 2021
Dr. Ray Reagan
aray1@twu.edu
Industrial Societies: Population
The population of industrial societies has grown significantly since the start of the
Industrial Revolution. There are three reasons for this:
•
Fertility
•
Mortality
•
Migration
Political Stratification
•
In industrial societies, there is greater openness of political systems that
allows somewhat more diversity in the ranks of political elites
•
Constitutional principles in democratic republics often provide checks on
executive authority
•
Federal systems also tend to divide political power between national and
regional officials
•
The composition of political elites in industrial societies vary from society
to society
•
Additionally, the composition changes over time based on in response to
the relative power of interest groups, the rates of technological
advancement, international developments, and economies
Political Stratification Continued
•
Especially in brokerage-type industrial societies, there is a symbiotic
relationship between politicians and economic elite
•
Control of economic surplus in industrial societies often results from
different sets of elites coming into conflict with one another
•
The relationship between elites and the masses in Western industrial
societies has also been acquired by organization representing large blocs or
groups of ordinary citizens
•
These organizations aim to acquire economic surplus assets and to
advocate for points of view
Distribution of Income
•
In industrial societies, incomes vary enormously – on average, CEOs make
over 200x that of an average worker in their firm
•
Incomes in industrial stills are still much more equally distributed than in
most contemporary nonindustrial societies
•
Overall, incomes have continued to increase in industrial societies due to a
combination of increased productivity and women entering the workforce
•
Income inequalities in industrial societies is not nearly as great as it was in
agrarian societies, and income inequality in industrial societies is beginning
to show an increase
Distribution of Wealth
•
Compared to income, wealth has been more unequally distributed than
income in industrial societies
•
Inequalities in wealth tend to be much more closely linked to age than
income – as individuals age, they are more likely to have accumulated
possessions
•
There is no clear evidence that wealth has been further concentrated, but it
is likely that growing income inequality could begin to produce increasing
wealth inequality
Occupational Stratification
•
For most members of industrial societies, occupation is the chief
determinant of income and wealth
•
The range of income, wealth, and fringe benefits varies greatly by
occupation, with those at the very top of the occupational ladder receiving
thousands times more than full-time workers receiving minimum wage
•
The substantial growth of high- and middle-status occupations, as well as
the percentage of white collar jobs, have increased as a result of
technological innovations
Educational Stratification
•
Unlike in nonindustrial societies, the opportunities to receive formal
education are open to all
•
The amount of education a person receives is a function of personal
intelligence, motivation, health, family tradition and resources, etc.
•
Differences in achievement in education have substantial consequences for
subsequent achievement in occupation
•
Highly educated individuals in industrial societies tend to have the largest
income – the value of education creates what sociologists call “human
capital”
Racial and Ethnic Stratification
•
Many industrial societies have racial and ethnic divisions within them
•
Racial or ethnic background, unlike occupation and education, cannot be
altered by individual effort – this means that they are individuals stratified
by race or ethnicity are stratified by ascribed status
•
While most obvious forms of stratification have been removes, more subtle
forms of racial/ethnic stratification still persist
Age/Sex Stratification
•
Biologically-based differences in age and sex have been reinforced and
extended through cultural norms in most societies, industrialized ones
included
•
Older men typically control the most powerful organizations in industrial
societies, as was the case in agrarian and horticultural societies
•
In all industrial societies, women’s wages are lower than men’s due to
persistence in gender-based division of labor, as women typically have
greater shares of household and child care responsibilities
•
Laws and political standing of women has also greatly improved as a result
of industrialization
Vertical Mobility
•
Compared to other types of societies, industrial societies offer more
opportunities for individuals to improve their status
•
In all industrial societies, potential for upward mobility greatly exceeds
potential for downward mobility
•
This creates a sense of social cohesions because people from lower classes
have more opportunities to increase their status
Trends in Social Inequality
•
Social inequalities in advanced industrial societies are not usually based on
birth – rather, they tend to be a product of ascribed statuses, available
resource, and some element of personal decision
•
Opportunities for participation in political decision-making in industrial
societies are substantially broad compared to other societies
•
Additionally, income inequality has been greatly reduced in industrial
societies, although substantial inequalities do remain