SOCIAL STRATIFICATION and INEQUALITY - SOCY l …

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

and INEQUALITY

"The division of society into distinct social classes is

one of the most striking manifestations of the modern world . . .

it has often been the source of other kinds of inequality, and . . .

the economic dominance of a particular class has very often been the basis for its political

rule."

T. B. Bottomore, 1966

Staff

Professor

Assistants

John Pease

Megan Wilhelm and Yangzi Zhao

Of Course

Social Stratification and Inequality

Sociology 441 (section BL01)

Online & 9:30-10:45 Thursdays Fall 2013

University of Maryland, College Park

Help Us

We are interested in learning what you think we should do to improve this course and to

become a better teachers and to help you become a better student. Whenever you have a

question, complaint, concern, problem or whatnot about this course, please let us know.

Course Objectives

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To help you clarify and expand your questions about social stratification, social

inequality, and social class;

to help you develop your own theory of class stratification;

to help you apply some of the concepts and knowledge of social stratification, social

inequality, and social class to your own life experiences;

to help you better understand changes in social stratification, social inequality, and

social class;

to encourage you to consider ways in which class inequality might be reduced; and

to encourage you to read critically, to think analytically, and to write clearly.

I'd Rather Be Studying____________________

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Primary Course Questions

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How do the concepts, knowledge, and theories of social inequality and social class

illuminate your own experience?

What is your theory of social inequality and social class? How do you describe and

explain social inequality and social class? How and why does inequality change?

What is the source and distribution of class, power, property, prestige, mobility,

and poverty?

How and why has social inequality and social class in America changed during the

past century and what is the significance of these changes?

What determines the rate of poverty? What determines who is poor? What is it

like to live poorly in America?

How can, how should, poverty be reduced or alleviated?

Common Reading

This course features three books and eight articles. The books are available for purchase

at the University Book Center. The articles are available in ELMS/Canvas.

The books are:

Dalton Conley, The Pecking Order: How Family and Society Determine Who We

Become. New York: Vintage Books, 2005.

Any book with one of the following ISBNs is acceptable:

0375713816, 9780375713811, 0375421742, 9780375421747

Steven Greenhouse, The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker.

New York: Anchor Books, 2008.

Any book with one of the following ISBNs is acceptable:

9781400044894, 9781400096527

Eliot Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am: The Lives of Homeless Women.

New York: Penguin Books, 1993.

Any book with one of the following ISBNs is acceptable:

014024137-x, 9780140241372, 0029190959, 9780029190951

The articles are:

Chandler Davidson, ¡°The Culture of Shiftlessness.¡±

tcnj.edu/~kpearson/syllabi/culture.html

Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore. "Some Principles of Stratification." American

Sociological Review, 10 (April, 1945), 242-249.

Annette Lareau, ¡°Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black

Families and White Families,¡± American Sociological Review, 67 (October,

2002), 747-776.

J. D. B. Miller. ¡°Equality.¡± A Dictionary of the Social Sciences. Ed. Julius Gould

and William L. Kolb. New York: The Freeman Press, 1964, pp. 242-243

C. Wright Mills, ¡°The Structure of Power in American Society.¡± The British

Journal of Sociology, 9 (March, 1958), 29-41.

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Gunnar Myrdal. "A Parallel to the Negro Problem." An American Dilemma. New

York: Harper and Brothers, 1944, appendix 5, pp. 1073-1078

Lang Phipps. ¡°Confessions of a Young Wasp¡±



Robert B. Reich. ¡°A Secession of the Successful?¡± University of Maryland

Commencement, December 22, 1995.

Videos:

On my SocheProfessor YouTube Channel and Canvas

¡°Blue-collar in a White-collar World¡± 10



¡°Bourgeois Blues¡± 11



¡°Career Colleges¡± 14



¡°Feminism" 8



¡°The Great Depression¡± 5



¡°The Great Recovery 9



¡°The Post-war Boom 11



¡°Poverty and Pickle Pickers¡± 5



¡°Social Class in America¡± 10



¡°Under the Influence¡± 14



¡°Upper Class Wasps¡± 8



¡°When Work Disappears¡± 11



Available on the WorldWideWeb

¡°Income Inequality: Johnston Interview 13 [N.B.: 0:00-12:35]

now/shows/332/index.html

¡°Income Inequality: Shulman Interview¡± 13 [N.B.: 12:40-21:20]

now/shows/332/index.html

¡°Inequality: Growing Apart¡±



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¡°Inequality Is¡±



¡°Robert Reich: On the Economy¡± 45



¡°The Truth about the Economy¡± 3



¡°Wall Street¡± 5



¡°Wealth Inequality in America¡±



Streamed from the Library

¡°Controlling Interest¡± 46

¡°Surviving the Bottom Line: Running with the Bulls¡± 58

¡°Who Owns Our Government?¡± 58

Classroom (only)

¡°Class Dismissed -Class Clowns¡± 14

Audio:

Billie Holiday ¡°God Bless the Child¡±



Huddie Ledbetter ¡°Bourgeois Blues¡±



Peggy Lee ¡°Is That All There Is?¡±



ELMS/Canvas

Your source for:

Campus Stories, Class Photos, Discussion, Grades, Modules (includes Assignments,

Gazettes, Lecture ppts., Readings, Videos), Staff Photos, Study Questions,

Syllabus, and Videos

Necessary computer tools:

Pdf reader such as Adobe

Firefox or Chrome or Safari browser (to view videos)

Flash (to view videos)

Java (to process audio)

Microsoft Word to submit written work

Quicktime (to access video/mp4 files)

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Assignments

The course material (module) for each week is available through Elms/Canvas at 6:00 a.m.

Tuesday morning and the graded assignment attached to it is due before 6:00 p.m. the

following Monday. This course features 10 weekly assignments. All of these weekly

graded assignments are weighted equally and together comprise 40 percent of your final

grade in the course. Your performance on the mid-semester exam, the final exam, and

each of the two required papers count for the remaining 60 percent of your final grade in

the course. All your work is graded for timeliness, accuracy, completeness, written

expression, originality and, most of all, how well it demonstrates a profound understanding

of the material. The grading schedule for this course is:

A = 4.0

A- = 3.7

B+ = 3.3

B = 3.0

B- = 2.7

C+ = 2.3

C = 2.0

C- = 1.7

D+ = 1.3

D = 1.0

D- = 0.7

Academic Honor Code

Please affirm your commitment to the honor pledge ("I pledge that on my honor I have not

given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment") on all your graded

assignments. The University Honor Code is available online



Know No

This course does not provide extra-credit assignments.

Disability Support Services

If you are registered with the Office of Disability Support Services please provide us

with the accommodation letter. Information about the types of accommodations is

available online

CourseEvalUM

At the end of the course please go to and submit your

evaluation of the course.

Here We Are

John Pease

Electronic mail:

Office address:

Office hours:

pease@umd.edu

2103 Art-Sociology Building

By appointment

Megan Wilhelm

Electronic mail

Office address:

Office hours:

wilhelm.megan@

4108 Art-Sociology Building

1:00-2:00 Wednesday afternoons and by appointment

pease@umd.edu 10/8/2013

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