Class Inequality Essay

Where I come from success is not easily achieved. I am from Planada, California; a small, Ag-based town bounded with low income, lack of college degrees, and limited opportunities. The racial and class inequalities are visible, yet, no one has ever questioned it, which produces hierarchies. Due to the fact that it is an agricultural based town, those at the top, such as the farmers are extremely wealthy. While those at the bottom, the fieldworkers are lucky if they make minimum wage. Living in a

According to “Sociology in Modules” class is “a group of people who have a similar level of wealth and income” (Schaefer 218). Society is stratified into classes and more importantly these classes are not equal. 1 to 2 % of Americans are upper class, 20 to 25% are lower class, which leaves a large percentage of Americans in the middle and working class (Schaefer 215). With a large number of the population in the middle class it can be hard to notice the statuses of others. Interactions between classes

A response to “Class in America- 2009” makes some good points why Americans hate the word class. Class is a word to classify a group of people to a certain social status. Americans do not like to be put in a category based off of their money. Gregory Mantsios the author, explains how we view ourselves. For example, most American citizens identify themselves with work. Mantsios gives other reasons, and a solution to fix the American class labeling. Mantsios made some really good points about how Americas

when it comes to gender, race and class. Since we are all very different, discrimination happens which leads to social inequality. Taking a social inequality class I find myself connecting my experiences in my life to what I'm learning in class. I have come to realization that I can relate to inequalities and differences when it comes to my class, race and gender. Class is taught to be something you are born into. I myself come from a lower middle-class family. “Class is determined by one’s relationship

have been faced with inequality at some point in their life whether it is because of race, ethnic background, or gender. Also, social class plays a major role within inequality because, depending on the social class one is born into it can predict a lot about their future. Class is defined as the status one hold in society, socially or economically: according to socioeconomic factors, it can be one's status pertaining to things such as education, wealth, or occupation. Social class in our society has

Where do you consider yourself to be in the class system? Are you a member of the upper class, middle class, or lower class? If you’re a part of the upper class your associated with being rich or born in to a rich family. Then there is the working middle class also know as the “ white collar workers.” Most people of our society would fit into this category of the class system. Lastly there is the lower class that consists of the homeless, those with low-paying jobs, and other who are struggling to

education reproduces and legitimates social class and inequality. Marxists sociologists, such as Althusser, Bowles and Gintis and Willis argue that education operates in the interests of the ruling class and maintains capitalism. However, other sociologists oppose this by arguing that this is false and education is meritocratic. Althusser takes a theoretical approach to education and states that the ruling class has two ways of controlling the working class, through ideological state apparatus which

Social Class and Inequality Social inequality has been defined as a conflicting status within a society with regards to the individual, property rights, and access to education, medical care, and welfare programs.   Much of society’s inequality can be attributed to the class status of a particular group, which has usually been largely determined by the group’s ethnicity or race (Macionis & Gerber, 2006).   The conflict perspective is an attempt to understand the group conflict that

On class mobility, Tocqueville did not comment on the racial factor that prevents social mobility. Tocqueville claimed that, “when men living in a democratic society are enlightened, they readily discover they are not confined and fixed by any limits which force them to accept their present fortune. They all, therefore, conceive the idea of increasing it… The legislature, it is true, no longer grants privileges…” (Tocqueville 38). This means that once men understand they are not confined to their

history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles’ Class stratification and inequality has been the starting point for many debates and arguments about why and how societies are divided. There are several sociological perspectives that all have different ideas and theories on this topic, including Marxism (conflict theory), Functionalism (consensus theory) and Social action. This essay will be focusing on class stratification from the perspective of conflict theory. Marxism