Transcript Social Stratification - Roderick Graham | A Few Words

Global Stratification
Professor Roderick Graham
If the World Were a Village of 1000…
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584 Asians
124 Africans
95 East and West Europeans
84 Latin Americans
55 Soviets
52 North Americans
6 Australians and New Zealanders
If the World Were a Village of 1000…
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165 people speak Mandarin
86 speak English
83 speak Hindi/Urdu
64 speak Spanish
58 speak Russian
37 speak Arabic
The rest speak Bengali, Portuguese, Indonesian,
Japanese, German, French, and 200 other languages
If the World Were a Village of 1000…
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329 Christians
178 Moslems
167 “non-religious”
132 Hindus
60 Buddhists
45 Atheists
3 Jews
86 all other religions
If the World Were a Village of 1000…
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1/3 are children and 60 > 65 yrs
½ of children are immunized
28 babies born; 10 die
1 is infected with HIV
200 people receive 75% of the income; 200 receive
2%
70 own an automobile
1/3 have access to clean, safe-drinking water
1/5 of the adults are literate
Global Inequality
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The world is unequal
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We classify the 194
countries of the world
into three groups: high
income, middle income,
low income
How is the world stratified?
High Income Countries
(US, Japan, Korea, UK, South Africa, Argentina)
Middle Income Countries
(Mexico, Botswana, Egypt, Indonesia, China, India)
Low Income Countries
(Chad, Democratic Rep. of Congo, Pakistan)
High Income Countries
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64 nations are considered high income
Per capita income over $10,000
Very industrialized, jobs are computer and service
oriented
Able to produce goods faster and cheaper
Have about 22% of the world’s people
Most people live in cities
Ex: Mexico (Latin America), Saudi Arabia (Middle East),
South Korea (Asia), South Africa (Africa)
Middle Income Countries
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73 of the world’s nations
Per capita income between $2500 and $10000
2/3 live in cities
Most of the world’s population lives in middle income
countries 59%
Manufacturing jobs
Examples: Bulgaria (Europe), Thailand (Asia), Bolivia (Latin
America), Lesotho (Africa)
Low Income Countries
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57 nations are considered low income
About 29% of the world’s population
Per capita income of less than $2,500 dollars
Most are found in Central Africa, East Africa, and South
Asia
Jobs are in farming or gathering basic resources
Traditional cultures – most people follow the cultural
patterns of their ancestors
Ex: Pakistan and Afghanistan (South Asia), Chad, Nigeria
(Africa), Haiti (Carribean)
Relative vs. Absolute Poverty
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Relative Poverty – lacking goods and resources that other
people around them have
Absolute Poverty – lacking resources that are life
threatening (food, water, shelter)
Many people in low income countries are in absolute
poverty
Why are some countries poor and some
rich?
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Explanations to Poverty
Lack of technology
Population growth
Cultural Patterns
Social Stratification
Gender Inequality
Global Power Relationships
Note: You should read this section carefully (p. 258 – 268)
Modernization Theory
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This model of economic development explains global inequality
in terms of technological & cultural differences between societies
W.W. Rostow’s Stages of Modernization
1. Traditional stage - Changing traditional views
2. Take-off stage - Use of talents and imaginations
3. Drive to technological maturity - Diversified economy takes
over
4. High mass consumption - Mass production stimulates
consumption
Modernization Theory
The Role of Rich Nations in Modernizing Poorer Nations
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Assisting in population control - Exporting birth control and
educating people on its importance
Increasing food production - The use of new hybrid seeds,
modern irrigation methods, the use of chemicals and pesticides
Introducing industrial technology - Machinery and information
must be shared if shifts in economies are to take place
Instituting programs of foreign aid - Money can be used for
equipment necessary for change to take place
Dependency Theory
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This model of economic development explains global
inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor
societies by rich ones
“Today’s world economy is rooted in the colonization that
began 500 years ago”
1. Rich countries form the core of the world economy being
enriched by raw materials from around the world
2. Low income countries are the periphery, providing
inexpensive labor and a market for industrial products
3. Middle income countries form the semiperiphery, having a
closer tie to the core
Dependency Theory
The world economy makes poor nations dependent on
rich ones
Three factors leading to dependency:
1. Narrow, export-oriented economies - Poor countries
produce only a few crops for export to rich countries
2. Lack of industrial capacity - Poor countries must sell
raw materials to rich countries and then buy finished
products back from them at high prices
3. Foreign debt - The poor countries of the world owe the
rich countries $1 trillion dollars, including hundreds of
billions to the United States
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Response Paper #3
Introduction to Sociology, Response Paper #3
For this response paper, you will select two of the four below and answer the
questions. For this assignment, you do not have to write your paper in one
complete essay. Instead, you can number each part of the question and answer
each part separately (most questions have three parts). All papers should be
typed and double-spaced. The length should be between three and five pages.
1.
Pp. 236 and 237, “Middle-Class Americans Increasingly Downbeat about Their
Short-Term Economic Progress”
2.
Pp. 240 and 241, “The Welfare Dilemma”
3.
Pp. 260 and 261, “Bottom of the Barrel”
4.
Pp. 262, “Happy Poverty in India: Making Sense of a Strange Idea”
Paper Due on 4/23 for CSI
Paper Due on 4/26 for FIT