Stratification and Differentiation

252 Pages·1999·26.59 MB·English

by  Mark Kirby (auth.)

STRATIFICATION AND DIFFERENTIATION
SKILLS-BASED SOCIOLOGY
Series Editors: Tim Heaton and Tony Lawson
The Skills-Based Sociology series is designed to cover the Core Skills for
Sociology A level (and equivalent courses) and to bring students up to date
with recent sociological thought in all the key areas. Students are given the
opportunity to develop their skills through exercises which they can carry
out by themselves or in groups, as well as given practice in answering exam
questions. The series also emphasises contemporary developments in sociological
knowledge, with a focus on recent social theories such as postmodemism
and the New Right.
Published
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Tim Heaton and Tony Lawson
MASS MEDIA
Marsha Jones and Emma Jones
STRATIFICATION AND DIFFERENTIATION
Mark Kirby
HEALTH AND ILLNESS
Michael Senior with Bruce Viveash
Forthcoming
POLITICS
Shaun Best
THEORY AND METHOD
Mel Churton
RELIGION
Joan Garrod
CRIME AND DEVIANCE
Tim Heaton and Tony Lawson
WEALTH, POVERTY AND WELFARE
Sharon Kane
FAMILY
Liz Steele
Skills-Based Sociology
Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-69350-6
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are
published. To place a standing order please contact your
bookseller or, in the case of difficulty, write to us at the
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series and the ISBN quoted above.
Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 6XS, England
STRATIFICATION
AND
DIFFERENTIATION
Mark Kirby
MACMILLAN
© Mark Kirby 1999
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WIP 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as
the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 1999 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS
and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
ISBN 978-0-333-67191-7 ISBN 978-1-349-14233-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14233-0
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
10987654321
08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
I would like to dedicate this book with thanks to my parents,
Cyril and Iris Kirby, who have supported me longer than anyone
else, and also to my nephew, Jamie Waters
Contents
Acknowledgements IX
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
• The philosophy behind the book 1
• What is social stratification? 3
• Subject content 4
Chapter 2: Measuring Social Class 6
• Measuring social class: objective approaches 7
• Measuring social class: subjective measures 20
• The economic basis of social class 23
Chapter 3: The Changing Class Structure 24
• The distribution of income 24
• The distribution of wealth 27
• From manufacturing to a service economy 30
• Exam question 45
Chapter 4: Theories of Class Inequality 47
• Meritocracy models of class inequality 47
• Class as a key structural basis of inequality 57
• Class formation approaches 67
• Class structure and class formation in class analysis 70
• Exam question 77
Chapter 5: The End of Social Class? 80
• Class as biased towards production relations 80
• The lack of mobilisation around class 81
• The demise of class? 84
• Exam question 93
Chapter 6: Gender and Inequality 97
• Women and paid employment 97
• Women and the domestic arena 105
• Feminism and women's oppression 110
• Exam question 113
Contents vii
Chapter 7: Theories of Gender Inequality 118
• Biological theories of sexual inequality 119
• The sociology of gender 123
• Power and the structures of inequality: patriarchy and
capitalism 126
• Sex and gender formation 134
• Exam questions 140
Chapter 8: Ethnicity and Inequality 146
• Ethnic minorities in contemporary British society 147
• Ethnicity and employment 149
• Racism and racial and ethnic inequality 156
• Exam question 162
Chapter 9: Theories of Racial and Ethnic Inequality 165
• Biological based explanations 166
• Ethnicity and race relations approaches 170
• Structures of racism explanations 178
• Racial formation explanations 185
• Exam question 193
Chapter 10: Age, Disability, Locality and Inequality 195
• Age and inequality 195
• Youth and inequality 201
• Theories of age inequality 202
• Disability, inequality and society 211
• Locality and inequality 214
Bibliography 220
Author Index 236
Subject Index 240
viii Contents
Acknowledgements
Writing a book like this requires the help of lots of others, which I
would like to acknowledge. First, thanks to Tim Heaton and Tony
Lawson for inviting me to contribute to their series and for the vast
amount of editorial work and advice which they gave me.
Secondly, thanks to the library staff at Amersham & Wycombe Col
lege for dealing with a whole series of requests and continuing to give
excellent service to staff and students alike.
Thirdly, thanks to my colleague, Nick Madry, and my other col
leagues at Amersham & Wycombe College for putting up with me.
While writing this book, I was also involved in the publication of a
textbook, Sociology in Perspective, and discussions with the authors
of that book helped clarify the contents of this one, so I would like to
thank them all.
Catherine Gray and Keith Povey have both worked hard to turn my
scribblings into something which can be published and I would like
to thank them both for their expertise and advice.
Finally, thanks to Tanya Hope, Eddie Sanderson, Dan Pritchard
and Alison Kirton for letting me try out some of the ideas in this
book on their students, and thanks to Julian Dean, Rachel Hek, Dr
Lesley Hoggart and Dr Costas Lapavitsas for being good friends.
I hope you enjoy the book and your sociology course.
MARK KIRBY
The author and publishers wish to thank the following for granting
permission to reproduce copyright material in the form of extracts,
figures and tables:
Addison Wesley Longman Ltd; Aldgate Publishing Ltd; Blackwell
Publishers; Harriet Bradley; the Child Poverty Action Group; Guard
ian News Service Ltd, part of the Guardian Media Group pIc;
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Heinemann Educational Publishers, a
division of Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd; Inde
pendent Newspapers (UK) Ltd; Nik Jorgensen and the Association
for the Teaching of the Social Sciences; Charlie Kimber and Socialist
Worker; Tony Lawson; Macmillan Press Ltd; Thomas Nelson Pub
lishers; the Observer; Office for National Statistics and GRO(S); Open
University Press; Philip Allan Publishers Ltd; Andy Pilkington; the
Policy Studies Institute; Polity Press; Random House UK Ltd; Routledge;
University College London (UCL) Press.
Acknowledgements ix
We are also grateful to the Associated Examining Board (AEB) for
allowing us to use questions from past A level Sociology examination
papers, and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndi
cate (UCLES) for past A level Sociology examinations papers set by
the InterBoard Syllabus (IBS). All answers and examination hints are
the sole responsibility of the authors and have not been provided or
approved by the AEB.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright-holders, but if any
have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to
make the necessary arrangement at the first opportunity.
x Acknowledgements