, on CD.
|
Calendar |
Where to get the readings:
As noted below, many of the readings are in the anthology by David Grusky, or the book, Power and Privilege.
All required readings that are not
in those books are available
in the mail room (Baldwin 114) in
paper format and ,when marked
with a
, on CD.
Whenever possible I have also made readings available on-line, usually through www.jstor.org (see links below).
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Thursday August 18 Welcome to Sociology 6420 |
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Introduction to Stratification |
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Tuesday August 23 What Kind of Inequality Do We Want? |
by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
“From The Rise
of the Meritocracy, 1870-2033”
by Michael Young Pages 522-553 in Blumberg
"Are
Justice and Inequality
Compatible?"
by Isabel V. Sawhill and Daniel P. McMurrer, 1996
*More Sources about This Topic*
Check
out the
1995 film,
Harrison Bergeron
|
Thursday, August 25 An Overview |
“The Past, Present, and Future
of Social Inequality.”
by David Grusky (in Grusky: Pages 3-51)
*More Sources about This Topic*
The Social Dimensions of Inequality (a project sponsored by the Russell Sage Foundation)
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Theories
of Class |
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Tuesday, August 30 An Introduction to Class and Marx |
Introduction to
Alternative Foundations
of Class Analysis by Eric Olin Wright (Pages 1-6)
"Foundations of Class
Analysis in the Marxist Tradition"
by Eric Olin Wright Chapter 1 in Alternative Foundations of Class Analysis by Eric Olin Wright (Pages 6-41)
One paragraph on possible
topic for final paper due.
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
"The Parable of the Shmoo" and "The Concept of
Exploitation" (pages 4-13) in
Class Counts
by Erik Olin Wright, 1996
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Thursday, September 1 Marx in His Own Words |
“Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism”
“Value and Surplus Value”
"Alienation and Social Class”
“Ideology and Class”
by Karl Marx (Pages 87-105 in Grusky--but best if read in the order above)
*More Sources about This Topic*
"On Work and Alienation"
by Kai Erikson American Sociological Review, 51(1), 1-8 1986.
In the mood for a humorous use of Marx's ideas?
See how well you think they are
applied in the
animated film,
Antz
"The Structural Basis of
Social Inequality"
by Aage Sørensen The American Journal of Sociology, 101(5): 1333-1365, 1996.
|
Tuesday, September 6 Modifications of Marx |
“World-systems analysis.”
Short Essay # 1 Due
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
A Garden of Eden in Decay 58 min Hosted by Ali A. Mazrui.
Call Number: Media VHS 25.7
Identifies the problems of a continent that produces what it does not consume
and consumes what it does not produce. Shows Africa's struggle between economic
dependence and decay.
|
Weberian
and Other Responses to Marx |
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Thursday, September 8 Weberian Responses |
“A Weberian Approach to
Class Analysis”
by Richard Breen Chapter 2 in Alternative Foundations of Class Analysis by Eric Olin Wright (Pages 42-69)
“Class, Status, and Party”
“Status Groups and Class”
by Max Weber (Pages 132-145 in Grusky)
*More Sources about This Topic*
"The Basic Concepts of Stratification Research: Class, Status, and Power"
by Aage Sørensen (Pages 287-300 in Grusky)
"The Changing Picture of Max
Weber's Sociology"
by Richard Swedberg Annual Review of Sociology 29: 283-306, 2003.
"The Shadow of Exploitation in
Weber's Class Analysis"
by Erik Olin Wright American Sociological Review 67(6): 832-853, 2002.
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Tuesday, September 13 Elite Theorists |
“The Ruling Class”
by Gaetano Mosca (Pages 195-201 in Grusky)
“Elites and Their
Circulation.”
by Vilfredo Pareto (Pages 34-39 in Heller, 1987. Structured Social Inequality)
“The Power Elite”
by C. Wright Mills (Pages 202-212 in Grusky)
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Thursday, September 15 Authority and Corporate Power |
“The Inner Circle”
by Michael Useem (Pages 223-232 in Grusky)
The Powers that Be
(Preface and Chapter 1)
by William Domhoff,1978
“Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society”
by Ralph Dahrendorf (Pages 105-111 in Grusky)
*More Sources about This Topic*
“Toward a Class-Dialectic Model
of Power.”
by Allen J. Whitt American Sociological Review 44(1): 81-100, 1979.
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Tuesday, September 20 The Continuing Appeal of Class |
Class time to be announced for a special
screening of:
People Like Us (a PBS
film and website)
(124 minutes)
*More Sources about This Topic*
"Class Matters" a New York Times series on class.
"Pierre Bourdieu on Social Class and Symbolic Violence"
by Elliot B. Weiniger Chapter 4 in Alternative Foundations of Class Analysis by Eric Olin Wright (Pages 116-166)
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Thursday, September 22 Update, Review, Application |
Two paragraphs on topic
for final paper due.
(Click
here for details.)
|
Class-free
Models of Stratification |
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Tuesday, September 27 Functionalism and Its Critics |
“Some Principles of Stratification”
by Davis and Moore, 1945 (Pages 55-63 in Grusky)
Originally published: American Sociological Review 10(2): 242-249, 1945.
“A Modification
of the functional theory
of Social Stratification.”
by Richard Simpson, Social Forces 35(2) :132-137, 1956.
"Functional Causal Imagery"
by Arthur Stinchcombe, 1987 (Pages 80-101 in Constructing Social Theories)
*More Sources about This Topic*
“Some Empirical Consequences of
the Davis-Moore Theory of
Stratification.”
by Arthur Stinchcombe, American Sociological Review 28(5): 805-808, 1963.
Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons made some of the most important contributions to the development of functional theory. For very brief overviews of their work, see the excerpts below.
Social
Stratification and Inequality
by Harold Kerbo, 2000.
Durkheim: Pages 103-107 Parson: Pages 119-125.
“Functionalism
and Feminism: Is Estrangement
Necessary?”
by Miriam Johnson, 1993 Ch. 6 in Paula England (ed.), Theory on Gender/Feminism on Theory
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Thursday, September 29 Status Attainment Models |
"Comparative
intergenerational stratification
research."
by Harry Ganzeboom, Donald Treiman, and Wout C. Ultee Annual Review of Sociology 17: 277-302,1991.
(This reading is rather long, but it is important. Try to extract the main points.)
"Measuring the Status of Occupations"
by Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan (Pages 255-259 in Grusky)
“The Process of Stratification” (excerpts from The American Occupational Structure, 1967)
by Peter Blau and Otis Dudley Duncan (Pages 390-403 in Grusky)
Short Essay # 2 Due
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
"Is America Becoming More Equal
for Children? Changes in the
Intergenerational Transmission of
Low- and High-income Status"
by Yunju Nam Social Science Research 33: 187-205, 2004.
"Economic
Mobility in the United States"
by Isabel V. Sawhill and Daniel
P. McMurrer
"The
Declining Importance of Class"
by Daniel P. McMurrer and Isabel
V. Sawhill
(Number 4 in Series, "Opportunity
in America")
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Tuesday, October 4 Comments on Status Attainment |
"Status
attainment research and its
image of society."
American Sociological
Review 52(1): 113-121,1987.
by J. David Knotterus
"Social Structure, Homegenization,
and 'The Process of Status
Attainment in the United States
and Great Britain'"
by Michael Burawoy American Journal of Sociology 82(5): 1031-1042, 1977.
"Women, Family, and Class."
by Annemette Sørensen Annual Review of Sociology 20: 27-47,1994.
*More Sources about This Topic*
"Elite and Status Attainment Models"
by John Myles and Aage Sørensen Canadian Journal of Sociology 1:75-88, 1975.
(This article discusses how the elite and status attainment perspectives are related.)
“Class
as Conceived by Marx and
Dahrendorf.”
by Robert Robinson and Jonathan Kelley American Sociological Review 44: 38-58, 1979.
(This article discusses how Marx and Darhrendorf may be combined with Blau and Duncan.)
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Thursday, October 6 Update, Review, Application |
Two-page summary of literature review due.
(Click
here for details.)
Midpoint withdrawal deadline in Tomorrow, Friday, October
15
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Evolutionary Theory: The Origins and Future of Stratification |
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Tuesday, October 11 Why Inequality? |
Power and Privilege
(Chapters 1-4)
by Gerhard Lenski, 1966
*More Sources about This Topic*
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by Jared Diamond, 1998
See also the related PBS website for Guns Germs and Steel.
(This book focuses on a subset of the topics considered by Lenski. It emphasizes the importance of geography in explaining inequality between societies.)
Drop/Add ends today
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Thursday, October 13 The Evolution of Societies |
Human Societies:
An Introduction to Macrosociology (Chapters 3 and 4)
by Gerhard Lenski, Jean Lenski, and Patrick Nolan, 1999.
Power and Privilege
(Pages 308-318
and Chapter 13)
by Gerhard Lenski, 1966
“New Light on
Old Issues: The Relevance of ‘Really Existing Socialist
Societies’ for Stratification Theory.”
by Gerhard Lenski (in Grusky: Pages 77-84)
*More Sources about This Topic*
Sociological Theory 22(2), 2004 was devoted entirely to Gerhard Lenski.
For a humorous look at communism,
see the film,
Goodbye Lenin
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Tuesday, October 18 Responses to Lenski |
"Between Modernism and
Postmodernism: Lenski's Power and Privilege in the Study of Inequalities"
by Ann R. Tickamyer Sociological Theory 22(2): 247-257, 2004.
"Gendered Power and Privilege:
Taking Lenski One Step Further"
by Janet Chafetz Sociological Theory, 22(2), 269-277, 2004.
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The Search for Social Structures and Causal Mechanisms |
Thursday, October 20 The Importance of Numbers
Structural Contexts of
Opportunity (Chapters 1-3, pages
1-89)
by Peter Blau, 1994
*More Sources about This Topic*
"A Fable about Social Structure"
by Peter Blau Social Forces 58(3): 777-788, 1980.
(offers a light-hearted look at social structures)
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Tuesday, October 25 Sex Ratios |
“Some
Effects of Proportions on Group
Life.”
by Rosabeth Kanter American Journal of Sociology 82(5): 965-990, 1977.
Too Many Women?
(Chapters 1 and 6 Pages13-33 and 153-71)
by Marcia Guttentag and Paul Secord, 1983.
*More Sources about This Topic*
“Social Structure and Intergroup Interaction”
by Scott South et al. American Sociological Review 47(5): 587-599, 1982.
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Thursday, October 27 No Class: Fall Break |
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Tuesday, November 1 Mechanisms of Inequality |
Understanding Social
Inequality: Modeling Allocation
Processes. (Chapter one)
by Herbert M. Blalock Jr., 1991
"Including
Mechanisms in Our Models
of Ascriptive Inequality"
by Barbara Reskin American Sociological Review 68 (1): 1-21, 2003.
*More Sources about This Topic*
"Rediscovering the Color Line within Work Organizations"
by Steven Vallas Work and Occupations 30(4): 379-400, 2003.
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Sources of Inequality |
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Thursday, November 3 Gender, Class, and Race (Part I) |
Complex Inequality: Gender,
Class, and Race in the New Economy (Chapter 1 pages 3-26)
by Leslie McCall, 2001.
*More Sources about This Topic*
"The Intersection of Gender and
Race in the Labor Market"
by Irene Browne and Joya Misra Annual Review of Sociology 29: 487-513, 2003.
"Race,
Gender, and Workplace Power"
by James Elliott and Ryan Smith American Sociological Review 69 (3): 365-386, 2004.
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Tuesday, November 8 Gender, Class, and Race (Part II) |
Complex Inequality: Gender,
Class, and Race in the New Economy (Chapter 2 pages 29-59)
by Leslie McCall, 2001.
Short Essay # 3 Due
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
The
Dynamics of Ethnic Competition and
Conflict (Chapters 1 and 2)
by Susan Olzak, 1992
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Thursday, November 10 Social Capital |
"The Strength of Weak Ties”
by Mark Granovetter (Pages 447-450 in Grusky )
full original version was in:
American Journal of Sociology
78(6): 1360-1380, 1973.
“Social Networks and Status Attainment.”
by Nan Lin (Pages 451-454 in Grusky)
full original version was in:
Annual Review of Sociology
25:467-88, 1999.
"Structural Holes"
by Ron Burt (Pages 454-458 in Grusky)
One-page outline of final
paper due.
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
"The Strength of Weak Ties: A
Network Theory Revisited”
by Mark Granovetter Sociological Theory 1: 201-233, 1983.
"Structural Holes and Good Ideas."
by Ronald S. Burt American Journal of Sociology 110(2): 349-399, 2004.
Cultural Capital
“Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste.”
by Pierre Bourdieu (Pages 499-525 in Grusky)
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Tuesday, November 15 Financial Capital (i.e., Wealth) |
“Black Wealth / White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality”
by Oliver and Shapiro (Pages 636-641 in Grusky)
"Wealth Inequality in the United
States"
by Lisa Keister and Stephanie Moller Annual Review of Sociology 26: 63-81, 2000.
"Race, Family Structure, and Wealth:
The Effect of Childhood Family on Adult Asset Ownership."
by Lisa A. Keister Sociological Perspectives. 47:161-87 2004.
Short Essay # 4 Due
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
Getting Rich: A Study of Wealth Mobility in America.
Lisa A. Keister. Forthcoming.
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Thursday, November 17 Education |
"Ain't No Makin' It: Leveled Aspirations in a Low-Income Neighborhood."
by Jay MacLeod (Pages 421-434 in Grusky)
"Schooling in Capitalist
America Revisited"
by Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis
"Race, Cultural Capital, and
Educational Resources: Persistent
Inequalities and Achievement
Returns."
by Vincent Roscigno and James Ainsworth-Darnell Sociology of Education, 72(3), 158-178, 1999.
*More Sources about This Topic*
by John Gatto, 1991
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Tuesday, November 22 Geographic Segregation |
"Jobless Poverty: A New Form of Social Dislocation in the Inner City Ghetto"
by William Julius Wilson (Pages 651-660 in Grusky)
"American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass"
by Massey and Denton (Pages 660-670 in Grusky)
"Secession of the Successful"
by Robert Reich New York Times, 1991.
"Space in the Study of Labor
Markets"
by Roerto Fernandez and Celina Su Annual Review of Sociology 30: 545-569, 2004.
*More Sources about This Topic*
Race: The Power of an Illusion (A PBS film and website--see part III about housing discrimination)
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Thursday, November 24 No Class |
Thanksgiving Break
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Tuesday, November 29 Organizations, Markets, and Inequality |
"The Determinants and Consequences
of Workplace Sex and Race
Composition"
by Barbara Reskin, Debra McBrier, and Julie Kmec Annual Review of Sociology 25 :335-361, 1999.
"Bad
Jobs in America: Standard and
Nonstandard Employment Relations
and Job Quality in the United
States"
by Arne Kalleberg, Barbara Reskin, and Ken Hudson American Sociological Review 62(5): 256-278, 2000.
"Talent
and the Winner-Take-All Society"
by Robert Frank The American Prospect 5(17) 1994.
*More Sources about This Topic*
Women and Men at Work
by Irene Padavic and Barbara Reskin, 2002
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Thursday, December 1 Work-family and Inequality |
Unbending Gender
(Intro and Chapter 1)
by Joan Williams, 2000.
Share a draft of your final paper with two classmates.
(Click
here for details.)
*More Sources about This Topic*
The Time Divide: Work, Family, and Gender Inequality
by Jerry A. Jacobs and Kathleen Gerson, 2004
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Tuesday, December 6 No Class |
The University follows a Friday schedule today.
|
Thursday, December 8 |
Provide two classmates with written
comments on their drafts.
(We will use this class
period to discuss the comments.)
(Click
here for details.)
Your final paper must be in my mailbox by Monday, December 12th at 5:00pm.