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absolute poverty
Inability to afford the minimal requirements for sustaining a reasonably healthy existence
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authority
Possession of some status or quality that compels others to obey one’s directives or commands
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caste system:
Stratification system based on heredity, with little movement allowed across strata
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colonization:
Process of expanding economic markets by invading and establishing control over a weaker country and its people
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competitive individualism:
Cultural belief that those who succeed in society are those who work hardest and have the best abilities and that those who suffer don’t work hard enough or lack the necessary traits or abilities
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culture-of-poverty thesis:
Belief that poor people, resigned to their position in society, develop a unique value structure to deal with their lack of success
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estate system (feudal system)
Stratification system in which high-status groups own land and have power based on noble birth
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false consciousness:
Situation in which people in the lower classes come to accept a belief system that harms them; the primary means by which powerful classes in society prevent protest and revolution
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means of production
Land, commercial enterprises, factories, and wealth that form the economic basis of class societies
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Middle Clas
In a society stratified by social class, a group of people who have an intermediate level of wealth, income, and prestige, such as managers, supervisors, executives, small business owners, and professionals
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near-poor:
Individuals or families whose earnings are between 100% and 125% of the poverty line (working poor)
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poor:
In a society stratified by social class, a group of people who work for minimum wage or are chronically unemployed
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poverty line
Amount of yearly income a family requires to meet its basic needs, according to the federal government
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poverty rate:
Percentage of people whose income falls below the poverty
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power
Ability to affect decisions in ways that benefit a person or protect his or her interests
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prestige:
Respect and honor given to some people in society
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prestige:
individual’ economic position compared with the living standards of the majority in the society
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slavery:
Economic form of inequality in which some people are legally the property of others
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social class:
Group of people who share a similar economic position in a society, based on their wealth and income
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social mobility
Movement of people or groups from one class to another
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socioeconomic status
Prestige, honor, respect, and lifestyle associated with different positions or groups in society
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stratification
Ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society
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upper class
In a society stratified by social class, a group of people who have nigh income and prestige and who own vast amounts of property and other forms of wealth, such as owners of large corporations, top financiers, rich celebrities and politicians, and members of prestigious families
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working class:
In a society stratified by social class, a group of people who have a low level of wealth, income, and prestige, such as industrial and factory workers, office workers, clerks, and farm and manual laborers
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working poor
Employed people who consistently earn wages but do not make enough to survive (near-poor)
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affirmative action:
Program designed to see out members of minority groups for positions from which they had previously been excluded, thereby seeking to overcome institutional racism
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colorism:
Skin color prejudice within an ethnoracial group, most notably between light-skinned and dark-skinned Blacks
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discrimination:
Unfair treatment of people based on some social characteristic, such as race, ethnicity, or sex
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ethnicity:
Sense of community derived from the cultural heritage shared by a category of people with common ancestry
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institutional racism:
Laws, customs, and practices that systematically reflect and produce racial and ethnic inequalities in a society, whether or not the individuals maintaing these laws, customs, and practices have racist intentions
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panethnic labels:
General terms applied to diverse subgroups that are assumed to have something in common
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personal racism:
Individual expression of racist attitudes or behaviors
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prejudice:
Rigidly held, unfavorable attitudes, beliefs, and feelings about members of a different group based on a social characteristic such as race, ethnicity, or gender
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quiet racism:
Form of racism expressed subtly and indirectly through feelings of discomfort, uneasiness, and fear, which motivate avoidance rather than blatant discrimination
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race:
Category of people labeled and treated as similar because of allegedly common biological traits, such as skin color, texture of hair, and shape of eyes
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racial transparency:
Tendency for the race of a society’s majority to be so obvious, normative, and unremarkable that it becomes, for all intents and purposes, invisible
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racism
Belief that humans are subdivided into distinct groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as superior or inferior
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stereotype:
Overgeneralized belief that a certain trait, behavior, or attitude characterizes all members of some identifiable group
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institutional sexism:
Subordination of women that is part of the everyday workings of economics, law, politics, and other social institutions
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matriarchy
Female-dominated society that gives higher prestige and value to women than to men
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objectification:
Practice of treating people as objects
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patriarchy:
Male-dominated society in which cultural beliefs and values give higher prestige and value to men than women
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pay equity:
Principle that women and men who perform jobs that are of equal value to society and that require equal training ought to be paid equally
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sexism
System of beliefs that asserts the inferiority of one sex and justifies gender-based inequality
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