Question

Describe the differnces between ascribed status and achieved status . Give examples to support the answer.

Discuss Karl Marx"s view on class differentiation. Define the term "Bourgeoisie" and "proletariat" Describe what Marx termed as a "consciousness" and give and example to support the answer.

Compare and contrast the functionalist and conflict views of social stratification. Give examples of each view to support the answer.

Describe the various issues surrounding the definition of poverty. Define the differrnce between absolute and relative poverty.

Discuss the functionality of poverty in US.

Discuss the controversies surrounding welfare reform in US.

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. I have stuck to sources in certain places as proper definitions are needed and not personal explanations.

(Answer) Ascribed status: It is the status given to an individual at birth. This status is based on ethnicity, class and social strata. This in no way is the status that describes the individual themselves.

Example: An immigrant civil worker’s child will be branded as an individual from a lower middle-class background with an immigrant status. This in no way reflects who the child really is as an individual.

Achieved status: It is the status that, the individual has earned for themselves. This status is earned based on professional status, personal standing in the society, contributions and other elements.

Example: If the immigrant child of the civil worker grows up to be botanist who helps build the county’s agro-industries, he becomes a successful individual. His personal and professional contribution towards society has helped achieve a certain status.

Karl Marx on Class Differentiation: Marx stated that there are 2 classes of society. These are the upper-class and the lower-class. The upper classes are bolstered by a life of leisure. They are endowed with ownership of property, production and abundance. The lower-class on the other hand he believed was doomed to a life of hard work and would be at the mercy of people who owned the means of production.

According to Marx, the 2 main classes in the capitalist stage of production are the Bourgeoisie and the proletariat

Bourgeoisie: These are the people who own the means of production. Through this ownership, they exploit the lower classes of society. Example, a landowner need only pay taxes for his land and minimum wage to his workers. He could yield great profits from the produce of his land

Proletariat: These are the lower classes that consist of the wage-earners and workers of society. Their major resource is, in fact, their labour work. Example, these are the farmers working on the land. They are people who earn minimum wage and are at the mercy of the landowner for their basic needs.

Consciousness:

1. Class consciousness – A certain level of awareness or consciousness that an individual holds about their rank or their standing in the society.
2. False consciousness – This is when a Proletariat falsely believes he has achieved a higher class based on his ideals, institutions etc.

Functionalism: “Society is characterized by pervasive inequality based on social class, gender, and other factors. Far-reaching social change is needed to reduce or eliminate social inequality and to create an egalitarian society.” (source: open libraries University of Minnesota)

Example: Social, economic and political change would be necessary in order to give this farmer and land-owner the same rights and equity in society.

Conflict views: “Conflict theory is a theory propounded by Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. It holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity.” (Source: investopedia)

Example: Because there is not enough land for everyone to be a land-owner and there is more room in the society for labourers than upper-class landowners.

Poverty: It is when an individual is faced with inadequate means or resources for achieving their basic necessities.

Issues with the definition: Poverty is relative. That is the main issue with the definition. To a middle-class individual, poverty is when they cannot afford to go to a restaurant. To a lower-class individual, it is when they cannot afford to buy bread.

Absolute poverty: When an individual cannot afford basic needs like food, clothing, shelter and health-care, it is a case of absolute poverty.

Relative poverty: When an individual is poor in relation to another individual. For example, a person may not be able to go to a fancy restaurant for dinner. But they may be able to go to burger king for a meal. That is abundant when it’s relative to someone who cannot afford to buy milk and eggs.

Functionality of poverty: According to social theorists, the main function of poverty is that the dirty work of the society gets done. The upper-classes of society need labourers to perform their tasks, this work is subsidised to the poor classes of the society. The same is so in the US.

Controversies surrounding welfare reform in US:

1. “States argue that Congress initially urged them to build TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families ) surpluses during prosperous times (because the annual grant level is declining in real terms, and will no longer adjust automatically when the economy goes downhill and caseloads rise)”
2. “A second potential area of conflict is the formula for allocating the TANF block grant among states. The share apportioned to individual states is based on states’ historical allocation of federal AFDC funds.”
3. “A third issue is reauthorization of the TANF provision that allocates additional funds to states that have high levels of poverty and high growth rates. Unlike TANF itself, this provision expires in 2001. A total of 17 states now receive money from this supplemental fund which they will lose if the provision is not reauthorized.”

(Source: Welfare Reform Reauthorization: An Overview of Problems and Issues

Isabel V. Sawhill, R. Kent Weaver, and Ron Haskins)