Deck 11: Class and Inequality

Question 1

Systems of stratification and power such as class:

A) are not intrinsic to human culture.
B) are entrenched in patterns of behavior central to human evolutionary success.
C) involve the accumulation of material wealth only.
D) involve the accumulation of prestige only.
E) are least pronounced in industrialized capitalist economies.

Answer 1

are not intrinsic to human culture.

Question 2

Systems of class stratify individuals' life chances and affect their possibilities for upward social:

A) elitism.
B) inertia.
C) stagnation.
D) flexibility.
E) mobility.

Answer 2

mobility.

Question 3

Which of the following is a pattern of relationship in which group members equally share resources and responsibilities over time based on mutual exchange?

A) ranking
B) recidivism
C) reciprocity
D) redistribution
E) reallocation

Answer 3

reciprocity

Question 4

Societies in which prestige and status are stratified but wealth is not are considered:

A) ambilineal.
B) reciprocal.
C) unilineal.
D) ranked.
E) egalitarian.

Question 5

Which of the following is a system of power based on wealth, income, and status that creates an unequal distribution of a society's resources?

A) class
B) ethnicity
C) sexuality
D) gender
E) race

Question 6

Of all the systems of stratification and power in a society, which of the following is commonly the most difficult to see clearly and to discuss openly?

A) race
B) ethnicity
C) gender
D) class
E) sexuality

Question 7

Archaeological evidence suggests that hierarchy, violence, and aggression:

A) have been key to the evolutionary success of humankind.
B) emerged relatively recently in human history.
C) were central to the evolutionary success of early humans.
D) have always been most prominent in nonindustrialized hunter-gatherer societies.
E) are the natural state of human culture.

Question 8

The unequal distribution of a society's resources within a class system typically:

A) involves moving surpluses steadily downward into the hands of the poor.
B) involves moving surpluses steadily upward into the hands of the elite.
C) involves sharing of resources through random lottery.
D) is not intersected by race and gender.
E) does not affect individuals' life chances.

Question 9

Systems of class and inequality:

A) no longer exist in postindustrialized nation-states such as the United States.
B) create an unequal distribution of a society's resources.
C) are a natural feature of human culture.
D) are exemplified by hunter-gatherer societies.
E) have no impact on an individual's life chances.

Question 10

Social patterns entrenched in hierarchy and stratification have emerged:

A) only more recently in human history when compared to egalitarian social patterns.
B) much earlier in human history when compared to egalitarian social patterns.
C) most prominently among hunter-gatherer societies.
D) as the basis of Amish and Hutterite communities.
E) mostly in societies with a strong principle of reciprocity.

Question 11

Countries such as Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are among those that have explicitly worked to narrow stratification through high taxation of wealth and which of the following efforts?

A) privatized health insurance
B) generous social benefits
C) nonprofit taxes
D) voting restrictions
E) immigration laws

Question 12

In ranked societies, the social rank of each member of the society is determined by:

A) the individual skills, wisdom, or efforts of its members.
B) heredity.
C) the accumulation of material wealth.
D) hunting prowess.
E) ownership of land.

Question 13

Which of the following statements is true?

A) All societies develop identical patterns of stratification that differentiate people into groups or classes.
B) Each society develops its own patterns of stratification that differentiate people into groups or classes.
C) Hunter-gatherer social structure has promoted ranked societies.
D) Egalitarian societies do not exist in the world today.
E) The best-known examples of contemporary ranked societies are the Amish and Hutterite communities.

Question 14

In ranked societies, positions of high prestige such as that of a chief are largely:

A) powerless.
B) reciprocal.
C) hereditary.
D) achieved.
E) ambiguous.

Question 15

Which of the following members of a ranked society do not accumulate great wealth, despite their high prestige?

A) women
B) grandfathers
C) men
D) wives
E) chiefs

Question 16

Which of the following is a type of society that is based on the sharing of resources to ensure group success with a relative absence of hierarchy and violence within or among groups?

A) proletariat
B) stratified
C) bourgeoisie
D) egalitarian
E) ranked

Question 17

Egalitarian societies depend on sharing which of the following in order to ensure group success?

A) children
B) money
C) weaponry
D) sexual partners
E) resources

Question 18

Categories found within a class system serve as a basis for unequal access to which of the following?

A) gender
B) race
C) status
D) ethnicity
E) sexuality

Question 19

Patterns of reciprocity:

A) no longer exist in societies with contemporary economic relations, which tend to be organized around the exchange of money for services.
B) still exist, even in contemporary societies that base economic relations on the exchange of money for services.
C) are a feature of human culture that emerged relatively recently in our history.
D) are not a characteristic of egalitarian or ranked societies.
E) have their roots in the rise of intensive agriculture and populous market towns.

Question 20

Efforts to establish more egalitarian systems of economic and social relations within highly stratified societies include which of the following communities?

A) Hutterite
B) capitalist
C) occupational
D) impoverished
E) elite

Question 21

As a ritual ceremony, the potlatch serves to establish social status not by wealth and power but by the prestige earned via a person's capacity for which of the following?

A) labor
B) obligation
C) generosity
D) status
E) power

Question 22

According to Karl Marx, the bourgeoisie consisted of a capitalist class of individuals who owned the means of:

A) distribution.
B) production.
C) marketing.
D) invention.
E) convention.

Question 23

Max Weber referred to the opportunities that individuals have to improve their quality of life and realize their life goals as:

A) elite prestige.
B) life chances.
C) prestige status.
D) life stances.
E) elite power.

Question 24

Which of the following is defined as the act of gift giving within a ranked society that serves as a form of sharing accumulated wealth and enhancing the chief's prestige?

A) redistribution
B) reciprocity
C) reproduction
D) reintegration
E) restoration

Question 25

Theorist Max Weber argued that analyzing emerging structures of stratification required an examination of which of the following?

A) power and prestige
B) power and wealth
C) prestige and status
D) wealth and power
E) status and wealth

Question 26

A famous redistribution ceremony that is commonly practiced among Native American groups such as the Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest is called:

A) caste.
B) proletariat.
C) habitus.
D) potlatch.
E) Dalit.

Question 27

The movement of one's class position-whether upward or downward-in stratified societies is called:

A) social inertia.
B) social achievement.
C) social stagnation.
D) social independence.
E) social mobility.

Question 28

Working-class people who lacked land to grow their own food, tools to make their own products, and capital to build workshops and therefore had to sell their labor were considered which of the following classes of people, according to Karl Marx?

A) bourgeoisie
B) capitalists
C) proletariat
D) slaves
E) industrialists

Question 29

For a chief in a ranked society, his or her rank and status are reinforced through reciprocity and:

A) restoration.
B) generosity.
C) accumulation.
D) reproduction.
E) prosperity.

Question 30

For Bourdieu, which of the following concepts is defined as a set of common perceptions that shape expectations and aspirations and guide an individual in assessing his or her life chances and the potential for social mobility?

A) cultural capital
B) habitus
C) status prestige
D) group ideology
E) bourgeoisie

Question 31

Karl Marx argued that the proletariat were unable to develop a political awareness of their class position because:

A) they simply lacked interest or motivation to do so.
B) they were continually occupied with the struggle to make ends meet.
C) they naturally had lower intellect than the bourgeoisie.
D) stratification and class division is the most natural state for society.
E) class is not political.

Question 32

Which of the following individuals is among four key theorists of class and inequality who wrote in the nineteenth century and is likely the most widely read theorist of class?

A) Margaret Mead
B) Clifford Geertz
C) Franz Boas
D) Karl Marx
E) Ruth Benedict

Question 33

Karl Marx argued that capitalists increased their wealth by extracting the surplus labor value from which of the following?

A) factories
B) natural resources
C) industries
D) workers
E) products

Question 34

Which of the following is another key to the social reproduction of class and was defined by Bourdieu as the knowledge, habits, and tastes learned from parents and family that people use to gain access to scarce and valuable resources in society?

A) status prestige
B) habitus
C) cultural capital
D) group ideology
E) bourgeoisie

Question 35

Karl Marx examined social inequality by distinguishing between which two distinct classes of people?

A) prestige and proletariat
B) bourgeoisie and elite
C) proletariat and impoverished
D) elite and privileged
E) bourgeoisie and proletariat

Question 36

Stratification and inequality became:

A) more pronounced in industrialized capitalist economies over recent centuries, resulting in the concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer people.
B) less pronounced in industrialized capitalist economies over recent centuries, resulting in more egalitarian distribution of wealth in those societies.
C) the dominant societal form in hunter-gatherer societies early in human history.
D) less pronounced in all societies over recent centuries due to the efforts of the Amish and Hutterites to spread egalitarianism and reciprocity around the world.
E) more pronounced in countries like Norway, Sweden, and Denmark as a result of efforts to redistribute wealth by decreasing social benefits.

Question 37

Theorist Pierre Bourdieu found that which of the following systems did not provide opportunities for social class mobility, but instead helped reproduce the social class relations that already existed?

A) labor
B) industrial
C) democratic
D) capitalist
E) educational

Question 38

According to Max Weber, the reputation, influence, and deference bestowed on certain people because of their membership in certain groups are called:

A) class.
B) status.
C) prestige.
D) power.
E) wealth.

Question 39

Anthropologists trace the roots of which of the following patterns of social stratification to the rise of intensive agriculture and populous market towns?

A) egalitarian stratification
B) ascribed stratification
C) ranked stratification
D) extreme stratification
E) achieved stratification

Question 40

Pierre Bourdieu worked to understand the relationship between class, culture, and power by examining which of the following phenomenon in schools?

A) social replication
B) social mobility
C) social reciprocity
D) social reproduction
E) social management

Question 41

Which of the following is a type of status that is inherited or assigned at birth and is passed down from generation to generation with rigidly enforced boundaries among caste groups?

A) ascribed
B) closed
C) achieved
D) inherent
E) restricted

Question 42

The work of which of the following more recent theorists has led anthropologists to reexamine class by analyzing the deep connections between class, race, and gender?

A) Clifford Geertz
B) Karl Marx
C) Jane Goodall
D) Leith Mullings
E) Louise Lamphere

Question 43

Which of the following reveal the way power is distributed in a society?

A) retirement plans
B) investment patterns
C) wealth plans
D) dividend plans
E) income patterns

Question 44

Which of the following is a theory of poverty that considers poverty as pathology in that it is a result of an individual's personal failings stemming from a combination of dysfunctional behaviors, attitudes, and values that make and keep the poor person poor?

A) Culture of Propensity
B) Culture of Dysfunction
C) Culture of Disparity
D) Culture of Poverty
E) Culture of Tenacity

Question 45

Proponents of poverty as a structural problem trace its roots to dysfunctional aspects of the:

A) family system.
B) financial system.
C) educational system.
D) political system.
E) economic system.

Question 46

Which of the following is defined as a closed system of social stratification in which members are organized into hierarchically ranked groups with unequal access to rewards and privileges based on ascribed status?

A) class
B) gender
C) race
D) caste
E) ethnicity

Question 47

Anthropologists such as Setha Low have demonstrated that class is largely invisible in the United States due to which of the following actions carried out by portions of the population?

A) individual association
B) neighborhood fusion
C) community building
D) media seclusion
E) voluntary isolation

Question 48

Anthropologist Gregory Mantsios contends that the media play a significant role in hiding class stratification in the United States by largely ________ class.

A) skewing
B) featuring
C) ignoring
D) replicating
E) complicating

Question 49

Which of the following is the term used to describe a framework for analyzing many factors that determine how class is lived rather than examining class in isolation?

A) adaptability
B) monofunctionality
C) punctuality
D) functionality
E) intersectionality

Question 50

Leith Mullings argues that class cannot be studied in isolation but rather must be considered together with race and gender as interlocking systems of:

A) economies.
B) status.
C) power.
D) prestige.
E) class.

Question 51

The total value of what someone owns-including stocks, bonds, and real estate-minus any debt, such as a mortgage, student educational loans, or credit card debt, is considered:

A) wealth.
B) investments.
C) income.
D) profits.
E) wages.

Question 52

The income gaps between the highest earners and the lowest earners in the United States have:

A) narrowed substantially during the past five decades due to globalization and its increased economic opportunities.
B) increased substantially during the past five decades due to changes in the tax code and stagnating salaries.
C) remained the same during the past five decades, as all classes take advantage of the increased economic opportunities arising from globalization.
D) remained the same during the past five decades due to economic stagnation.
E) increased substantially in the past five decades as the economy implodes.

Question 53

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Wealth in the United States is even more unevenly distributed than income, and the gap continues to widen.
B) Income in the United States is even more unevenly distributed than wealth, and the gap continues to widen.
C) Income is as unevenly distributed as wealth, and the gap is more or less stable.
D) Income is more unevenly distributed than wealth, but the income gap is closing while the wealth gap stays the same.
E) Wealth is more unevenly distributed than income, but both the income gap and the wealth gap are narrowing.

Question 54

Which of the following consists of wages earned from work, plus dividends and interest on investments along with rents and royalties?

A) investments
B) wealth
C) income
D) profits
E) wages

Question 55

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Class is rarely discussed in the United States and consequently is largely off the radar screen regarding public discourse.
B) Class is discussed all the time in the United States and is a topic of frequent debate in public discourse.
C) Americans are very knowledgeable about class and have very accurate ideas about where their families fit in the U.S. class structure.
D) The Founding Fathers of the United States were among the poorest men in the thirteen colonies, which is why they were concerned with creating a classless society.
E) Native Americans have always been among the largest landholders in the United States, which has allowed them to pursue upward mobility throughout the country's history.

Question 56

Given the poverty rates reported in the 2009 U.S. Census Bureau report, it is important to recognize that most of the nation's poor are:

A) white and live in rural and suburban areas.
B) black and live in urban areas.
C) Hispanic and are evenly distributed between rural and urban areas.
D) Asian and live in urban areas.
E) Native American.

Question 57

In the United States, an individual's life chances are:

A) much less influenced by the class position of his or her family than in most countries around the world.
B) stratified by class as well as race and gender.
C) more influenced by the class position of his or her family than in any other country.
D) affected by income, but not by wealth.
E) determined by hard work and skill alone.

Question 58

Since the mid-1970s, class inequality in the United States has:

A) decreased as income and wealth have been disbursed from the wealthy elite down to the middle- and lower-class social strata.
B) increased due to decreasing tax rates for the wealthy and stagnating salaries for the middle class.
C) held steady as tax breaks for the wealthy have been balanced by increased salaries in the middle class.
D) decreased as a result of increased tax rates on the wealthy and redistribution of benefits to the poor.
E) fluctuated wildly as the middle class booms and stagnates at irregular intervals.

Question 59

Which of the following is a type of status that is established and changeable during a person's lifetime?

A) ascribed
B) closed
C) achieved
D) inherent
E) restricted

Question 60

In addition to the role of the media and voluntary isolation among portions of the population, which of the following also contributes to the invisibility of class and inequality in the United States?

A) social disruptions
B) political culture
C) economic structures
D) consumer culture
E) global disparities

Question 61

Karl Marx, Max Weber, Pierre Bourdieu, and Leith Mullings are four theorists who have examined class as a system of stratification in societies. Which of the four theorists' approaches do you find most convincing? Describe the theorist's general approach to examining class and discuss how this particular approach differs from the approaches used by the other theorists. What makes this approach more convincing in your opinion? Do you think this approach is still an effective tool in examining class in societies today? Given the increasingly global nature of societal interconnections, do you believe this approach will continue to be useful in examining class systems in future societies? Why or why not? Do you think additional approaches will be needed to more fully examine class systems in the future? Why or why not?

Question 62

A marginalized group outside of India's primary castes who are typically assigned the most spiritually polluting work and are deemed "untouchable" by the general population are the:

A) Brahmins.
B) Vaisyas.
C) Shudras.
D) Ksyatriyas.
E) Dalits.

Question 63

The concept of the American Dream emphasizes and promotes the notions of meritocracy and social mobility as central to both national identity and the experiences of U.S. citizens. These notions assume that all citizens have equal opportunity for upward social mobility regardless of current class position. What is meritocracy and how does it relate to social mobility? Are both concepts experienced equally by U.S. citizens today regardless of class position? What are three examples of how class can affect individuals' experiences with meritocracy and social mobility? Given what you have read in the chapter on class and inequality, do you believe the American Dream is equally attainable to all U.S. citizens? Why or why not? Do you think the American Dream will become more equally attainable in the future? Why or why not?

Question 64

India's recent economic transformations are resulting in:

A) the development of new occupations and social mobility that are challenging the power of caste boundaries to maintain a system of stratification.
B) the decrease of social mobility and a hardening of caste boundaries.
C) the development of new occupations and the reduction of the number of castes from four to three.
D) the development of new occupations and the increase of the number of castes from four to six.
E) widespread rioting as the social order collapses.

Question 65

A caste system, such as that among Hindus in India, is largely a closed system in which an individual's status is ascribed. What is meant by ascribed status and how does it differ from achieved status regarding one's social position? How do ascribed and achieved status relate to open or closed systems of social stratification? What type of system is the class system in the United States? In which ways does the class system in the United States differ from the caste system in India and in which ways is it similar? Do you believe the class system in the United States is becoming more open or closed? What do you think the future holds for the social stratification systems in India and in the United States?

Question 66

The potlatch is a redistribution ceremony practiced among Native American groups such as the Kwakiutl people of the Pacific Northwest. The potlatch serves both a practical and ceremonial function in that it helps redistribute resources for the benefit of the group and it establishes social status and prestige via one's capacity for generosity. As a gift-giving practice, the potlatch is an important ceremony for some ranked societies. Do similar types of gift-giving practices occur in your own society? What are two examples of ceremonies in your own society in which gift giving takes place? What is the function of gift giving in these two examples and how does the act of gift giving benefit the giver, the receiver, and the social group more generally? What happens if an individual does not give a gift in the two examples you highlight? What influences from within and outside of your society may be changing the way in which gift-giving practices are occurring in the ceremonies you mention? Do you think gift giving will remain a practice within these types of ceremonies in the future?

Question 67

Despite overall increased levels of income and wealth in the United States during the past four decades, poverty continues to be a societal issue. According to your textbook, what are two key theories that developed in the social sciences to identify the roots of poverty in the United States? How do these two theories differ and what elements might they share in common? What is meant by poverty as pathology versus poverty as a structural economic problem? Which theory do you find most convincing for identifying the root causes of poverty in the United States, and why? Do you think additional theories are needed to more fully address the underlying causes of poverty in the country and globally? What do you think is the appropriate role of the government in addressing the roots of poverty? What do you think is the appropriate role of the individual in overcoming poverty? Do you think poverty can be eradicated in the future? Why or why not?

Question 68

Theorist Karl Marx argued that societies in the emerging capitalist economy of nineteenth-century Europe consisted of two distinct classes of people: those who own the means of production and those who must sell their labor in return for wages. What were these two distinct classes called? What other resources or factors distinguished these two classes, according to Marx? Does the two-class system espoused by Marx still hold relevancy in examining class systems in societies across the world today? Why or why not? Are there other classes that have developed since the time period during which Marx wrote? What is one example of a way in which Marx's theory could be applied to understanding societies living in a global economy today? Do you find Marx's theory helpful in understanding class and social inequality today? Why or why not?

Question 69

Globalization has produced unprecedented opportunities for the creation of wealth:

A) which has significantly reduced widespread poverty worldwide.
B) but it has also produced widespread poverty worldwide.
C) which has mostly benefited countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
D) which has decreased poverty globally, with the exception of China.
E) which has all but eliminated global poverty.

Question 70

Pierre Bourdieu argued that in addition to a family's economic circumstances, two additional key factors affect an individual's social mobility within society. What are these two additional key factors and how do they differ from each other? What are some examples that best illustrate these two key factors? How can these two factors limit one's social mobility? How can these two factors improve one's social mobility? How do you think these two factors affect your own social mobility in society? Are there individuals in societies who are not affected in any way by either of these factors? Please provide at least one example to support your argument.

Question 71

Economists clearly reveal that both the income and wealth gaps in the United States are widening substantially. What is the difference between income and wealth? Can an individual have high income but little wealth? Which households tend to be at the bottom of the income and wealth gaps and which households are at the top? What are some of the reasons for the income and wealth disparities that exist in the United States today? Why are the U.S. income and wealth gaps widening despite increased globalization and access to educational opportunities? How do one's income and wealth affect his or her social mobility? What other systems of social stratification affect an individual's income and wealth and in what ways? How does Pem Davidson Buck's work with poor white people in rural Kentucky reflect how income and wealth are affected by other forms of social stratification?

Question 72

Hunger reflects growing global inequality and is a result of:

A) the uneven distribution of food despite the sufficient amount of food available to feed the world's poor.
B) the insufficient amount of food available to feed the world's population.
C) farmers abandoning their fields for high-paying factory jobs.
D) massive hunger strikes to protest the uneven distribution of resources.
E) the collapse of agribusiness following the global recession.

Question 73

In India's caste system, the population is divided into how many different castes, or varna?

A) twelve
B) seven
C) four
D) thirteen
E) two

Question 74

Class is a topic that is not commonly discussed among most people in the United States, and yet it is a system of stratification that continues to affect peoples' daily lives. How often and in what context do you talk about class issues with family and friends? In what class position would you classify yourself and your family? How do you know what category to use to identify your class position? Does your class position differ from that of your parents or grandparents? Why or why not? Does your class position differ from that of your friends? Why or why not? What types of efforts do you make to increase your social mobility, and do you think the efforts will indeed help you increase your class position at some point in your lifetime? Given what you know about your own class position, why do you think that class is not commonly talked about in U.S. society? What other types of social stratification are more commonly discussed in public and how might they be drawing attention away from class issues?

Question 75

Contemporary economic relations in many societies today tend to be organized around the exchange of money for services rather than around patterns of reciprocity. However, patterns of reciprocity still exist today even within highly stratified societies. What are three examples of patterns of reciprocity that are likely to occur in highly stratified societies today, and what purpose do they serve within or between social groups? How does gift giving relate to patterns of reciprocity and what may be some underlying motivations in gift giving that are related to group survival or benefit? Given the longevity of reciprocity as a social pattern within human evolutionary experience, do you think it will continue to be present within and among social groups in the future? Why or why not?