Introduction Social inequality is a sociological concept which entails having an unequal share between privileges and obligations in our society which have developed from the social divisions being class, gender, and ethnicity (Henslin, Possamai & Possamai-Inesedy 2014, p. 64), outlined in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and the Australian society. Mad Max draws from these ideas of social inequality through a post-apocalyptic environment that they live on, with their main mission in life is essentially to survive with the idea of hope and redemption fueling their actions. Therefore, relating to the notion being systems of social stratification which describes inequalities among individuals and groups using attributes such as gender, age, religion …show more content…
In terms of class, one in four people or 4.9 million people lived in households under the low economic threshold (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009-10), meaning this significant amount of people living in Australia are in the working or underclass division of society. Due to this vast majority of citizens lacking in class status, their power is also lower when it comes to the society they live in as class directly links with power, therefore demonstrating the social inequalities …show more content…
Hence, although these systems of social class and the inequalities present due to this, Australians tend to ignore, or cut down those doing better in order to keep this idea of not being out of the
Social stratification is putting individuals into certain rankings within a society. One process of social stratification is socioeconomic status, which is a measurement of a persons standing based on education, work experience, and income. Socioeconomic status is something that separates individuals and can cause severe isolation between the distinct groups. The functionalist perspective focuses on how problems come from society and whether they serve a function for society. Changes in society, such as war or even an economic change, can affect the rate of suicide for a society (Risholm 2014).
Class is a key idea related to inequality, prejudice and discrimination in Australian society. It has been considered out of fashion, because some Australian people think that there is no class difference between people in Australia, everyone enjoys equality in society. In fact, the recent de-regulation of the workplace, and the widening gap in access to hospitals, schools and employment opportunities between the rich and poor, have made class more visible in Australian than ever before. Class is "a category of people who have generally similar educational histories, job opportunities, and social standing and who are conscious of their membership in a social group that is ranked in relation to others and is replicated over generations" (Kent, 1998:87). This essay argues that class cause continues to inequality in Australian society. Firstly, class structures labor market inequality. Secondly, class shapes the quality of a person's life. Thirdly, class inequality produces continuing class differences into the next generation. Finally, class has becoming a debate in Australian society, because class inequality encourages the `right' people to work more efficiently in the workforce and helps people to identify themselves in society, but continuing relevance of the concept of class is a matter in contemporary Australia.
Connell & Irving (1992) identify ‘class structure’ in Australia with the ‘ruling class’ owning property/business, and the ‘working class’ in the way of labourers whom ‘act together in resistance to the capitalists’. This is relevant today in Australia with the privileged having majority of the power and wealth. Moreover, exploitation of the ‘working class’ continue to maintain less power within the workplace & less wealth. Connell & Irving offer an uncomplicated view of class structure, (1992: p 40):
In America, our society is categorized by the poor, working, middle, upper middle, or upper class. Majority of America today seems to be under the working to middle class. It's hard to tell what
The myth that Australia is a classless society is still, till this day, circulating. With education opportunities differing, depending on your status in society and socioeconomic background, not all Australians share the same opportunity of education. Whether being a middle class citizen or an “elite” or from working class, all education opportunities offered, will be influenced by your financial status and hierarchy in society. Power can influence the outcome of an individual’s life.
...come in Australia. This report analysed Australia’s increase in poverty and ultimately the inequality gap between the low income earners and the high income earners. It is evident that although the line between inequality and equality are unlikely to meet it is important that individuals in society are receiving social justice.
The myth that Australia is a classless society is still, till this day, circulating. With education opportunities differing, depending on your status in society and socioeconomic background, not all Australians share the same opportunity of education. Whether being a middle class citizen or an “elite” or from working class, all education opportunities offered, will be influenced by your financial status and hierarchy in society.
This essay asks to discuss some of the ways in which differences and inequalities persist over time, suggesting that they are not static, continuing to be made and remade by the actions of people and society. With Inequality being defined as ‘‘The unequal distribution of valued social resources within society or between societies including money, housing, power, health and education”. whilst Differences is defined as “contrasts between groupings of people such as those based on gender, class, age, sexuality and race, including things people value and the variations between them including their physical, behavioural, attitudes and preferences”. (Blakeley and Staples, 2014 p 25). However, it is noted not all differences will lead to inequalities,
Social inequality is characterized by the existence of unequal opportunity for various social positions or statuses within a given group or society. It is a phenomenon that has a long history as social inequalities has a wide range of varieties. From economic, gender, racial, status, and prestige, social inequality is a topic often disputed by classical theorists. Sociologists Karl Marx, Max Weber, W.I. Thomas, and Frederic M. Thrasher have formed varying thoughts on this recurring phenomenon. Marx believed that social inequality synthesized through conflicts within classes and in modern society those two classes were the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. In contrast, Weber disputes Marx’s simplistic view of the conflict and theorizes that social
For example, the caste system in India where the “Dalits” or “outcastes” hold no power whatsoever because they were born that way. Nowadays, social stratification is maintained through education, the difference between level of education (degrees of high school, college, and university) can determine a person’s job, there income and thus, social status. Education can also affect individual’s mindset, their political standing, the abilities to do specific works. This helps establish a gap between those of middle class and those of working class. Poverty in America society is defined in two ways: Absolute Poverty and Relative Poverty. Absolute poverty is the inability to sustain oneself with necessary livelihood (food, water and shelter) while relative poverty is living under minimum accepted standard (poor housing condition, polluted water and food…). Both receive minimum amount of money and are consider lower classes of the
There is a high degree of social inequality within the United States. Of most modern industrial countries, the United Stated has some of the richest and some of the poorest people to be found. That fact is very disturbing, however, explains why much of the inequality exists in the US. In the following essay I will explain to you about the inequality in our country and why it occurs, based on the theoretical perspectives of a functionalist, conflict theorist, and social interationist.
There are eight classes in America consisting of the rich elite, very rich-upper class, lower-upper class, upper-middle class, middle class, working class, working poor and the underclass. The percentages of families in the various classes as established by Gilbert are thought to be 1.4 percent in the upper top class, 1.6 percent in the lower top class. 1...
Manza, Jeff and Michael Sauder. 2009. Inequality and Society: Social Science Perspectives on Social Stratification. New York: Norton.
According to Black?s definition, stratification is ?the vertical aspect of social life?, ?any uneven distribution of the material conditions of existence? (Black 11), in other words the discrimination of wealth. Stratification can be measured in quantity, delineated in style and viewed from two perspectives, as a ?magnitude of difference in wealth? (Black 11) and as the level to which the setting is stratified. Moreover, stratification explains not only law, its quantity and style, but also other aspects of social life. The relationship Black is mostly interested in is the positive correlation between stratification and law, meaning the more law, the more stratified the setting is. When utilizing this proposition by inserting other variables of social ...
Kerbo, H. R. (2012). Social stratification and inequality: class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.