Why are People Unequal in Society?
According to Philosopher’s of the time of enlightenment the nature of society created inequality. These philosophers also believed that it was the job of the government to limit inequality and try to create conformity.
Now we are able to see that inequality emerges with each and every interaction. This is because every individual possesses qualities which may be better or worse than another’s. These qualities include things such as intelligence, athletic ability, and beauty. However, this has become a problem that we ourselves created. We choose to compare ourselves to others. Sociologists have examined two aspects of this problem. One of these aspects is the simplicity of how inequality arises in the first place. The second aspect is how it is perpetuated over time. Social structure is a social pattern that involves unequal ranks. Once these ranks are discovered inequality will always exist.
One of the main elements of inequality is the division of labor. There are three different settings for Division of Labor. The first setting is the economic setting. In this setting inequality occurs because of different jobs, money, positions of power, and dependence on others. This also creates inequality because an employer controls an employee. Once control is established there are automatically ranks. The boss may take advantage of his employee, and gain at this employee’s expense. Once this process has started it will never stop.
The second setting for division of labor is the organizational division of labor. This division includes such things as family, friends, groups, schools, politics, and
churches. Within these groups there is a sense of the follower and the leader. These leadership positions allow there to be an advantage over others. This also shows that all organizations have few in power and many that must follow them in order to succeed.
The third setting for the Division of Labor is the intentional division. This includes things such as war. In war there are always winners and losers. The winners of course end up ruling the losers. This provides a division of labor in which the outcome was somewhat intentional. This inequality is created by those who crave organization and structure. If these people do not agree with another country’s way of rule, they will defeat them and in turn bring in their own statutes.
Social conflict is another way of creating inequality within a society.
Before the presence of equality came into play, some laws favored the rich over all others, and some only affected the poor; however, the growing middle class ended up being caught in the crosshairs of the two. During the Revolution, leaders went to protest this inequality, and in doing so went on to draw inspiration from the very ideas brought upon by Enlightenment thinkers, which in turn were the very building blocks of France’s 1789 Declaration of the Rights of
Capitalism, as a system is bound to increase economic disparity. Bill Gates argues that this system would make huge progress in terms of reducing the divide between the rich and the poor (1). However, capitalism would cause disparity not only within a country but also between different countries. A free market would ensure an increase in inequality because the wages of the working class never increase proportionate to the economic growth. This happens because of “inflation, rapid economic growth, the decline in the power of unions and their influence as well as the exchange rate of the dollar” (Thompson). The owners of companies always get the benefits whereas the labor receives very little for the work it has put into the products (Hanks). In terms of disparity between countries, capitalism, while proposing free trade, emphasizes the need for specialization. This specialization increases the divide between the first world and third world. The third world consists of countries which specialize in the primary industry whereas the first world concentrates on the secondary industry. The seco...
Emile Durkheim main concern was social order, and how individual integrated to maintain it. The Division of Labor was one of Durkheim’s first major works. Society is a system of inter-related and inter-connected of not only individuals but also subgroups interacting with one another. Durkheim is interested on how this division of labor changes the way that individuals feel when they are part of society as a whole. As society advances it becomes more complex, and as it becomes more complex, it gets harder to maintain with the rise of conflict. According to Durkheim, this is why society has its division of labor, and in order to survive, society is broken down to certain specializations where people are more dependent on each other. Durkheim believed that the division of labor begins when the social, economic and political boundaries dividing segments begin to break down and smaller segments come together. Within these segments, Durkheim describes another degree of integration which is broken down into two aspects; Mechanical Solidarity and Organic Solidarity. Within in these social solidarities, he identifies a system of social relations linking individuals to each other and to the society as a whole.
Institutions are crucial for our society to be successful because it is a social and academic construction of a community in that institutions help us interact with each other and promote scientific research and findings, regardless of the cultures and values that each individual believes in; without institutions, there would be no order and stability in society. However, in the essay “Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society” by Joseph Stiglitz, Stiglitz disagrees by arguing that institutions actually prevent scientific research to evolve into scientific discoveries because monopolists and dominant forms such as Microsoft suppress innovation; however, this statement is unconscionable
Inequality is an issue which has been analyzed by political thinkers for centuries. Some thinkers have long been supporting the subordination of one gender, race, or class over another with religious, moral, ethical, and scientific factors to support their claims; others, however, argue against any subordination of any decree. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a famous philosopher of the eighteenth century, defined inequality in two parts: natural and social. Natural inequalities are the differences in bodily and mental strengths. Social inequalities, however, are the differences that exist between individuals in wealth, power and honor. For Rousseau, social inequalities are justified when they are able to reflect natural inequalities.
Society is constantly undergoing change as a result of competition over scarce resources. According to conflict theory, inequality exists because those that have more control have a disproportionate share of society’s resources and actively defend their advantages. This would be considered as the upper class and the lower class. For example, when working at a clothing store, one will immediately notice the inequality between a sales associate and the head manager. A sales associate has to overcome many obstacles for a low salary. For example, a sales associate has to help everyone in the store for long periods of time and late at night, while struggling with many other different tasks. The head manager can sit in the back of the store, and get paid twice as much as the hard-working sales associate. This is a perfect comparison to society. This exploitation of the lower class by the upper class demonstrates how the upper class has more control and can use their control to their
Nevertheless, as income inequality as well as gender inequality are the two outstanding types of inequality equippe...
Marx vison of the division of labor consists of this struggle between classes. That all of the ideas that we use as our own are really originated by the upper class to sustain and uphold their power over the lower class. The ideas of the ruling class are used simply to justify their procession of material stuff while you have nothing. Durkheim’s primary view of the division of labor was that of interdependence and social solidarity. I feel that both are generally convincing, but Marx makes a better argument. It is clear to see there has and will most likely always be class struggle. Our society is made up of hierarchical ladders, someone will always think they are better and need to be in
When it comes to sociological research, Grusky and Weisshaar give specific layers or information about the four parameters of inequality and what they mean. These factors give common over views of the category in which the unfair distribution of goods and income are spread. The four parameters are listed as the amount of inequality, rigidity, ascriptive processes, and crystallization (Grusky and Weisshaar
First we must understand how inequality started. Obviously like I mentioned before there will always be inequalities such as intelligence and looks no matter what. Ignoring that, lets understand how inequality came to be. As soon as a organization is formed is when inequality takes place. In an organization there are different roles that have different powers and ultimately there is some sort of ranking between people in this organization. Understanding this will help you understand why the world is the way it is now. It helps you understand why there is different economic classes and why some people make more money than others. If you ask any sociologist how did inequality emerge in the first place they will tell you it’s because of social conflict and the division of labor. The division of labor is basically referring to when different people take part in a task to improve efficiency. An easy example of this would be a factory or any job you can find. Once positions of power are crated then inequality is formed. Knowing that general idea will help make sense of why inequality is here and why it is very difficult to get rid
As time passes, there are a few things that have stayed constant since the beginning of time. One of those things is the inevitable creation of class and social structure. Class and social structure are constructed because of the inequality between classes. In “Workaday World – Crack Economy” written by Phillipe Bourgois, and the film People Like Us social inequality is present. In this paper, I will use the theories of Pierre Bourdieu and Leith Mullings to analyze and evaluate social equality while using the film and essay as a guideline.
In the late eighteenth century the ideas of liberty and equalities were beginning to flourish throughout the world, especially in Europe and in America (p.691). Part of this was believed to be due to the Enlightenment, for it changed the ways people thought about life. People were seeking equality and individual freedoms. They wanted equality, but it was an uncertain thing for the liberals argued that all citizens should have identical rights and civil liberties, and nobility should not have special privileges (However they did not believe that women had these rights or that there should be economical equality). It was these thoughts about individual rights and equalities, which fueled the people to create a revolution in both America and Europe (More specifically France).
Durkheim, E. (1984). The Division of Labor in Society. (W. Halls, Trans.) New York, New
The division of labour is ‘the greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour.’ To further increase this productivity is the individuals to specialize in their work; to do the work that is best suited to their needs, talents and ‘from regard of his own interest’ thus making work easier for all involved in the economic market place and labour force. As each worker specializes further into more niche roles, the less work each worker has to accomplish but more work can be done at a faster rate, increasing efficiency. According to
As we prosper through time, inequality is slowly less evident. A lot of people don't realize that although things are improving with time, inequality is still prominent in our society. The people that are failing to realize that there still is inequality, are the fortunate ones. They rise well above the poverty line, and usually live relatively economically sound lives. They are the people who are supplied with our society's benefits.