Soc 185- Final Study Guide
Race
idea that humankind is divided into distinct types based on appearance and ancestry
Wealth
total value of the assets a person owns at a given point in time (businesses, land, stocks, etc.) Piketty
(2014) defines wealth and capital to mean the same thing.Wealth signifies the command over financial
resources (ex. stock assets) that a family has accumulated over its lifetime along with those resources
that have been inherited across generations (2).
Wealth inequality
Differences between people in the amount of wealth/capital that they possess. (based on family
background and if previous generations preserved a secured wealth for your family)
Sedimentation of racial inequality
The sedimentation of racial Inequality is that in central ways the cumulative effects of the past have
seemingly cemented blacks to the bottom of society's economic hierarchy (5).
Institutional racism
racially discriminatory practices that are built into formal institutions. Neutral on the surface, but have
racial underlinings. Trends that are built into practices and customs of organizations, that prove to be
racially biased. Difficult to detect racism because rhetoric.
Mass Incarceration
Not only refers to the criminal justice system, but also to the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and
customs that control those labeled criminals both in and out of prison...It operates as a tightly
networked system of laws , policies, customs and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the
subordinate status of a group defined largely by race (13).
Income
The total amount of money a person receives over a year. This has two parts: labor income and capital
income.
Income inequality
Differences between people in the amount of income they receive. This can be broken down into
inequality in labor income (wage inequality) and inequality in capital income.
Capital income
, The amount of money a person receives from owning capital of any sort (profit, interest, rent, etc.). In
other words, this is the amount of money a person makes off of their existing wealth.
Labor income
The amount of money a person receives through wages, salaries and tips. In other words, this is the
amount of money a person makes from working. Note that sometimes Piketty (2014) just says "wages"
for short.
Supermanagers
Super Managers are top executives of top firms who have managed to obit extremely high, historically
unprecedented compensation packages for their labor. Sixty to Seventy percent of the top 0.1 percent of
the income hierarchy in 2000-2010 consists of top managers (302).
De-unionization
decline in the percentage of the labor force that is unionized--to eliminate labor unions from (a
company, industry, etc)--unions are losing members (so you get more benefits favoring the rich). Unions
are important for decrease in inequality in mid 20th century, but reason for increase in it after. With less
powerful unions companies effectively push min labor down and unions down. Unions originally
succeeded in getting a min wage, against child labor, bargained for benefits.
What it means that race is socially constructed
challenges our everyday conventional ways of how we view race. Most people believe differences in
appearances, lineages, differences from other races. The idea of race was created by human beings but
is treated as if it's a fact of nature. Because we treat race as being real, it has real consequences
Racial categories are not determined by
~Differences in appearance (such as skin color)- doesn't determine the way we view race, variation in
different appearance can be in the same group
~Genetic differences- By looking at race, we know something about their genes. ~Variation in one group
is higher than the differences between them.
-Continental distinctions
how the White category changed over time (incorporation of 'white ethnics'): describe each one
-Creation of "Indian" category
-Creation of "Black" category
-Creation of "White" category
-Expansion of white category in early 20th century----European "ethnics" become white--irish, jewish,
italians, first seen as ethnic and racially inferior, for political reasons they became white.
Oliver and Shapiro (2006) describe "three scenarios that produced structured inequalities" (p. 13)
between whites and blacks
(1) the reconstruction; (2) suburbanization of America; (3) and institutional racism through mortgage
lending and redlining
Race
idea that humankind is divided into distinct types based on appearance and ancestry
Wealth
total value of the assets a person owns at a given point in time (businesses, land, stocks, etc.) Piketty
(2014) defines wealth and capital to mean the same thing.Wealth signifies the command over financial
resources (ex. stock assets) that a family has accumulated over its lifetime along with those resources
that have been inherited across generations (2).
Wealth inequality
Differences between people in the amount of wealth/capital that they possess. (based on family
background and if previous generations preserved a secured wealth for your family)
Sedimentation of racial inequality
The sedimentation of racial Inequality is that in central ways the cumulative effects of the past have
seemingly cemented blacks to the bottom of society's economic hierarchy (5).
Institutional racism
racially discriminatory practices that are built into formal institutions. Neutral on the surface, but have
racial underlinings. Trends that are built into practices and customs of organizations, that prove to be
racially biased. Difficult to detect racism because rhetoric.
Mass Incarceration
Not only refers to the criminal justice system, but also to the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and
customs that control those labeled criminals both in and out of prison...It operates as a tightly
networked system of laws , policies, customs and institutions that operate collectively to ensure the
subordinate status of a group defined largely by race (13).
Income
The total amount of money a person receives over a year. This has two parts: labor income and capital
income.
Income inequality
Differences between people in the amount of income they receive. This can be broken down into
inequality in labor income (wage inequality) and inequality in capital income.
Capital income
, The amount of money a person receives from owning capital of any sort (profit, interest, rent, etc.). In
other words, this is the amount of money a person makes off of their existing wealth.
Labor income
The amount of money a person receives through wages, salaries and tips. In other words, this is the
amount of money a person makes from working. Note that sometimes Piketty (2014) just says "wages"
for short.
Supermanagers
Super Managers are top executives of top firms who have managed to obit extremely high, historically
unprecedented compensation packages for their labor. Sixty to Seventy percent of the top 0.1 percent of
the income hierarchy in 2000-2010 consists of top managers (302).
De-unionization
decline in the percentage of the labor force that is unionized--to eliminate labor unions from (a
company, industry, etc)--unions are losing members (so you get more benefits favoring the rich). Unions
are important for decrease in inequality in mid 20th century, but reason for increase in it after. With less
powerful unions companies effectively push min labor down and unions down. Unions originally
succeeded in getting a min wage, against child labor, bargained for benefits.
What it means that race is socially constructed
challenges our everyday conventional ways of how we view race. Most people believe differences in
appearances, lineages, differences from other races. The idea of race was created by human beings but
is treated as if it's a fact of nature. Because we treat race as being real, it has real consequences
Racial categories are not determined by
~Differences in appearance (such as skin color)- doesn't determine the way we view race, variation in
different appearance can be in the same group
~Genetic differences- By looking at race, we know something about their genes. ~Variation in one group
is higher than the differences between them.
-Continental distinctions
how the White category changed over time (incorporation of 'white ethnics'): describe each one
-Creation of "Indian" category
-Creation of "Black" category
-Creation of "White" category
-Expansion of white category in early 20th century----European "ethnics" become white--irish, jewish,
italians, first seen as ethnic and racially inferior, for political reasons they became white.
Oliver and Shapiro (2006) describe "three scenarios that produced structured inequalities" (p. 13)
between whites and blacks
(1) the reconstruction; (2) suburbanization of America; (3) and institutional racism through mortgage
lending and redlining
