Welcome To Rural Sociology 1000 Introduction to Rural Sociology

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Welcome To Rural Sociology 1000 Introduction to
Rural Sociology

• Mary Grigsby
• Associate Professor of Rural Sociology
• Division of Applied Social Sciences

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• Topics of Discussion

• Class Business
• Weber
• Negatively Privileged
• Positively Privileged
• Conflict
• Functionalism
• Case Studies

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1. What has contributed to increased hours of
work?

• Firms make it difficult for people to reduce
  hours
• Cycle of work and spend
• Upscale American Dream 1980s and 1990s
• The New Consumerism competitive consumption

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2. What are the factors contributing to rising
consumer desires?

• Rise of inequality with affluent being the group
  to emulate
• Media presents affluent as the average lifestyle
• Heavy television viewers have skewed view of the
  average lifestyle

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3. What are the big three in the Consumption
competition? Why are they so central?

• Car, house, clothes
• If you are having a consumption competition you
  need to be able to see what is being competed
  about.
• Conspicuous consumption allows the comparison to
  be made easily

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4.What is the aspirational gap and what are the
impacts of it?

• The gap between what people want and what they
  can affort.
• It has led to rising levels of debt without a
  safety net of savings by many people.
• A tax revolt against having to fund public goods
  is linked to the pressures of private consumption
  

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5. What are impacts of over consumption?

• Less time with families
• Too much stuff
• Environmental impacts
• Discarding material goods at a high rate
• Instead of a leisure society people feel pressure
  to work and spend

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6. How can people change the pattern of
competitive consumption?

• Deconstruct the symbolic meanings of consumer
  goods-identities wrapped up in products
• Progressive consumption taxes-lower taxes or
  subsidize non-status labeled products
• Personal practices-For instance, stop reading
  fashion magazines, stop going to the mall
• Downshift consumption and work, adopt voluntary
  simplicity
• Flexible work hours-right to work less, better
  vacations

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Weber and Social Class
Social Class Derived From Marketable Abilities,
Access to Consumer Goods and Services, Control
Over the Means of Production, Ability to Invest
in Property
Negatively Privileged Property Class
Positively Privileged Property Class
Complicating Factor
Complicating Factor
Status Group
Political Parties
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Negatively Privileged Property Class

• Persons completely unskilled, lacking property,
  and dependent on seasonal or sporadic employment
  who constitute the very bottom of the class
  system.

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Positively Privileged Social Class

• Those individuals at the very top of the class
  system

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Marx and Social Class
Conflict Between Distinct Classes Propels Us To
Next Historical Epoch
Key Ideas of Marxs Approach to Social Class
Views Social Class In Terms of Sources of Income
Conditions of Successful Revolt Are
Multifaceted and Complex
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Functionalist Perspective

• Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore (1945)
• Social inequality-the unequal distribution of
  social rewards-is the device by which societies
  ensure that the most functionally important
  occupations are filled by the best-qualified
  people.
• Unique-requires high degree of training and not
  that many people are capable of doing it. Status
  is the incentive for undergoing long and
  difficult training.

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Functionalist Perspective

• The degree to which other occupations depend on
  the one in question.
• Efficiency weakened if capable people are not
  granted access or are overlooked elite groups
  control the avenues of training parents
  influence and wealth rather than ability
  determine the status that their children attain.

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Critique of Functionalism

• If societies fail to adjust to fill functionally
  important occupations the society as a whole will
  suffer and will be unable to compete with other
  societies.
• Tumin and Simpson showed that the assumption that
  rewards are structured in keeping with functional
  importance is flawed. (Salaries of pro athletes
  compared to elementary school teachers.)

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Critique of Functionalism

• Also why is there often differential pay based on
  gender and race/ethnicity so many places in the
  world?
• In the complex division of labor every individual
  makes a significant contribution from the garbage
  collector to the corporate head.

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• People Like Us
• Describe WASP Class and culture. How does this
  group maintain its boundaries?
• Do you believe that Matt will get to go to
  college? Why?

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• ERS DATA ON POVERTY
• http//www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/IncomePovertyWelf
  are/PovertyGeography.htm

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