CHAPTER REVIEW 239ladder, although most individuals remain in or near the
class position they are born into.3.How do sociologists explain social class? Marx
explained social class as derived from one’s relationship
with the means of production. People were divided into
owners, who had capital, and workers, who had labor
to sell. According to Marx, the owners, or bourgeoisie,
exploited the workers, or proletariat, for profit. Weber
said social class depended on economics, status (or
prestige), and power.4.How does class manifest in the United States? Social
class in the United States is based on income. The upper
classes are the superrich, a tiny proportion of the popu-
lation. The lower upper class is usually well educated with
upper-level jobs and incomes. The upper middle class
consists of white-collar managers and community leaders.
The middle middle class is viewed as the “normal” Amer-
icans; they hold white-collar jobs, own small businesses,
or have good-paying blue-collar jobs. The working class
has steady jobs as blue-collar or low-level white-collar
workers. The lower class, or working poor, live precari-
ously on the edge, while the underclass are very poor.5.What does poverty look like in the United States?
Poverty rates for racial minorities are much higher than
those for Whites. Rural poverty is increasing and is
more difficult to emerge from as jobs, transportation,
and the economy in general are depressed in rural
areas. Many poor Americans work, and many work
full time.6.Why are people poor? The culture of poverty theory
argues that poor people live in a culture that does not
allow them to get out of poverty and that socializes them
to continue to be poor. Modern sociologists look at other
social and structural factors in addition to culture. These
include globalization, market forces, racism, and govern-
ment; sociologists understand that poverty reduces one’s
life chances. That is, it is not impossible to escape poverty,
just difficult.7.What is social mobility? Class systems allow for indi-
vidual and group mobility up and down the social class
ladder. Intergenerational mobility refers to a movement be-
tween generations, while intragenerational mobility refers
to a movement between classes in one’s individual lifetime.
Intergenerational mobility is common, but it is common
both ways—groups move up the class ladder while
other groups move down the class ladder—and tends to
even out.8.What does global inequality look like, and how do
sociologists explain it? Trends in global inequality mir-
ror those within countries such as the United States, as
the rich countries are gaining more wealth and power and
the poor countries are declining in the same. Theories of
global inequality include market theories, which are
based on capitalism; state-centered theories, which are
based on government and development; and dependency
theories, which focus on inequality between the poor and
rich countries. World systems theory combines some of
these other theories and focuses on the global economy
in terms of capitalism and interconnectedness of nations.KeyTerms
Bourgeoisie (p. 210)
Caste system (p. 207)
Class (p. 208)
Class system (p. 209)
Colonialism (p. 234)
Culture of poverty (p. 223)
Dependency theory (p. 234)
Feminization of poverty (p. 222)
Feudalism (p. 208)
Global commodity chains (p. 236)
Global inequality (p. 229)
Meritocracy (p. 207)
Modernization theory (p. 233)
Poverty line (p. 220)
Power (p. 211)
Proletariat (p. 210)Social mobility (p. 209)
Social stratification (p. 206)
Socioeconomic status (SES) (p. 212)
Status (p. 211)
Structural mobility (p. 226)
Underclass (p. 214)
World system theory (p. 235)