Inequalities, Both Domestic and Global, Illuminate the Inevitability and Functionality of Stratification. Discuss.
2. Inequalities, both domestic and global, illuminate the inevitability and functionality of stratification. Discuss.
The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology defines inequality as ‘the unequal distribution of opportunities, rewards, and power among and between individuals, households and groups’(1). It goes on to say that ‘the subfield of social stratification has as its main task the description and analysis of inequalities, or the makeup of the stratification system of any given society’.(1) From this one definition, we can already begin to see the strong links that lie between inequalities and social stratification. As we delve deeper into the topics, we can begin to see both the inevitability and the functionality of stratification caused as a result of both global and domestic inequalities.
Domestic inequalities are the inequalities that exist between people in the same country. For the sake of this essay, I will be discussing Ireland. In Ireland, ‘inequality tends to be understood in terms of a gross differentiation between the majority - the ‘more or less middle classes’ - and an ‘underclass’ made up of the poor, the long-term unemployed, substance abusers and marginalised groups such as Travellers’(2). One of the biggest inequalities to be examined in Ireland is that regarding the education system.
Fee-paying second-level schools in Ireland are associated largely with the upper middle class of Ireland. With fees starting at €4000 and reaching as high as €25,000, it is easy to see why this association exists. Past pupils of fee-paying second-level schools also make up a considerable percentage of people working in high-position jobs in both the political and business worlds. For example, out of the fourteen Ministers of State that make up the Irish cabinet, six of those attended fee-paying schools - almost forty-three percent. Contrasting this with the general population, of which seven percent attend fee-paying schools, we can begin to see
The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology defines inequality as ‘the unequal distribution of opportunities, rewards, and power among and between individuals, households and groups’(1). It goes on to say that ‘the subfield of social stratification has as its main task the description and analysis of inequalities, or the makeup of the stratification system of any given society’.(1) From this one definition, we can already begin to see the strong links that lie between inequalities and social stratification. As we delve deeper into the topics, we can begin to see both the inevitability and the functionality of stratification caused as a result of both global and domestic inequalities.
Domestic inequalities are the inequalities that exist between people in the same country. For the sake of this essay, I will be discussing Ireland. In Ireland, ‘inequality tends to be understood in terms of a gross differentiation between the majority - the ‘more or less middle classes’ - and an ‘underclass’ made up of the poor, the long-term unemployed, substance abusers and marginalised groups such as Travellers’(2). One of the biggest inequalities to be examined in Ireland is that regarding the education system.
Fee-paying second-level schools in Ireland are associated largely with the upper middle class of Ireland. With fees starting at €4000 and reaching as high as €25,000, it is easy to see why this association exists. Past pupils of fee-paying second-level schools also make up a considerable percentage of people working in high-position jobs in both the political and business worlds. For example, out of the fourteen Ministers of State that make up the Irish cabinet, six of those attended fee-paying schools - almost forty-three percent. Contrasting this with the general population, of which seven percent attend fee-paying schools, we can begin to see
Bibliography: The Cambridge Dictionary of sociology - edited by Bryan S. Turner - Cambridge University Press 2006 page 170 - A Sociology of Ireland - Perry Share, Hilary Tovey & Mary P. Corcoran - Gill & Macmillan 2007 Private Schools and Cabinet power - Gráinne Faller - The Irish Times - 11th October 2011 - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/education/2011/1011/1224305573965.html Figure 9.1 - Page 285 - Sociology: A Global Introduction John J Macionis & Ken Plummer - Pearson Education Ltd. 2012 Table 1 - Pages 127-130 - Human Development Report Statistical Annex http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_2011_EN_Tables.pdf Infant Mortality Rate - U.N. Data Bank - http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=infant+mortality+rate&d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a77 Death Rate - U.N. Data Bank - http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=death+rate&d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a65 Birth Rate - U.N. Data Bank - http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?q=birth+rate+norway&d=PopDiv&f=variableID%3a53%3bcrID%3a578 Page 252 - Sociology: A Global Introduction John J Macionis & Ken Plummer - Pearson Education Ltd. 2012 ‘Stratification as Functional’ - Pages 266-267 - Sociology: A Global Introduction John J Macionis & Ken Plummer - Pearson Education Ltd. 2012