Statuses are socially defined positions that people occupy, which help to pattern social interactions and provide predictability. They constitute an essential part of all social interactions, as they are associated with certain expectations, or roles, that people occupying a certain status are expected or encouraged to follow. Statuses can be divided into two categories – ascribed statues, which are conferred upon one by virtue of birth or other significant factors not controlled by one’s own actions or decisions, and achieved statuses, which are acquired as a result of one’s actions. In this essay, the importance of a status relies on how much it influences social interactions and people’s actions. Considering the arguments that people work …show more content…
For instance, in Singapore, there is an emphasis on meritocracy, which is the system where statuses and positions of high power are given to people selected according to merit, which are also known as achieved statuses. It has become a fundamental tenet and system that drives Singaporean’s way of life and their social interactions. A sign that meritocracy is indeed a dominant part of Singapore is shown through the prevalence of a kiasu culture in Singapore, where people are afraid to lose, and this is demonstrated by the excessive spending on tuition classes in Singapore, where parents hope that with the extra resources and time poured into a child’s learning by spending on and going for tuition, their children will be able to score better in exams and hence achieve a better status and not lose out. For example, in 2014 alone, more than $1 billion was spent on tuition classes. Yet, in the search for …show more content…
Contrary to most perceptions of ascribed statuses, certain ascribed statuses can be reversed or changed by one’s achieved statuses, and by doing so, achieved statuses will become more influential than the ascribed statuses one has, and hence achieved statuses are more important than ascribed statuses. For example, citizenship could be an ascribed status that can be changed by one’s actions. When an individual is born, his or her citizenship, or lack of one, is determined and given without regard to his or her innate abilities or differences, and hence one’s initial citizenship is an ascribed status. However, he or she can change her citizenship after he or she is born, such as through emigration to another country. As such, the new citizenship gained is an achieved status that has replaced the previous ascribed status. Another example of an ascribed status that can be changed by achieved statuses is that of religion. A person can be born with or without a certain religion, but it can also be changed, such as when one believes in a religion when he or she was born and raised as an atheist. As such, these examples show the malleability of some ascribed statuses and the power of achieved statuses in being able to replace ascribed
Allen supports her claims about hierarchies and power dynamics in her chapter “Social Class Matters.” She dives into the structures of society by examining power and social class in various contexts. In this chapter, she explains that people are categorized according to themes of class difference and struggle. Social class is associated with the relationship between power and the distribution of resources. Because this stratification system of social class is one of the biggest predictors of school achievement, social identity plays a large role in the social reproduction of inequality in the education system.
and it manifests itself in a multitude of cultural and social ways.” The author discussed the problems that occur from economic and social classes. The purpose of this argument is to debate on what kind of people will be successful in life. Everyone has a shot at being successful, and that they do with it is
The class system has been in place within humanity since the very birth of economic trade. It is a fact of life that others will seek self-betterment and gain power to provide for those that they love and their own personal interest. Throughout the years the implementation of a social class system has helped to differentiate the types of economic situations as nation and serve as a system to work toward the betterment of the society as a whole. However, as the world became more productive and the gaps between the higher classes and lower classes increased the efficiency of the social class system and the decisions made from the individuals within it has been called into question. Kalen Ockerman opened the channel to question if the class system is the helpful institution that benefits of all its citizens or if the lower classes are not getting the support and attention they deem necessary.
Also, this honor can be connected to the class structures. However, property, according to Weber, is not always recognized as a status qualifier. Weber stated that status honor is usually expressed by a person’s style of life. This is especially true because those with a high status honor will generally live a more comfortable and relaxed lifestyle compared to someone with a lower status honor. This is really so, because some aspects of status honor have to do with one’s occupation and income. Obviously, as a consequence of status groups, segregation occurs, and castes develop. A caste is a social class separated by certain distinctions. One such distinction made evident by Weber is ethnic segregation. Weber sees castes as the normal way in which ethnic communities live in a manner acceptable by society. What Weber believes about castes being normal is basically true, because ethnic groups are always distinguished from one another and occupy separate levels of status and honor, which is mostly because there is one dominant ethnic group that occupies higher levels of society. Weber sees status as either negatively or positively privileged. Positively privileged people enjoy a host of benefits, beliefs, and rights that those who are negatively privileged do not. Also, privileges, and power was said by Weber to be regulated exclusively by the market. Based upon one’s capital, they can control the social order of
...rceived to have more wealth received special treatment in the weekend event I chose to attend, which is a clear indication of the disparities existing in terms of wealth distribution nationally and globally. The level of interaction for those present was based on perception of individual social status. People were more inclined to freely interact with individuals from a similar social status rather than a person from a different social status. While some had ascribed status, other presented achieved stratification status. However, the difference emerging from this scenario is that a small number of individuals are given opportunities to amass wealth within a short time while the rest linger in their glory. In return, the cultural response to this difference is to elevate those who have amassed wealth at the expense of those in middle and low-class income bracket.
In the land of the “American Dream,” it is the common belief that there is a direct relationship between hard work and success. In this ideal prototype, those who put in long hours are bound for success and movement up the social ladder. Theoretically, one could be born into the “bottom of the food chain,” and with some hard work, rise into the realm of the social elite. As a testament to this global view of the United States, immigrants from all over the world have made the journey to the “land of opportunity” in hopes of better education, jobs, government, communities and lives for themselves and the generations following them. All of this is based on a system of social stratification – a guide to how successful one has been at achieving the American Dream. This evaluation of social class is based on many components, some of which are presented to people at birth, and not gained through hard work or money. The class system at play in the United States has become extremely complex – no longer adhering to the basic class values of our forefathers. Those trying to move up in the class system of America are often caught emulating the behaviors of the rich and famous, but this does not necessarily make them higher class. Many people think that there is a checklist to fill on their way up in the class system, but there is more to being upper class than just talking the talk or having the right credentials.
The achievement ideology is an important concept in understanding the ways that the Hallway Hangers and Brothers experience social reproduction. The achievement ideology is the view that "success is based on merit, and economic inequality is due to differences in ambition and ability. Individuals do not inherit their social status; they attain it on their own" (3). The view is that if one works hard, one can easily attain social advancement. This is not the case, which some of the following theories can help explain when the Hallway Hangers and Brothers are more closely examined.
Returning to his old high school after having had graduate ten years ago, Shamus Rahman Khan came in with one goal: to study the inequality of a school that claims to be more “diverse.” St. Paul’s School located in Concord, New Hampshire claims to have become more diverse over the years, accepting people of different racial backgrounds and social classes to their prestigious boarding school. However, as described in his book, Khan found that this claim made by the school is false. He also found out that the elite that used to attend his school is not the same as the elite attending it now. Nonetheless, it was the elite that were succeeding because they were the ones who could afford the school, had family linages that already attended the school, and mastered “ease” which made them privileged in society. Separating his book into five different chapters, each focusing on a different topic that helps support his claim, Khan describes this change in elite and the inequality that still accompanies St. Paul’s. In the introduction to Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School, Khan states the three most important points he will refer to during the rest of the book: hierarchies are natural and can be used to one’s advantage, experiences matter more than inherited qualities, and the elite signal their status through ease and openness. These are discussed thoroughly in throughout Privilege.
Meritocracy, unlike aristocracy, is the system in which talented people are rewarded and promoted to leadership positions based on their merit. According to James Whitehurst, meritocracy “now refers to organizations where the best people and ideas win.” However, as true as it may sound, meritocracy in America is still a myth and is not a certainty. In the article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack,” McIntosh’s disdain of meritocracy when she described as “I must give up the myth of meritocracy.” She mentioned the meritocracy myth because in reality, many people who lack talents and experience can still climb the upward mobility ladder and become wealthier while the rest of
Comparative advantage means that an industry, firm, country or individual are able to produce goods and services at a lower opportunity cost than others which are also producing the same goods and services. Also, in order to be profitable, the number in exports must be higher than the number in import. From the diagram we seen above, Singapore is seen to have a comparative advantage in some services. The services are Transport, Financial, business management, maintenance & Repair and Advertising & Market Research, etc. These export services to other countries improve the balance of payment. On the other side, Singapore is seen to have a comparative disadvantage in some services. The services are Travel, Telecommunications, Computer & Information,
The first term, ascribed status plays a large role in the analysis. For example, it is the social status a person is assigned at birth or assumed involuntarily later in life. It is a position that is neither earned nor chosen, but assigned. This term depicts the two families immensely. The mother and father in both families came from poor backgrounds and lived through struggle their entire lives. This plays a large role in life because it already puts you behind people who come from successful backgrounds. It is not easy to work your way back out of poverty if you were born into it. Nobody asks to live that way, but some are just assigned to live that way, and cannot do anything about it to fix it.
Many issues were raised by Dr. Leonel Lim pertaining to the concept of meritocracy such as the tension between its elements of egalitarianism and elitism, which has in turn scrutinized the discursive potency and relevance of meritocracy’s egalitarian promises (Lim, 2013) and the continued legitimacy of elitism in the society. (Wong, 2013) With this in mind, how do we reconcile the apparent contradictions between meritocracy’s egalitarian and elitist strands, on the need for re-working the ideology in schools and society?
In this paper I will be focusing on Erikson’s Theory mainly about identity versus role confusion. Finding one’s identity is not always an easy task. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had, as Erikson puts it, an identity crisis. Everyone experiences different struggles that can have either a positive or negative impact on their identity. On my path to identity, I have reached identity achievement, which means I have explored and made commitments. I will also be focusing on two articles highlighting a fifth possible outcome regarding identity and looking at identity statuses as developmental trajectories.
Singapore is an island and a smallest country in Southeast Asia. Singapore is one of the “Four Asian Tigers” where the world major cargo seaport occurs. Despite the small size of the nation, Singapore economy have strong international trade link with capitalist mixed economy when the government intervention in the market is minimal (Economy watch, 2011).
Social Interaction is an essential element when understanding the role of a human in society and how a human conducts himself or herself. A key term for this interaction is a person’s status(a recognizable social position that an individual occupies. Page 128) in that society. Each person within that status has a role (the duties and behaviors expected of someone who holds a particular status. Page 128) to complete during their social interactions. However, if a person cannot complete the roles that are assigned to them in that individual status then they experience role strain (the incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status. Page 128). One example from the book is a professor who needs to keep writing research and lectures