This essay asks to discuss some of the ways in which differences and inequalities persist over time, suggesting that they are not static, continuing to be made and remade by the actions of people and society. With Inequality being defined as ‘‘The unequal distribution of valued social resources within society or between societies including money, housing, power, health and education”. whilst Differences is defined as “contrasts between groupings of people such as those based on gender, class, age, sexuality and race, including things people value and the variations between them including their physical, behavioural, attitudes and preferences”. (Blakeley and Staples, 2014 p 25). However, it is noted not all differences will lead to inequalities, …show more content…
Bauman, Z, (1988) cited in Hetherington K, and Harvard C.(eds) (2014, pg.126,142). He further claims, “This is the characteristic pattern of inequality in our contemporary consumer society one that contrasts with the lines of class and occupational status that characterised the major cleavages in Industrial society”. Bauman, Z, (1988) cited in Alan, J. (2014 pg. 275). Moreover, consumerism encourages people to consume creating their own identities, replacing Identities centred on production and work. Furthermore, Hayek in the ‘Ordering Lives Strand’ claims “The market should be free of political intervention allowing individuals to be free to pursue their own interests” Hayek, F.A. (1976). cited in Clarke, J. (2014 pg.380). However, Allen. claims “The ability to ‘buy into’ a particular lifestyle actively excludes others from it on the basis of lack of income and those unable to do so will be seen as unworthy or inadequate” (Allen, J. 2014 P. 278). Thus constraints can be seen placed on people through lack of income, turning differences into inequalities with evidence indicating that ‘People’s values, beliefs and status are now shaped by ‘Consuming’ rather than as in Industrial times by work, politics and religion’, (The Open University, 2016). Therefore, differences which turn into inequalities are as predominant in today’s consumer society as they were in our industrial
In his work, “Overselling capitalism,” Benjamin Barber speaks on capitalism’s shift from filling the needs of the consumer, to creating needs. He tells how it has become easier for people to borrow money, so that they no longer get as much satisfaction from affording necessities. He says capitalism can be good when both sides benefit, but it has overgrown and must continue creating needs, even though the only people who can afford these needs don’t have any. According to Barber, people are still working hard, but them and their children are becoming seduced by unneeded shopping. He states that people are becoming more needy, and losing discipline in their lifestyle. Additionally capitalism must encourage easy and addicting shopping to
In chapter seven of The Way We Never Were, Stephanie Coontz focuses on consumerism and materialism. In this chapter, Coontz claims that the root causes of consumerism is affecting Americans in a contemporary society is the mindset of people having an addiction to having the latest and greatest in terms of any goods. Coontz argues that “consumerism and materialism affect working adults and non working ones, both sexes and all ages, people who endorse new roles for women and people who oppose them” (page 223). In our society people buy what they want rather than what they need.
Hurst, Charles, E. 2013. Social Inequalities: Forms, Causes, and Consequences (8th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson.
This essay will explore and examine various ways in which differences and inequalities are seen to persist over time in ‘Making Lives’ and ‘Connecting Lives’ strands from DD102. Differences and inequalities are not strictly the same thing, although some do relate closely. Differences are things which vary between individuals, however in social science differences tend to be more focused on contrasts between groupings of people – such as those based on gender, age, class, race, ethnicity or sexuality (Blakeley and Staples, 2014, p.25). This differs from inequalities as they are defined as the unequal distribution of valued social resources within a society or between societies, this generally refers to things such as economic resources (money), time, access to education, cultural facilities – however it is not limited to these things and they do, however, differ over time and between places. (Blakeley and Staples, 2014, p.25)
This essay explores personal interpretation of the reading “Savage Inequality” encompassing its distasteful quality and sociological perspectives while identifying individual experiences through commonality. The opening statement in the article Savage Inequalities referenced obvious signs of social inequalities losing its energy as society now views its origin as an everyday norm. Explaining it away as a reflection of the individual’s character is a faultless example of societies reacting to their definition of the situation relative to the objective situation itself, as Symbolic Interactionism advocates. Contrasting the US educational system, reflective of schools found in poor, middle and rich communities appears to be the focal point. A better education is often offered to a select group of privileged children against those with gaps, a problem greater than what is to be expected, however, we are not entirely unaware of its effects.
Social equality is the concept in which all individuals possess the same fundamental basic liberties, opportunities, moral value/respect, and social benefits. The concept of ‘equality’ has a multiplicity of meanings and definitions, and with the rise of liberalization and democratization around the world ‘social equality’ has become the most predominant. As economic openness creates greater wealth disparities, the parallel rise of democratization has enabled citizens to demand more accountability measures and public welfare services from their governments in order to manage such disparities. Although the movement towards greater social equality has made significant strides with the establishment of equal rights (especially in the 1960s following the civil rights and women rights movement), inequality is still widespread in society among different ethnicities, social classes, and even religions. Inequality is not, however, a characteristic that only encompasses/embodies developing countries, but also embodies developed countries as well.
Lorber, J. (2003). The social construction of difference and inequality . Boston : McGraw Hill.
Rowlingson, K. ( 2011). Does inequality cause Health and Social Problems? Birmingham: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
In the treatise named “Leviathan” published in 1651, Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) proposed an early variant of equality among men that inequality did not exist in natural condition, meaning everyone is born equal; however, inequality's existence was the result of civil laws (Hobbes & Gaskin, 1998). In this sense, inequality is generally referred to social inequality which is characterized by the existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society; plus, this negative social phenomenon contains structured and recurrent patterns of unequal distributions of goods, wealth, opportunities, rewards, and punishments (Crossman, 2012).
In this essay, we will discuss the theories of racial inequality. Racial inequality occurs when people have more access to different resources based specifically on the race. A race is a group of people who share the same physical characteristics. I will be providing a summary of the article. I will also provide an evaluation of the arguments that he puts forth.
To understand the theory of gender inequality better, it is necessary to confront the obstacles that have limited prior attempts. Amongst these, one the most important ones is the strong urge to minimize all explanations of gender inequality to some fundamental contrast between the sexes.
We live in a world full of many societal issues. The aspects that determine whether one will have a successful or unsuccessful life is due to their characteristics such as race, gender, and social status. In the book Is Everyone Really Equal, Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo’s exigence is to express the following issues and to encourage the reader to work upon changing the world through social injustice, oppression, power, and community.
I empathized deeply with these groups and gained a broader perspective on global struggles with inequality. When I returned to my home university, my mentor and professor, Dr. Hopkins, encouraged me to explore the issues I had learned about abroad in greater depth. Before I left to study abroad, I had developed a questionnaire to assess the perceptions of inequality in each country I visited. Now that I have returned to my university, I have begun mining my data to answer four primary questions: To what extent are people conscious of inequalities? To what do people attribute inequality? To what extent does inequality affect the quality of life in a given country? Does skin tone/color correlate to inequality
Anything you may need in life can be purchased. It is this belief that we are converted from citizen to consumer. This belief also takes away from the importance of a family and community. A family no longer provides the primary care needed to raise a child, instead coaches, babysitters, and teachers are paid to take up this responsibility. We expect the best, most expensive doctors to keep us healthy, instead of doing everything possible to keep yourself well. There is the belief that a strong heart, youth, and sexual desire are all purchasable. There is also the belief that institutions need to take care of the vulnerable, for example we pay to put old people in retirement homes. All of these things were once filled by the family and community, now it is just believed that you can easily buy these things which takes the function out of the family. To further compare a consumer to a citizen many people were asked to describe how they felt about their lives. The people who were in a consumer society said they only lived where they did because of their children, they didn’t know their neighbors, and they could go months without seeing their neighbors. They believed they had everything they could possibly need because they had the nice house, the good job, and were able to purchase anything they might need such as food, cleaning services, and lawn care, but although they had every material item
Many theorists suggest that consumption is correlated to the identity of an individual, that by purchasing goods from the mass market, it enables us to visibly establish our position within society. This differs from previous times in which a range of factors such as family histories, character and personal achievements played a significant role (Gabriel and Lang, 2006). Instead, there is the idea that the consumer has the ability to gain pleasure over objects, not just solely by the manipulation of objects, but through the degree of control over their meaning. The degree of control is developed and achieved through imagination and provides greater possibilities of pleasure experiences. This suggests that modern consumption can be seen as device that enables individuals to ‘dream’ about the desires they wish to fulfill. (Campbell, 1989: 79) (Cited in Gabirel & Lang, 2006)