wealth, power, and privilege socio 541 m w f 10:30 – 11:20...

Herb Block’s cartoon, based on an actual occurrence, expressed the outrageousness of black Americans in the United States being held as less worthy of respectful treatment than foreigners. (See http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock/animal.html for the source and discussion of this cartoon.)

Wealth, Power, and Privilege SOCIO 541

M W F 10:30 – 11:20

120 Kramer Food Center

Kansas State University Fall 2007

Instructor: Spencer Wood Office: 202-E Waters Hall Office Hours: M and W 3:00-4:00 (Feel free to make an appointment for other times.) Office Phone: 532-7178 Email: sdwood AT ksu DOT edu DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:

Welcome to Sociology 541, “Wealth, Power, and Privilege.” This is a course about inequality. Inequality is a principal interest of sociologists and, as such, has a long and impressive bibliography. No student of sociology can afford to ignore both the substantive matters of, and the significant literature on, inequality. Often referred to as stratification, the study of inequality has more to do with understanding the system of hierarchies in society and less to do with the study of individual attributes within those hierarchies. Typical systems of social inequality revolve around three primary axes, class, race, and gender. We will explore each of these axes and their relationship to one another in this course. Geographically, our primary focus will be on the United States, however, we will also consider inequality on a global scale. Lastly, in considering contemporary inequality we will pay close attention to the historical events that shape today’s inequality. Examples of past forms of social inequality, like the one depcited in this cartoon, are sometimes easier to see than those surrounding us in our everyday lives.

Like this cartoon, drawn in 1961, our lives today will be the past for future generations. How might they consider our current views of social issues? Some of our actions will no doubt seem crude and unsophisticated, while others will seem prescient and advanced. Developing an ability to understand how our moment in history influences our actions, policies, and events is key to developing a keen sociological imagination. This course will help in this process.

COURSE MATERIAL: The required material for this class consists of three books.

Grusky, David B. and Szonja Szelenyi, eds. 2006. Inequality: Classic Readings in Race, Class, and Gender. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Sernau, Scott. 2006. Worlds Apart: Social Inequalities in a Global Economy, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Shipler, David K. 2005. The Working Poor: Invisible in America. New York: Vintage.

S. D. Wood Socio 541 2

REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

Assignment Summary: Exam 1 20 percent Exam 2 20 percent Final Exam 20 percent Short Papers 20 percent Student Facilitation 15 percent Participation 5 percent

Grade Scale: A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

CLASS PREPARATION, ATTENDANCE, ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, AND DEADLINES

You must arrive for class on time, having done all the required reading for the day, and prepared to discuss class material.

NOTE: In addition to material covered in the lectures, material from the readings that is not covered or discussed in class is still fair game for written assignments and exams. It is up to you to raise questions about material you wish to discuss.

You may study together for daily classes and the exams, but may not work together on any graded assignments. This is your opportunity to shine and I want to see you do it!

Attendance is required and strongly encouraged.

Please note: I want to assist you in your efforts to succeed. Therefore, any student with a disability who needs an accommodation or other assistance in this course should make an appointment to speak with me as soon as possible.

Statement Regarding Academic Integrity:

“Kansas State University has an Honor & Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance in academic matters one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor & Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor & Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. The honor system web site can be reach via the following URL: www.ksu.edu/honor.

A component vital to the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.”

Grading and Course Requirements:

Grades will be determined by seven course requirements: (a) three exams (60%); (b) two short essays (20%); one classroom facilitation (15%); and (c) participation (5%).

Exams – (20% each). There will be three exams. The exams are non-cumulative, except that you will be expected to apply general theories of stratification covered early in the semester to cases that are covered later in the semester. The exams will consist of a combination of short-answer, multiple-choice, matching, and true/false. (Tentatively schedule for Sept. 19, Oct. 22, and Dec 12).

Short Essays – (10% each). You will be asked to write two short papers that range between four and six pages on an assigned topic. These papers are designed to help you prepare for the exams and will closely correspond with the date and substance of the first two exams. All papers must be typed. Details regarding the particular topics will be distributed in class. (Due dates: Sept. 17, and Oct. 19).


Facilitation – (15%). Each of you will facilitate at least one classroom discussion. You will work together in groups of four or five and lead the discussion of the week’s readings on a Friday.

Participation – (5%). This means not only attending class regularly, but reading the required assignments in advance and coming to class prepared to discuss them critically. Attendance is necessary since a substantial part of each exam will be over lecture material not covered in the readings. Participation will be “encouraged” by periodic roll-calls and short in-class quizzes or response questions over reading assignments or topics discussed in class. Attendance and participation will formally constitute 5% of your final grade, and it will also be the determining factor in borderline cases.

Deadlines:

No incompletes will be granted without a documented significant reason (ie. major life event!).

Important Dates to Remember:

Sept. 17 Essay 1 due Sept. 19 Tentative date for exam 1 Oct. 29 Essay 2 due Oct. 31 Tentative date for exam 2 Dec. 12 Final exam

DAILY ASSIGNMENTS: Note readings for the day are listed beneath the date and the following shorthand is used to identify the readings.

Online = PDF in folder on K-State Online page Inequality = Grusky and Szelenyi Worlds Apart = Sernau Working Poor = Shipler

GENERAL THEORIES OF INEQUALITY:

FROM THE DEBATE OVER FUNCTIONALISM TO CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER

Week 1: Monday, August 20: Class Overview

Wednesday, August 22: IS INEQUALITY INEVITABLE? (The Functionalist Debate) Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore, “Some Principles of Stratification,” pp. 1-6 in Inequality. Melvin Tumin, “Some Principles of Stratification: A Critical Analysis,” pp. 7-20 in Inequality. Worlds Apart, “The Historical Debate,” pp. 3-13. Talcott Parsons, “Equality and Inequality in Modern Society, or Social Stratification Revisited,” pp. 65-

69 in Inequality.

Friday, August 24: THE CLASSICAL SOCIOLOGICAL DEBATE ABOUT INEQUALITY Worlds Apart, “The Sociological Debate,” pp. 13-27. David B. Grusky and Szonja Szelenyi, “The Rise and Fall of Benign Narratives about Inequality,” pp. 1-

13, Online. Karl Marx, “Classes in Capitalism and Pre-Capitalism,” pp. 21-35 in Inequality. Max Weber, “Class, Status, Party,” pp. 37-53 in Inequality. Emile Durkheim, “The Division of Labor in Society,” pp. 55-63 in Inequality.

Week 2: Monday, August 27: INEQUALITY AT THE EXTREMES

C. Wright Mills, “The Power Elite,” pp. 71-85 in Inequality. William Julius Wilson, “Jobless Poverty: A New Form of Social Dislocation in the Inner-City Ghetto,”

pp. 87-101 in Inequality. Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton, “American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the

Underclass,” pp. 103-117 in Inequality.


Wednesday, August 29: DIMENSIONS OF INEQUALITY: CLASS, RACE, AND GENDER Worlds Apart, “The Gordian Knot of Race, Class, and Gender,” pp. 59-86. Film, People Like US, Part I

Friday, August 31: Film, People Like Us, Part II.

Week 3: Monday, September 3: LABOR DAY, NO CLASS

Wednesday, September 5: WEALTH AND CLASS PRIVILEGE Worlds Apart, “Class Privilege,” pp. 87-109. Thorstein Veblen, “Theory of the Leisure Class,” pp. 273-285 in Inequality. Discuss Film, People Like Us

Friday, September 7: GROUP REVIEW

Week 4: Monday, September 10: GROUP REVIEW, Cont’d.

Review assigned readings and get caught up!

Wednesday, September 12: EQUALITY, INEQUALITY, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, PART I Review assigned readings and get caught up!

Friday, September 14: EQUALITY, INEQUALITY, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE PART II Review assigned readings and get caught up!

Week 5: Monday, September 17: ESSAY 1 DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS

No reading, in class review for exam

Wednesday, September 19: EXAM 1

Friday, September 21: NO CLASS. Read for Next Week!

WORK AND INEQUALITY

Week 6: Monday, September 24: WORK AND INEQUALITY

Working Poor, Introduction and Chapters 1-6, pp. 3-173. Film Screening Wage Slaves! Not Getting By in America

Wednesday, September 26: WORK AND INEQUALITY, CONCL. Working Poor, Chapters 7-8, pp. 174-230. Film Screening Modern Times (first 15 minutes) Prepare for discussion on Friday

Friday, September 28: REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF WEEK’S READINGS Working Poor, Chapters 9-11 and Epilogue, pp. 231-310.


RACE AND INEQUALITY

Week 7: Monday, October 1: No Class, Student Holiday

Wednesday, October 3: RACE AND INEQUALITY William Julius Wilson, “The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and Changing American

Institutions,” pp. 141-159 in Inequality. Worlds Apart, “Race and Class,” pp. 111-144.

Friday, October 5: REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF WEEK’S READINGS

Week 8: Monday, October 8: RACE AND INEQUALITY

Alejandro Portes and Robert D. Manning, “The Immigrant Enclave: Theory and Empirical Examples,” pp. 161-178 in Inequality.

Edna Bonacich, “A Theory of Ethnic Antagonism: The Split Labor Market,” pp. 119-140 in Inequality. Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro, “Black Wealth/White Wealth,” pp. 258-265, Online. Class Lecture: Thinking about Race

Wednesday, October 10: RACE AND INEQUALITY Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. 2003. “The Strange Enigma of Race in Contemporary America,” chapter 1, pp.

1-24, in Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Online.

Ira Katznelson. 2005. “Preface: Du Bois’s Paradox,” and “Welfare in Black and White” pp. ix-xv, and 25-52 in When Affirmative Action was White: The Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America, NY: Norton., Online.

Film Screening: Negroes With Guns


GENDER AND INEQUALITY:

Week 9:

Monday, October 15: GENDER AND INEQUALITY, Arlie Russell Hochschild, “The Time Bind,” pp. 276-283, Online. Worlds Apart, “Gender and Class,” pp. 145-164.

Wednesday, October 17: GENDER AND INEQUALITY Trond Petersen and Laurie A. Morgan, “The Within-Job Gender Wage Gap,” pp. 343-351, Online. Paula England, “Devaluation and the Pay of Comparable Male and Female Occupations,” pp. 352-356,

Online.


Week 10: Monday, October 22: GENDER AND INEQUALITY

West, Candance and Don Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender and Society 1-2:125-151. Online

Wednesday, October 24: GENDER AND INEQUALITY Lucal, Besty. 1999. “What it Means to Be Gendered Me: Life on the Boundaries of a Dichotomous

Gender System.” Gender and Society 13:781-797. Online.

Friday, October 26: GENDER AND INEQUALITY Bemiller, Michelle. 2005. “Men Who Cheer.” Sociological Focus 38:205-222. Online.


POVERTY AND INEQUALITY:

POWER, INCOME, PLACE, EDUCATION, AND GLOBALIZATION

Week 11: Monday, October 29: Paper 2 and Review for Exam.

Wednesday, October 31: Exam 2

Friday, November 2: No Class

Week 12: Monday, November 5: POWER AND POLITICS

Worlds Apart, “Power and Politics,” pp. 187-214.

Wednesday, November 7: STATUS, PRESTIGE, AND INCOME Worlds Apart, “Status Prestige,” pp. 165-186.

Friday, November 9: REVIEW AND DISCUSSIONOF WEEK’S READINGS

Week 13:

Monday, November 12: GLOBALIZATION AND INEQUALITY NO READING Film Screening: Maquilapolis: City of Factories

Wednesday, November 14: GLOBALIZATION AND INEQUALITY Worlds Apart, “The Global Divide,” pp. 29-58.

Friday, November 16: REVIEW OF WEEK’S READINGS

Week 14:

Monday, November 19: POVERTY AND POLICY Worlds Apart, “Reversing the Race to the Bottom: Poverty and Policy,” pp. 273-300.

Wednesday, November 21: THANKSGIVING BREAK, NO CLASS

Friday, November 23: THANKSGIVING BREAK, NO CLASS

Week 15:

Monday, November 26: EDUCATION AND MOBILITY Worlds Apart, “Moving Up: Education and Mobility,” pp. 217-245.

Wednesday, November 28: POVERTY AND PLACE Worlds Apart, “Abandoned Spaces, Forgotten Places: Poverty and Place,” pp. 245-273. Film Screening: Black Diamonds: Mountaintop Removal and the Fight for Coalfield Justice.

Friday, November 30: REVIEW OF WEEK’S READINGS

Week 16: Monday, December 3: CHALLENGING INEQUALITY

Worlds Apart, “Challenging the System: Social Movements,” pp. 303-337. Film Screening: Hear Our Voices: the Poor on Poverty

Wednesday, December 5: DISCUSS SOLUTIONS TO INEQUALITY AND REVIEW FOR FINAL

NO READING

Friday, December 7: LAST DAY OF FALL SEMESTER REVIEW FOR FINAL

EXAM WEEK:

Monday, December 10: NO CLASS Wednesday, December 12: FINAL EXAM

wealth, power, and privilege socio 541 m w f 10:30 – 11:20...

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