The Student Room Group

Sociology notes- OCR synoptic A2 module; power and control

Hi I decided to type up notes to revise for the synoptic paper. I anyone has any comments or their own notes to add feel free to as I must have missed some things.


I do feel that I have gone through everything in detail. Feedback wanted:smile:

Wealth


1996 the richest 1% owned 19% of all wealth

problems measuring wealth;

1) has many varied sources so difficulty in measuring ( shares , land etc)
2) problems with rich lists( The times rich list) no access to bank accounts so true wealth can only be estimated
3) Estates method- through the amount of tax; many of the richest avoid this tax , eg giving their money to a relative or leaving the UK to avoid tax
4) Wealth can be measured through Surveys; has low response rates and validity problems

Between 1979-1999 average income rose by 55%
But in this time top 10% of earners had an 82% rise in their average income
The bottom 10% of earners had a 6% rise in income

Poorest 50% of the population own 6 % of the wealth (2002)
Most wealthy 1% owned 23% (2002)

Everyone has become richer but the rich have a higher share of the wealth since the 1980’s

Perspectives

Functionalists (Structuralist consensus)

Functionalists believe that everything in society has a purpose. For example the education system prepares students for their role in the workplace.

In Wealth Davis and Moore and Parsons argue that the wealthy earn it through their hard work. Not everyone has the talent to succeed and so the best few will do better then the majority.

According to Functionalists society is meritocratic where everyone has an equal chance of succeeding.

With poverty those that lack the skills which their society requites will fall into poverty.


Marxist (structuralist conflict)

Marx stated that society is based upon a division between the rich minority (bourgeoisie), and the poor majority (proletariat). The bourgeoisie own the means of production and exploit the proletariat who work for them for less then what their labour is worth.
Marx also mentions a third class the petit bourgeoisie which is made of the middle class ( doctors, lawyers etc) who may not own the means of production but have a higher class position then the proletariat. When revolution came and the proletariat rose up against the bourgeoisie the middle classes would choose what side they are on

The bourgeoisie use agents of socialisation according to Marx to hide the exploitation of the Proletariat through agents of socialisation like the mass media and religion (which he described as the Opium of the masses) this creates a false class consciousness.

Neo Marxists

Kincaid argues that capitalist industries rely on cheap labour to increase profits. Goods are sold at more then the cost of producing them so workers can not afford the goods they create.

Westergaard and Resler argue that the Welfare state only blunts the edge of poverty and does not deal with the fact that the rich own most of the wealth (top 1% owns 23% ).

Weaknesses of Marxism
1) the petit bourgeoisie still exist and have grown
2) Other divisions are important; gender, ethnicity, age, etc
3) False class consciousness can be challenged , taxation does redistribute wealth ( taxes the middle classes)

Weber (strucuralist conflict)

Weber describes Marxism as too simplistic. The means of production is not the only form of high status (as oppose to class), other factors are important and power can be drawn from including religion (eg the pope in Italy) , property ( aristocracy), gender or ethnicity.

Weber stated that the middle classes would grow. It has so Weber’s theory has been influential. The NS SEC is based on Weber theory taking into account not just pay, but also conditions of work and status.
A Class is a group with the same market situation and the class they belong to is determined by their bargaining power. Not just through the means of production but through other means like qualifications.



Weakness of Weberian theory

Neo- Marxists; fundamental ideas held by Weber are based on occupational groups, thus still about class.

Positivists would criticise the lack of clear conclusions ( Interpretivists would praise the empathy in his methods)

Functionalists would say that society is meritocratic.

Marxists would say Weber misses false class consciousness and that there is still an exploited group (the proletariat)

Feminism (structuralist conflict)

Four types; Liberal, Radical, Marxist, Black

Liberal; seek to gain equality between men and women through political action (eg Oakley )

( strengths) Liberal feminists are influential; for example the equal pay act 1970.
Liberal feminism challenges existing values.

(weaknesses)
does not have as developed theories on gender inequality like radical, Marxist and black feminists do.
Ignores the diversity of women (black feminism)
Radical feminists argue that they are not forceful enough

Radical; Radical feminists believe female oppression subordination are the direct result of a male dominated society (patriarchy). They focus on extreme forms of patriarchy including rape, domestic abuse.

An example of a Radical Feminist is Firestone who argues that women’s oppression originates in their biology when they give birth.

(Strengths) Radical feminists open up sensitive topics

(Weaknesses). Views are too extreme. They believe All men are at fault.
Less influential
Does not consider the diversity of women (black feminism)

Marxist; Gender inequality with the workplace, women are the reserve army of labour. Fill in for men when required ( the Two world wars)

Coontz + Henderson; men owned property and kept women as the maintainers of the home.



(Strengths) builds on the idea of Marxism and incorporates the ideas of gender inequality.

(Weakness) ignores the exploitation of ethnic minorities (black feminism)

is not focused; is the main oppression capitalism or patriarchy?

Black: Points out that most feminist theory focuses on white women. Black Feminists focus on ethnic minorities.

Safia-Mirza; She said that Afro-Caribbean girls in school often exceed expectations

(strengths) somewhat reflects the diversity of women

focuses on the problems of ethnic minorities such as racism, poor education, poverty, which “white feminists” do not.

(weaknesses) Ethnicity has simply moved from white women to Afro-Caribbean women. Other ethnic minorities still under represented.

Poverty

Definitions

Absolute- The poor are those who lack the basic necessities to survive, basically food, shelter and clothing and was defined by Rowntree at the turn of the twentieth century. This was used as the basis for the welfare state.
Produces smallest number in poverty, currently 6 million

(Strength) easy to use and to provide solutions (eg the NHS)
can be used to measure poverty in an objective way

(weakness) what people “need” can be debated
Rowntree included items of no nutritional value for example tea

Relative The poor are those who lack what others in a community take for granted. Put forward by Townsend. He produced a deprivation index based on 12 items. European union has used this definition and says it has 14 million poor

(strength) reflects the idea that poverty is a reflection of how someone participates in society.

(Weakness) Piachard (1987) the deprivation index ignores the fact that people may choose not to have certain items
Wedderburn argues that the list compiled by Townsend was based on his personal opinion


Subjective- Mack and Lansley investigated what the community took for granted in the breadline Britain surveys. They came up with a list of items that the sample picked and if they did not have 2/3 of these items they were in poverty.

Explanations of poverty

New right

Murray; Underclass; sect of society that has different norms and values to the rest of society. Lack of male role models result in lack of primary socialisation and thus they can not hold down a job. The welfare state allows them to sponge off the rest of society

Evaluation; divorce the biggest cause of single parents
Single parent benefit has been decreased but the numbers of single parents have increased

Buckingham; 5.5% of sample of which 66% lone mothers. Sample unrepresentative 1958, does not reflect diverse society of nowadays.

Lewis- Cultural factors; poor are fatalistic and are marginalized (evaluation sample from Mexico absolute poverty)

Joseph -cycle of deprivation

Marsland- benefits; culture of dependency

(Evaluation) Valentine no marginalisation as Black communities work with local Government; self help

Kempson employment seen as best way to escape poverty

NEETS- department for education and skills report

Each NEET dropping out of school will cost the taxpayer approximately £97,000

22% of NEETS single mothers
75% of people appearing in youth courts are NEETS
Poverty trap

Dean and Taylor-Gooby- They tested the underclass theory. Only 16% of sample showed little interest in working (14 out of 85).

Poverty trap is where the money earned through working is not significantly more then what benefits pay and so there is no incentive for the poor to come off benefits

Evaluation-
+ Marxists; proletariats receive low pay
functionalists , speaks of incentives
interpretevists would like the empathy gained with the sample

- sample is not representative; two prosperous areas
- the coding of questionnaires is subjective
- validity as the sample may lie due to the sensitive topic

Marxist

Society fails the poor,

Situational Constraints; material factors are to blame for poverty such as lack of educational opportunities, poor housing , greater chance of illness not their culture as the New right say.

Coates and Silburn said that poverty was the result of multiple deprivation.

The poor had;

Low incomes
Lived in sub standard housing
Had poor diets
Children went to school with poor facilities

“Poverty is the inevitable consequence of class conflict”

Weberian

Poverty is more complicated then just being based on your position in the economy. The lack of bargaining power and status would result in poverty. Miliband argued that the poor were the most likely to have poor wages due to a lack of bargaining power

Evaluation- Weber does not refer specifically to poverty
Marxists would argue that he ignores the class conflict
Feminists point out the position of women

Feminists

More women in poverty; 24% earn less then half the median wage compared to 20% of men.

In the household Graham found that half of women who divorced thought they were financially better off then when they were married. Kempson found that women deprive themselves of food and heating to save money from the family.

In employment the equal pay act 1975, but not enforced properly
2006 women earn 17% less then men
Women dominate part time work less rights, lower pay


Ethnicity and poverty

Ethnic minorities more likely to be in poverty; 38% of Bangladeshi’s/ Pakistanis earn less then half of the median wage compared to 8% of white people

White people have lowest level of unemployment.

Reasons; 1) Human capital (education), Geographical problems (immigration), 3) Poor health 4) Lack of childcare provision 5) low levels of mobility (transport)
6) racism

Reply 1

Workplace change

Fordism; automated labour process,
mass production of homogenous goods,
jobs fairly secure.
Significant control of workers by management.

Post fordism; diverse specialised products,
Computer controlled manufacturing
Flexible labour pattern
Secure jobs in decline

Braverman ; Deskilling

Automation has removed the control of the worker over the labour market. Work no longer needs specialised skills like before, it now requires mindless repetition, eg farming, factory work
, call centres

Strengths –
Unemployment has risen in most capitalist economies
Weber bargaining power ( has been reduced)

Weaknesses –
Overemphasises amount of crafts and trades in the 19th century

Studies against deskilling Eg Penn. Penn looked at the paper industry as the unskilled labourers were replaced with skilled and semi skilled workers.

Braverman ignores the position of women. Beechey says that women have been affected more by deskilling then men. Gaille claimed “skill polarization”
Crompton and Jones found that clerical work was dominated by women while the higher skill work in banking was filled with men

Embourgeoisiement thesis

Fulcher and Scott say that until the late 20th century there was a strong sense of class loyalty

Lockwood said that there was a proletarian traditionalist where workers felt a strong sense of loyalty to each other

Goldthorpe and Lockwood state that a new Privatised instrumentalist has been formed where work has become a means to an end. A new working class has been formed which has converged with the middle class.

Devine (1992) also disagreed with the embourgeoisiement thesis. There was still solidarity within classes, people still joined Trade unions for solidarity.

Workplace change

Klein- flexible labour means less rights for workers, no unions

Disneyisation; Bryman; combination consumption (eg shopping eating), emotional work where employees have to show certain emotions

McDonaldisation; Ritzer automation and self service to maximise profits

Flexible employment

Nearly half of women in the workplace are part time.
5% of the workforce is on temporary work contracts, this has been referred to as casualisation of the labour force.
Self employment has increased since the 1970’s and has been made easier with the advancement of the internet and home PC’s

Weberians would argue that a dual labour market has been produced. The core workers have secure jobs with good rights while the part time workers are less trained with lower levels of skill.

Feminists including Walby argue that women are members of the secondary labour, ( housework, childcare) market as well as ethnic minorities (racial discrimination)

Marxists say that the changes in the workplace are just more effective ways of capitalism and exploitation of the working class. Flexible employment means fewer rights for employees. Students + women act as the reserve army of labour and are used when capitalists deem them necessary (eg World wars)

Post modernists say that flexible employment is a good thing as it allows people a greater choice for their lives. It also reflects the diminishing of class as a way people identify themselves with consumption becoming more important.

Working class awareness and political consciousness

Marshall (1988) found that the working classes feel that society is based on an “us and “them” structure. Society is dichotomous with the two groups being rich and poor. This supports Marx

Evaluation – 63% of a survey , not all thought that
Subjectivity of survey

Other surveys show 90% of people believe in class conflict. This goes against the most modern theory of Pakulski and Waters (class is dead)

Political participation (falling in the working class)

Fall in Trade union members in the working class
Labour party has move to the centre, disillusionment for the working class as all political parties seem the same as Marshall said.

The working class has fragmented into many different groups

Trade Unions

Trade union membership has declined for males from 1995 to 2004 going from 41.5% to 28.5%. However for females the number has increased between 1995 and 2004 from 22.1% to 29.1%.

Membership with the young is on the decline, only 10’6% of male employees aged 16-24 are in a union with the figure being 8.9% for women in the same age group.

Decline in Manual trade union membership, less then 40% of male manual workers are in trade unions.

Explanation

Pakulski and waters would say that there is no longer a collective class identity. They would also argue that people join unions for individual reasons that are for personal gain. This fits in with the embourgeoisiement thesis of Goldthorpe and lockwoood (privatised instrumentalist).

Flexible employment is another factor with the move towards part time and temporary contracts that are less likely to be unionised. Klein found that is in her book “no Logo.”

The powers of Trade unions have also declined due to Thatcher who weakened them especially with the miners. Traditionally the trade unions were aligned with the Labour party. The labour party was funded by them, but recently the labour party has severed that link.

Workplace change and its effect on class identity and formation

Expansion of the middle classes has occurred. Approximately 25% of workers are manual so the middle classes have become the majority. Savage 1995 There are more university lecturers then coal miners.

Explanation; Manual jobs in decline since the 1970’s due to a number of reasons, technology, the oil crisis and globalisation.

Tertiary economy has expanded in the last 20 years with education meaning that there is a qualified workforce. The service sector is made up of mainly male professionals at its top end but is dominated by women.

Distinguishing between the classes is difficult and has been referred to as the boundary problem. Before the distinction was made between white and blue collar workers, but it is no longer that simple.

Roberts et al argued that the middle class has become fragmented into a number of different groups. Savage speaks of four groups that make up the middle class; professionals, managers, the self employed and routine white collar workers.

The four groups

Professionals have high status, rewards and job security. They recruit internally and are highly unionised (eg Doctors threatened action and won recently when it was proposed that they would have to work for more years)

Managers are upwardly mobile from routine white collar workers. They have highly specialised skills that are not easily transferable to other companies. Very individualised and see fellow managers as competitors.
Higher managers are on very high wages, but middle managers such as bank managers lack job security and may be the victim of company downsizing.

Self employed make up over 10% of the workforce. Fielding found that two thirds of his sample in 1991 from 1981 were stable and secure. The number of self employed has risen with the number of consultants in finance and the computer industry in particular rising rapidly.

Routine white collar worker – Braverman would argue that they have been deskilled and are no longer the middle class. They have lost there economic and social advantages over the working class that they previously had. The routine working class are the same as the manual workers now according to Braverman

The Upper class

The aristocracy has declined with the removal of them from the House of Lords and death duties meaning they have become downwardly mobile.

However the top 1% own 23% of the wealth , and many of the upper class keep their wealth through avoiding tax.

Scott argues that there now exists a unified property class which has actively used its wealth to maintain its privileged position at the top of the socio-economic structure

There are 3 groups of the upper class

Entrepreneurial capitalists- mainly own businesses founded by their family

Internal capitalists – headed by senior executives who head the bureaucracies that run the big corporations.

Finance capitalists- own or run institutions

Social closure exists with marrying usually occurring within the upper classes. Education being in elitist public schools likes Harrow.

Summary of theories of changing social class

Neo Marxists ( eg Wright)

Identity is based on the inequality produced in the class conflict between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat with the Bourgeoisie owning the means of production.

There are ten classes based on the means of production, the classes who do not own the means of production are sub divided in terms of the skill they possess and the extent to which they have control over others

Evaluation

+ Aims to update Marx
+Able to make a difference between capitalists and non-capitalists
- How can skill allow one social class exploit?
- Theory moves towards Weber rather then Marx

Neo Weberian (eg Goldthorpe)

Makes distinction between occupation and status. Class inequality is based on market situation.

There are seven classes, determined by the market situation of different jobs under the banner of service class , intermediate class and working class Those at the top are in the best market situation due to their skills.

Evaluation

+ Aims to update Weber
+ Able to distinguish between a variety of non-capitalist classes

- maybe is to broad with categorization eg the intermediate class contains routine white collar workers and small property owners.
- Feminists point out that Goldthorpe’s theory still only uses men to determine class of a household and ignores the role of women in the workplace
- Obscures the existence of a small but powerful class ( Marxist )

Post Modernist ( eg Pakulski + Waters)

Class is dead. Only groups based on status inequality of consumption of goods. Class has been replaced by an individualised society.

Evaluation

+ supported by the decline in trade union involvement
+ supported by the rise in privatised instrumentalist attitudes (goldthorpe and lockwood)

-Overlooks evidence to suggest that class identity and class inequality is still important (eg Education, middle class to better then working class)

Gender Inequality in the workplace

14% of software professionals are women compared to 89% of hairdressers being women. The 5 C’s . catering , cleaning, clerical work. Caring, ?

Structuralist view

Walby; Patriarchy through six forms which are all interlinked

Workplace
Household
State laws and benefits
Violence from men
Sexual relations
Culture (media , religion , education)

Hartmann is a Marxist feminist who argues that capitalism and patriarchy work together to keep women trapped in a cycle of inequality. A dual system is in effect which is both capitalism and patriarchy working together.

1) women have a weak position in the labour market; discrimination, part time , less likely to be in unions. Makes it easy for bourgeoisie to control them.
2) Secondary labour market saving the bourgeoisie money on wages which increases profits
3) Women are not in control of their finances which helps the patriarchal control of men
4) Women get married due to lack of financial independence which also helps men maintain patriarchal control
5) Conjugal roles , eg Oakley women do more housework
6) Women have the role of primary care giver and so this comprises their position in the labour market meaning men may be favoured.

Evaluation

+ combines Marxist and feminist theories which support each other
+supported by stats; women earn 17% less then men, even bigger gap in part time work

- theory not based on evidence
- exaggerated version of patriarchy which ignores historical shifts
- Black feminists would argue that they ignore the position of women in ethnic minorities
- Education encouraging women to do non traditional careers eg WISE

Non structuralist approach

Hakim

A longitudinal study which began in the 1960’s and continued to the 1980’s.

Feminist myths; there has been no substantial increase in women’s participation in the workplace, part time may have increased but not full time.
Although women receive less pay and lower status then men they report better job satisfaction.
Women who work part time are generally less committed to their jobs then full time employees (measured by absenteeism)

Lack of available childcare is not a significant factor. The example of Sweden where there is higher state provided childcare and less gender inequality.

Women choose to marry men who have traditional views on women’s roles.

Women experience control over their participation in the workplace, due to education and birth control.

Three types of women in the workplace;
25% of women whose main priorities are their career.
28% of women whose priorities were within the home and work would be part time to supplement the household income.
47% of women were unsure and had no specific ideas.

Evaluation

+ longitudinal study based over a long period of time
+ Post modernists would like the idea of choice

- over simplification to divide women into three distinct groups
- attitudes of work change over time
- no convincing explanation of why women are disadvantaged at work; pay, conditions, career prospects
- Structuralist , blames the victim when it might not be their fault
- Ginn et al- women’s attitudes to work shaped by wider social context; male discrimination
- Delmont (2001) methods used were large scale data survey, does this test norms or values?
- American focus , unrepresentative of Britain

Ethnicity and workplace inequality

Vertical segregation (peach 1996)

Full time average grossly wage (1995)

White £7.73 (per hour)
Indian £7.12
Black £6.88
Bangladeshi/Pakistani £6.43

Part time employment (1995)

White 7%
Indian 8%
Black 9%
Bangladeshi/Pakistani 13%

% of workers in managerial class 1996

% Chinese 17.6
% black African 14.3
% white 6.7
% Bangladeshi 5.2
% Black Caribbean 2.4

This suggests that certain ethnic minorities are breaking though the glass ceiling.

% of women in managerial class 1996
Chinese 7.6 %
Indian 4.4%
Black African 3.0%
Bangladeshi 1.8%
White 1.7%
Black Caribbean 1.0%

Horizontal segregation

60% of Bangladeshi males in work, work in the hotel and catering industry
42% of Pakistani males in employment work in manufacturing
Workers in agriculture dominated by white men

Explanations

Discrimination in the labour market; study by Brown and Gay (1984-5) in which they sent identical job applications except for the ethnicity of the applicant. They found that White applicants were most successful in getting an interview with 90%. 63% of Asian and 63% of West Indian applicants.

Evaluation

+ Clear cut conclusion
+Representative; 3 cities
+ Covert so valid

- unethical; deceit
- Were the Afro-Caribbean applicants rejected because of their educational Backgrounds?
- Dated


Underclass

The underclass withdrawing itself from the labour market as they were unwilling to work. Welfare benefits have made it easy for the underclass and has removed the incentive for men to work to support their families

Evaluation
+ Policy has been influential in both America and the UK
+ Clear cut conclusion
+distinguished the working class from the underclass

- benefits were in place before the development of the underclass
- even though benefits have been cut the number of single parents has risen
- some sociologists agree on the existence but not the cause,; structural factors like the poverty trap

Weberian

Rex and Tomlinson argued that the new commonwealth immigrants to Britain to jobs in manufacturing and service industries that were less skilled then the white men would do. There is a dual labour market where the primary labour market has high waged, high status with good market situations. The secondary labour market is the opposite, poor wages, conditions etc. Ethnic minorities recruited to the second labour market

Evaluation

+based on Census data
+reliable- statistical analysis, can be repeated if measurement process stays the same
+large sample

- not representative sample ( one area)
- Dated – 1971
- Generalised Asians; Chinese and Indians more likely to be Managerial white people.

Marxist

In a study of workers from other countries ethnic minorities faced similar problems to that suffered by ethnic minorities in Handsworth; low paid jobs , low unionised numbers. Castles and Kosack claim this is due to discrimination. Ethnic minorities form the reserve army of labour that is used when required e.g. after WWII to rebuild the country.

Evaluation

+analyse trends from many countries
+structuralists would support this view
+1950’s many first generation immigrants took the jobs white people didn’t do

-over generalised; Chinese experience the workplace very differently to other ethnic minorities
-hard to repeat other countries; need to use different measurements

Reply 2

thnx

Reply 3

Cheers for those. They look pretty comprehensive and very helpful. I'm really dreading this exam cos I've found the module really hard to get my head round. X

Reply 4

isn't the synoptic module called 'Inequality and Differences', not power and control for OCR?

Reply 5

godfather
isn't the synoptic module called 'Inequality and Differences', not power and control for OCR?

probably , i guessed the title of the module , but the notes are very clear for the topic so if you are doing this exam it should be clear that these notes are suitable

Reply 6

man all of you revised all of this? wow...I could never revise that much....but you don't eeven need to know half the things.......My friend revised this paper for 2 days and got 118 out of 120, its mostly commen sence, not saying its not hard, casue I am studying it at the moment, but once you get your head down your fine, my synoptic is coming up soon, in like 2 weeks, but not stressed at all, casue well.....its not much to revise afterall..

Reply 7

do you have any for Racial Stratification???

Reply 8

dreading this exam, i have only just started to revise today and i'm feeling a retake might be in order...

Can anyone tell me how to structure the part E questions, and what sort of thing to be saying in part c questions (methods) as i've completly forgot about representativeness etc.
cheers

Reply 9

oh and whats the difference between new right and fuctionalism?
xx

Reply 10

THANK YOUUUU SO MUCH!

this exam scares me to be honest! :frown:

Reply 11

my teachers told me ethnicity is most likely to come up, does anyone have any notes/ideas on this????

Reply 12

becca_xo
my teachers told me ethnicity is most likely to come up, does anyone have any notes/ideas on this????


YEAH LET ME GIVE YOU AN OVERALL EVALUATION 4 ETHNICITY

1) Unlike social class and gender where this a fairly cut relationship to educational attainment, ethnicity is more problematic to deal with. there is an initial difficulty in defining ethnicity.

2) The great range of attainment by ethnic groups which exists in Britain is probably the greatest problems for sociologists to deal with as this is only one factor- racism, teahcers attidues, cultral backgrounds etc. are all unlikely to provide satisfactory explanations. for example, is racism is the biggest influence to educational underachievement, how does this explain why the highest acheivers are indian pupils and those from east african and pakistani backgrounds?

3) Most of the sociological research into this issue is unsatisfactory, in that although the likely influences have been identified their importance and inter-relationships have not. different ethnic gorups have different experiences and it is on these experiences that researchers need to be concrete on.

CONCLUSON

1) Not all ethnic minorities underachieve e.g. INDIAN PUPILS

2) Ethnic groups are not homogenous e.g. the category asian includes pakistani, indians and bagladeshi

3) We should not consider ethnicity separately from class and gender when explaining levels of achievement. it is not enough to make generalisations on pakistani and bangladeshi underachievement but rather the social circumstances in which they live in.

IF YOU WANT INSIDE SCHOOL EXPLANATIONS AND OUTSIDE SCHOOL EXPLANATIONS ( MATERIAL/ CULTURAL) JUST ASK
HOPE DTS USEFUL