Classical Theories
What we know to be real and essential is always a product of the culture and historical period in which we live.
What is social constructionism?
In Weber, the market-based position that shapes life chances.
What is Class or Class Situation?
a theory which has roots in Marxist thought, emphasizing social change and power structures
What is Critical Theory?
In Sørensen, extra returns (rents) created by restricted entry or limited competition. rents created by restricted entry/limited competition.
Monopoly Rents
People or groups whose class position comes from owning money/financial property according to Weber
What is Positively Privileged Property Class?
Weberian Concept that emphasizes how exclusionary rules restrict access to opportunities
Social Closure
a characteristic such as race or gender that leads people to expect a particular level of competence across a range of social contexts
What is Diffuse Status?
Theory emphasizing that inequality operates through discourse/power-knowledge and skepticism toward grand narratives.
What is Postmodernism?
Occupying a class position that combines elements of both ownership/authority and wage dependence, creating mixed interests and ambiguous class alignment. (Concept)
What is contradictory class location?
Agricultural laborers who worked on large farms for wages in Marxist analysis
Who is proletariat?
Theorist argues that social order requires a strong sovereign because life in the state of nature is insecure and dangerous
Who is Hobbes?
In Marx, the resource used to produce goods/services (land, tools, factories) that is owned/controlled by a class.
What is means of production?
Theory that argues technology is the main engine of social change. Better tools and techniques increase productivity.
What is Ecological Evolutionary Theory or sociocultural evolutionary theory?
Theory that explains how uncertainty shapes people’s time horizons, investments, and living conditions
What is class as life conditions?
A hiring manager fills most jobs through referrals, so applicants without insider connections rarely get interviews. (Concept)
What is Social capital / network advantage / weak ties?
In Marx, the value produced beyond wages that becomes the basis of profit.
What is surplus?
Weber: totality of class situations within which individual and generational mobility is easy and typical.
What is Social Classes?
When someone with social power, holding a central position in a network of exchange, exploits that position to secure advantages. (Theory)
What is social network theory?
The mix of economic, cultural, and social capital that shapes a group’s position and strategies.
What is composition of capital (Bourdieu)?
A group’s job access is restricted by credential requirements that look neutral but systematically exclude people with fewer resources.
What is Durkheim's Forced Division of Labor?
As conditions improve (society becomes more equal), discontent increases because expectations rise faster than reality
What is Tocqueville paradox?
A theory defines class not as a ranked ladder of “high to low,” but as a relational structure—classes exist in relation to each other
What is Marxist class analysis?
Once a policy sets a system on a particular path, the effects can persist long after the original policy changes therefore producing durable patterns
What is path dependence?
Distinct subgroups within a class location, differentiated by the composition of capital
What is class fractions?
Inequality increases because after goods are produced, the rules for wages, prices, taxes, and profit claims shift a growing share of output to those at the top. (Theory)
What is Ecological/Sociocultural Evolutionary Theory?