Social Inequalities according to different authors

Pierre Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu criticizes social inequalities produced by the educational system in a society. His focus is more on the cultural capital.

He mentions some of the factors responsible for it. These factors have to do with the cultural capital of the same background members of the community and the educational ability and the cultural tradition of the country. He mentions that despite the slogan of equal opportunities and the meritocracy the dominant class of the society values the reproduction of a culture capable of their legitimacy. For example in the educational system the higher class are rewarded and the lower class children gets a kind of negative signals from their teachers which reproduces low expected results. In this sense the cultural capital is the assembly of knowledge that differentiates the classes from each other. In his theory of practice he describes four important concepts namely praxis, social field, habitus and the capital which he further distinguishes into three subparts as economic, social and cultural one. According to Bourdieu the differences and the inequalities are misrecognized in the system. He criticizes the dominant group who for the most part dominate the above three capitals along with the political capital embodied in the educational system. In simple words the educational system actually are in favor of this dominant culture and in this sense helping promoting the stratification in these groups (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1979, p. 22).

Bowles and Gintis

Bowles and Gintis explain the inequality of the classes in the educational system. They agree with Bourdieu on the inequality, reproducing the higher class by the education system. They mention that although the education reproduces higher class but lack the ability to teach the skills. They agree that schools reproduce by encouraging some of the students and discouraging others. At the same time the curriculum of institutions are the sources of the inequality on one hand and reproducing the hierarchy in the system by letting the lower class to legitimate the position of the higher class in the system for power on the other. Reflecting on the point view of Bourdieu they supports the idea that the educational system is dominated by the upper class and the middle class is forced to attend the public schools and persuade their skills necessary for the accomplishment of their careers. The system bares the responsibility of letting this class down and discouraging them to acquire the social mobility in the society. The idea of social capital is associated here in their theory of rewarding those according to their social status and they are acquired to act according to rules they will perform in the society and in this way producing stratification.

Answer 3:

Blanderen in his article ‘Intergenerational mobility in America and North America’ complies with the arguments presented by Bourdieu about the social inequality. Different specific quotations supporting those factors are mentioned as:

On page 2 of the article he argues about the ‘decline is because of the relationship between the income of the families and the opportunities those families gets when their children between the age 16 and 18 enters to the schools.’ And the main gap between the poor and the rich families children in the year 1990 for the higher education.

On page 4 he describes the mobility in certain countries and through tables and statistics it is obvious that the mobility in the US and the Britain is less than that of the other European and Northern which leads us to the idea that the intergenerational mobility is a western phenomenon. It proves that Bourdieu was right when he gave the social mobility and the inequality about these countries especially in the US the limitations for the black families in their social mobility process and the opportunities in the education system.

On page 4 ‘that in England the value of getting higher education and the opportunity lies in the income of the families’, education value in labor market and difference between less and high paid citizens due to their educational backgrounds’. Here he describes the direct correlation of the getting paid higher with the income of families.

The article of Blanderen explicitly does not mention the reproduction but several factors that prove them. Several quotations can be given here (see page 12, 13, 14, paragraph 1). He provides solution to reduce the stratification. Therefore he suggests the full access of education, as it plays an important role, opportunities for the low income citizens on one hand and by supporting poor families financially to promote their role and the social mobility process in the society on the other.

Answer 4:

The concepts presented by Grusky on social stratification can be related to Bourdieu`s arguments. I will mention specific ones which are related to the inequality issues.

In the beginning he criticizes social institutions creating injustice and inequality in the society. The value given to certain goods their disposition and the role of the different individuals allocating them. Other factor that promotes the inequality is the hidden curriculum in the higher education. The status crystallization process indicates that upper class will remain at the top. In his article Marx is criticized who stress on the economic factors but other scholars mention the class formation as the result of the inequality, use of power and the reward associated with the honor, better job opportunities and higher status. His concept of stratification is due to class degrees, status and the income position of people. Some sociologists investigated that the low income families were disadvantaged because of the inadequate education and poor opportunities. In table one he points out that the production of the social stratification is due to cultural capital which leads to poor life services for the lower class and marginalized social group. Therefore it is required to invest more in the education system to overcome the barriers and to raise their status in the future. According to Grunsky some sectors (technical) in the professional world increased opportunities of better salaries. In his eyes the variables refers to incomes which certainly shape future life and could produce the stratification and inequality.

References and articles used for the assignment:

Blanden, J., P. Gregg & S. Machin (2005). ‘Intergenerational Mobility in Europe and North America’, London: Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Read pages 1-15].

Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J. C. (1979) ‘The inheritors: French students and their relation to culture’

(Chicago, University of Chicago Press).

Grusky, D.B. (2001). ‘Social stratification’. The International Encyclopedia of The Social and Behavioral Sciences, 14443-14452. Elsevier Science Direct.

Müller, W. (2001) Mobility: Social. The International Encyclopedia of The Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9918-9924. Elsevier Science Direct.