1
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Q: What is intersectionality?
A
A: Intersectionality is a framework (Crenshaw, 1989) for understanding how multiple identities (e.g., race, gender, class, immigration status) intersect to shape unique experiences of oppression and privilege that cannot be understood through single-axis categories.
2
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Q: Why was intersectionality developed?
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A: It emerged from Black feminist legal scholarship because law and policy failed to protect people facing multiple forms of discrimination at once—especially Black women.
3
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Q: What did DeGraffenreid v. General Motors demonstrate?
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A: The case showed that anti-discrimination law treated race and gender separately, making Black women invisible because the court required proving discrimination against all women or all Black people rather than intersectional harm.
4
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Q: Scenario (Bones): Angela, a bisexual American-Chinese artist from a wealthy family, faces discrimination in a tech industry hiring panel that favors straight white men but benefits from family wealth. How is this intersectionality?
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A: Angela experiences sexism and xenophobia but also class privilege. Intersectionality explains how multiple identities create both oppression and privilege simultaneously.
5
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Q: What is framing in sociology?
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A: Framing is the process by which individuals and groups construct meaning about events and issues, shaping what we notice, who we blame, and what solutions seem legitimate.
6
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Q: Why are frames powerful in social movements?
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A: Frames mobilize support by turning complex issues into compelling narratives; without framing, public confusion or apathy reduces collective action.
7
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Q: Scenario (The Mentalist): Jane frames a case as corruption instead of “individual misconduct” to rally public outrage and get support for investigation. What concept is this?
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A: Framing — shaping interpretation to influence responsibility, urgency, and collective action.
8
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Q: What is globalization?
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A: Globalization is the increasing interconnectedness of societies through flows of people, goods, money, ideas, technology, and culture.
9
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Q: What is spatio-temporal compression in globalization?
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A: It refers to how digital communication and fast travel reduce the perceived distance between places, enabling instant global interaction.
10
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Q: Scenario (Community): Greendale starts offering online classes internationally, gaining students from Japan and Brazil. What aspect of globalization is this?
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A: Spatio-temporal compression — technology reducing distance and enabling global interaction.
11
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Q: What is global inequality?
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A: Global inequality refers to the uneven distribution of wealth and development across regions, largely concentrated in the Global North, shaped by colonial history and uneven global integration.
12
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Q: Which regions today experience the highest poverty rates and why?
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A: Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have the highest poverty rates due to colonial extraction, unequal trade structures, and limited global integration.
13
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Q: What does modernization theory argue?
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A: Modernization theory claims countries develop through internal changes and should follow the Western industrial and democratic path, moving from traditional society to mass consumption.
14
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Q: Scenario (Gilmore Girls): Taylor pushes Stars Hollow to “modernize” by attracting big box stores, believing they’ll bring prosperity like big cities. Which theory is this?
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A: Modernization theory — belief in a single path to progress modeled on Western capitalist development.
15
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Q: What does dependency theory argue?
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A: Dependency theory claims the global economy is structured so wealth flows from poorer “periphery” nations to wealthy “core” nations, limiting development due to colonial history and unequal trade relations.
16
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Q: Scenario (Burn Notice): Fiona notes that U.S. corporations benefit from cheap labor in Latin America while those countries stay poor. What theory explains this?
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A: Dependency theory — core nations prosper by extracting value from periphery nations.
17
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Q: What is Grace Chang’s argument about migration and labor?
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A: Chang argues that Global South workers, particularly women in domestic and care work, migrate to wealthy countries because historical and economic extraction impoverished their home nations; they “follow their stolen wealth.”
18
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Q: What is World-Systems Theory (Wallerstein)?
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A: A theory arguing that global inequality is produced by a single capitalist world system structured through colonialism, imperialism, and unequal trade; core nations accumulate wealth by extracting labour and resources from periphery nations.
19
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Q: What are the three categories of the world system, and how do they function?
A
A:
- Core: Wealthy, industrialized nations that control finance, tech, and global institutions.
- Periphery: Poor, resource-exporting regions exploited for cheap labour and raw materials.
- Semi-periphery: Middle-position states that exploit the periphery but are subordinate to core power.
20
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Q: How does World-Systems Theory explain development and underdevelopment?
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A: Development in the core and underdevelopment in the periphery are interdependent and historically produced — the core grows because the periphery is kept economically dependent and structurally disadvantaged.
21
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Q: Scenario (Psych): Shawn notices a multinational tech firm shutting down Santa Barbara jobs and moving production to Bangladesh where wages are low and regulations weak. What concept does this illustrate?
A
A: Capitalist extraction in the world system — core outsourcing to periphery for cheap labour.
22
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Q: How do core nations maintain dominance?
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A: Through financial control, military alliances, trade rules, transnational corporations, and institutions like the IMF and World Bank that reinforce global dependency.
23
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Q: What characterizes periphery nations economically and politically?
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A: Reliance on raw-material exports, low-wage labour, vulnerability to price shocks, weak state capacity, debt dependency, and susceptibility to external influence.
24
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Q: Scenario (Burn Notice): Michael uncovers a foreign mining corporation draining resources from a small Latin American country and bribing officials to suppress protests. What world-systems concept is this?
A
A: Resource extraction and political subordination of periphery by core interests.
25
Q: What is the Marxist interpretation of the world system?
A: Core nations are the global bourgeoisie controlling capital and technology; periphery nations are the global proletariat providing labour and resources, with profit flowing upward.
26
Q: What is monocropping, and why is it significant in the world system?
A: Monocropping is when periphery countries rely on one or a few export crops (like sugar or coffee), causing food insecurity and vulnerability to market crashes, reinforcing dependency.
27
Q: Scenario (Gilmore Girls): Taylor pushes Stars Hollow to buy only European luxury goods, arguing local farms should grow specialty coffee beans for export instead of food. What concept does this resemble?
A: Monocropping and global consumer preference reinforcing dependency.
28
Q: What is a key difference between modernization theory and world-systems theory?
A: Modernization theory claims poverty results from internal deficiencies and nations should copy Western development; World-Systems Theory argues poverty is produced by structural global exploitation.
29
Q: Scenario (The Mentalist): Lisbon argues economic failure in a country came from colonization and unfair trade, while someone else says they “just didn’t modernize.” Which theories are reflected?
A: Lisbon = World-Systems Theory; Opponent = Modernization Theory.
30
Q: What is Grace Chang’s argument in Disposable Domestics?
A: Migrant women of colour sustain the global economy through care labour but are devalued, encouraged to leave families behind, and criminalized if they seek belonging — “we want your labour, not your life.”
31
Q: What are “global care chains”?
A: Systems where women from poorer countries care for families in wealthy nations while their own children are cared for by relatives or hired help back home, reproducing global emotional labour inequality.
32
Q: Scenario (Bones): Cam hires a nanny who sends most earnings to family in the Philippines and rarely sees her own kids. What global inequality concept does this represent?
A: Global care chains and remittance-driven migration shaped by global inequality.
33
Q: How does race function as a social construct in modern colonial systems?
A: Race was invented to justify slavery and colonial exploitation; although biologically insignificant, it remains socially real through law, institutions, and power structures.
34
Q: What was the purpose of the Indian Act in Canada?
A: To control Indigenous identity, governance, and land through legal definitions, reserves, and assimilation policies — enforcing colonial domination and ongoing systemic inequality.
35
Q: Scenario (Community): The study group debates why state systems historically controlled Indigenous identity definitions. Britta says it's to “help manage citizenship stats,” but Abed explains it maintained settler control over land and sovereignty. Whose view aligns with sociological evidence?
A: Abed — state-constructed race categories served colonial power and land control.
36
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What historical methods did the IOC use to verify female athletes’ sex, and what assumption guided these methods?
A: Pre-1960s nude parades and later chromosome testing (XX = female, XY = male). Both assumed sex is biologically simple and binary, leading to invasive, flawed practices.
37
Q (IS: Chapter 7): Why was the Maria José Martínez-Patiño case significant for sex testing in sports?
A: She had AIS (46,XY but female physiology/no testosterone response), was treated as male and punished, revealing flaws in chromosome-based sex testing and contributing to its end in 2000.
38
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What are the key elements of modern IOC trans eligibility policies (2016)?
A:
- Trans men: no restrictions.
- Trans women: 4-year gender declaration + testosterone suppression for 1+ year.
- Reflects negotiated categories, not fixed biology.
39
Q (IS: Chapter 7) — Bones Scenario: Brennan testifies about a trans athlete case. She argues sex categories in sport are not purely biological. How does this align with sociological theory?
A: Sex categories in sport are socially negotiated rules shaped by identity, fairness debates, and science—not fixed biology.
40
Q (IS: Chapter 7): Define sex vs. gender.
A:
- Sex = biological traits (organs, chromosomes).
- Gender = social meanings, identities, norms around femininity/masculinity; exists on a continuum.
41
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What does “gender is socially constructed” mean?
A: Society creates gender categories and norms, which feel natural only because they’re repeated, taught, and enforced through socialization.
42
Q (IS: Chapter 7) — Gilmore Girls Scenario: Rory notices adults praise girls for being quiet and encourage boys to be assertive. What concept does this reflect?
A: Early gender socialization shaping gendered behaviour and expectations.
43
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What is gender performativity (Judith Butler)?
A: Gender is created through repeated behaviours; performing norms makes gender seem natural. Non-conformity often brings sanctions.
44
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What does Messner argue about masculinity?
A: Masculinity is enforced through rules (avoid femininity, be aggressive, show success) and social policing (mockery/stigma).
45
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What did Michela Musto’s study reveal about gender, race, and class in schools?
A: Higher-status classes reward boys’ dominance and let girls withdraw; lower-status classes punish boys harshly, disengaging them, while girls take leadership. Intersectional school norms create long-term inequality.
46
Q (IS: Chapter 7) — Psych Scenario: Juliet notices boys dominate a class debate due to tolerated interruptions, while girls stay quiet. Which research finding does this match?
A: Musto’s study: teacher responses shape gendered participation; privileged boys gain confidence, girls lose confidence.
47
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What are the three major waves of feminism and their main focuses?
A:
- 1st: legal rights (vote, property).
- 2nd: social equality, workplace, reproductive rights, anti-violence.
- 3rd: diversity, intersectionality, rejecting “one woman’s experience.”
48
Q (IS: Chapter 7): Compare liberal, radical, Marxist-socialist, and intersectional feminism.
A:
- Liberal: reform laws/institutions.
- Radical: dismantle patriarchal systems.
- Marxist-socialist: gender inequality rooted in capitalism.
- Intersectional: gender inequality varies by race/class/etc.
49
Q (IS: Chapter 7): What is heterosexuality as a social construction according to Katz?
A: Modern sexual categories (hetero/homo) emerged in late 19th century with medicalization, consumer culture, and gender changes; not timeless or natural.
50
Q (IS: Chapter 7) — The Mentalist Scenario: Lisbon challenges an assumption that everyone is straight when a parent assumes their child has an opposite-sex “crush.” What concept is this?
A: Heteronormativity — cultural assumption that heterosexuality is default and expected.
51
Q: According to Pager’s “Mark of a Criminal Record,” how does race affect employment?
A: Black applicants without records were hired less often than white applicants with records; race is a stronger barrier than criminal history.
52
Q: What is Allport’s Contact Theory?
A: Intergroup contact reduces prejudice only when status is equal and there is no competition between groups.
53
Q: What is “Doing Gender” (West & Zimmerman)?
A: Gender is a repeated social performance, judged by others; people are held accountable to gender norms.
54
Q: Why is “sex testing” in sports sociologically problematic?
A: Biological sex cannot be clearly measured by anatomy or chromosomes; testing reinforces binary categories and inequality.
55
Q: What is symbolic interactionism’s view of gender?
A: Gender is created through social symbols and interaction (e.g., pink/blue), shaping expectations and identity.
56
Q: Burn Notice: Michael sees police “carding” mostly Black and brown neighborhoods. What sociological process is this?
A: Racial profiling and targeted surveillance, which leads to overrepresentation of these groups in police databases.
57
Q: Always Sunny: Dee argues she’s being paid less at Paddy’s despite doing equal work. What sociological pattern does this reflect?
A: Gender wage inequality—women earn less even with comparable work; female-typed jobs are undervalued.
58
Q: Bones: Angela notes Indigenous women’s incarceration rates are rising. What structural explanation fits best?
A: Legacies of colonialism, victimization, and systemic inequality produce disproportionate incarceration.
59
Q: Psych: Gus says women get judged if they’re “not feminine enough.” Which gender theory explains this?
A: Gender accountability from Doing Gender—people face sanctions for violating gender norms.
60
Q: The Mentalist: Grace Van Pelt notices men and women are doing different tasks at a community center despite similar skills. What does this illustrate?
A: Gendered division of labor, shaped by cultural norms and institutional expectations.
61
Q: How does gender shape work and labour?
A: It structures which jobs men and women do, how work is valued, and separates public (masculine) vs private (feminine) spheres, leading to horizontal and vertical segregation.
62
Q: What is Hochschild’s “second shift”?
A: Women often perform paid work and the majority of unpaid domestic labour, rooted in traditional gender expectations.
63
Q: What makes disability socially constructed?
A: Social conditions (poverty, unsafe environments), performance expectations, society designed for an “ideal” body, and lack of support systems—not biology alone.
64
Q: What is heteronormativity?
A: The assumption that heterosexuality is natural, normal, and compulsory; reinforced by laws, social norms, and institutions.
65
Q: What does “deinstitutionalization of marriage” refer to?
A: Declining adherence to traditional norms—fewer marriages, more cohabitation, higher divorce rates, and children increasingly born outside marriage.
66
Q: Lorelai notices all managerial positions are men, while skilled female staff do day-to-day operations. What concept does this show?
A: Vertical segregation: men hold higher-status roles; women have fewer advancement opportunities.
67
Q: Juliet investigates a workplace that refuses to hire someone because their disability slows them down, despite minor accommodations. Which concept applies?
A: Wendell’s social construction of disability—disability arises from societal expectations and environments, not the body alone.
68
Q: Annie talks about workplace inequality and reproductive rights, while later Abed emphasizes media representation and intersectionality. Which waves are they reflecting?
A: Annie: second-wave feminism; Abed: third-wave feminism.
69
Q: Dee insists that only heterosexual relationships are “normal” in the gang’s dating game, policing same-sex interactions. What sociological concept is this?
A: Heteronormativity—enforcing heterosexuality as compulsory and normal.
70
Q: Lisbon notices a suspect raised by a single mother and cohabiting partner. What broader concept does this reflect?
A: Deinstitutionalization of marriage and changing family structures—diverse family forms are increasingly common.
71
Q: Why did Friedan argue many post-WWII women were unhappy despite domestic comfort?
A: Misery was structural, stemming from confinement to domestic roles and societal expectations, not individual failings.
72
Q: How did psychiatry influence views of sexuality in the late 19th–20th centuries?
A: Psychiatry pathologized sexuality, defining “normal” as heterosexuality and marking homosexuality as deviant.
73
Q: What is hegemonic heterosexuality?
A: Cultural dominance of heterosexual norms post-WWII, reinforced by domestic ideology, social institutions, and legal rules, marginalizing queer identities.
74
Q: What did the Kinsey Reports reveal about human sexuality?
A: Sexual behavior varies socially (gender, class, age) and often does not align with sexual identity; challenges fixed sexual categories.
75
Q: What are two contrasting sociological perspectives on family?
A:
- Functionalism: family provides economic support, socialization, reproduction, emotional stability.
- Conflict: family reproduces inequality, enforces hierarchies, and can perpetuate abuse/domination.
76
Q: Emily expects Lorelai to find fulfillment solely through marriage and domestic work. Which sociological idea does this reflect?
A: Friedan’s critique of post-WWII women’s structural confinement.
77
Q: A suspect is harassed by authorities for being gay, framed as “deviant.” Which historical process does this mirror?
A: Invention of the homosexual—psychiatry and social norms pathologized queer identities.
78
Q: Jeff assumes everyone is straight when dating on campus, marginalizing any LGBTQ+ experiences. Concept?
A: Hegemonic heterosexuality—social and institutional enforcement of heterosexuality as “normal.”
79
Q: Mac debates whether engaging in sex work is liberating or oppressive within gang culture. Which framework explains this?
A: Rubin: sexuality is malleable and socially conditioned; sexual freedom depends on social order and norms.
80
Q: A character raised by cohabiting parents and step-siblings highlights diverse household arrangements. Which trend is this?
A: Deinstitutionalization of marriage and diversity in modern family structures.
81
Q: What does “deinstitutionalization of marriage” mean?
A: Marriage is no longer a social default. Diversity is growing (same-sex, inter-ethnic, inter-class unions), cohabitation rises, and norms are shifting due to women’s rights, declining religion, and changing social expectations.
82
Q: Why are divorce rates declining even with more unstable relationships?
A: Fewer people marry, but those who do often have traits that favor long-lasting marriages; marriage is becoming more selective.
83
Q: What are the main functions of the family according to Murdock and Parsons?
A: Economic cooperation, sexual regulation, child socialization, reproduction; Parsons adds stabilization of adult personalities (“warm bath”) and sex-role differentiation (instrumental men, expressive women).
84
Q: How do conflict perspectives view family?
A: Families reproduce inequality: parental resources shape children’s opportunities, hierarchies exist, gender inequality persists, and legal marriage confers privileges.
85
Q: How do liberal, Marxist, and radical feminists analyze family?
A: Liberal: focus on policy equality; Marxist: family supports capitalism via women’s unpaid labor; Radical: family as patriarchal site of women’s oppression and violence.
86
Q: Emily and Richard insist that Lorelai marry someone “stable and well-off.” Which sociological concept does this illustrate?
A: Marriage is becoming selective—social and economic traits influence who marries.
87
Q: Shawn observes a wealthy family using resources to give their children elite opportunities while others struggle. Which concept is this?
A: Family as reproducing social inequality (conflict approach).
88
Q: Britta argues that Jeff’s family relies on his mother to maintain the household and emotional labor. Which feminist lens applies?
A: Marxist feminism—women’s unpaid domestic labor supports family and society.
89
Q: Dennis chooses cohabitation for flexibility rather than commitment, while Dee wants emotional fulfillment over breadwinning. Which perspectives are these?
A: Giddens’ individualization (choice in relationships) and Beck’s risk society (family as emotional refuge).
90
Q: A suspect’s extended family uses care networks instead of traditional nuclear marriage. Which critique does this illustrate?
A: TallBear’s colonial and racialized critique—Indigenous kinship emphasizes care-based structures over state-imposed monogamy.
91
Q: What is a “schooled society”?
A: A society where education shapes economic opportunities, social identity, life routines, and social mobility; schools are major socializing institutions.
92
Q: How has education expanded in Canada?
A: More years in school, higher post-secondary enrolment, more credentials, broader skills and competencies; Canada leads G7 in college/university attainment.
93
Q: What are manifest (primary) functions of schooling?
A: Socialization (norms, values), social control (behavior regulation), and social placement (sorting into occupational roles/credentialing).
94
Q: What are latent functions of schooling?
A: Unintended consequences: building social networks, courtship, childcare, keeping youth out of the labour market.
95
Q: How does education reproduce inequality?
A: Family background, cultural capital, and gender shape educational outcomes, reinforcing class and social hierarchies despite universal schooling.
96
Q: Rory spends most of her day in school preparing for Yale and social networks. Which concept does this illustrate?
A: Schooled society—schooling shapes life trajectories, social identity, and future opportunities.
97
Q: A job ad requires a college degree even though experience is sufficient. Which educational function does this illustrate?
A: Social placement and credentialing—education determines occupational access.
98
Q: The study group forms friendships and relationships while attending Greendale. Which function of education is shown?
A: Latent function—social networks, courtship, and unintentional socialization.
99
Q: Charlie struggles to access education due to lack of resources, while Dennis and Mac benefit from family support. Which concept is this?
A: Education reproduces inequality—family background shapes school success.
100
Q: Lisbon notes that schools teach shared values and social norms across generations. Which theorist does this reflect?
A: Durkheim—schools promote social cohesion and transmit moral codes.
101
Q: What is Weber’s concept of rationalization in modern society?
A: The process of applying reason, efficiency, calculability, and control to social institutions, producing bureaucracies and highly structured organizations.
102
Q: How does credentialing function in modern bureaucracies?
A: Schools sort people into categories by awarding credentials, producing a specifically trained population for bureaucratic institutions.
103
Q: How does education legitimize the social order?
A: Schools present social hierarchies and knowledge as natural, moral, and deserved, e.g., Ryerson used education to assimilate Catholic Irish into Protestant norms.
104
Q: How does conflict theory explain inequality in education?
A: Class shapes access to post-secondary education; cultural capital, parental investment, and labelling reproduce inequality and create self-fulfilling prophecies.
105
Q: Why does the de-segregation of education not equal employment equality?
A: Despite more women entering fields like STEM, pay and employment opportunities remain unequal, reflecting persistent structural and gendered inequalities.
106
Q: Abed wants to take advanced classes but lacks connections to tutors or prep courses. Which educational concept is illustrated?
A: Credentialing and class-based inequality—access and success depend on resources and cultural capital.
107
Q: Rory learns the social rules of elite universities beyond academics. Which concept does this show?
A: Hidden curriculum—latent lessons about norms, expectations, and behaviors that shape socialization.
108
Q: Lisbon observes that schooling gives students the sense that the hierarchy and knowledge structure are natural. Which sociological concept is this?
A: Education legitimizes the social order.
109
Q: Shawn notices that while schools have diversified racially and by gender, class still affects who succeeds. Which perspective explains this?
A: Symbolic Interactionism—class remains a key demarcating factor despite democratization.
110
Q: Charlie struggles academically during COVID closures while Mac excels due to private tutoring. Which concept does this demonstrate?
A: Stratified educational loss—pandemic impacts were uneven, reinforcing class-based educational inequality.
111
Q: How did Weber explain the modern relationship between work and leisure?
A: Work was tied to morality and self-definition (Protestant Ethic: hard work, self-denial); leisure emerged later as middle-class disposable income allowed working to play.
112
Q: What are the main characteristics of Weber’s rationalized world?
A: Predictability, calculability, efficiency, control; prioritizes measurable outcomes and standardized approaches, producing both affluence and inequality.
113
Q: What is the McDonaldization of society?
A: The spread of bureaucratic principles (efficiency, calculability, control) into all aspects of life, including relationships, work, and services.
114
Q: How does Taylorism/Scientific Management impact workers?
A: Specialization increases efficiency but deskills and alienates workers; humans are treated like machines, and automation replaces labor, creating job insecurity.
115
Q: What is emotional labor and how is it gendered?
A: Service workers must manage emotions as part of the job (e.g., friendliness, helpfulness); women are disproportionately assigned these roles, increasing alienation.
116
Q: Dean tries to quantify and standardize student learning through badges and scores. Which concept does this illustrate?
A: Rationalization—emphasis on calculability and efficiency in institutions.
117
Q: Shawn notices a corporate office standardizes all customer interactions to save time and increase revenue. Which concept applies?
A: McDonaldization—applying efficiency, calculability, and control to work processes.
118
Q: Lorelai works constantly to afford experiences and vacations for Rory. Which sociological insight does this reflect?
A: Modern work is often pursued to enable leisure and personal consumption, not only moral self-definition.
119
Q: Charlie works a menial, repetitive job and is stressed while higher-ups profit. Which concept is illustrated?
A: Alienation of labor—deskilling, lack of control, and stratified stress in a rationalized system.
120
Q: Lisbon’s detectives must maintain calm and courteous interactions with victims while managing their own emotions. Which concept does this demonstrate?
A: Emotional labor—performing affective work as part of occupational expectations.
121
Q: What is the state in sociology?
A: A set of institutions including political decision-makers, administrative bureaucracies, a judiciary, and security services, which collectively exercise authority and governance.
122
Q: What are three major perspectives on why states emerged?
A:
- Managerial: Need for centralized administration as territories grow.
- Militaristic (Tilly): States arise to monopolize violence and secure resources for war.
- Economic (Marx): States mediate class conflict and regulate capitalist economies.
123
Q: What are the core functions of a welfare state?
A: Provide minimum income, reduce economic insecurity (illness, old age, unemployment), and offer social services.
124
Q: What is framing and selection bias in media?
A: Framing shapes how problems and solutions are perceived; selection bias determines which events get covered. Both influence public perception of social issues.
125
Q: How does social capital relate to civic engagement?
A: Social capital—trust, relationships, and shared norms—facilitates participation in civic life, which strengthens democracy (Putnam’s “Bowling Alone” highlights decline).
126
Q: Greendale College hires administrators to organize campus rules and security to maintain order. Which state formation perspective does this illustrate?
A: Managerial (administration and coordination) and Militaristic (control and security).
127
Q: Jane consults on a murder case where the victim was receiving social assistance. Which concept does this show?
A: Welfare state—programs provide income and services to reduce economic insecurity, shaping citizens’ lives.
128
Q: Rory notices her classmates don’t vote in local elections due to lack of interest. Which theories explain this?
A: Life-cycle effect (young vote less) and generational replacement (younger generations participate less than older ones).
129
Q: Shawn observes that a few news outlets dominate stories about crime, focusing on minority offenders while ignoring white offenders. Which concepts are illustrated?
A: Media concentration, agenda setting, and demographic/idea diversity issues.
130
Q: Dennis covers a local protest, emphasizing chaos and relying on police statements, while ignoring activists’ messages. Which media concept is illustrated?
A: Protest paradigm—media delegitimizes protest by emphasizing disorder and marginalizing participants.
131
Q: What is habitus?
A: Internalized dispositions, tastes, humour, and behaviours learned through socialization, shaped by class and family background, creating class-based differences in behaviour and expectations.
132
Q: What is cultural capital?
A: Knowledge, skills, and behaviours that provide social advantage, including manners, tastes, education, and “high culture.” Schools reward dominant-class cultural capital, reproducing inequality.
133
Q: What is social capital?
A: Resources available through one’s social network, including access to opportunities, information, and influence, which depends on the size and status of one’s network.
134
Q: What is intersectionality?
A: A framework analyzing overlapping inequalities (race, gender, class) that create unique forms of disadvantage, originally developed from Black women’s experiences.
135
Q: What are the three major mechanisms of globalization?
A:
- Material: movement of goods and people
- Spatio-temporal: world feels “smaller” via media
- Cognitive: global spread of ideas and culture
136
Q: How does World Systems Theory explain global inequality?
A: Core nations exploit periphery nations, transferring resources (periphery → core) and ideas (core → periphery), reproducing global economic inequalities.
137
Q: What are the manifest and latent functions of education?
A:
- Manifest: intended functions like literacy, numeracy, and skills
- Latent: unintended functions like socialization, moral cohesion, social networks, and occupational sorting
138
Q: How does credentialing contribute to inequality?
A: Education sorts individuals into roles based on qualifications. High-status groups use credential inflation to maintain privilege, and schools reward dominant-class cultural capital.
139
Q: What is the hidden curriculum?
A: Latent lessons in schools teaching discipline, obedience, punctuality, and social norms, which reinforce social hierarchies and capitalist values.
140
Q: How does corporate media concentration affect inequality?
A: Fewer corporations control media, prioritizing elite viewpoints, narrowing ideas, under-representing marginalized groups, and normalizing social inequalities.
141
Q: Rory notices that some classmates are more confident navigating elite academic spaces because of their family background. What concept does this illustrate?
A: Habitus—internalized behaviours and expectations shaped by class, creating advantages in education.
142
Q: Shawn’s friend Gus gets an internship because his uncle works at the company. Which concept explains this advantage?
A: Social capital—networks provide access to opportunities and information.
143
Q: At Greendale, students from wealthy families succeed in advanced classes because they know the “right” ways to speak and behave. What does this illustrate?
A: Cultural capital shaping educational outcomes; schools reward dominant-class habits, reproducing inequality.
144
Q: Jane observes that a Black female detective faces both racial and gender discrimination in promotion. Which concept does this illustrate?
A: Intersectionality—overlapping inequalities create unique disadvantages.
145
Q: Dee gets targeted by predatory ads because her social media profile signals low income. Which scholar’s idea does this demonstrate?
A: Bev Skeggs—platform algorithms sort users and reproduce inequalities through digital stratification.
146
Q: Brennan studies global health outcomes and sees poorer countries with lower life expectancy due to historical colonization. Which concept applies?
A: Global inequality—historical exploitation, colonial legacies, and unequal resource distribution.
147
Q: Jeff argues that Greendale can become “like Harvard” if students just work hard, while Annie points out structural inequalities in funding and networks. Which theories are represented?
A: Jeff = Modernization Theory; Annie = World Systems Theory (structural/global inequality).
148
Q: Lisbon notices that students at a prestigious academy appear diverse but are still advantaged by cultural ease and confidence navigating hierarchy. Which concept applies?
A: Elite reproduction—diversity does not equal equal integration; structural privilege persists.
149
Q: Rory earns higher education degrees than many male peers but still faces wage gaps. Which concepts does this illustrate?
A: Education gender reversal (women completing degrees at higher rates) and persistent gender wage gap (occupational segregation, discrimination).
150
Q: Shawn sees news coverage over-represent minority crime and under-represent minority achievements. Which concepts explain this?
A: Corporate media concentration, framing, and normalization of inequality.
151
Q: What is the “story” of inequality across society?
A: Modern institutions—schools, global markets, social media, media—actively produce and reproduce social inequality. Advantage accumulates for those with cultural, social, or economic capital; structural barriers persist even amid apparent inclusion.
152
Q: Through which mechanisms is inequality reproduced?
A: Cultural (habitus, capital, framing), institutional (schools, credentialing), and technological (algorithms, media concentration).
153
Q: How does globalization affect inequality?
A: It amplifies structural disparities via labor hierarchies, resource flows (core → periphery), ethnocentric development, and racialized, gendered labor practices.
Sociological Perspectives
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Decks in class (3)
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