OUR AMERICA: LIFE AND DEATH IN THE SOUTHSIDE OF CHICAGO

Social Analysis of 'Our America: Life and death in the Southside of Chicago'

Social Analysis of 'Our America: Life and death in the Southside of Chicago'

Introduction

In our everyday life, socialists said and used the terms Social Inequality and Social Stratification a lot. These phenomenons are something related to the society itself. Both of them are multifaceted phenomenon, which means including intangible like materials and elements. Also, they are components such as, income and education. About these topics, Socialists have written many theories, some said that stratification is natural in human societies; some argued that if all social inequalities were eliminated, the survivals of societies would be jeopardized, and some other conflict theories. In this assignment, Iam going to talk about Social Inequality and Social Stratification, some famous theories about these topics and example of a country study.

Social Inequality refers to the unequal distribution of valued goods and services among the members of a given group or population at a particular point of time. Meanwhile, Social Stratification refers to such a distribution of goods and services that has become permanent over time, they are structured and justified by prevailing norms, beliefs and values,and it transmitted from generation to another in the society. Theories about these subject are many for instance, Natural Superiority Theory, Functionalist Theory, Marxist Class Conflict Theory and Webrian Multiple Hierarchies Model.

Natural Superiority Theory

This theory is never developed and stated as a formal theory. It had an influence in a part of European and US social thoughts in the late 19th and early 20th century. This theory was found in the writings of Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner who were important figures in the history of Social Darwinism (a social and political

Philosophy that believed in the existence of natural laws of social evaluation and argued for a hands-off approach to human social affairs). This theory was considered as an explanation of why certain kind of people are different, for example, differences in wealth among people are the result of their differences in mental agility, physical strength, intellectual capacity or some of their natural trait. For this reason too, some people consider themselves as winners (superiors) and some consider themselves as losers (inferiors) in their society. People with better equipped mentally or physically would emerge as winners, and those who with less equipped would end up as losers.

Nowadays, Natural Superiorly Theory of Social Stratification is continued to have an influence over cultural beliefs, social actions and political policies in many societies. This theory is still alive in many modern countries unfortunately.

Functionalist Theory

Functionalist Theory also known as Davis-Moore Theory, which named after its founders Wilbert E. Moore and Kingsley Davis. This theory has the same approach of the Natural Superiority Theory. It explained that Social Stratification is a natural and inevitable part of human conditions. It is apart of life that necessary for the continued survival of certain society.

Davis and Moore began with observation that virtually all-human societies in the past and the ...