Social Stratification

Sociology 412 - University of North Carolina

Course website: www.unc.edu/~tedmouw/soc112/soc112.html (login and password given in class,
it’s not your UNC Onyen)

Professor: Ted Mouw Teaching Assistant: Michelle Dromgold-

Sermen
268 Hamilton Hall (962-5602)
email: [email protected] [email protected]
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays by Office Hours: TBA
appointment.
_______________________________________________________________________________
__

Contacts

You can reach me by email at [email protected]. For simple questions, this is the quickest
way to reach me. I will also be available before and after class to answer questions. I welcome
your questions and opinions. For more difficult questions, please come to see me during office
hours.

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that the classroom experience can be both fun and intellectually stimulating. I will have
high standards for your participation and performance in the course. At the same time, the class
will be a friendly environment. For example, I will expect you to come to class prepared to discuss,
and I will call on you to participate in class. However, class participation will be conducted with a
mixture of seriousness, humor, and respect to ensure a diversity of opinions and a supportive
atmosphere for participation.

Readings:

I have deliberately selected the reading for this course to reflect this lack of consensus. My guiding
principle has been to avoid textbooks that spoon-feed answers, but to give you a sample of the
diversity of opinion. I believe that the function of the college classroom is to confront opposing
arguments rather than ignore them. The challenge is for you to sort through these conflicting
perspectives, and my expectation is that the class will work cooperatively to decide what is “right.”
As much as possible, I will try to moderate a discussion based on the reading rather than impose
my own views of what is right and wrong.

Requirements

Components of your grade:

 1) Reading notes 1 point per class** 28 points
2) Class Discussion 65 points
4) In-class essays ( 4) 25 points each 100 points (25 x 4)
5) Final 50 points
6) Final paper 50 points

Note: Your grades will be posted on Sakai.

1) Class Attendance & Reading notes:

My expectation is that you will come to class everyday prepared to discuss the assigned reading.
The reading in this class is not optional. As much as possible, I will try not to repeat things in
lecture that were covered in the reading. The class discussion and lecture will begin where the
reading left off.

On the class schedule page on the web, you we see links to reading questions for each class period.
As you do the reading, take notes on these questions. Note: If you see a question preceded by a
double asterisk (**), you do not need to take notes on it.

These are intended to be notes, so you do not need to write in full sentences or complete
paragraphs. All I want to see is evidence that you have read and thought about the material. I only
expect you to turn approximately 1-page of notes.

Each day’s questions are worth 1 point. They are graded on a check-plus (1 points), check (0.9
points), and check-minus (0.5 point) basis. If you don’t turn it in (0 points) or get a check-minus,
then that assignment will count as 2 points. (The extra point in the denominator will show up in a
separate section of the Blackboard gradebook).

Reading notes will be submitted via Blackboard, and they will not be accepted once class starts.

Absence policy on reading notes:

If you let me know in advance, you may turn your reading notes in ahead of time if you have a
scheduled absence for full credit.
If you are not able to attend class, you may email the TA your reading notes as long as they arrive
in his/her email box by the time class ends. No late reading notes will be accepted after the end
of each class. The only exceptions to this policy are medical situations accompanied by a doctor’s
note. If you turn in the reading notes and duck out of class, you get partial credit (1 point).

1B) Class attendance

Class attendance is mandatory. Because this is a discussion class, I expect you to be present in
class and prepared to contribute.
I will take attendance each class. If you miss more than 3 classes during the semester, every
additional absence will lower your class grade by 2 percentage points.

Example: You have a 91 average and miss 5 classes. Your final grade is an 88, a B+.

For your first 3 absences, it doesn’t matter why you were absent. (The first three absences count as
“unexcused absences” regardless of the reason).

Absences after #3 that are (1) related to UNC athletics or (2) accompanied by a doctor’s note, may
be made up (i.e., so your final grade is not penalized) by adding 2-pages on to your final paper per
absence, and making the final paper a research paper, with at least outside 10 references and a
bibliography. Research papers will be graded as research papers, not as essays (i.e., my
expectation will be higher).

Unexcused absences after the 6th unexcused absence may be made up by turning your final paper
into a 10 page research paper + 2 pages for each absence after #6, with at least 15 outside
references. Your grade will still be penalized 6 percentage points for absences #4-#6 (2 per class).

Example: You have a 91 average but have missed 10 classes. Normally, your final grade would be
14 points lower. Instead, you may write an 18 page research paper, and be penalized 6 points for
absences.

If you miss more than 14 classes, you will automatically fail the class. The only exception
would be a serious medical illness that required an extended hospital stay. It is your
responsibility to keep me informed of your situation during extended absences or I will drop
you from the class.

2) Class Discussion
I expect everyone to come to class prepared to discuss. Your class participation is worth 65
points, or about 20% of your grade.

As discussed above in “Teaching Philosophy” I want the classroom environment to be

supportive of discussion and not frightening. Please come and talk to me during office hours
if you are worried about participating in class…we will find a solution.

Here is a set of expectations that will be used to evaluate your overall discussion grade at the
end of the course:
Grade Criteria
F/D Did not participate and/or was disruptive.
Present, not disruptive.
C Tries to respond when called on but does not offer much.
Demonstrates very infrequent involvement in discussion.
Demonstrates adequate preparation: knows basic case or reading facts, but does not show
evidence of trying to interpret or analyze them.
B-
Offers straightforward information (e.g., straight from the case or reading), without elaboration
or very infrequently.
 Does not offer to contribute to discussion, but contributes to a moderate degree when called on.
Demonstrates sporadic involvement (i.e. does not participate every discussion period)
Demonstrates good preparation: knows case or reading facts well, has thought through
implications of them.
Offers interpretations and analysis of case material (more than just facts) to class.
B/B+ Contributes well to discussion in an ongoing way: responds to other students' points, thinks
through own points, questions others in a constructive way, offers and supports suggestions that
may be counter to the majority opinion.
Demonstrates consistent ongoing involvement.
Demonstrates excellent preparation: has analyzed case exceptionally well, relating it to readings
and other material (e.g., readings, course material, discussions, experiences, etc.).
Offers analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of case material, e.g., puts together pieces of the
discussion to develop new approaches that take the class further.
Contributes in a very significant way to ongoing discussion: keeps analysis focused, responds
A
very thoughtfully to other students' comments, contributes to the cooperative argument-building,
suggests alternative ways of approaching material and helps class analyze which approaches are
appropriate, etc.
Demonstrates ongoing very active involvement.
Does not ramble, does not try to dominate class discussion.
slightly modified, from Martha L. Maznevski, Assistant Professor, McIntire School of Commerce
http://trc.virginia.edu/Publications/Teaching_Concerns/Spring_1996/TC_Spring_1996_Maznevski.
htm

I expect that the average discussion grade will be between a B and a B+.

Basic rules for class discussion:

1) Raise your hand before talking.
2) If you have already spoken more than 1-2 times that day, I may not call on you if there are
other hands that are up.
3) Do not ramble…try to keep your responses focused. I may cut you off after 15-20
seconds…please do not be offended.
4) Do not attempt to dominate class discussion. Show respect for those you disagree with. At
the same time, taking the opposite point of view with a credible argument is encouraged.
5) This applies to the whole class, not just class discussion: Do not surf the web or study for
other classes during class.
6) No cellphone use during class.

3) In-class essays

Each of these will be a single 15-minute essay question. The material covered will be everything
since the previous in-class essay. Typically, these essay questions will be taken from the reading
questions or the discussion questions in class (see the class notes for a list of questions).

Absence policy on in-class essays: If you miss an in-class essay please talk to the TA to coordinate
a time and place for a makeup. Makeup essays will be 15-minutes long and will be on a different
question from the one given in class. Makeup essays must be completed within a week of the
original in-class essay. It is your responsibility to make sure you get it done. No credit will be
given for essays after the 1-week deadline.

4) Final Exams

The final exams will consist of short answer and essay questions. A study guide will be posted 1
week before each exam.
Note: see the Registrar’s exam calendar for the exam time,
http://regweb.oit.unc.edu/calendars/index.php

5) Short Paper
A short paper of 5 pages is due the day on 11/30. The paper should explore one of the subjects
discussed in class, but the specific topic is open. Ask me (or email me) if you have any questions
about the possible topics. If you turn a draft of your paper in two weeks before the due date, I will
read it and give you comments on it.

Grades will be assigned as follows: 93-100%=A, 90-92%=A-, 87-89%=B+, 83-86%=B, 80-

82%=B-, 77-79%=C+, 73-76%=C, 70-72%=C-,
67-69%=D+, 63-66%=D, 60-62%=D-, below 60=F
(fractions of a point will be rounded down)
Class Schedule

Last Revised: 4/3/2019

Note: The official schedule is the web page. Do not use printed copies for the schedule because
the schedule may change.

***Important note: pay close attention to the class attendance policy***

Month Date Lec# Letter Reading Reading Lecture notes

notes .

readme
8 21 1 A
Introduction: What is social stratification?
Video: understanding the effect of hierarchy in
society

Basic guidelines and expectations (initial and turn

in via Sakai)

8 23 2 A Fall 2018 discussion groups

Introduction Rn A A word
A pdf
Beeghley 2008 the structure of social
stratification in the united states chapter 1, A annotated**
pages 1-33

For class discussion:

Ann Friedman, LA Times, July 19, 2018 Of
course Kylie Jenner didn’t build that
[pdf version]

8 28 3 B
An example of a stratification system with no Rn B B word
mobility: caste in India. B pdf
Reading: [35 pages total]
“The Caste System: India” (26-29) in Daniel B annotated**
Rossides, Social Stratification. 1997. [Link]
“The Caste System” (read 35-55, [56-67
optional]) in Egon Bergel, Social
Stratification. 1962. [Link]
Human Rights Watch, 1999. Broken People:
Caste Violence Against India’s
 Untouchables. “Summary” (13
pages). [report’s Table of Contents. section
3, “The Context of Caste Violence” is
optional]

Optional:
“Caste Society” (68-90) in James Littlejohn,
Social Stratification. 1972. [Link]
Ashwini Deshpande. 2005. “Affirmative Action
in India and the United States.” [Link]
National Geographic, 2003. “India’s
“Untouchables” Face Violence,
Discrimination” (includes links to photos)
Aatish Taseer, New York Times, Oct 12 2016,
“India’s Eternal Inequality”

8 30 4 C
The market system and inequality Rn C C word
C pdf
“fair” wages and marginal productivity: the ethics
of a market system C annotated**

Lindbloom 2001 the market system 10-57 [*note:

full e-book book also available at UNC
libraries]

Berliner 199 The economics of the good society

292-296 wages and equity

Optional/reference:

Paul Krugman, “In Praise of Cheap Labor” Slate,

1997. [Link]
Daniel Pink, “The New Face of the Silicon Age:
How India became the capital of the
computing revolution” Wired, February 2004
[Link]
Small group discussion questions
Foxcon

Example of labor exploitation: migrant workers

in Dubai (NYT March 8, 2017)
9 4 5 D Rn D D word
Basic issues and competing philosophical D pdf
perspectives on inequality:
(Conflicting Views on Distributive Justice) D annotated**

Meritocracy and the American Dream

Emilio Castilla, 2017, “Meritocracy” (pages 2-3

of the pdf)

Jennifer Hochschild 1995 facing up to the

American dream, Chapter 1 (pages 15-38)

Optional/reference
Mealey 2017 social justice perspectives in
Christianity pages 30-36 from Everyday
Social Justice and Citizenship

9 6 6 E Competing ideologies: the libertarian Rn E E word

alternative E pdf
A libertarian perspective on inequality

Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, E annotated**

pages 64-78 (excerpt) [Link]

Stephen Nathanson, 1998. Economic

Justice. Chapter 7 “Protecting Liberty”
Pages 68-80 [Link]

Optional/reference:

Boaz 2015 The Libertarian Mind 1-15, 18-20,

30-41

Robert Kuttner, February 26 2015, The

American Prospect, The Libertarian
Delusion

Tyler Cowen, October 2013, Time Magazine,

“Why Texas is our Future”

Bruenig, June 23 2015, The New Republic,

Unforgiving Morality of Ayn Rand’s
Forgotten Novel _ The New Republic
9 11 7 F Rn F F word
Social-democratic version of the market system F pdf
Rawls and the welfare state

Stephen Nathanson, 1998. Economic Justice. F annotated**

Chapter 8, “Rawls’s Defense of the Liberal
Democratic Welfare State.” Pages 81-99 [Link]

Scott McNall 2016 the problems of social

inequality 1-17

Paul Krugman, NYT, August 16 2018,

“Something not rotten in Denmark.” [pdf
version] (3 pages)

Optional/reference:

John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, pages 13-38

(excerpted) [Link]

Discussion questions (use in class)

9 13 8 G Trends in inequality in income and wealth: looming

problems for meritocracy?

Thomas Piketty, 2013. Capital in the Twenty-First

Century. Selections, part 1. [version with
highlights] (41 pages: read pages 4-44 of the pdf,
the printed page numbers range from 16 to 216)

Optional/reference:

Mike Llewellyn 2014 Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the

Twenty-first Century” Explained (3 pages +
graphics) [Note: this reading provides a good basic
introduction and you might want to read it first]

Robert Solow, The New Republic, April 22 2014

“Thomas Piketty is Right”
9 18 9 H

Thomas Piketty, 2013. Capital in the Twenty-First

Century. Selections, part 2.

Optional:
Marshall Steinbaum, the Boston Review, May 12
2017, Why Are Economists Giving Piketty
the Cold Shoulder?

John Cassidy, 2014. The New Yorker. “Forces of

Divergence: is surging inequality endemic to
capitalism?”

9 20 10 I
Reeves 2017 Dream Hoarders: how the American
upper middle class is leaving everyone else in
the dust – selections

Meritocracy, models of education and mobility

9 25 11 J Education and Meritocracy

Privilege (45 pages)

Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, Aug 31 2017,

“The myth of American universities as
inequality fighting machines”

9 27 12 K
NYT magazine article on the SAT: “Is this any to
run a meritocracy?” [Link]

Jimenez and Horowitz, 2013. “When White is Just

Alright: How Immigrants Redefine Achievement
and Reconfigure the Ethnoracial Hierarchy”

Optional:
Hsin and Xie 2014. “Explaining Asian Americans’
academic advantage over whites”

Article on r-squared of the SAT

10 2 13 L
 Golden 2006 The Price of Admission -
introduction and chapter 1

Daniel Golden, ProPublica, November 8 2016,

“The Story Behind Jared Kushner’s Curious
Acceptance Into Harvard”

John Carney CNBC, January 2011, “Why is Wall

Street So Addicted to Prestige Colleges?

L.V. Anderson, Slate, 2014, “People still say they

went to college in Boston…”

Optional:
NYT, 1990 “ At Duke U., Bogus Baron Fit Right
In”
NYT, 1991 “Tracing a devious path to the ivy
league”

How the Fight Against Affirmative Action at

Harvard Could Threaten Rich Whites

College tuition increases

Unraveling the myth of meritocracy within the

context of US higher education

10 4 14 M
Armstrong and Hamilton 2013 paying for the
party -- part 1
10 9 15 N
Armstrong and Hamilton 2013 paying for the
party 176-204, 211-224, 243-248

Optional/reference:
Georgia State, Leading U.S. in Black Graduates,
Is Engine of Social Mobility

10 11 16 O The future of inequality Rn Notes

Robots, Genes and the future of stratification
Lecture w/
Brennan and Jaworski 2016 markets without updated data
limits 1, 182-195 “Baby Buying”
 Catherine Bliss, 2018. Social by Nature: The Promise
and Peril of Sociogenomics. [selections, pages 7-
?]

Film: Gattaca
10 16 17 Status
(note: Social Class in America
10/18 Readings: [60 pages]
is fall Class: A Guide Through the American Status
break) System, Paul Fussell, 1983. Chapters 1-3 (15-
75) [Link]

In class (optional):
New York Times magazine on life above 800 feet
10 23 18 Relative standing and happiness
Frank, Choosing the Right Pond: Human
Behavior and the Quest for Status. 1985. (3-
42) [Link]

10 25 19 P Berry 2006 the power of looks 1,5,6,8-9,11-

26,34-42

10 30 20 Q Social mobility Rn9 Notes

Beeghley 2008 the structure of social stratification
in the united states chapter 5 mobility
11 1 21 R Jay Macleod. 1995. Ain’t No Makin’ It:
Aspirations & Attainment in a Low-Income
Neighborhood. (p. 3-60)

11 6 22 S Rn Notes
McNall 2016 the problems of social inequality
185-216 corruption
+ insider trading

11 8 23 T Working Poverty: The USA and Europe

Comparative perspectives on inequality
Kenworthy 2007 Is Equality Feasible? [Link]
Jencks 2002 Does Inequality Matter? [Link]
Alesina and Glaeser 2004 Fighting Poverty in the
U.S. and Europe, Ch. 6 “Race and
Redistribution” [Link]

Small group discussion questions

 Alderman and Greenhouse, 2014. “Living Wages,
Rarity for U.S. Fast Food Workers, Served
Up in Denmark”

11 13 24 Race and ethnic inequality

Race and exploitation in college sports

Patrick Hruby (Vice Sports), 2016 “Four Years A

Student-Athlete: The Racial Injustice of Big-
Time College Sports”

Wikipedia, 2015-16 University of Missouri

protests [optional, unless you want a refresher on
the timeline of events]
New York Times, 2015 “College Athletes’
Potential Realized in Missouri Resignations”
Time Magazine, 2015, “A Look Inside Mizzou’s
Crucible of Race”

Optional:
Van Rheenen, 2012 “Exploitation in College
Sports: Race, Revenue, and Educational
Reward.”
David Berri, 2014 “Exploitation is everywhere in
college basketball”
11 15 25 U
Ralph Banks, March 21 2018 NYT, An End to the
Class vs. Race Debate

Michelle Alexander. 2010. The New Jim Crow: Mass

Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness. Intro
and Chapters 1-2, pages 20-118.

Optional reading, for lecture:

Brookings Institute, 2015 “Five Bleak Facts on Black
Opportunity.”

Neal, 2014. “The Prison Boom and the Lack of Black

Progress after Smith and Welch” [Note: read
pages 1-10, and 37-51]

Same family income, same street, but the black

boy still grows up to earn less
 This is what it feels like to be black in white space

11 27 26 V

Netflix documentary “13th”

Discussion questions for the 13th documentary

[word version]
11 29 27 W Carbado and Gulati 2013 Acting White:
Rethinking Race in “Post-Racial” America,
pages 12-30, 35-53,220-224.
12 4 28 X Gender and work

Sweet and Meskin, 2017, The Changing Contours

of Work, Chapter 6, “Gender Chasms in the
New Economy” [Note: you are only required
to read pages 208-250]

Claire Miller, May 13, 2017, New York Times,

“The Gender Pay Gap is Largely Because of
Motherhood” [pdf version] (3 pages)

Gender (continued): What will it take to reach

gender equality in career and family?

Sheryl Sandburg, 2013, Lean In, pages 1,6-26,99-

131. [Marked-up version with my notes]

Anne-Marie Slaughter, 2012, The Atlantic, Why

Women Still Can’t Have it All (pages 1-9).
[Note: only pages 1-9 are required. The full
article, which is optional, is here]

Optional:

Linda Hirshman, 2012. The Atlantic. “A `Very

Hostile’ Response to Anne-Marie Slaughter”.

The Atlantic, 2012. The Myth of Work Life

Balance (discussion page).
Rosa Brooks, February 25, 2014, The Washington
Post, “Recline, Don’t Lean in (Why I hate
Sheryl Sandberg)”

Eduardo Porter, September 24, 2013, The New

York Times, “To Address Gender Gap, Is it
Enough to Lean In? [pdf version]

JC Penny T-shirt image

Claire Miller, NYT, 2018, “when wives earn more

than their husbands, neither wants to admit it.”

Austin Frakt, March 19 2018, NYT, Medicare

Doesn’t Equal Dental Care. That Can Be a
Big Problem.