Social Science 603C
Seminar on Social
Stratification
Spring 2008
Tue
Room 3412,
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. WU Xiaogang (sowu@ust.hk)
OFFICE:
ROOM 3377,
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment only
TEACHING ASSISTANT: ZHANG Zhuoni (zhzhni@ust.hk)
OBJECTIVES:
Sociology is the study of social structure. All human
societies classify their members into categories that carry significant social
meaning. These categories may be relatively simple, such as age and sex, or
they may be complex, such as occupation, kinship, class. The social structure
of a society is the aggregate of all meaningful social categories. A primary
interest of most sociologists is stratification, which considers hierarchical
social structures that rank people with respect to access to some resource, and
how such structure/pattern varies with space and time.
This course is an introduction to the modern research
literature on social stratification and social mobility, as represented by
journal articles and research monographs. It focuses on concepts, data,
methods, and facts about: occupational and class structure; the
intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status; the effects of
marriage, family, school, and labor market on socioeconomic achievement,
careers, and inequality; earnings and income distribution; subjective aspects
of stratification. Students are required to complete SOSC509 and SOSC534 before
taking this course. Students who are concurrently enrolled in SOSC534 may, with
the consent of the instructor, take the course.
While this is not a course on Chinese stratification, the
discussion of the general materials is expected to stimulate ideas and finally to
lead to empirical research papers on
After the course you will be well-versed both in the longer term trajectory of research in this area and in the most recent themes and findings.
Reading materials from various
electronic sources will be available either via JSTOR, or the course web page.
Each week several leading articles or chapters dealing with
a particular topic are read and discussed in class. They fall into the “core”
readings, which should be read by everyone.
There are some supplementary readings, each of which is to
be read by one student who will prepare and distribute a précis prior to each
week’s class. We will finalize the assignment once the course enrollment is
closed.
A précis is a summary that contains the essential
details about theory, method, and findings. It is not a critique. For a
20 page article, a 1-2 page, single-spaced summary usually suffices. Précis
should be posted on the web on every Tuesday morning.
Typical, each student is expected to read 3 or 4
articles/chapters per week.
CLASS FORMAT
This is a graduate-level research
seminar. Because the course put SOSC509 and SOSC534 as the prerequisites, the
class will be small. Students would take this chance to engage themselves in the
intellectual discussions on certain topics. Participation
in the class discussion is an integral part of the work of the course. Students
should come prepared to analyze the week’s readings with respect to both
substance and method and must participate actively in the discussion. As the course instructor, I will
provide an overview of the topic and readings and co-lead the discussion with
another student in each week. Sometimes Chinese can be used in conversation
more effectively.
Your responsibilities as the student leader include: (1) to
prepare a brief oral introduction of the readings for the purposes of
initiating the class discussion; and (2) to prepare a set of questions that
will guide class discussion. For the most part it is NOT the
responsibility of the student leader to lecture to the class. Rather, the team’s
responsibility is to keep the discussion going and to make sure that the key
aspects of the readings are covered.
Conversely, students who are not discussion leaders in a
given week have the same responsibility as the leaders to read and be prepared
to discuss the week’s readings, and to write the précis for the week.
GRADING: The final
course grade will be based on performance on the following:
Take-home midterm exam 20%
Class participation 20%
Term paper 60%
Each
student is required to write a critical review about the research literature on
a chosen topic, and should go beyond the reading materials already covered in the class. Coverage of new reading materials, critical
comments, theoretical/substantive insights, and writing effectiveness are the
four criteria for receiving a high grade. When writing this paper, each student
must keep in mind the scenario that he/she has a plan to conduct an empirical
study about that topic.
Procedure: (1) Begin thinking of what topic to write on for this term paper in
the third week of the class; (2) Meet with the instructor to discuss a chosen
topic in the fifth week; (3) On April 1st, turn in a detailed
outline of the term paper for feedbacks from the instructor; (4) Present the
outline or drafted paper in class; (5) Turn in a final version at the end of
the class. Due date: by
BACKGROUND
Kerbo, Harold R. 1996. Social Stratification and
Inequality: Class Conflict in Historical and Comparative Perspective.
Grusky, David B. 2001. Social Stratification: Class,
Race, and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Second edition.
Both books are available from the HKUST library.
SCHEDULE
|
Week1 (5/2) |
Introduction |
|
Week 2 (12/2) |
Occupations, Classes, Prestige
and Socioeconomic Status |
|
Week 3 (19/2) |
Status Attainment |
|
Week 4 (26/2) |
Educational Stratification I |
|
Week 5 (4/3) |
Educational Stratification II |
|
Week 6 (11/3) |
Career Mobility |
|
Week 7 (18/3) |
Firms, Labor Markets, and Inequality |
|
Week 9 (1/4) |
Intergenerational Social
Mobility I |
|
Week10 (8/4) |
Intergenerational Social
Mobility II |
|
Week 11 (15/4) |
Marriage, Family, and Social
Stratification |
|
Week 12 (22/4) |
The Communist Party and Social
Stratification |
|
Week 13 (29/4) |
Consequences of Social
Stratification |
|
Week 14 (6/5) |
Student Presentation |
|
Week 15 (13/5) |
No class |
Abbreviations are used for major journals
AJS American Journal of Sociology ARS Annual Review of
Sociology ASR
American Sociological Review SF
Social Forces
ESR European Sociological Review RSSM Research in Social Stratification
and Mobility SE Sociology of
Education SSR Social Science
Research
Useful Links
5/2 – Introduction
Core
Grusky, David B. 2000. “The Past, Present, and Future of
Social Inequality.” Pp. 3-51 in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and
Gender in Sociological Perspective. Revised edition.
Treiman, Donald J., and Harry B. G. Ganzeboom. 2000. “The
Fourth Generation of Comparative Stratification Research.” Pp. 123-150 in The
International Handbook of Sociology, edited by Stella Quah and Arnaud
Sales.
Hout, Michael, and Thomas A. DiPrete. 2005 “What We Have
Learned: RC28’s Contributions to Knowledge about Social Stratification.” RSSM
Supplementary
Weber, Max. [1946]. “Class, Status, and Party.” Pp. 180-195
in Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, translated by Hans H. Gerth and C.
Wright Mills.
Davis, Kingsley, and Wilbur E. Moore. 1945. “Some
Principles of Stratification.” ASR 10:242-49.
Sorensen, Aage 2000 “The Basic Concepts of Stratification
Research” in Social Stratification: Class, Race, and Gender in Sociological
Perspective, edited by David Grusky pp. 287-300.
12/2: Occupations, Classes, Prestige, and
Socioeconomic Status
Core
Duncan, Otis Dudley. 1961. “A Socioeconomic Index for All
Occupations.” And “Properties and Characteristics of Socioeconomic Index.”
Chapters 6 and 7 in Occupations and
Social Status, edited by Albert Reiss.
Treiman, Donald J. 1977. Occupational Prestige in
Comparative Perspective.
Evans, Geoffrey. 1992. “Testing the Validity of the
Goldthorpe Class Scheme.” ESR 8:211-232.
Wright, Erik Olin, and Luca Perrone. 1977. “Marxist Class
Categories and Income Inequality.” ASR 42: 32-55.
Zhou, Xueguang 2005. “The Institutional Logic of Occupational Prestige Ranking: Reconceptualization and Reanalyses.” AJS 110: 90-140
Supplementary
Ganzeboom, Harry B. G., Paul De Graaf, and Donald J.
Treiman. 1992. “A Standard International Socio-Economic Index of Occupational
Status.” SSR 21:1-56.
Hauser, Robert M., and John Robert Warren. 1997.
“Socioeconomic Indexes for Occupations: A Review, Update, and Critique.” Pp.
177-298 in Sociological Methodology
Weeden, Kim A., and David B. Grusky. 2005. “The Case for a
New Class Map.” AJS 111:141-212.
Hout,
Michael 2007. “Otis Dudley
Duncan's Major Contributions to the Study of Social Stratification.” RSSM
25:109-118
Xie,
Yu. 2007. “Otis Dudley Duncan’s Legacy: the Demographic Approach to
Quantitative Reasoning in Social Science.” RSSM 25:141-156.
19/2 - Status Attainment
Core
Blau, Peter M., and Otis Dudley Duncan. 1967. The
American Occupational Structure.
Featherman, David L., and Robert M. Hauser. 1978.
Duncan, Otis Dudley, David L. Featherman, and Beverly
Duncan. 1972. Socioeconomic Background and Achievement.
Sewell,
William H., Archibald O. Haller; Alejandro Portes 1969. “The Educational and
Early Occupational Attainment Process” ASR 34 (1): 82-92.
Supplementary
Jencks, Christopher. 1980. “Heredity, Environment, and
Public Policy Reconsidered.” ASR 45:723-36.
Fisher, Claude S., Michael Hout, Martín Sánchez Jankowski,
Samuel R. Lucas, Ann Swidler, and Kim Voss. 1996. Inequality by Design:
Cracking the
Blau, Peter
M., and Danqing Ruan. 1990. “Inequality of Opportunity in Urban
Winship, Christopher, and Sanders Korenman. 1997. “Does
Staying in School Make You Smarter? The Effect of Education on IQ in The
26/2 - Educational Stratification I
Core
Mare, Robert D. 1980. “Social Background and School
Continuation Decisions.” Journal of the
American Statistical Association 75: 295-305
Breen, Richard, and Jan O. Jonsson. 2000. “Analyzing Educational
Careers: A Multinomial Transition Model.” ASR 65:754-772.
Raftery, A. E. and Michael Hout. 1993. “Maximally Maintained
Inequality: Expansion, Reform, and
Deng, Zhong and Donald Treiman 1997
“The Impact of the Cultural Revolution on Trends in Educational Attainment in
the People’s Republic of
Supplementary
Cameron, Stephen V., and James J. Heckman. 1998. “Life
Cycle Schooling and Dynamic Selection Bias: Models and Evidence for Five
Cohorts of American Males.” The Journal of Political Economy 106:
262-333.
Shavit, Y. and H. Blossfeld 1993. “Introduction” in Persistent
Inequality.
Gerber, Theodore P., and Michael Hout. 1995. “Educational
Stratification in
Zhou, X., Phyllis Moen, and Nancy Brandon Tuma. 1998.
“Educational Stratification in Urban
4/3 - Education Stratification II
Core
Turner, Ralph. 1960. “Sponsored and Contest Mobility and
the School System.” ASR 25:855-67.
Gamoran, Adam and Robert D. Mare. 1989. “Secondary School
Tracking and Educational Inequality: Compensation, Reinforcement, or
Neutrality?” AJS 94:1146-1183.
Lucas, Samuel R. 2001. “Effectively Maintained Inequality:
Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects.” AJS 106:1642-1690.
Coleman, James A. 1988. “Social Capital and the Creation of
Human Capital.” AJS 94: S95- S120.
Supplementary
DiMaggio, Paul, and John Mohr. 1985. “Cultural Capital,
Educational Attainment, and Marital Selection.” AJS 90
Manski, Charles F., and David A. Wise.
Mare, Robert D. and Christopher Winship. 1988. “Endogenous Switching Regression Models for the Causes and Effects of Discrete variables.” Pp. 132-60 in Common Problems in Quantitative Social Research, edited by J. Scott Long. Sage
Wu, Xiaogang. 2007. “Economic
Transition, School Expansion, and Educational Inequality in
11/3- Career Mobility
Core
Spilerman, Seymour. 1977. “Careers, Labor Market Structure,
and Socioeconomic Achievement.” AJS 83:551-93.
Logan, John Allen. 1996. “
Wu, Xiaogang. 2006. “Communist
Cadres and Market Opportunities: Entry to Self-Employment in
Walder, Andrew G., Bobai Li, and Donald J. Treiman. 2000. “Politics and Life Chances in a State Socialist Regime: Dual Career Paths into the Urban Chinese Elite, 1949-1996.” ASR 65:191-209.
Supplementary
Sorensen, Aage and Arne Kalleberg 1981. “An Outline of a
Theory of the Matching of Persons to Jobs.” Pp 49-73 in Sociological Perspective on Labor Markets, edited by Ivar Berg,
Academic Press
Rosenbaum, James E. and Takehiko Kariya. 1989. “From High
School to Work: Market and Institutional Mechanisms in
Li, Bobai, and Andrew G. Walder. 2001. “Career Advancement
as Party Patronage: Sponsored Mobility into the Chinese Administrative Elite,
1949-1996.” AJS 106:1371-1408
Zhou, Xueguang and Nancy B. Tuma and Phyllis Moen 1997. “Institutional
Change and Job-shift Patterns in Urban China:
18/3 - Firms, Labor Markets, and Inequality
Core
Baron, James N., and William T. Bielby. 1980. “Bringing the
Firms Back In: Stratification, Segmentation, and the Organization of
Work.” ASR 45:737-65.
Granovetter, Mark S. 1981. “Toward a Sociological theory of Income Differences.” Pp. 11-47 in Sociological Perspectives on Labor Markets. edited by Ivar Berg, Academic Press.
Lin,
Wu, Xiaogang, and Yu Xie. 2003. “Does the Market Pay Off?
Earnings Returns to Education in Urban
Wu, Xiaogang and Maocao Guo. 2007.
“Workplace and Life Chances: Organization-based Stratification in Urban China.”
Manuscript in Progress
Supplementary
Kalleberg, Arne and Aage B. Sorensen. 1979. “The Sociology of Labor Markets.” ASR 5: .
Sakamoto, Arthur and Meichu D. Chen. 1991. “Inequality and Attainment in a Dual Labor Market.” ASR 56:295-308.
Gerber, Theodore P. 2002. “Structural Change and
Post-Socialist Stratification: Labor Market Transitions in Contemporary
Wu, Xiaogang. 2007. “Voluntary and Involuntary Job Mobility
and Earnings Inequality in Urban
Xie, Yu and Xiaogang Wu 2008. “Danwei Profitability and Earnings Inequality in Urban
1/4 - Intergenerational Mobility I
Core
Ganzeboom, Harry B. G., Donald J. Treiman, and Wout C.
Ultee. 1991. “Comparative Intergenerational Stratification Research: Three
Generations and Beyond.” ARS 17:277-302.
Treiman, Donald J. 1970. “Industrialization and Social
Stratification.” Pp. 207-34 in Social Stratification: Research and Theory for
the 1970s, edited by Edward O. Laumann.
Hout, Michael. 1988. “More Universalism, Less Structural
Mobility: the American Occupational Structure in the 1980s.” AJS 93:1358-1400.
Erikson, Robert, and John H. Goldthorpe. 1992. The
Constant Flux: A Study of Class Mobility in Industrial Societies.
Supplementary
Duncan, Otis Dudley. 1966. “Methodological Issues in the
Analysis of Social Mobility." Pp. 51-97 in N. J. Smelser and S. M. Lipset
(eds.), Social Structure and Mobility in Economic Development.
Hout, Michael. 1984. “Status, Autonomy, and Training in
Occupational Mobility.” AJS 89:379-409.
Xie, Yu. 1992. “The Log-Multiplicative Layer Effect
Model for Comparing Mobility Tables.” ASR 57: 380-395.
Hendrickx, John, and Harry B. G. Ganzeboom. 1998.
“Occupational Status Attainment in the
8/4 - Intergenerational Mobility II
Core
Kelley, Jonathan, and Herbert S. Klein. 1981.
Szelenyi, Ivan and Robert Manchin. 1989. “Interrupted
Embourgeoisement: Social Background and Life History of Family Agricultural
Entrepreneurs in Socialist
Gerber, Theodore P. and Michael Hout. 2004. “Tightening Up: Declining Class Mobility During Russia’s Market Transition.” ASR 69:677-703.
Wu, Xiaogang and Donald J.
Treiman. 2007. “Inequality and Equality under Chinese Socialism: The Hukou System and Intergenerational Occupational
Mobility.” AJS 113(2):415-45.
Supplementary
DiPrete, Thomas A., Paul M. de Graaf, Ruud Luijkx, Michael
Tåhlin, and Hans-Peter Blossfeld. 1997. “Collectivist vs. Individualist
Mobility Regimes? Structural Change and Job Mobility in Four Countries.” AJS 103:318-58.
Cheng, Yuan, and Jianzhong Dai. 1995. “Inter-generational
Mobility in Modern
Wu, Xiaogang. 2007. “Trends in
Intergenerational Social Mobility and Education in
22/4 - Marriage, Family, and Stratification
Core
Kalmijn, Matthijs. 1991. “Status Homogamy in the
Mare, Robert D. 1991. “Five Decades of Educational Assortative
Mating.” ASR 56:15-32.
Guo, Guang and Leah K. VanWey. “Sibship Size and Intellectual Development: Is the Relationship Causal?” ASR. 64: 169-87
Xie, Yu, James M. Raymo, Kimberly Goyette, and Arland
Thornton. 2003. “Economic Potential and Entry into Marriage and Cohabitation.” Demography
40:351-368.
Marri Raymo, James M., and Miho Iwasawa. 2005. “Marriage
Market Mismatches in
No Supplementary
29/4 – Party Membership and Social Stratification
Core:
Wong, Raymond Sin-Kwok.
1996. “The Social Composition of the Czechoslovak and Hungarian Communist
Parties in the 1980s.” SF 75: 61
89.
Gerber, Theodore. 2000. “Membership Benefits or Selection Effects? Why Former Communist Party Members Do better in Post-Soviet Russia.” Social Science Research 29: 25-50.
Bian, Yanjie, Xiaoling Shu and John R. Logan. 2001.
“Communist Party Membership and Regime Dynamics in
Li, Bobai and Andrew G. Walder. 2001. “Career Advancement as Party Patronage: Sponsored Mobility into the Chinese Administrative Elite, 1949-1996.” AJS 106: 1371-1408.
Li, Hong Bin, Pak Wai Liu, Junsen
Zhang and Ning Ma 2007. “Economic Returns to Communist Party Membership:
Evidence from Chinese Twins.” Economic Journal, 117(523): 1504-20
No Supplementary
4/5 – Consequences of Social Stratification: Cultural
Consumption and Political Action
Core
Veblen, Thorstein. 1966[1899]. “The Theory of the Leisure
Class.” Pp. 36-42 in Bendix Reinhard, and
Jackman,
Mary R., and Robert W. Jackman. 1983. Class Awareness in the
Kohn, Melvin L., Atsushi Naoi, Carrie Schoenbach, Carmi
Schooler, and Kazimierz M. Slomczynski. 1990. “Position in the Class Structure
and Psychological Functioning in the
Hout, Michael, Clem Brooks, and Jeff Manza.1995. “Democratic
Class Struggles in the United States, 1948-1992.” ASR 60:805-28.
Andersen, Robert, and Anthony Heath. 2002. “Class Matters:
The Persisting Effects of Contextual Social Class on Individual Voting in
Chan. Tak Wing and John H Goldthorpe. 2007. “Class and
status: The Conceptual Distinction and its Empirical Relevance” ASR 72:512--532
No Supplementary
13/5
Student Presentation
Term
Paper due on or before 12:00pm, May 30, 2008