CHAPTER 10 Social inequality world wide

      Stratification not limited to people---also to groups and countries.
Stratification of countries shapes the social and
political conditions of the people in a given country.

How does stratification occur?

     1) Colonialism
     2) Neo-colonialism
     3) Economic dependence

Some Terms:

      1) COLONIALISM: (Book def) The maintenance of political, social
         economic,  and cultural dominatin over  a people by a foreign
         power for an extended period of time.  Often occur
         originally through military, but sometimes economic ways. Examples:

           a) The US (the the 17th/18th century)
           b) Africa (by europe)
           c) India (by english)

      Today, the countries that were colonists are among the richest,
      largely because of the econ and other (eg, military)
      advantages they gained --- A characteristic  of colonialism is
      the unequal use and distribution of the colonized nation's resources
      to the advantage of the colonist.

    2) Neo-colonialism -- continued dependency, usually through economic 
       means, by the original host country even after the "master country 
       has left (eg,  US  in central america th rough the 1960s 

    3) Econ dependency:  as countries become MODERNIZED, they often
      have their economy shaped in a  way that may not be "natural,"
      or that may not facilitate  their growth (AFTER formal
      independence)

DEF: MODERNIZATION  is:  The transition form an undeveloped society into 
one more economically developed and increasingly integrated into the 
global community.

In the past, countries dominated with military might. In this century, 
especially in last 50  years,  this occurs through MULTINATIONAL 
CORPORATIONS,  which are commercial organizations which, while 
headquarted in one country,  control substantial resources in another. 
Most of the top corps are in the US, but Japan is also influential in
electronics, finace, and motor vehicles.

Why is this important?   (SEE BOOK, Chapt 10)

Some quickie issues for economic dominance:
     1) Reduces political autonomy
     2) Historically,  prevents middle class from 
        developing (wealth channelled to home country,  reducing "pie"
     3) Emphasis on needs of dominant country reduces emergence of 
        needs of host country (ie, manufacturing, etc, 
        artificially focused: 
        EXAMPLE: Agricultural countries 
       (eg, central america) where resources in 50s/60s were 
        channeled there, and political dictatorships emerged to keep 
        political opposition down
        EXAMPLE:  Think if NIU were  controlled by "outsiders" who 
        required a curriculum of math, french, and soci 170, and 
        limited other courses.....and, on graduation,  most 
        jobs available were in those areas. 
        POINT: Limitations on freedom of choice and opportunity that we 
        take for granted.

EXAMPLES:
   1) "Sweat behind the shirt" (see pp 226 ff of text) - how does our
      need for cheap tshirts hurt others on other countries?
   2) Nike - "Just do it!"
   3) How much power do major corporations have whose budget exceeds those
      of many nations?
   4) How do countries (like people) experience "upward mobility?"
   5) What economic, political, military, or other obstacles prevent
      mobility?
   6) What is the difference between first-world, second-world, third-world?
   7) What is the relationship between economic development and human rights?

So, from chpt 10, what to remember:
   1) We live in a global village in which we are highly integrated 
      with each other
   2) What we see as a normal way of doing business may be seen by those
      in other countries as a form of explotiation
   3) Understanding the links between countries helps us better
      understand the consequences of foreign policy
   4) ideology -- we think what we do is "OK," (ideology), but others
      may not

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