Learning Objectives
9.1. What Is Social Inequality?
- Break the concept of social inequality into its component parts: social differentiation, social stratification, and social distributions of wealth, income, power, and status.
- Define the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of condition.
- Distinguish between caste and class systems.
- Distinguish between class and status.
- Identify the structural basis for the different classes that exist in capitalist societies.
9.2. Social Inequality and Mobility in Canada
- Define the difference between relative and absolute poverty.
- Describe the current trend of increasing inequalities of wealth and income in Canada.
- Distinguish the the differences between Marx’s and Weber’s definitions of social class and explain why they are significant.
- Characterize the social conditions of the owning class, the middle class, and the traditional working class in Canada.
- Apply the research on social mobility to the question of whether Canada is a meritocracy.
- Recognize cultural markers that are used to display class identity.
9.3. Global Stratification and Inequality
- Define global inequality.
- Describe different sociological models for understanding global inequality.
- Understand how sociological studies identify worldwide inequalities.
9.4. Theoretical Perspectives on Social Inequality
- Understand and apply functionalist, critical sociological and interpretive perspectives on social inequality.
Introduction to Social Inequality in Canada
When he died in 2008, Ted Rogers Jr., then CEO of Rogers Communications, was the fifth-wealthiest individual in Canada, holding assets worth $5.7 billion. In his autobiography (2008) he credited his success to a willingness to take risks, work hard, bend the rules, be on the constant look-out for opportunities, and be dedicated to building the business. In many respects, he saw himself as a self-made billionaire who started from scratch, seized opportunities, and created a business through his own initiative.
The story of Ted Rogers is not exactly a rags to riches one, however. His grandfather, Albert Rogers, was a director of Imperial Oil (Esso) and his father, Ted Sr., became wealthy when he invented an alternating current vacuum tube for radios in 1925. Ted Rogers Sr. went from this invention to manufacturing radios, owning a radio station, and acquiring a licence for TV broadcasting.
However, Ted Sr. died when Ted Jr. was five years old, and the family businesses were sold. His mother took Ted Jr. aside when he was eight and told him, “Ted, your business is to get the family name back” (Rogers, 2008). The family was still wealthy enough to send him to Upper Canada College, the famous private school that also educated the children from the Black, Eaton, Thompson, and Weston families. Ted seized the opportunity at Upper Canada to make money as a bookie, taking bets on horse racing from the other students. Then he attended Osgoode Hall Law School, w