Inequality, Its Impacts and Relation to Occupy Movement - Essay Example

Inequality, Its Impacts and Relation to Occupy Movement Introduction The world is as it is because of the manner in which capital is unequally distributed among different classes. The pervasive nature of unequal distribution of capital is in turn exemplified by the manner in which it shapes interclass relations in the society. The dynamics of class relations in turn affect domestic (and even international) politics through constructs such as race-relations, public policy and education. It is for this reason that this paper seeks to analyze inequality by considering three journal articles that have attempted to explain the dynamics and essence of inequality and the Occupy Movement which underscore the gravity of unequal distribution of capital. Summary The articles that are to form the bulk of this discussion are Inequality: Causes and Consequences by Kathryn Neckerman and Florencia Torche, Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture Participation on the Grades of US High School Students by Paul DiMaggio and Capitalism, Social Institutions of Communism, Economy (Sociological Approach); Globalization; Socialism which features in the translation of Marx Webber’s 1923 General Economic History. In the first journal article, Neckerman and Torche focus on the US through the use of international standards, in order to sharpen the scope of prevailing domestic trends in the US. In this journal article, Neckerman and Torche contend that economic disparities in America began to soar in the mid-1970s. In this article, Neckerman and Torche research and discuss the patterns and causes that characterize economic inequality in America and the entire globe. These patterns and causes include inequality of earnings, opportunity and wealth. Neckerman and Torche also maintain that there are socio-political consequences of inequality that also underpin this inequality, with education, health, security, political power and social power serving as examples. Neckerman and Torche also train their consideration on the political economy and organization of the labor market and firms, as the very pathways through which social, political and economic inequality is perpetuated. In the second journal, DiMaggio argues that there is interplay of many factors which affect the ability to perform well in school. By citing works carried out by ethnographers, ethnomethodologists and other social scientists such as Coleman (1961), Hollingshead (1949) and Cicourel and Kitsuse (1963), DiMaggio shows how American high school education has gradually become unequal. DiMaggio points out for instance, the impact of cultural styles on student-counselor relationships, classroom instructions and test scores. DiMaggio points out that measured intelligence shows that there is only 15-30% variation among high school students, though the transition into tertiary level of learning (universities and colleges) continually locks out racial minorities. DiMaggio explains that this is the case since the cultural aspect herein is associated with family background, given that a father’s education and occupation makes an important difference, as is explained in Max Weber’s Status culture (1968). The third article C is an anthology of different authors. Max Webber’s Capitalism, Social Institutions of Communism, Economy (Sociological Approach); Globalization; Socialism serves as the most interesting reading. In it, Karl Marx’s theory of class consciousness and antagonism is revisited in relation to the inequality that characterizes the socioeconomic and political life of the United States. Relating the Journals to an Event from Outside Class Although the three aforementioned articles make an interesting reading, yet, the main reason for their selection is the manner in which they help demystify Occupy Movement which began on September 17th, 2011. There are still signs that show that Occupy Movement continues in some parts of the world. The relation between Occupy Movement and the three journal articles is first evidenced by the very essence of Occupy Movement. While Neckerman and Torche, DiMaggio and Marx Webber’s appraisal on Karl Marx’s theory explain the socioeconomic and political inequality that prevails in the US and other developed worlds, Occupy Movement is an international protest movement staged against economic and social inequality. The main goal of Occupy Movement is to make political and economic relations in all societies more flatly distributed and less vertically hierarchical. Countries in which experienced Occupy Movement include (but are not limited to) Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The relationship between DiMaggio’s work and Occupy Movement is that they both decry the inequality that besets education, with this inequality serving as a foundation for economic inequality in the US. In America and Canada, Occupy Movement protesters were categorical on the demand that the respective governments guarantee the youth access to higher education. This goes hand-in-hand with DiMaggio’s postulation that transition to higher education has been hampered by financial implications. DiMaggio argues that the instructor-student relationship greatly affects a learner’s performance in high school, yet this relationship heavily draws from the impact of cultural styles. The impacts of cultural styles in turn emanate from status culture, as is also explained by Marx Webber. The status culture emanates from the family’s breadwinner income-earning bracket. This is to the effect children from low-income earning families will lack incentives and moral support to learning. Because of this, high school students from these families transition into tertiary education with great difficulty (Portes, 8). According to DiMaggio, the issue of race applies since economic and financial values are structurally and unequally distributed since most corporate and political leaders and industrial capital owners are Caucasian. Given that the African American for instance does not have this socioeconomic might, he provides unskilled labor and is part of the low-income earning bracket. This forms a vicious cycle, since the African American’s children are also not able to realize the moral and economic values needed for sound academic achievement (DiMaggio, 92). The only disparity between DiMaggio’s argument and Occupy Movement is that the former sees education as a value that racial minorities such as the African American and Latinos cannot access as equal or freely as the white Americans. On the contrary, Occupy Movement only called for access to education to be extended to the youth- racial and ethnic descent, regardless. This means that unlike DiMaggio who saw education as a sector that did not distribute its values equitably across all racial or ethnic groups, protesters in Occupy Movement thought that education was being relatively distributed to all the youth (DiMaggio, 189-91). In another wavelength, Neckerman and Torche see capitalism as the very factor that has encouraged the inequality, since policies that govern the US economy and socio-politics are set by capitalists and are also capitalist in nature. For instance, Neckerman and Torche argue that it is the practice of capitalism that has precipitated the declining union membership. The decline in unionization has in turn precipitated reductions in the value of the minimum wage, while increasing income inequality in the US. These two scholars contend that this has led to the extension of rising returns to education. Neckerman and Torche posit that the extension of rising returns to educational sector should not be misconstrued as wholly beneficial since the aforementioned inequality keeps low (and to an extent, middle) income earners from accessing quality educational services. This state of affairs is compounded by other consequences of inequality. The argument herein is that social inequality reinforces privilege among the affluent, and disadvantages among the poor, so that in the long run, economic inequality will have been reinforced in the next generation. For instance, Neckerman and Torche explain that because of low income, poor health sets among children from low-income earning families, and thereby making them unable to learn well. Insecurity and incarceration, absence of social cohesion, health crises, educational crises and politics of discontent and confrontation are likely to set in as consequences of inequality (Neckerman and Torche, 355). The standpoint above greatly helps foster understanding on Occupy Movement. One of the mostly contested features in Occupy Movement was income inequality. Occupy Movement protesters argue that over the last three decades, there has been an increasingly yawning gap in income inequality and a resultant unequal distribution of economic resources and economic stagnation. The third article also helps further understanding on Occupy Movement. For instance, the aspect of unequal labor relations is made readily available by capitalism envisioning the presence of individuals who are legally motivated and economically compelled to sell their labor to the market without restrictions (Weber 1927, 277). Because of this situation above, capital owners have the power to determine the value of labor to their advantage. It is for this reason that low or unfair wages exist. The existence of poor remunerations and income inequality are some of the salient grievances which featured in Occupy Movement. In the same article, it is explained how capitalism requires complete commercialization of economic life so that the primary goal is maximization of profit and building commercial wealth. This makes trading in shares a dominant culture in a capitalist system. Through share ownership, corporations or individuals are able to access capital resources beyond individual ability and thereby enabling firms to realize mastery over larger markets. This ultimately allows these firms or enterprises the chance to globalize their operations. It is for this reason that Occupy Movement protesters charged that the US economic (and other capitalist states’) system only enriched a few, at the expense of the majority and mostly through income inequality. Another concern was the manner in which money from large corporations was influencing and corrupting politics, in order to perpetuate capitalists’ interests into US policy and political life. The global nature of these organizations as is envisioned by Weber is underscored by the 2008/9 global economic recession. It is because of unbridled adoption of capitalist practices that catalyzed Occupy Movement as protesters rose up in arms against corruption in Wall Street and speculative trading by banks. Just as Marx divulges that the oppressed masses can only have their salvation by staging a revolution, so did Occupy Movement protesters congregate to oppose an unruly capitalist system. Works Cited DiMaggio, Paul. “Cultural Capital and School Success: The Impact of Status Culture Participation on the Grades of US High School Students.” American Sociological Review, 47. 2 (1982): 189-201. Print Neckerman, Kathryn and Torche, Florencia. Inequality: Causes and Consequences. New York: Institute for Social and Economic Research Policy. Print Portes, Alejandro. “The Two Meanings of Social Capital.” Springer: Sociological Forum, 15. 1 (2000): 1-12. Weber, Max. [1927]. General Economic History. Trans. Free Press, 1923. Print Read More