People within the Society and Social Inequality
People within the society are continuously developing strategies that will help them improve their social standing and be on the better side of the society. The social inequality that exists within the society is caused by several factors which are categorized into three strands; that is, making of lives, ordering of lives and connecting of lives. This assignment will major on the making of lives and ordering of lives as the causative agent toward the development and maintenance of social inequality.
Making of Lives and Social Inequality
The making of lives is based on the philosophy that people can decide on how a person wants to live his/ her life. The inequality that exist in the society is determined by the social structures embraced by those communities. For example the inequality in the United Kingdom is made to stick due to the social structure that makes them live in a consumer society. The consumer society promotes individualism and freedom (Allen, 2014). Unfortunately when the community is more of person-centered, the cases of social division, exclusions and inequality are inevitable. Because by embracing consumer society as a social model, some groups within the society are perceived to have more opportunity to choose what to consume as compared to others. The consumption power of some groups within the society is based on factors such as class, position, ethnicity, gender, race and disability.
Consumption and Social Inequality
Consumption provides a significant basis for observing and understanding how lives in the society are made and remade. Consumption within the society is made about by the frequency at which a person moves from the supermarket to shops for products such as clothes and other fashions, or attending beauty salon. As people move from place to place, they develop a relationship with the supermarket owners (Allen, 2014). When consumers acquire certain commodities, it helps open up new relationships; and in the process, people become linked up with their people, or some become separated. In the consumer society. The inequality is made to stick because the; preference is given to the consumers with high purchasing power. Those with high social class are given preferences and other first class services.
On the other hand, those in the low social class are despised by the society, and mostly they are never targeted during production, or an advertisements. The social inequality is also evident in the society that is industrialized as in the consumer’s society. The primary cause of inequality arises from gender disparity. Workforce management is an excellent component towards the sustained inequality in the society. Women have been able to take up more precious responsibilities that were considered men’s role while they are still sustaining their domestic roles (Allen, 2014).
Inequality and Disability
The roles in the workplace have greatly favored women because the workplace roles have been fully customized to accommodate them while the division of labour at home has not been affected. The changing perception of the society towards the role of the women in the workplace has led to the reduction of workplace gender inequality due to avocation for affirmative action and gender equality. However, men have been on then disadvantaged because there is no proportionate change in the involvement of men in the domestic division of labor (Woodward, 2014).
The inequality is strongly conspicuous in the consumer society than the industrial society as dented by Baumann. This is because the consumers have t to shape their own social identities. The society cannot force people to have a particular way or consumers being comprehended to make a specific decision because as in the application of nudge theory, which shows that people are unequal and different (Woodward, 2014). The inequality within the society sticks because of the value the society attach towards the purchasing power of the consumers. The class inequality is the primary factor that has led to inequality within the society.
Another factor that has promoted societal inequality is the disability. In the workplace, people who are physically challenged experience societal discrimination in almost all societal sectors. As indicated above, the United Kingdom is considered consumer societies which are anchored in the ideology of individualism. Therefore, this group of people does not have effective access to quality education, and thereby they cannot equitably compete with another member of the society they are therefore looked down upon (Cooley, 2017).
Secondly, people with disability are portrayed as less socially acceptable because they are not provided with employment privilege other members of the society are given. With the development of activist groups that spearhead for the rights of the people with disability, the inequality experience may reduce, however, the society plays a significant role in reducing inequality that these people face.
Inequality and Social Exclusion
The inequality in the society is because the repressed portion of the society such as the elderly, the unemployed, the disabled, the poor and the migrants are seen as socially unacceptable because they are unable to consume effectively the products that are available in the economy (Cooley, 2017). The society views them with little regards because they have little resources and limited income and thus their choices are restricted.
The lack of adequate resources to make them mobile is the most significant contributor to their social isolation, social immobility and ultimately lower social values. In the consumer society people who can consume a large number of products and therefore have high value to the society. This encourages the development of us versus them attitude. When there exists inequality in the society people, start to group themselves as we and the rest as others. The othering of people within the society makes people feel excluded and less worthy by the people who feel entitled.
Ordering of Lives and Inequality
The ordering of lives shows the inequality that exists in the worlds because of the social order ore socially disorder. The essence of the social order is greatly impacted by the social groups which can influence inequality through their ability to define social order and social disorder. First, there are different kind of groups within the society who subscribe to the conservative ideology and those with the radical view towards the society (The Open University (Year of module start). The society that holds on the conservative ideology is keen to preserve the status quo within the society. To them, the need for social reform id disruptive, destructive and disorderly and therefore they will do anything within their influence to ensure that the status quo is maintained. This kind of society greatly will maintain inequality within the society because to them it is the right thing to do.
Conservative Society and Inequality
On the other hand, the radical society views riots as a quest for societal transformation. In this regards, this kind of society does not experience the high rate of inequality because people are receptive towards change. Both the conservative and radical society have inequalities. However, in a conservative society, the level of inequality is high due to the structure of that society to prefer the maintenance of status quo (Cooley, 2017). In this so this society the groups have high regards to people who are on top of the social class whole fewer regards to people who are of low social class. The people in this extreme groups prefer to remain at their level, and therefore any quest for social transformation is labeled as disruptive. The best example of this form of societal structure in the caste system in India.
In India for instance, the social class in which a person is borne into determines the value the society places on the person. The caste system in India greatly embodies the effect of conservative society on inequality. The world has continuously condemned the caste structure however the conservative groups in India prefer this model as it enhances peaceful social coexistence. Another conservative aspect concerning gender inequality is experienced in the United Arab Emirate countries (Allen, 2014). Just recently women in Qatar and other Gulf region were allowed to drive cars. The social grouping in those countries believed, wrongly, that women were less equal to men and thus could not undertake men’s job. The decision by these countries to strictly follow the Islamic sharia and ensure that women serve men has been a great contributing factor towards great gender inequality that exists in those regions.
Transformative Society and Inequality
A transformative society, on the other hand, is receptive towards change to them riots and demonstration provide a platform for the society to reconsider some of its orders by encouraging social change. Individuals in this kind of society embrace change by trying a different strategy that would help in addressing the causes of social inequality. For example, the United States has demonstrated number without limit the essence of embracing change like during the civil right movement where the society was encouraging racial segregation. People were very determined to change the course of action that made it undesirable to engage in any form of racism (The Open University (Year of module start). In South Africa for Instance, Nelson Mandela was able to challenge the status quo of the Boers who practiced apartheid. In the end, the level of inequality between that native Africans and the Afrikaners reduced.
Therefore, to address the issue of social inequality that exists in the society, it is crucial for both sides to engage in constructive negotiation. Not all conservative cultures have a high level of inequality, and not all transformative societies have low inequality. Negotiations provide the platform for reconsidering different aspects that affect the operations of a given society. To reduce the level of inequality in the society, people have to embrace a unified model of the society and avoid labeling people as ‘other’. The ‘us versus them’ mantra makes some people in the society feel excluded and less equal to the rest of the society.
Part 2: Self-reflection
There are different causes of inequality in the society which can be in the form of gender inequality, social structure, ethnic and racial discrimination among others. The society can either embrace a conservative or a radical approach when dealing with inequality (Allen, 2014). In each of these societies, constant communication and negotiation are critical to ensuring that social inequalities are addressed. It is also critical to understand that people within the society are not equal. People have a different ability, personality and physique, therefore, understanding and appreciating diversity is a step towards reducing inequality in the society. A progressive society does not label its residents as us against others. It is important to work collaboratively to enhance diversity and discourage social inequality rather than encouraging othering of people within the society.
Reference
Allen, J. (2014) ‘Supermarket power: winners and losers’, in Blakeley, G. and Allen, J. (eds) Understanding Social Lives, Part 1, Milton Keynes, The Open University
Woodward, K. (2014) ‘Reflections on “Connecting Lives”’, in Clarke, J. and Woodward, K. (eds) DD102 Understanding Social Lives, Part 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
The Open University (Year of module start) ‘Portland road: class and segregation’ [Video] DD102 Introducing the social sciences. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=796335§ion=3 (Accessed date).
The Open University (Year of module start) ‘Reflecting on “Making Lives”’ [Audio] DD102 Introducing the social sciences. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=796325§ion=4 (Accessed date).
The Open University (Year of module start) ‘Activity 24.3a’ [Online] DD102 Introducing the Social Sciences. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=443766§ion=8 (Accessed date).
Cooley, C.H., 2017. Human nature and the social order. Routledge.
