SOC 212 Race, Class & Gender in the United States: Books & Videos

This program explores the evolution of social classes from immigrant roots into the six social classes prevalent today. It discusses historical class stratification determinants of wealth, occupation, education, and prestige and presents modern paradigms of the new rich which accelerate social mobility. The program also considers social inequality due to geography, poverty, and lack of opportunity; intergenerational mobility; the government’s effect on social class division; effects of law and criminal justice; and the current realities of “The American Dream.” (23:01)

Featuring interviews with sociologists, this program examines theories of social class and explains the differences between class and stratification. It discusses theories of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Saint-Simon, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Kingley, Moore, and Tumin. The program also considers the concept of social mobility. (23:57)