Dignity and Recognition

2020 ◽  
pp. 100-128
Author(s):  
Suzy Killmister
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Moral Claim ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Moral Claims ◽  
Legitimate Expectations

This chapter completes the discussion of the source and scope of individuals’ moral claims against having their dignity violated, frustrated, or destroyed, by considering status dignity. To fail to treat someone as a member of her social class ought to be treated constitutes a dignity violation; but this raises the difficult question of how individuals could have a moral claim to be treated in accordance with socially constructed norms. The answer developed in this chapter builds on the widely accepted idea of legitimate expectations: since social classes inform personal identity, we have a prima facie claim to have those identities recognized. Such claims are illegitimate, though, if granting that recognition would perpetuate the oppression of others. This will often be the case, it is argued, for claims to be recognized as members of hierarchical social classes such as race or gender.

Conventionalism and Legitimate Expectations

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
C.M. Melenovsky
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Moral Claim ◽  
Natural Right ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Moral Claims ◽  
Legitimate Expectations ◽  
Specific Obligation

To be a conventionalist about a specific obligation or right is to believe that the obligation or right is dependent on the existence of a social practice. A conventionalist about property, for example, believes that a moral right to property is generated by conventional norms rather than by any natural right. One problem with dominant conventionalist theories is that they do not adequately justify conventional moral claims. They can justify why it is wrong to steal, for example, but they do not justify the claim that you have on me to not steal from you. As a remedy, this article develops and defends the Principle of Legitimate Expectations. Suggested by John Rawls, this principle grants individuals a moral claim to what the rules of morally justified practices entitle them. This article addresses common objections to the principle to show how it can ground a wide range of conventional moral claims.

scholarly journals A DEFENSE OF HUMEAN PROPERTY THEORY

Legal Theory ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-34
Author(s):  
Ira K. Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Property Rights ◽  
Distributive Justice ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Natural Rights ◽  
Social Cooperation ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Moral Claims ◽  
Humean Theory

ABSTRACT Two rival approaches to property rights dominate contemporary political philosophy: Lockean natural rights and egalitarian theories of distributive justice. This article defends a third approach, which can be traced to the work of David Hume. Unlike Lockean rights, Humean property rights are not grounded in pre-institutional moral entitlements. In contrast to the egalitarian approach, which begins with highly abstract principles of distributive justice, Humean theory starts with simple property conventions and shows how more complex institutions can be justified against a background of settled property rights. Property rights allow people to coordinate their use of scarce resources. For property rules to serve this function effectively, certain questions must be considered settled. Treating existing property entitlements as having prima facie validity facilitates cooperation between people who disagree about distributive justice. Lockean and egalitarian theories endorse moral claims that threaten to unsettle property conventions and undermine social cooperation.

Experiences of Stereotyping and Tracking in Appalachia: A Case in Consolidation and Social Class

2021 ◽  
pp. 155545892098233
Author(s):  
Connor J. Fewell ◽  
Michael E. Hess ◽  
Charles Lowery ◽  
Madeleine Gervason ◽  
Sarah Ahrendt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Elementary Schools ◽  
Social Class ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Critical Incident ◽  
School Setting ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
School Level ◽  
Diverse Backgrounds ◽  
First Time

This case explores the complexities of how consolidation perpetuates stereotypes among different social classes in a rural Appalachian school setting. Examined are the experiences at the intersection of social class in rural U.S. school districts when two communities—one affluent and one underresourced—are consolidated. We present a nuanced critical incident that focuses on how school leaders perceive and address students’ experiences with tracking and stereotyping—particularly at a middle school level where elementary schools from diverse backgrounds attend school together for the first time.

scholarly journals People from lower social classes elicit greater prosociality: Compassion and deservingness matter

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843022098207
Author(s):  
Niels J. Van Doesum ◽  
Paul A. M. Van Lange ◽  
Joshua M. Tybur ◽  
Ana Leal ◽  
Eric Van Dijk
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Prosocial Behavior ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Target Class ◽  
Dictator Games ◽  
The Uk

People are quick to form impressions of others’ social class, and likely adjust their behavior accordingly. If social class is linked to prosociality, as literature suggests, then an interaction partner’s class should affect prosocial behavior, especially when costs or investments are low. We test this expectation using social mindfulness (SoMi) and dictator games (DG) as complementary measures of prosociality. We manipulate target class by providing information regarding a target’s (a) position on a social class ladder, and (b) family background. Three studies using laboratory and online approaches ( Noverall = 557) in two nations (the Netherlands [NL], the UK), featuring actual and hypothetical exchanges, reveal that lower class targets are met with greater prosociality than higher class targets, even when based on information about the targets’ parents (Study 3). The effect of target class was partially mediated by compassion (Studies 2 and 3) and perceived deservingness of the target (Study 3). Implications and limitations are discussed.

Social Desirability Related to Social Class among Adults

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 808-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirja Kalliopuska
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Social Desirability ◽  
Intellectual Functioning ◽  
Response Style ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Defensive Response ◽  
Academic Education ◽  
Social Desirability Scale

The hypothesis tested was that adults of higher social status complete the Crowne and Marlowe Social Desirability Scale more honestly and less defensively than adults belonging to lower social classes. 341 parents of 215 different families were tested during home interviews. The hypothesis was verified among women, but not among men. These results suggest that social status is associated with defensive response style, perhaps reflecting at the same time academic education and cognitive-intellectual functioning.

Philanthropy and Selfishness

1987 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
John O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Medical Research ◽  
Freedom Of Speech ◽  
Fund Raising ◽  
Moral Claim ◽  
Capital Campaign ◽  
Research Institutes ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
Major Significance ◽  
Moral Claims ◽  
Political Economic

The question I want to discuss is “How can I say ‘No’ to a fund-raising appeal?” Since many people apparently find it easy to say “No,” it is not clear what the problem is. Put briefly, the problem is this: I do not want to think of myself as uncaring, unfeeling, and insensitive to the needs of others. And yet, within the last year I have not responded to appeals for funds from a wide variety of causes: medical research, famine relief, freedom of speech, environmental protection. I have turned down requests for support of scholarly magazines, research institutes, and other good causes. My only moderate-sized contribution during that time has been to the capital campaign of an organization of which I am a member. I have enough to have made (very) small contributions to all of the organizations from which I received appeals, but not enough so that my contributions to any single cause would be of major significance. How can I justify not giving?The problem arises because these appeals (some of them, at least) apparently put moral claims upon me: they say that people are suffering and have needs, and you can help to meet them. Or they say that the intellectual and cultural life of our society will be enriched if you help.One traditional philosophic view holds that moral claims have a special status. They override political, economic, social, and other claims. The only thing, according to this view, that can free one from a moral claim is another moral claim.

scholarly journals A Coding of Social Class for the General Social Survey

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Community Survey ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
American Community Survey ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Occupational Classification ◽  
Us Census

This report provides a coding of EGP social classes that can be implemented for data sources, such as the General Social Survey, that utilize the 2010 US Census occupational classification. The report explains the rationale for the coding as well as the specific coding decisions. It demonstrates how to implement the coding for the General Social Survey, and it presents a comparison of EGP social classes in both the GSS and the American Community Survey.

scholarly journals Social Class and Changes in Australian Women's Affect and Alcohol Consumption During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Lunnay ◽  
Barbara Toson ◽  
Carlene Wilson ◽  
Emma R. Miller ◽  
Samantha Beth Meyer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Economic Capital ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Affective States ◽  
Time Points

Introduction: Before the pandemic, mid-life women in Australia were among the “heaviest” female alcohol consumers, giving rise to myriad preventable health risks. This paper uses an innovative model of social class within a sample of Australian women to describe changes in affective states and alcohol consumption patterns across two time points during COVID-19.Methods: Survey data were collected from Australian mid-life women (45–64 years) at two time points during COVID-19—May 2020 (N = 1,218) and July 2020 (N = 799). We used a multi-dimensional model for measuring social class across three domains—economic capital (income, property and assets), social capital (social contacts and occupational prestige of those known socially), and cultural capital (level of participation in various cultural activities). Latent class analysis allowed comparisons across social classes to changes in affective states and alcohol consumption patterns reported at the two time points using alcohol consumption patterns as measured by the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—Consumption (AUDIT-C) and its component items.Results: Seven social classes were constructed, characterized by variations in access to capital. Affective states during COVID-19 differed according to social class. Comparing between the survey time points, feeling fearful/anxious was higher in those with high economic and cultural capital and moderate social capital (“emerging affluent”). Increased depression was most prominent in the class characterized by the highest volumes of all forms of capital (“established affluent”). The social class characterized by the least capital (“working class”) reported increased prevalence of uncertainty, but less so for feeling fearful or anxious, or depressed. Women's alcohol consumption patterns changed across time during the pandemic. The “new middle” class—a group characterized by high social capital (but contacts with low prestige) and minimal economic capital—had increased AUDIT-C scores.Conclusion: Our data shows the pandemic impacted women's negative affective states, but not in uniform ways according to class. It may explain increases in alcohol consumption among women in the emerging affluent group who experienced increased feelings or fear and anxiety during the pandemic. This nuanced understanding of the vulnerabilities of sub-groups of women, in respect to negative affect and alcohol consumption can inform future pandemic policy responses designed to improve mental health and reduce the problematic use of alcohol. Designing pandemic responses segmented for specific audiences is also aided by our multi-dimensional analysis of social class, which uncovers intricate differences in affective states amongst sub-groups of mid-life women.

Self-segregation strategies through school choice in Chile: A middle-class domain?

2021 ◽  
pp. 144078332110365
Author(s):  
Alejandro Carrasco ◽  
Manuela Mendoza ◽  
Carolina Flores
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
School Choice ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Socioeconomic Groups ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Middle Class Families

Sociological research has shown that marketized educational systems favour middle-class families’ self-segregation strategies through school choice and, consequently, the reproduction of their social advantage over poorer families. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of capitals, habitus and strategy, we analyse quantitative and ethnographic data on parents’ school choice from Chile to introduce nuances to this argument, evincing more extended and complex mechanisms of self-segregation in the Chilean marketized educational system. We found that not only middle-class parents but also parents from different socioeconomic groups displayed self-segregating school choice strategies. We also found that these strategies were performed both vertically (in relation to other social classes) and horizontally (in relation to other groups within the same social class). These findings unwrap a possible stronger effect of the Chilean school choice system over segregation.

The Strange Life and Presumed Death of Homo Economicus

2018 ◽  
pp. 136-145
Author(s):  
Michael Harkin
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Consumer Choice ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Economic Anthropology ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Classical Economics ◽  
Craft Beer ◽  
History Of

This essay traces the history of economic anthropology as a critique of classical economics, focusing primarily on two issues: reciprocity and the cultural valuation of goods. Both areas provide strong counter-evidence to the model of Homo economicus. Additionally, an analysis of consumer-based subcultures, focusing primarily on craft beer, is carried out. Finally, links between consumer choice, personal identity and group membership, social class, and electoral politics in the Age of Trump, are suggested.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document