C Have youused any expressions from the text in your summary?written 10 sentences?checked your spelling?checked punctuation and grammar?heck your work

Answers to quiz

1. B, 2. B, 3. B, 4. B, 5. C, 6. A, 7. A, 8. C, 9. D, 10. B, 11. D, 12. C

UNIT 4

SOCIAL INEQUALITY. ECONOMIC EXPLANATION

• SPEAKING

Task 1. Divide the class into groups of three. Ask the members of your group the questions. Report the results of your group to the class. Discuss the outcome together.

• What economic difficulties has Ukraine faced for the last decade?

• How can these problems be overcome?

• STUDY SKILLS

Task 2. Write five GOOD questions about Ukraine in the table. When you have finished, interview the other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now talk about what you have found out.

• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

• LISTENING

Task 3. David Drexler is a professor of economics. Listen to him explain one approach to the strategic planning process and draw the diagram he describes.

• READING

Task 4. Read the text about the main concepts of economy, social inequality and social mobility. Write down three interesting things you remember. Compare your notes with other students.

Economy: historical overview. Social inequality

The economy is the social institution that organizes a society’s production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. As an institution, the economy operates, for better or worse, in a generally predictable manner. Goods are commodities ranging from necessities (food, clothing, shelter) to luxury items (cars, swimming pools, yaсhts).

Services are activities that benefit others (for example, the work of teachers, physicians, computer software specialists). We value goods and services because they ensure survival or because they make life easier or more interesting. Also, what people produce as workers and what they buy as consumers are important parts of social identity, as when we say, “He’s a steel worker”, or “She drives a Mercedes”. How goods and services are distributed, too, shapes the lives of everyone by giving more resources to some and fewer to others. The economies of modern high-income nations are the result of centuries of social change.

Since World War II the economy has shifted from producing goods to producing services - from farming and manufacturing, in other words, to such fields as data processing, teaching, and health care. The service revolution has brought an increase in white-collar jobs for the educated and technically skilled, but it has caused a rising rate of unemployment among relatively unskilled workers.

Markets of the Economy

Job inequalities also arise from what economists call the "dual labor market." The primary market is dominated by large corporations, which employ workers with specialized skills and offer them good wages and working conditions, job security, and a fair chance of promotion. The primary market also includes jobs for blue-collar workers, independent craftsmen, technical workers and specialists, government bureaucrats, and professionals.

In contrast, the secondary market is dominated by small manufacturing companies and service establishments (restaurants, stores), which employ unskilled or semiskilled workers in low-paying, temporary, or dead-end jobs. The secondary labour market also provides jobs for non-union manual workers, women in "pink collar" occupations (clerical work, sales jobs), and migrant farm laborers. A number of institutional barriers prevent these workers from entering the primary market. Some lack specialized education or a professional degree; others cannot meet the requirements for union membership; still others are considered too old or too young to work. As a result, many of the working poor are trapped in badly paid, dead-end jobs.

Theories of stratification explain inequality by showing that structural and cultural forces put certain people in certain social positions. The next section discusses theories of social mobility, which explain how certain people are able to change from one position to another.

Social Mobility

Social mobility is the movement of individuals and groups from one social position to another. Because there are several dimensions to social rank, or status, people are able to change position by gaining or losing wealth, prestige, and power. Upward mobility refers to movement up the social ladder, or a gain in status; downward mobility refers to a movement down the social ladder, or a loss of status. Individuals can also have a higher or lower status than their parents, or experience intergenerational mobility.

In an open stratification system, there are supposed to be few obstacles to social mobility: status ideally depends on individual merit and achievement. Because there are many different ways of evaluating a person's social position, class lines tend to be blurred and overlapping. (Indeed, some sociologists reject the term "class" as too restrictive, preferring the term "socioeconomic status" instead).

Structural Factors in Social Mobility

Occupational mobility does not depend only on having the talent and social background to get ahead. It also depends on the social structure being climbed and how much room there is at the top. For a society to have a high rate of upward mobility, the opportunity to move up the ladder must be open to a large number of people.

For this reason industrial societies allow more upward mobility than pre-industrial, agrarian societies. Industrial technology causes a shift from a manual to a white-collar labor force and a corresponding rise in status. The industrialization of any country drastically changes the occupational hierarchy, creating many more prestigious, well-paid positions and eliminating low-paying manual jobs. In such a situation the opportunity to get ahead is greatly enhanced, and upward mobility is just about guaranteed for a large proportion of the labor force.