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18.5: Key Terms

  • Page ID
    172388
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    automation
    workers being replaced by technology
    bartering
    a process where people exchange one form of goods or services for another
    capitalism
    an economic system in which there is private ownership (as opposed to state ownership) and where there is an impetus to produce profit, and thereby wealth
    career inheritance
    a practice where children tend to enter the same or similar occupation as their parents
    convergence theory
    a sociological theory to explain how and why societies move toward similarity over time as their economies develop
    depression
    a sustained recession across several economic sectors
    economy
    the social institution through which a society’s resources (goods and services) are managed
    global assembly lines
    a practice where products are assembled over the course of several international transactions
    global commodity chains
    internationally integrated economic links that connect workers and corporations for the purpose of manufacture and marketing
    market socialism
    a subtype of socialism that adopts certain traits of capitalism, like allowing limited private ownership or consulting market demand
    mechanical solidarity
    a form of social cohesion that comes from sharing similar work, education, and religion, as might be found in simpler societies
    mercantilism
    an economic policy based on national policies of accumulating silver and gold by controlling markets with colonies and other countries through taxes and customs charges
    money
    an object that a society agrees to assign a value to so it can be exchanged as payment
    mutualism
    a form of socialism under which individuals and cooperative groups exchange products with one another on the basis of mutually satisfactory contracts
    organic solidarity
    a form of social cohesion that arises out of the mutual interdependence created by the specialization of work
    outsourcing
    a practice where jobs are contracted to an outside source, often in another country
    polarization
    a practice where the differences between low-end and high-end jobs become greater and the number of people in the middle levels decreases
    recession
    two or more consecutive quarters of economic decline
    socialism
    an economic system in which there is government ownership (often referred to as “state run”) of goods and their production, with an impetus to share work and wealth equally among the members of a society
    structural unemployment
    a societal level of disjuncture between people seeking jobs and the jobs that are available
    subsistence farming
    farming where farmers grow only enough to feed themselves and their families
    underemployment
    a state in which a person accepts a lower paying, lower status job than his or her education and experience qualifies him or her to perform
    xenophobia
    an illogical fear and even hatred of foreigners and foreign goods

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