life-chances
A Dictionary of Sociology | Date: 1998
life-chances A term used in Max
Weber's analysis of
class and
status, in particular with reference to the concept of‘class situation’. The ownership of property and the disposal over goods and services in the marketplace, which are outcomes of the distribution of
power in society, determine the ‘chance’ to realize an individual's goals in social action.
The term subsequently passed into general usage, notably in studies of
social mobility, where the closed nature of a society diminishes the opportunities (chances) for advancement of social classes, women, and ethnic or racialized minorities. It includes chances for educational attainment, health, material reward, and status mobility.
© A Dictionary of Sociology 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998.
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