Social Stratification

Social Stratification

1. System by which a society ranks people into a hierarchy

   • Trait of society, not a function of individual differences
   • Stratification persists over generations
     • Most societies allow social mobility
       • Changes in people's position in a system of social stratification
         • May be upward, downward, or horizontal
         • Structural social mobility is a shift in the social position of masses of people due more to changes in society than to individual efforts
   • Stratification is universal but variable
   • Stratification involves beliefs as well as inequality

2. Caste and Class Systems

   • Caste System
     • Social Stratification based on ascription or birth
       • Caste determines occupation
       • Caste systems mandate endogamy
       • Caste systems limit social contacts
       • Cultural beliefs underlie system
     • Typical of agrarian societies
   • Class System
     • Social stratification is based on both birth and individual achievement
     • Industrial societies move to meritocracy
       • Social stratification based on personal merit
     • Status consistency is lower than in caste systems
       • Degree of consistency of a person's social standing across various dimensions of social inequality

3. Ideology: Supporting Stratification

   • Ideology = Cultural beliefs that justify social stratification
     • Plato) every culture considers some form of inequality fair
       • Marx understood theory but was more critical
     • Ideology changes with societies economy & technology
     • Spencer's survival of the fittest theory remains a part of our individualistic culture

4. Functions of Social Stratification

   • Davis Moore Thesis asserts that Social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operations of a society
     • Critical Review
       • Difficult to define functional importance of an occupation
       • Ignores how stratification can prevent the development of individual talents
       • Ignores how inequality can promote conflict & revolution

5. Stratification & Conflict

   • Marx saw classes as defined by people's relationship to the means of production
     • Critical Review
       • Marxism is highly controversial
       • Fails to recognize that unequal rewards motivates people to perform roles effectively
       • Revolutionary predictions have failed to happen
         • More people have a stake in the capitalist system
         • Higher standard of living has emerged
         • Unions fought for worker's rights
         • Government extended legal protection to workers
   • Weber identified 3 dimensions of stratification: Class, status, power
     • Socioeconomic Status = composite ranking based on various dimensions of social inequality
     • Each dimension stands out at some point in history