Page 23 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes interests, and (b) natural differences of rank in intelligence, talent and strength. Correspondingly,
in relation to society, these are : (c) social differentiation of positions essentially equal in rank, and
(d) social differentiation based on reputation and wealth and expressed in a rank order of social
status.
Dahrendorf, while acknowledging Rousseau’s distinction between natural and social inequalities
and also preference for the natural inequalities as good, expresses his interest primarily in
inequalities of the stratification type. Inequalities are both distributive and non-distributive. Wealth
and prestige belong to the area of stratification, hence distributive. Property and charisma are
non-distributive. The “distributive” and the “non-distributive” could also be termed as
“intransitive” and “transitive” inequalities. Aristotle was also concerned like Rousseau with the
origin of social stratification (inequality). However, both lacked what we need today as a sociological
enquiry in social stratification. While commenting on the Aristotelian argument of natural equality,
Dahrendorf observes : “If men are equal by nature, then social inequalities cannot be established
by nature or God; and if they are not so established, then they are subject to change, and the
privileged of today may be the outcasts of tomorrow; it may even be possible to abolish all
inequalities.” Rights of mans and citizens have roots in such a philosophy. Men are born and
remain free and equal in rights. Social differences, therefore, can only be based on general utility
as observed by Dahrendorf.
The following questions are also posed by Dahrendorf :
1. If men are by nature equal in rank, where do social inequalities come from ?
2. If all men are born free and equal in rights, how can we explain that some are rich and others
poor, some respected and others ignored, some powerful and others in servitude ?
It shows that the assumption of an original state of inequality, and the explanation of the origin of
inequality in terms of property, have remained unchallenged till date. Theoretically, a society
could be conceived without private property, but in reality even the erstwhile Soviet Union and
East European countries and China of today have reconciled with differences of possession and
income, hence, social inequality. Division of labour forms the basis of differences in occupation
and income. This is also the basis of class formation (i.e., inequality of rank). Since occupations are
differentiated, the emergence of social classes and positions becomes an inevitable corollary.

Ubiquity of Social Inequality
Going by the views of Talcott Parsons, Kingsley Davis and W.E Moore and others, we may state
that the inequality is there in all human societies, and a set of norms of behaviour and sanctions
are attached to them. Law, in a broad sense, is the epitome of all norms and sanctions. And, as
such, law is both a necessary and a sufficient condition of social inequality. “There is inequality
because there is law; if there is law, there must also be inequality among men.”
All men may be equal before the law, but they may no longer be equal after it. In other words,
norms, sanctions, that is, law, make people unequal. Two points may be noted here :
(i) that every society is a moral community, and therefore recognizes norms that regulate the
conduct of its members; and
(ii) that these norms require sanctions to enforce them by rewarding conformity and penalizing
deviance. Obviously, this is a functionalist viewpoint, and we will discuss the same later on
while explaining approaches to the study of social stratification.
Though Dahrendorf seems to follow considerably the functionalist approach, the following
searching questions raised by him are quite relevant for a critical appraisal of the Parsonian and
Davis and Moore approach :
1. Where do the norms that regulate social behaviour come from ?
2. Under what conditions do these norms change in historical societies ?

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