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Social Stratification

Notes 3. Who are the self-excluded groups ?
4. Who have rejected the authority of the state or society ?
5. Are there socially excluded people but not poor ?
6. Is it that there are poor people, but not socially excluded ?
7. What about the position of indigenous groups, women, and others who might find themselves
marginalized in a society where the conditions for inclusion were set by others ?
State and Social Exclusion
The state is responsible for exclusion of the people from participation in its economic, political and
social activities. Veiled rationalizations of persistence of inequality could be seen in the Constitution
of India and also in the institutional structures and practices. The poor remain excluded from the
mainstream activities, and today due to social and political awakening, they have attained a sense
of realization about their low standing in the society. No one gets self-excluded except those who
are truly saints and renounced the world. Such people are a rare entity. History shows that there
have been movements and protests against the exploiters and the privileged. Our view is that
poor remain socially excluded, and only exceptionally rich are socially excluded. Those who are
socially excluded are not because of their volition, but are because of the hegemony and supremacy
of the dominant section of society.
Thus, social exclusion is an evocative, ambiguous, multidimensional and expansive concept. It
explains who are denigrated, alienated, isolated, “outsiders” in a given society. Since society is
not a static entity, not only the concept of social exclusion needs to be amended corresponding to
structural and cultural changes, the nature of social exclusion and inclusion also undergoes a
change.
Nutrition, elementary education, basic health care, access to housing, water supply, sanitation
and social security are the main issues of social exclusion in India today. Let us admit that exclusion-
inclusion is an age-old reality in Indian society. Hierarchy of castes is rooted in the principle of
distance and inclusion-exclusion. The principle of pure-impure is nothing but that of excluding
the people by declaring them as “impure”, and including others by calling them as “pure”. The
socially excluded groups, namely, lower castes, have been addressed as exterior castes, dalits,
untouchables, etc. The dynamics of the concept and process of social exclusion are evident in the
changing matrix of India’s lower castes.
Tribal people and indigenous communities have been alienated from land and forest resources.
Several movements and agitations launched against the exploiters testify the exclusion and struggle
of the excluded for their insertion and inclusion. Women are alienated and excluded in their
homes. Recent attempts for “feminification” are against women’s exploitation and subjugation.
Patriarchy has been a cruel tool in the hands of male-dominated society. Poor are deprived of
proper nutrition, education, healthcare, employment, participation in decision-making, and other
related activates. Who is responsible for this malady ? We may have to see carefully the dynamics
of the state since independence. Why the rich remain rich or become richer ?
2.3 Poverty and Deprivation to Stratification

Poverty and Level of Living
Poverty and inequality go together and coexist, though in different measures, in different societies.
Poverty is generally caused by the same set of factors which account for persistence of inequality.
However, social impediments in achieving equality or in alleviation of poverty may vary from
society to society. Caste, ethnicity and race may be found as pronounced hurdles in some given
societies, whereas lack of economic opportunities and resources and persisting economic and

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