Page 298 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Unit 13: Changing Dimensions of Social Stratification

• The proponents of ethnic stratification consider the idea of ethnicity as a functioning mode Notes
of organization. Moderation of unequal conflicting ethnic segments is also an ongoing process.
Structure and process are thus ontological basis of ethnicity. The fact is that ethnicity is a
question of emphasis.
• Both the Marxian and Weberian approaches have echoed in the studies of caste, class and
power. However, a number of studies have been there deriving clues from the structuralist
perspective as given by C. Levi-Strauss and Louis Dumont on the one hand, and from the
functionalist view of British and the American scholars, on the other. Despite these influences,
some studies have used indological and nativistic ideas and categories in their studies of
caste, kinship and class. We would take up briefly these different viewpoints in our
understanding of social stratification.
• “Change” and “process” have become focal points of analysis in social stratification. Focus
on the study of differentiation, evolution and change in caste, class and power may hold the
key to our understanding of social stratification. The Marxist scholars as well as activists
look at the origin and evolution of caste from the point of economic relations. Caste is seen
as a mechanism of exploitation in the hands of the upper castes. Modes of production is the
key to the theory of stratification. The essence of the Marxist analysis is that explanation
emanates from the structure of social reality, and it is not static.
• There is differentiation between and within the bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie and the
working class. Class inequality is not simply economistic. However, economic groupings in
the form of classes and domination of one class over the other are found in all societies
irrespective of the level of their industrialization.
• Elite formation in India is largely determined by the traditional social structure, particularly
caste, religion, language, networks, income, occupational background, education, family
background, etc. Select positions are usually taken by persons from select social strata. This
select group controls the positions of prestige, power and responsibility. Higher education is
still under the grip of upper castes, hence, it is status stabilizer, rather than an invader on
status rigidities.
• One common feature of all the middle classes is that they do not themselves produce any
values in the material product sense of value. The middle classes depend for their economic
gains on the ruling classes as well as the state. Intelligentsia are not homogeneous in terms
of income, wealth and level of living. They are salaried people.
• There has been a realization that stratification goes beyond “caste” and the principle and
practice of “pure and impure”. “Caste-free areas” have emerged due to the differentiated
structures in modern India. Cleavages between caste, class and power indicate incompatibility
of the pollution-purity syndrome.
• The opposite of equality is hierarchy and not inequality. Hierarchy is an indispensable
element of social life everywhere, but it is more so in case of India as it is very well affirmed
in terms of its caste system. The caste system is a system of ideas and values, a formal,
comprehensive rational system, a system in the intellectual sense of the term. This implies
understanding of the intellectual system (ideology). Castes are related through a system of
oppositions, a structure, in terms of the opposition between the pure and the impure.
• Today, the “dominant castes” are not necessarily the twice-born castes. The dominant caste
could well signify a section of a particular caste group, not necessarily the entire caste group.
The caste system is not uniformly rigid/flexible, hence different patterns of social mobility
exist in the caste system. In a given context, caste might work as a cultural phenomenon or
it may denote structural features resembling with the systems of social stratification in a
global context. In a given situation, caste may exhibit structural and cultural features in
varying proportions.

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 293