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Rosy Hastir, Lovely Professional University Unit 1: Understanding Social Stratification

Unit 1: Understanding Social Stratification Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
1.1 Concept of Social Stratification
1.2 Meaning and the Characteristics of Social Stratification
1.3 Summary
1.4 Key–Words
1.5 Review Questions
1.6 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit students will be able to:
• Understand the Concept of Social Stratification.
• Explain the Meaning and the Characteristics of Social Stratification.
Introduction

Stratification is a hierarchy of positions with regard to economic production which influences the
social rewards to those in the positions. In sociology, social stratification is a concept involving the
“classification of people into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set
of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions.” When differences lead
to greater status, power or privilege for some groups over the other it is called Social Stratification.
It is a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy Social stratification is
based on four basic principles : (1) Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection
of individual differences; (2) Social stratification carries over from generation to generation; (3)
Social stratification is universal but variable; (4) Social stratification involves not just inequality
but beliefs as well.
In modern Western societies, stratification is broadly organized into three main layers : upper
class, middle class, and lower class. Each of these classes can be further subdivided into smaller
classes (e.g. occupational). These categories are particular to state-based societies as distinguished
from feudal societies composed of nobility-to-peasant relations. Stratification may also be defined
by kinship ties or castes. For Max Weber, social class pertaining broadly to material wealth is
distinguished from status class which is based on such variables as honor, prestige and religious
affiliation. Talcott Parsons argued that the forces of societal differentiation and the following
pattern of institutionalized individualization would strongly diminish the role of class (as a major
stratification factor) as social evolution went along. It is debatable whether the earliest hunter-
gatherer groups may be defined as ‘stratified’, or if such differentials began with agriculture and
broad acts of exchange between groups. One of the ongoing issues in determining social stratification
arises from the point that status inequalities between individuals are common, so it becomes a
quantitative issue to determine how much inequality qualifies as stratification.

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