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Social  Stratification


                   Notes          1.1 Concept of Social Stratification

                                  The concept of social stratification is interpreted differently by the various theoretical perspectives
                                  of sociology. Proponents of action theory have suggested that since social stratification is commonly
                                  found in developed societies, hierarchy may be necessary in order to stabilize social structure.
                                  Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist, asserted that stability and social order are regulated, in
                                  part, by universal value although universal values were not identical with “consensus” but could
                                  as well be the impetus for ardent conflict as it had been multiple times through history. Parsons
                                  never claimed that universal values in and by themselves “satisfied” the functional prerequisites
                                  of a society, indeed, the constitution of society was a much more complicated codification of
                                  emerging historical factors. The so-called conflict theories, such as Marxism, point to the
                                  inaccessibility of resources and lack of social mobility found in stratified societies. Many sociological
                                  theorists have criticized the extent to which the working classes are unlikely to advance
                                  socioeconomically; the wealthy tend to hold political power which they use to exploit the proletariat
                                  intergenerationally. Theorists such as Ralf Dahrendorf, however, have noted the tendency toward
                                  an enlarged middle-class in modern Western societies due to the necessity of an educated workforce
                                  in technological and service economies.
                                  Social stratification is a universal phenomenon, an unavoidable feature of all human societies,
                                  though found in different forms and degrees. Individuals, positions and groups are differentiated
                                  based on specific norms and criteria in a given society. The norms and criteria on the basis of
                                  which people are differentiated evolve over a period of time. Based on the nature of a society, its
                                  culture, economy and polity, stratification could be simple and less elaborate, or it could be
                                  complex and more elaborate. The considerations in stratification in a society could be achievements
                                  of an individual member, or of his/her family or community or of all the three in different ways
                                  and in different permutations and combinations. The units ranked in a society could therefore be
                                  an individual, a family, and a group or all the three in different contexts and situations or in
                                  conjunction with one another.





                                              No  system of stratification is static/stable for ever. Even rigid systems of stratification
                                              based on caste, race, ethnicity and estate are changing quite perceptibly.

                                  Flexibility in norms and criteria of social stratification is being considered today as an indicator of
                                  progress, development, equality and social justice. Old systems of social stratification are, however,
                                  being transformed and replaced by the new norms and criteria of social ranking. Thus, the study
                                  of social stratification involves the understanding of ideology, structure and process as parameters
                                  of inequality and its dynamics. Ideology implies values, norms and criteria on the basis of which
                                  units are ranked as higher and lower, superior and inferior. Structure refers to the totality of units
                                  ranked, and process indicates the changes which occur in the ideology and structure of social
                                  stratification.
                                  Structural-Functional Viewpoint
                                  Melvin M. Tumin defines social stratification as the arrangement of any social group or society
                                  into a hierarchy of positions that are unequal with regard to power, property, social evaluation,
                                  and/or psychic gratification. Normally, power, property (class) and social evaluation (status and
                                  prestige) are considered as the most important bases of determination of position in a given
                                  society. Max Weber refers to “class, status and party” as three important “orders” of society,
                                  namely, economic, social and political, in allocation of positions, duties and responsibilities. In the




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