SOCIAL

STRATIFICATION
AND
INEQUALITY
 GROUP 3: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND
INEQUALITY

a. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
b. FOUR BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION
OUTLINE c. CASTE AND CLASS SYSTEM
d. MARX AND WEBER ON CLASS SYSTEM
e. SOCIAL MOBILITY AND ITS TYPES
f. GENDER STRATIFICATION
g. RACE AND ETHNICITY
h. SOCIAL INEQUALITY
i. PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIAL INEQUALITY

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 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• Social stratification refers to a society's categorization of its
people into groups based on socioeconomic factors like
wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender,
occupation, social status, or derived power

DEFINITIONS OF STRATIFICATION
OGBURN AND NIMKEFF:
• The process by which individuals and groups are ranked in a
more or less enduring hierarchy of status is known as
stratification.
RAYMOD AND MURRAY:
• Social stratification is a horizontal division of society into higher
and lower social units.
WILLIAM:
• Social stratification is the ranking of individuals on a scale of
superiority- equality, according to some commonly accepted
basis of evaluation.
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 1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not
simply a reflection of individual differences.

FOUR BASIC 2. Social stratification carries over from

PRINCIPLES OF generation to generation.

SOCIAL 3. Social stratification is universal but variable.

STRATIFICATION
4. Social stratification involves not just inequality
but beliefs as well.

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 THE CASTE AND CLASS
SYSTEM

THE CASTE SYSTEM

• Caste systems are closed stratification systems where
people can do little or nothing to change the social
standing of their birth. The caste system determines all
aspects of an individual’s life: occupations, marriage
partners, and housing. Individual talents, interests, or
potential do not provide opportunities to improve a
person's social position.

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 THE CLASS SYSTEM
• A class system is based on both social factors and
individual achievement. A class consists of a set of
people who share similar status based on factors
like wealth, income, education, family background,
and occupation. In this system of stratification, a
person is born into a social ranking but can move
up or down from it much more easily than in caste
systems or slave societies. This movement in either
direction is primarily the result of a person's own
effort, knowledge, and skills or lack of them

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 CASTE SYSTEM VS. CLASS SYSTEM
Caste Class

• Castes are perceived as hereditary groups with a fixed ritual status • A person’s Class is based on social status, wealth and power acquired, level
according to Max Weber’s phraseology of education and other achievements.

• A person belonging to certain caste has to follow certain traditions, rituals • A person belonging to a certain class is not bound by customs, rituals or
and customs traditions.

• Inter caste marriage leads to disputes between family members and • If there is a marriage between two people belonging to different classes, it
members of different castes. does not evoke any kind of disputes between members of different Class.

• Occupational mobility is one of the biggest banes of the Caste system. A • Social class does not act as a hindrance to occupational mobility. A person
person has to continue in the line of work of his ancestors irrespective of belonging to any class can change his occupations based on his skills,
his interest, education and skills. education and interests.

• The caste system has religious connotations. • The class system is not based on any religion.

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 MARX PERSPECTIVE ABOUT
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• In Marx’s view, social stratification is created by
people’s differing relationship to the means of
production: either they own productive property or
they labor for others.

PROLETARIAT BOURGEOISIE
CLASS
• In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production
consists of two main economic parts: the
Substructure and the Superstructure
- Superstructure: The ideas, philosophies, and culture
that are built upon the means of production.
- Substructure: The base of society, which in Marxist
terms includes relations of production.

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 WEBER PERSPECTIVE ABOUT
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• Social stratification has been viewed by Weber in
three dimensions: 1) economic class, 2) social status,
and 3) political power.

1. Class is a person’s economic position in a society,

based on birth and individual achievement. Weber
differs from Marx in that he did not see this as the
supreme factor in stratification. Weber noted that
managers of corporations or industries control firms
they do not own; Marx would have placed such a
person in the proletariat.

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 WEBER PERSPECTIVE ABOUT
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
2. Status refers to a person’s prestige, social honor, or
popularity in a society. Weber noted that political power
was not rooted solely in capital value, but also in one’s
individual status.

3. Power refers to a person’s ability to get their way

despite the resistance of others.

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SOCIAL MOBILITY AND ITS TYPES
WHAT IS SOCIAL MOBILITY?
• Social mobility refers to the shift in an individual’s social
status from one status to another.

ORIGIN OF SOCIAL MOBILITY

CONCEPT
• Russian-born American sociologist and political activist
Pitirim Sorokin first introduced the concept of social
mobility in his book “Social and Cultural Mobility”. He
was of the opinion that there is no society which is
closed (Caste System in India) and no society which is
completely open (Class System). He further contended
that no two societies are exactly same in the amount of
movement allowed or discouraged. Further the speed of
movement or change may differ from one period of time
to another. The rate of change depends upon the level of
modernization of a given society.
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 TYPES OF SOCIAL MOBILITY
1. HORIZONTAL MOBILITY
• This occurs when a person changes their occupation but their overall social standing remains unchanged.
2. VERTICAL MOBILITY
• This refers to a change in the occupational, political, or religious status of a person that causes a change in
their societal position.
3. UPWARD MOBILITY
• This is when a person moves from a lower position in society to a higher one. It can also include people
occupying higher positions in the same societal group.
4. DOWNWARD MOBILITY
• It takes place when a person moves from a higher position in society to a lower one.
5. INTER-GENERATIONAL MOBILITY
• This refers to social mobility that takes place between generations.

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 TYPES OF SOCIAL MOBILITY
5. INTER-GENERATIONAL MOBILITY
• This type of mobility means that one generation changes its social status in contrast to preceding generation.
6. INTRA-GENERATIONALMOBILITY
• This refers to a change or changes in the social status of an individual or group of individuals within the same
generation.
This can be further divided into two:
• (a) Change in the position of one individual in his life span
• (b) Change in the position of one brother but no change in the position of another brother.

7. STRUCTURAL OR ABSOLUTE MOBILITY

• This is a kind of vertical mobility. Structural mobility refers to mobility that is brought about by changes in
stratification hierarchy itself. It is a vertical movement of a specific group, class or occupation relative to
others in the stratification system. It is a type of forced mobility for it takes place because of the structural
changes and not because of individual attempts.

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 • MOTIVATION
• ACHIEVEMENT AND FAILURES
• EDUCATION
FACTORS • SKILL AND TRAININGS

RESPONSIBLE FOR • MIGRATION

• INDUSTRIALIZATION
SOCIAL MOBILITY • URBANIZATION
• LEGISLATION
• POLITICISATION
• MODERNIZATION

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 • Sociologists believe that social mobility is a
good benchmark to measure the success of a
democratic society.

• When individuals have a high degree of

IMPORTANCE OF mobility and are able to easily change their
circumstances to fit their own needs, a society
SOCIAL MOBILITY will prosper.

• On the other hand, when the roles and social

positions in society are rigid, this will stifle
growth.

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 GENDER STRATIFICATION
• Gender is more than differences in how women and men are expected to behave.

• Gender is also an important dimension of social stratification

• Men have traditionally been and are placed in positions of power over this day.

DEFINITION
• Gender: personal traits and social positions that's members of a society attach to
being male or female

• Gender Stratification: the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege between
men and women.

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PATRIARCHY
• a form of social organization in which makes dominate females.

• the practice of giving males more status, power and

authority than women.

• patriarchy is the most pervasive form of institutional sexism.

EXAMPLES
• Men dominating a conversation

• Men assuming a controlling role such as in

business

• Men assuming that women are less competent

• Men excluding women from "men's" events such

as business or recreational activities. °(sports)
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MATRIARCHY
• a form of social organization in which makes dominate females.

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 SEXISM
• belief that one sex is innately superior to the other.

INDIVIDUAL SEXISM
• the belief that one sex's is superior to the other

INSTITUTIONAL SEXISM
• policies, practices and procedures that result in unequal outcome for men and women.

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 RACIAL AND ETHNIC STRATIFICATION
• Refers to systems of inequality in which some fixed
groups membership, such as race, religion, or national
origin is a major criterion for ranking social positions and
their differential rewards.
RACE AND
RACE
ETHNICITY • used to categorize people who share biological
traits that’s a society thinks are important
• is socially defined on the basis of a presumed
common genetic heritage resulting in distinguishing
physical characteristics.

ETHNICITY
• refers to the condition of being culturally rather
than physically distinctive. Ethnic peoples are
bound together by virtue of common ancestry and
a common cultural background.

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 What is the difference between race and
ethnicity?
• Race refers to the concept of dividing people into groups on the basis of various sets of physical characteristics
and the process of ascribing social meaning to those groups. Ethnicity describes the culture of people in a given
geographic region, including their language, heritage, religion and customs.

What do race and ethnicity

have in common?
• “Race” is usually associated with biology and linked with physical characteristics such as skin color or hair
texture. “Ethnicity” is linked with cultural expression and identification. However, both are social constructs
used to categorize and characterize seemingly distinct populations.

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 SOCIAL INEQUALITY
• Social inequality is the existence of unequal
opportunities and rewards for different social
positions or statuses within a group or society.

• Social inequality condition in which members

of a society have different amounts of wealth,
prestige, and power.

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 INCOME

• wages or salary from work and earnings from

DIMENSIONS OF investments.

WEALTH
SOCIAL • the total value of money and other assets,
INEQUALITY minus outstanding debts. Wealth includes
stocks, bonds, and real estate is distributed
even less equally than income.

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 DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY
OCCUPATIONAL PRESTIGE
• In addition to being a source of income, work also provides social prestige. We commonly evaluate each
other according to the kind of work we do, respecting some and looking down on others.

SCHOOLING
• Industrial societies make schooling widely available to prepare workers for specialized tasks. Schooling
affects both occupation and income.

ANCESTRY
• Family is our point of entry into the social system and has a strong bearing in schooling, occupation, and
income.

RELIGION
• Episcopalians and Presbyterians have significantly higher social standing, on average, than Lutherans and
Baptists. Jews also have high social standing and Roman Catholics hold a more modest position.

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 Political Inequality
• The inequality in which there is no civic equality in
front of the law.
Income and Wealth Inequality
• It is the outcome or result which is primarily in the
earnings of individuals.
Life Inequality
TYPES OF SOCIAL • This refers to inequalities of opportunities if
provided can improve the quality of life.
INEQUALITY Inequality of treatment and responsibility

• Although this idea is less examined but it generates

problems in agency and responsibility.

Inequality of Membership
• This exists in the membership of faith, family and
nation.

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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE OF SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION

1. FUNCTIONALISM (DAVIS AND MOORE)

2. CONFLICT THEORY (KARL MARX
3. SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

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 • Functionalist theories of social stratification are based on Émile Durkheim's
assertion that society is a system of interconnected institutions. These
institutions have unique purposes, and they all depend on one another to
perform their core functions.

• DAVIS-MOORE THESIS - stratification exists because there are

important roles to be played within the institutions whose core
functions keep society running smoothly. stratification, in this sense, is
necessary.

FUNCTIONALISM • Davis & Moore (1945) pioneered one of the most influential (but
controversial) structural-functionalist perspectives on social
(DAVIS & MOORE) stratification. They argued that stratification is inevitable across
all societies. This is because of a 'motivational problem' inherent
in societies; they always give the most important and highly-
rewarded roles to the most qualified people.

• Many scholars have criticized the Davis-Moore thesis. In 1953, Melvin

Tumin argued that it does not explain inequalities in the education
system or inequalities due to race or gender. Tumin believed social
stratification prevented qualified people from attempting to fill roles
(Tumin 1953).

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 • Conflict theory, first developed by Karl Marx, is a theory
that society is in a state of perpetual conflict because
of competition for limited resources.

• Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by

CONFLICT THEORY domination and power, rather than by consensus and
(KARL MARX) conformity. According to conflict theory, those with wealth
and power try to hold on to it by any means possible,
chiefly by suppressing the poor and powerless. A basic
premise of conflict theory is that individuals and groups
within society will work to try to maximize their own
wealth and power.

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 • Consistent with its micro orientation, symbolic
interactionism tries to understand stratification by
looking at people’s interaction and understandings in
their daily lives. Unlike the functionalist and conflict
SYMBOLIC views, it does not try to explain why we have
stratification in the first place. Rather, it examines the
differences that stratification makes for people’s
INTERACTIONISM lifestyles and their interaction with other people.

• According to symbolic interactionism, social class affects

how people interact in everyday life and how they view
certain aspects of the social world.

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