Chapter 10
Social Stratification
Basic Principles
• A trait of society
– Doesn’t reflect individual differences, but
society’s structure
• Persists over generations
– Social mobility happens slowly
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Basic Principles
• Universal but variable
– While universal, it varies in type
• Involves not just inequality, but beliefs
– Ideologies justify existence of social
stratification
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The Caste System
• Birth determines social position in four
ways:
– Occupation
– Marriage within caste
– Social life is restricted to “own kind”
– Belief systems are often tied to religious
dogma
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Class Systems
• Social mobility for people with education
and skills
• All people gain equal standing before the
law
• Work involves some personal choice
• Meritocracy: Based on personal merit
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Class Systems
• Status consistency–Degree of uniformity in
a person's social standing across various
– Dimensions of social inequality
• A caste system has limited social mobility
and high status consistency
• The greater mobility of class systems
produces less status consistency
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Caste and Class Systems
• Aristocratic England: Caste-like system of
aristocracy
• First estate: Church leaders
– Second estate: Aristocracy
– Third estate: Commoners
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Caste and Class Systems
• The United Kingdom Today
– Caste elements still evident
– Commoners control the government
– Mixed caste elements and meritocracy
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The Caste System
• Many of the world’s societies are caste
systems
• Caste system is illegal, but elements
survive
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Caste and Class Systems
• Japan
– Nobility, samurai, commoners, burakumin
(outcasts)
• Former Soviet Union
– Feudal estate system
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Caste and Class Systems
– Russian revolution “classless society”
– Perestroika “restructuring”
• China
– Economic change
– A new class system
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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Ideology
• Plato
– Every culture considers some type of
inequality just
• Marx
– Capitalist society keep wealth & power for few
• Spencer
– “Survival of the fittest”
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The Davis-Moore Thesis
• The greater the importance of a position,
the more rewards a society attaches to it
• Egalitarian societies offer little incentive for
people to try their best
• A society considered more important must
reward enough to draw talented people
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Karl Marx: Class and Conflict
• Most people have one of two relationships
with the means of production
– Bourgeoisie own productive property
– The proletariat works for the bourgeoisie
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Karl Marx: Class and Conflict
• Capitalism creates great inequality in
power and wealth
• Oppression would drive working majority
to organize and overthrow capitalism
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Why No Marxist Revolution?
•
•
•
•
Fragmentation of the capitalist class
Higher standard of living
More worker organizations
More extensive legal protections
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Was Marx Right?
• Wealth remains highly concentrated.
• White-collar jobs offer no more income,
– Security, or satisfaction than factory work did
a century ago
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Was Marx Right?
• Current workers’ benefits came from
struggle
– Workers have lost benefits recently
• Ordinary people still face disadvantages
that the law cannot overcome
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Max Weber: Class, Status, and
Power
• Socioeconomic status (SES)
– Composite ranking based on various
dimensions of social inequality
• Status
• Power
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Max Weber: Class, Status, and
Power
• Inequality in history
• Class position
– Viewed classes as a continuum from high to
low
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Stratification and Interaction
• Differences in social class position can
affect interaction
• People interact primarily with others of
similar social standing
• Conspicuous consumption
– Buying & using products because of the
"statement" they make
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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Stratification and Technology: A
Global Perspective
•
•
•
•
Hunting and gathering societies
Horticultural, pastoral, & agrarian societies
Industrial societies
The Kuznets curve
– Greater technological sophistication generally
• Is accompanied by more pronounced social
stratification
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© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
© 2013 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Social Stratification
• Vonnegut: An egalitarian society can exist
– Only if everyone is reduced to the lowest
common denominator
• Davis-Moore thesis: Class differences
reflect variation in human abilities
– And the relative importance of different jobs
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Social Stratification
• Marx: Inequality causes human suffering
and conflict; social stratification springs
– From injustice and greed
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