describe inequalities that exist between individuals

and groups within human societies, a universal and

inevitable phenomena.
 Inequality/Difference
Natural/ Social
Physical-
biological Conditions of
based Existence
inequality
Sex Gender
Age Privileges
Health Talents
Mental health Power
Body strength Prestige
Skin color Status
Materialistic Possessions
/Property
Dimensions of Social Stratification; Class, Caste, Power and Gender are also important
determinants of social stratification.
 Social differentiation- distinction among individuals with respect to
their characteristics or social roles without necessity of inequality or
ranking
 Social inequality- condition whereby people have unequal access to
valued resources, services and positions in society
 Social stratification- layered hierarchy and inequality –
 1. hardened institutionalized backed by social structures and long-standing social
norms.
 2- inequality is based on who gets what, based on membership in a group
Egalitarian society

 Egalitarian society- a society in which all members are

equal in such society, people are no longer be ranked in
terms of prestige, no one will experience the satisfaction
of occupying a high social status, no one will suffer the
indignity of being put in a position that commands little
respect.
 No longer will high status provoke deference and
admiration or envy and resentment from those in less
worthy positions.
 Wealth will be distributed equally among the population
and rich and poor, haves and have-nots will be a thing of
past. Word such as privilege and poverty wither, change
their meaning or disappear form the vocabulary.
 Power to people become a reality. There will be an end
to some people having power over others, positions of
authority and obedience they command will disappear.
 Concepts of exploitation and oppression will have no
place in contemporary social reality. People will be equal
in the sight of god and in the eyes of their fellow people.
 THE CONCEPT
 Socially sanctioned and recognized manifestation of inequality and differences in
society.
 A relatively fixed, hierarchical arrangement in society by which groups have different
access to resources, power, and perceived social worth.
 It refers that someone is superior and enjoys more privileges while someone is
inferior and carries certain social disabilities.
 Life chances- chances of obtaining what is desirable and avoiding what is undesirable
 Social stratification: division of society into various strata, ranking of society in
layers. A stratum is a collectivity of people occupying similar positions, similar
interests and similar lifestyle in the hierarchical order.
 All societies in the world- arrange their members on some variable, a scale of
valuation.
 How sociologists say…
 Karl Marx: "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."
 Max Weber: "Social stratification is the division of a society into layers (or strata) whose occupants have
unequal access to social opportunities and rewards."
 Emile Durkheim: "Social stratification is a natural and necessary consequence of the need to ensure the most
important functions are performed by the most qualified people."
 Talcott Parsons- Stratification in it is valuational aspect, is the ranking of units in a social system in
accordance with the common value system.
 Ogburn & Nimcoff: The process by which individuals and groups are ranked in a more or less enduring
hierarchy of status is known as social stratification.
 Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore: "Social stratification refers to the unequal distribution of resources among
individuals and groups."
 M. M. Tumin: Arrangement of any social group or society into hierarchy of positions that are unequal with
regard to power, property, social evaluation or psychic gratifications.
 C. Wright Mills: "Social stratification is the ways in which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy."
 Pierre Bourdieu: "Social stratification represents the structured inequalities between different groups of
people, as they are embedded in social institutions."
Characteristics
 It is social
 It is external to individual
 It is universal and inevitable
 It is ancient
 It is relatively permanent in nature
 Still dynamic- it is not same as it used to be
 Ordering or hierarchy
 Relative to time and place
 People of one social group have similar life chances, etc.
Slavery

 Slavery existed alongside classes in ancient Greece and Rome, and in the
Southern United States before the Civil War of the 1860s.
 This is undoubtedly the worst form of social stratification. It involves some
people owning others as they do with cattle. The law of the land requires that
a slave must do what his master wants.
 Slavery dehumanises people. Slave owners treat slaves as naturally inferior.
It is said some people are born to be masters and others slaves.
 When slaves are indoctrinated like this, they lose the ambition to do greater
things than serving their masters. Without self-respect and self-confidence,
people cannot achieve much.
How did some become slaves of others?

 Some became slaves after failing to pay debts they owed someone. Since
they could not pay back in cash, they had to do so in kind by working for the
creditor without pay.
 The commonest sources of slaves were wars. People captured in a war were
taken as captives and turned into slaves.
 Others became slaves when they committed crimes. If someone killed a
person, the aggrieved family may demand that one member from the family
that committed the crime be surrendered as a slave as compensation or
punishment.
 The worst example of slavery existed between the 16th and 20th centuries
when millions of Africans were captured in tribal wars and taken across the
Atlantic Ocean where they were sold as slaves.
Estates
 In Europe until middle ages
 Emerged in ancient roman empire
 Each estate is marked by distinctive style of life
 Represents a hierarchy

 According to Bottomore-
 Legal basis of estates
 Estates representing division of labor like clergy to perform prayers and religious
activities, nobles to fight and defend from enemies, and commoners to provide services
and goods
 Estates used to function as three political groups

 Serfdom, condition in medieval Europe in which a tenant farmer was bound to a

hereditary plot of land and to the will of his landlord. The vast majority of serfs in
medieval Europe obtained their subsistence by cultivating a plot of land that was
owned by a lord.
Brahmins scholars and
spiritual leaders
Kshatriyas soldiers
and rulers
Vaishyas farmers and
merchants
Shudras labourers and
artisans
Untouchables oppressed people
What is Caste?
 D N Majumdar and T N Madan- Caste is a closed group.
 C H Cooley- When class is somewhat strictly hereditary,
we may call it a caste.
 A W Green- Caste is a system of stratification in which
mobility up and down the status ladder, at least ideally
may not occur.
 S V Ketkar- Caste is a group having 2 characteristics-
 i. Membership is confined to those who are born of members and includes
all persons so born
 ii. The members are forbidden by an inexorable social law to marry
outside the group.
G S Ghurye- Features of caste
G S Ghurye highlights six structural features of caste system as follows:
(Book- Caste, class and occupation-1932)
 1) Segmental division of society:
Under Caste System society is divided into several small social groups called
castes. Each of these castes is a well developed social group, the membership
which is based on birth. Since membership is based on birth, mobility from one
caste to another is impossible. Each caste has its own traditional social status,
occupations, caste-councils, customs rules and regulations.
 2) Hierarchy:
According to Prof Ghurye each of the linguistics areas, there are about 200
castes which can be graded and arranged into a hierarchy on the basis of their
social precedence. At the top of this hierarchy is the touchable caste.
 3) Restriction of commensality and social intercourse:
Every caste imposes restrictions on its members with regard to food drink and
social inter-course. The general rule is that the member of caste should
accept ‘Kachcha food’ the food in the preparation of which waster is added
only from either their own caste of caste ritually higher that their own. They
are also required to observe certain restrictions while accepting water from
members of other castes.
 4) Differential civil and religious privileges and disabilities:
In a caste society, there is an un-equal distribution of privileges and
disabilities among its members. While the higher caste people enjoy all the
privilege, the lower caste people suffer from all kinds of disabilities.
 5) Lack of unrestricted choice of occupation:
Choice of occupation is not free under Caste System. Each caste or a group of
allied castes is traditionally associated with a particular occupation.
Occupations are hereditary and the members of a caste are expected to
follow their traditional occupation without fail.
 6) Restriction of marriage:
Castes are divided into sub-castes and each sub-caste is an endogamous
group. Endogamy, according to some thinkers is the essence of Caste System.
Every caste or sub-caste insists that its members should marry within the
group.
 Class
 Class has multiple manifestations like in terms of occupational
prestige and in terms of materialistic possessions

 There is no agreement amongst social scientists as to not only

the number of classes in existence but also the standards that
determine who belongs to which class. The categories used by
researchers to segregate people into social classes are arbitrary
and artificial.
 Max Weber – held that "classes are aggregate of individuals who have
the same opportunities of acquiring goods. The same exhibited
standard of living.
 According to Giddens (2000), “A class is a large-scale grouping of
people who share common economic resources, which strongly
influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead”.
 Horton and Hunt (1968) writes: “A social class is defined as a stratum
of people of similar position in the social status continuum.”
Characteristics of class system
 Class system is based on occupation, wealth, education,
age, sex
 Hierarchy of status group. In general there are 3 class –
upper middle & lower. Status, prestige & role is attached.
Upper class are less in no in comparison to the other two
whereas their status & prestige is most. This is like a
pyramid. Karl max (Rich & poor) preliterate &
 Feeling of superiority & inferiority. In these 3 classes
there are such feelings the upper class people feel they
are superior to the other two whereas the lower class
feels it is inferior to the upper class.
 Class consciousness – wherever a class is formed this feeling a
consciousness is a must. There should be feeling of in group i.e. I
belong class conflict is due to this the people of the preliterate class
feel the upper class exploits them their they unite revolt. The
behavior action is determined by this class consciousness.
 Sub-classes, class is divided into different groups. Similar to caste
system, the class system is divided.
 Class system is an open system.
 There's social restriction in this too. In general there is endogamy in a
class. To maintain their status & position they mix among themselves
& it is seldom that marriage between upper & lower class is wished.
Distinction between Caste & class. They are the two phenomena of
social stratification (Stratification is division of society on the basis of
birth).