What is Social Stratification and Class system

 Introduction: 

Every culture has different high and low ranks for its citizens. Social stratification is the division of a society's members into groups according to their status. This distribution may take into account factors like occupation, caste, education, income sources, status, and political influence. The individuals obtain these resources and enroll in a class. In this fashion, stratification—the division of society into a few classes, often high, middle, and low—occurs.

A specific type of social inequality is social stratification. Every society sets up its members according to superiority, inferiority, and equality. The process through which some people rise to a higher position than others is known as stratification.

In a nutshell, social stratification is the process by which individuals and groups are evaluated in a hierarchy of status levels based on the inequality of social positions and some generally acknowledged basis of assessment. The division of society into various strata or layers is referred to as social stratification. A hierarchy of social groups is involved. A certain layer's members share a common identity. They both lead similar lives.

 

Definitions:

According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, "Stratification is the process through which individuals and groups are classified in a more or less enduring hierarchy of status."

According to Lundberg, "a stratified society is one that is characterized by inequality, by distinctions between people that they perceive to be "lower" and "upper,"

According to Gisbert, social stratification is the permanent partition of society into groups of categories that are connected to one another through relationships of superiority and subordination.

Social stratification, according to Raymond W. Murray, is the horizontal division of society into "higher" and "lower" social divisions.

 

Ø The origin of stratification:

There are numerous opinions about the genesis of stratification.

(i)  Davis contends that social stratification is a result of the social system's need for it to function.

(ii) Professor Sorokin claimed that social stratification was primarily caused by inherited variations in environmental circumstances.

(iii) According to Karl Marx, social causes, or social stratification, are to blame for the creation of various social strata.

(iv) Gumplowioz and others argued that the conquering of one group by another was the cause of social stratification.

(v) Spengler contends that social stratification is based on scarcity, which arises whenever society makes positive functional and power distinctions.

(vi) Stratification is also influenced by racial differences and dissimilarity.

 

Ø Social stratification characteristics include:

The following aspects of social stratification may exist based on an examination of the various definitions offered by renowned academics.

(a) Social stratification occurs everywhere: There isn't a society in existence that isn't stratified. Comparing modern stratification to that of prehistoric societies is not appropriate. It is an international phenomenon. "All permanently structured groupings are stratified," claims Sorokin.

(b) Stratification is social: It is true that one's superiority and inferiority are not based on biological characteristics. Age, sex, intelligence, and physical prowess are frequently used as criteria for classifying statues. Biological characteristics, however, are determined to be less significant than one's education, wealth, position, authority, expertise, character, personality, etc. As a result, stratification is fundamentally social.

(c) It is old: The system of stratification is quite old. Even the tiny curious bonds contained it. The affluent and the poor, the humble and the strong, existed in practically all ancient civilizations. Political, social, and economic inequalities were emphasized during the time of Plato and Kautilya.

(d) It takes on a variety of shapes: Stratification takes on different shapes in different civilizations. The three main categories of stratification in the modern world are class, caste, and estate. Caste is a unique sort of stratification that exists in India. The Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Sudras were the four varnas that made up the ancient Aryas. Ancient Romans were split into particians and plebians, whereas the Greeks were separated into freemen and slaves. Therefore, social stratification takes many different shapes in any civilization, whether it is modern or historical, large or tiny.

 

What is Social Stratification and Class system

Ø CLASS

"A group of people possessing more or less comparable economic resources and showing a similar level of life in a society," according to Karl Marx, is what class is.

According to Max Weber, "social classes are groups of people who share the same opportunities to buy things and the same exhibited level of life."

According to Lapir, a social class is a group that is culturally defined and is given a specific status within the population as a whole.

In a society, there are typically three classes: high, middle, and bottom. In order to conduct in-depth research, we occasionally divide each class into three categories, for a total of nine categories:

 

1. Upper Class

    Upper Upper Class

    Upper Middle Class

    Upper Lower Class

2. Middle Class

    Middle upper Class

    Middle Middle Class

    Middle Lower Class

3. Lower Class

     Upper Lower Class

     Middle Lower Class

     Lower Lower Class

Karl Marx developed the concept of class conflict. According to him, social classes are created by the unequal distribution of economic resources. These classes are still existing and are only capable of surviving if they engage in conflict with other classes. In a society, categorization breeds hostility, conflict, and criminal activity, among other societal ills. Private property ownership is encouraged by capitalism, which enables the formation of social classes. Socialism eliminates social classes and discourages private property ownership.

 According to him, capitalism will continue to rule the world unless socialism takes it over completely. However, the dissolution of the USSR (Union of Socialist Soviet Republic) into numerous independent states caused this experiment to fail in Russia. These manors evolved into republics. Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan are included among them.

  What is Social Stratification and Class system

Ø Class nature and characteristics:

Class - A group state: In essence, a social class is a status group.

Based on accomplished status: Social class is determined by attained status rather than the status that is given to a person. However, it is also decided in Pakistan based on ascribed status.

Class system is universal: The class system is a global phenomenon that exists in all communities around the globe.

Social class is an open group: Social class is an open group because it comprises an open social structure that allows for vertical social mobility.

A social or economic class:The majority of social class is based on economics. Social class is largely determined by wealth, income, property, education, and occupation.

Feeling of "class consciousness": Members of a social class are conscious and share a sense of class identity.


 What is Social Stratification and Class system What is Social Stratification and Class system