G.
Social and political stratification (UCSP11/12HSOIIIc-
30)
Social stratification is a society's categorization of people into
socioeconomic strata, based upon their occupation and income,
wealth and social status, or derived power (social and political).
As such, stratification is the relative social position of persons
within a social group, category, geographic region, or social unit.
In modern Western societies, social stratification typically is
distinguished as three social classes: (i) the upper class, (ii) the
middle class, and (iii) the lower class; in turn, each class can be
subdivided into strata, e.g. the upper-stratum, the middle-
stratum, and the lower stratum. Moreover, a social stratum can
be formed upon the bases of kinship or caste, or both.
The categorization of people by social strata occurs in all
societies, ranging from the complex, state-based societies to
tribal and feudal societies, which are based upon socio-economic
relations among classes of nobility and classes of peasants.
Historically, whether or not hunter-gatherer societies can be
defined as socially stratified or if social stratification began with
agriculture and common acts of social exchange, remains a
debated matter in the social sciences.[2] Determining the
structures of social stratification arises from inequalities of
status among persons, therefore, the degree of social inequality
determines a person's social stratum. Generally, the greater the
social complexity of a society, the more social strata exist, by way
of social differentiation.1
1. Social desirables
The three-component theory of stratification,
more widely known as Weberian stratification or
the three class system, was developed by German
sociologist Max Weber with class, status and power
as distinct ideal types. Weber developed a
multidimensional approach to social stratification
that reflects the interplay among wealth, prestige
and power.
Weber argued that power can take a variety of
forms. A person’s power can be shown in the social
order through their status, in the economic order
through their class, and in the political order
through their party. Thus, class, status and party are
each aspects of the distribution of power within a
community.
1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_stratification
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-component_theory_of_stratification
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_mobility
4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_class_system
Class, status and party have not only a great deal of
effect within their individual areas but also a great
deal of influence over the other areas.
- Wealth: includes property such as buildings,
lands, farms, houses, factories and as well as
other assets - Economic Situation
- Prestige: the respect with which a person or
status position is regarded by others - Status
Situation
- Power: the ability of people or groups to
achieve their goals despite opposition from
others – Parties
According to Weber, there are two basic
dimensions of power: the possession of power and
the exercising of power.2
2. Social mobility system
Social mobility is the movement of individuals,
families, households, or other categories of people
within or between social strata in a society. It is a
change in social status relative to others' social
location within a given society.3
a. Open (class)
is the stratification that facilitates social
mobility, with individual achievement and
personal merit determining social rank. The
hierarchical social status of a person is achieved
through their effort. Any status that is based on
family background, ethnicity, gender, and
religion, which is also known as ascribed status,
becomes less important. There is no distinct
line between the classes and there would be
more positions within that status. Core
industrial nations seem to have more of an ideal
open class system.4
In open stratification systems status is achieved
through merit, and effort. This is sometimes
known as meritocracy.5
Though the extent to which individuals have
social mobility in the United States is debated,
new members of the elite are evidence that
there is some mobility between classes.
President Barack Obama was born to a family
without wealth and faced racial discrimination,
but achieved the highest office in the country
as a result of his personal achievements.
In modern western Europe, status depends on
individual educational and professional
attainment, meaning that people are ranked
based on achieved status.6
b. Closed (caste)
is a form of social stratification characterized by
endogamy, hereditary transmission of a
lifestyle which often includes an occupation,
ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social
interaction and exclusion based on cultural
notions of purity and pollution. Its paradigmatic
ethnographic example is the division of society
into rigid social groups, with roots in ancient
5 http://sociologysixthform.blogspot.com/2009/11/open-closed-stratification-
systems.html
6 https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-
textbook/stratification-inequality-and-social-class-in-the-u-s-9/social-mobility-
76/open-vs-closed-stratification-systems-451-3311/
 history and persisting until today. Sometimes,
sociologists and anthropologists study the
caste-like social divisions existing in various
countries by using the Indian caste system as an
analogical basis for research. The term caste-
system is also applied to non-human
populations like ants and bees.7
- Castes are most often stratified by race or
ethnicity, economic status, or religious status.
- Castes have been noted in societies all over the
world throughout history, though they are
mistakenly often assumed to be a tradition
specific to India.
- Historically, the caste system in India consisted
of four well known categories: Brahmins
(priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas
(commerce), Shudras (workmen). Some
people left out of these four caste
classifications were called "outcasts" or
"untouchables" and were shunned and
ostracized.8
3. Social Inequality
Social inequality occurs when resources in a given
society are distributed unevenly, typically through
norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns
along lines of socially defined categories of persons.
Economic inequality, usually described on the basis
of the unequal distribution of income or wealth, is a
frequently studied type of social inequality. Though
the disciplines of economics and sociology
generally use different theoretical approaches to
examine and explain economic inequality, both
fields are actively involved in researching this
inequality. However, social and natural resources
other than purely economic resources are also
unevenly distributed in most societies and may
contribute to social status. Norms of allocation can
also affect the distribution of rights and privileges,
social power, access to public goods such as
education or the judicial system, adequate housing,
transportation, credit and financial services such as
banking and other social goods and services.9
a. Access to social, political, and symbolic
capital
Social capital is a form of economic and cultural
capital in which social networks are central,
transactions are marked by reciprocity, trust,
and cooperation, and market agents produce
goods and services not mainly for themselves,
but for a common good.
The term generally refers to (a) resources, and
the value of these resources, both tangible
(public spaces, private property) and intangible
("actors", "human capital", people), (b) the
relationships among these resources, and (c)
the impact that these relationships have on the
resources involved in each relationship, and on
larger groups. It is generally seen as a form of
7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste
8 https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-
textbook/global-stratification-and-inequality-8/systems-of-stratification-
67/caste-systems-398-3426/
9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_inequality
capital that produces public goods for a
common good.10
Political capital refers to the trust, goodwill,
and influence a politician has with the public
and other political figures. This goodwill is a
type of invisible currency that politicians can
use to mobilize the voting public or spend on
policy reform.11
In sociology and anthropology, symbolic
capital can be referred to as the resources
available to an individual on the basis of honor,
prestige or recognition, and serves as value
that one holds within a culture. A war hero, for
example, may have symbolic capital in the
context of running for political office.
Theorists have argued that symbolic capital
accumulates primarily from the fulfillment of
social obligations that are themselves
embedded with potential for prestige. Much as
with the accumulation of financial capital,
symbolic capital is 'rational' in that it can be
freely converted into leveraging advantage
within social and political spheres. Yet unlike
financial capital, symbolic capital is not
boundless, and its value may be limited or
magnified by the historical context in which it
was accumulated. Symbolic capital must be
identified within the cultural and historical
frame through which it originated in order to
fully explain its influence across cultures. 12
b. Gender inequality
Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment
or perceptions of individuals based on their
gender. It arises from differences in socially
constructed gender roles. Gender systems are
often dichotomous and hierarchical; gender
binary systems may reflect the inequalities that
manifest in numerous dimensions of daily life.
Gender inequality stems from distinctions,
whether empirically grounded or socially
constructed. (On differences between the
sexes, see Sex and psychology.)13
Sex- and gender-based prejudice and
discrimination, called sexism, are major
contributing factors to social inequality. Most
societies, even agricultural ones, have some
sexual division of labor and gender-based
division of labor tends to increase during
industrialization.[18] The emphasis on gender
inequality is born out of the deepening division
in the roles assigned to men and women,
particularly in the economic, political and
educational spheres. Women are
underrepresented in political activities and
decision making processes in most states in
both the Global North and Global South.14
c. Ethnic minorities
Racial or ethnic inequality is the result of
hierarchical social distinctions between racial
10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital
11 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_capital
12 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_capital
13 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_inequality
14 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_inequality
 and ethnic categories within a society and often
established based on characteristics such as
skin color and other physical characteristics or
an individual's place of origin or culture. Even
though race has no biological connection, it has
become a socially constructed category
capable of restricting or enabling social status.15
Sociologist Louis Wirth defined a minority
group as "a group of people who, because of
their physical or cultural characteristics, are
singled out from the others in the society in
which they live for differential and unequal
treatment, and who therefore regard
themselves as objects of collective
discrimination." This definition includes both
objective and subjective criteria: membership
of a minority group is objectively ascribed by
society, based on an individual's physical or
behavioral characteristics; it is also subjectively
applied by its members, who may use their
status as the basis of group identity or
solidarity. In any case, minority group status is
categorical in nature: an individual who exhibits
the physical or behavioral characteristics of a
given minority group will be accorded the
status of that group and be subject to the same
treatment as other members of that group.
Theories of Global Inequality
 Market-oriented theories, such as modernization
theory, claim that cultural and institutional barriers to
development explain the poverty of low-income
societies. In this view, to eliminate poverty, fatalistic
attitudes must be overcome, government meddling in
economic affairs ended, and a high rate of savings and
investment encouraged.
 Dependency theories claim that global poverty is the
result of the exploitation of poor countries by wealthy
ones. Dependent development theory argues that even
though the economic fate of poor countries is ultimately
determined by wealthy ones, some development is
possible within dependent capitalistic relations.
 World-systems theory focuses on the relationships
among core, peripheral, and semiperipheral countries in
the global economy; long-term trends in the global
economy; and global commodity chains that erase
national borders.
 State-centered theories emphasize the role of
governments in fostering economic development.
These theories draw on the experience of the rapidly
growing East Asian newly industrializing economies. 17

d. Other minorities (e.g. persons with disabilities)

The disability rights movement has contributed
to an understanding of people with disabilities
(including not to be called 'disabled') as a
minority or a coalition of minorities who are
disadvantaged by society, not just as people
who are disadvantaged by their impairments.
Advocates of disability rights emphasize
difference in physical or psychological
functioning, rather than inferiority—for
example, some people with autism argue for
acceptance of neurodiversity, much as
opponents of racism argue for acceptance of
ethnic diversity. The deaf community is often
regarded as a linguistic and cultural minority
rather than a group with disabilities, and some
deaf people do not see themselves as having a
disability at all. Rather, they are disadvantaged
by technologies and social institutions that are
designed to cater for the dominant group. 16

c. Global Inequality (relationships between states

and non-state actors in the global community)

Global Inequality: Differences among Countries

- Countries can be stratified according to their

per-person gross national product. Forty
percent of the world's population live in low-
income countries, compared with only 16
percent in high-income countries.

- An estimated 1.3 billion people, or nearly one in

four people, live in poverty today, an increase
since the early 1980s. Many are the victims of
discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or tribal
affiliation.

15 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_inequality 17
16 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minority_group http://www.wwnorton.com/college/soc/introductiontosociology8/ch/09/outline
.aspx