wednesday, may 14, 2008

Economic Social Stratification of Bangladesh

Social stratification of Bangladeshi society on the basis of wealth and income is very similar to
the scenario of the other third world country. It is broadly divided into three classes: high class,
middle class and lower class. The imagery of stratification formulated by Karl Marx is of a very
different kind. Rejecting the multilayered view of society, Marx emphasized a simple, sharp
economic division between groups- or classes. Marx knew that in the short run many other
differences between groups were significant, but in the long run he believed the essential
division to be between hose who own the means of production in capitalistic societies. The
sociologist Max Weber agreed with some of Marx’s views, but he felt that Marx had
oversimplified the terms of stratification. According to Weber, social stratification is not a matter
of economic status alone. Weber identified three distinct but related dimensions of social
stratification: economic status or wealth, political status or power, and social status or prestige.
Attainment of one of these statuses, Weber emphasized, does not necessarily imply attainment of
others. In short, social position is a far more complex phenomenon than Marx envisioned1. In the
context of Bangladesh there are different social groups in urban and rural areas. They have
different opportunity on the basis of their income. There are huge inequalities among these
groups. People who have higher income and wealth get access into health care system, advanced
education system. People who have lower income and wealth don’t get proper health care and
education. People of middle income group and wealth comparatively get more advantage in
society than the lower income group but get less advantage than the higher income group.
Social stratification: Stratification can be defined various ways, but most commonly refers to
institutionalized inequalities in power, wealth, and status between categories of persons within a
single social system.
Anthony Giddens defined social stratification as “the existence of structured inequalities between
groups in society, in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards.”
According Light Keller “social stratification is the structured ranking of people hierarchy, which
refers to division of a society into layers (or strata) of people who have unequal amounts of
scarce but desirable resource, life chances, and social influences.
D. Jary & J. Jary “Social stratification is defined as the hierarchically organized structures of
social inequality.”
According to F. R. Khan “Social stratification is the division of society into groups or categories
linked with each other by the relationships of superiority and subordination.”
The idea of stratification comes from geology which studies the ways rocks form into levels or
strata.
The concept of stratification describes how society is organized in layers; some people in a
higher layer or strata than others. Unlike rocks, social stratification is made by people in society,
for instance the class system in the Bangladesh is an example of social stratification.
Social strata are groups of people, for instance a group of people who all belong to the same
social class.
Social strata are organized in a hierarchy. This is where one group or strata lies one on top of
each other. Those in the top group in society are seen to be better than those at the bottom. For
instance in a society where age stratification exists – the older people are, the higher up the social
strata they move.
Individuals and groups have unequal access to advantages and disadvantages in society based on
their position within the stratification scheme.
The more favored group or strata are placed at the top of the hierarchy and the less privileged are
placed at the bottom. This means that those at the top, for instance those in the top social class,
are usually able to have large, comfortable homes, a lot of material possessions, luxury holidays,
and lots of savings and so on. They usually also have access to very good education, often
private, and they also tend to experience better health and live longer than those in lower social
classes.
This contrasts with those in the lower social classes whose life chances are affected by this type
of stratification. For example, those in the lower social classes in the Bangladesh tend to live in
slum that is unhealthy and overcrowded, their children don’t get proper education and they
experience poor health.

Social stratification is a way of organizing society, like rungs on a ladder or layers of rock.
Social stratification can be organized in terms of:

• Class

• Gender

• Race and Ethnicity

• Age

• Disability

Social stratification creates a hierarchy – the group who are better off at the top and the least well
off group at the bottom.

Social Stratification and Inequality

Social Stratification creates inequalities – for example due to a person’s social class. The higher
the social class the better off they are likely to be in terms of money, housing, material goods,
education and health.
Social Class:
· Social class is based on people’s income and wealth, their occupation and status.
· An individual’s class is affected by the class they are born into but people can move up or
down between classes.
· Class depends largely on economic differences between groups – differences in income and
wealth, possession of material goods and life chances

ECONOMY OF BANGLADESH AT A GLANCE:

Basic economic indicator:
Basic economic indicator:
GDP-purchasing power parity $360.9 billion (2007 est.)
GDP-real growth rate 7.0% (2006 est.)
GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity $2,270 (2007 est.)
Aid-per capita $10.1 (2003)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%
3.9%
highest 10%
28.6% (1996)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
5.8% (2000)
Labor force
64.1 million (1998)

History of Social stratification of Bangladesh: Bangladesh did not exist as a distinct geographic
and ethnic unity until independence. The region had been a part of successive Indian empires,
and during the British period it formed the eastern part of a hinterland of Bengal, which was
dominated by the British rulers and Hindu professional, commercial, and landed elites. After the
establishment of PKISTAN in 1947, present day Bangladesh came under the hegemony of the
non-Bengali Muslim elites of the West Wing of Pakistan. The establishment of Bangladesh,
therefore, implied the formation of both a new nation and a new social order.
Until the partition of British India in 1947, Hindus controlled about 80 percent of all large rural
holdings, urban real estate, and government jobs in East Bengal and dominated finance,
commerce, and the professions. Following partition, a massive flight of East Bengali Hindus
effectively removed the Hindu economic and political elite and cut the territory’s ties to Calcutta.
After the emigration of the Hindus, Muslims moved quickly into the vacated positions, creating
for the firs time in East Bengal an economy and government predominantly in Muslim hands.
These vastly increased opportunities, especially in the civil service and the professions, however,
soon came to be dominated by West Pakistani-based elite whose members were favored by the
government both directly and indirectly. Soon after independence in 1971, ill-prepared
Bangladeshi elite moved into the areas vacated by West Pakistanis. Except for members of small
non-Bengali caste-like Muslim groups known as “trading communities,” Bangladeshi Muslims
almost immediately established control over all small- and medium-sized industrial and
commercial enterprises. The 1972 nationalization of non-Bengali-owned large industries
accelerated the establishment of control and influence by the indigenous community.
The sudden rise of a new managerial class and the expansion of the civil and military
bureaucracy upset the balance in both the urban and the rural sectors. Party affiliation, political
contacts, and documented revolutionary service became the main prerequisites for admission to
the rapidly growing new elite of political and industrial functionaries; the established middle
class and its values played lesser roles. In the countryside, new elites with links to the villages
bought property to establish their sociopolitical control. Also taking advantage of the situation,
the rural political elite amassed fortunes in land and rural-based enterprises. The result was the
growth of new, land-based, rural elite that replaced many formerly entrenched wealthy peasants.
Economic Social Stratification of Bangladesh: We can divide Bangladeshi society into three
broad categories though there are different sub group among these groups. 
UPPER CLASS:

Upper upper class

Middle upper class
Lower Upper class

MIDDLE CLASS:

Upper middle class

Middle middle class
Lower middle class
LOWER CLASS:

Upper lower class

Middle lower class
Lower lower class

In the basis of income and wealth we can divide the society of Bangladesh into above mentioned
classes. Differences among these classes are large. Class depends largely on economic
differences between groups – differences in income and wealth, possession of material goods and
life chances. There are a number of ways to measure social class and social scientists have
different views about how we should measure it. Wealth and income can be acquired in a
number of ways. It is difficult to measure the wealth of the people in Bangladesh because there
people are not interested to reveal personal information about their wealth. The information
about income is relatively available because many organization and government monitor the
income of their employee.
Wealth and Income

Wealth

• can be inherited or won

• land
• antiques
• property
• Jewellery.

Income

• money earned
• wages
• salary
• benefits
• Profits from shares, bank accounts, etc.

Economic Indicator Bangladesh:

Percent of total income earned by the richest

20% of the population: 42.8%
Percent of total income earned by the poorest
20% of the population: 8.7%
National Poverty Rate 35.6%
Poverty Rate, Urban Population 14.3%
Percent of population living on less than $1 a day 29.1%
Percent of population living on less than $2 a day 77.8%

Upper Class of Bangladesh: Upper class refers to the group of people at the top of a social
hierarchy. Members of an upper class often have great power over the allocation of resources and
governmental policy in their area. People of upper class of Bangladesh live a distinct life which
is very different from the people of other social classes. Ther upper class of Bangladesh is the
wealthiest section of Bangladesh. They have enormous power and wealth. This upper class often
influence the economic and political system of Bangladesh. The people of upper class are
involved in different profession.
· People of upper class have a high consumption of food and cloth. Their food and cloth are
influenced by western culture. In recent year many rich shopping mall are opened to meet the
demand of the rich people of Bangladesh. Many super shops are also opened to assure quality
food for the upper class. The people of upper class now often don’t go to the traditional market
for shopping of daily necessaries. Instead of going traditional goods market now they go to the
super shop for shopping of daily necessaries.
· Housing of the upper class people of Bangladesh is standard. They live in the posh areas such
as gulshan, banani, baridhara, danmondi, Kulshi etc. of the major cities of Bangladesh.
· People of the upper class of Bangladesh get high standard education. There are huge
inequalities among the classes of Bangladesh in the education sector. Upper class people get
education in the English medium school and private universities which are very much costly and
can’t be accessible by the people of lower and middle classes. A sudden rises of the private
education sector of Bangladesh represent the reality of inequality of Bangladesh. The standard of
the education of this private school and universities may be praiseworthy but this sector creates a
huge inequality among the societies.

Picture 1: Luxurious shopping mall in Dhaka city

Picture 2: English medium school of Dhaka city
Profession of Upper Class of Bangladesh:
· Industrialist 
· Businessman
· lawyers
· economists
· planners
· university professors
· architects
· psychologists
· scientists
· engineers
· dentists
· pharmacists

Middle Class of Bangladesh: The middle class consists of those who have some economic
independence but not a great deal of social influence or power. There are many factors that can
define the middle class in a society, such as money, behaviour and heredity. Large number of
people of Bangladesh are included in the middle class. This class is a more powerful class of
Bangladeshi society. They generally live in urban, sub-urban and rural area. The people of
middle class have a strong tie with the rural areas.
· People of middle class have a relatively high consumption rate than the lower class. They live
in a more healthy condition. Their per capita consumption of nutrition is also high. They usually
go to traditional market for shopping.
· Housing of the middle class of Bangladesh is much standard than the lower class but lower than
the upper class. They usually live in the apartment in the urban area on the basis of rent. Many
middle class families have their own apartment and house.
· Children of the middle class families usually go to the Bengali medium school for education.
Now a day some students from the middle class family go to the English medium school and
private universities which are relatively cheap for education.

Profession of Middle Class of Bangladesh:

· merchants
· professionals
· bureaucrats
· some farmers
· skilled workers

Lower Class of Bangladesh: Lower class of Bangladesh consists of those who have lower
income and don’t have wealth. This class is identified as poor class of the society. In Bangladesh
a large number of people are included in this group. The people of this group don’t get proper
health care, housing, education and food. In urban areas they mostly live in the slum area where
they live in an unhealthy condition. As a result different disease spread in the poor people. While
some gains have been made in the education sector in rural areas, the urban poor remain
neglected. In metropolitan areas, only 47% students from the two poorest quintiles enroll into
secondary schools after primary schooling. Among the school-aged children from the poorest
quintiles in urban areas, secondary enrolment is as low as 19% for males and 26% for females.
Half of the very poor children of school age fail to enroll in primary schools, and another half
fail to enroll in the secondary schools. In order to attract poor school-age children in
metropolitan areas, sub-stipend for primary education and Female Secondary School Assistance
Program (FSSAP) has to be started. Every additional year of female schooling at secondary level
results in a 2% decline in malnutrition rate. Reaching full female secondary enrolment would
diminish by half the probability of a child being malnourished

· People of the middle class family of Bangladesh have a lower consumption rate. They are
suffering from malnutrition. People of lower income and wealth don’t have access to the posh
shopping mall and super shop. Even they don’t meet up their basic needs of food. The foods they
eat are obviously below the nutrition level.
· Housing of the lower class is very poor. They live in a very poor condition in the slum. Their
house is not spacious. It is not protected from the sun and rain. Slums are overcrowded. Many
people live with in a single room. As a result different health related problem creates in the slum
area which affects the lower class people.
· Most of the people of lower class don’t get the education. Some children from lower class have
access to the education but the standard of the education for the poor people of Bangladesh is not
standard. People of lower class don’t afford standard education for their children. They usually
don’t get standard health care system. Usually they go to the government owned medical centre
for the health care but they don’t get proper treatment their.
Profession of Lower Class of Bangladesh:
· Rickshaw puller
· Servant
· Driver
· Poor farmer
· Fisher man
· Weavers

Income of Different Classes: The income level of different classes of societies of Bangladesh
varies from class to class. The income of the upper class is much higher than the other classes.
On the contrary the income of the lower class is the lowest in the societies of Bangladesh. We
can divide the social class on the basis of the income. Only 35% of low-income metropolitan
inhabitants use hygienic latrines. In Dhaka, only 26% of slum dwellers use hygienic latrines. The
number and quality of public toilets in cities need to be increased. The distribution and quality of
water to ordinary urban inhabitants and slum-dwellers paint a dismal picture. Nearly 46% of the
households in metropolitan areas cannot access the health-care services, and poor households
have even lower access. Only 12% of the poor receive care from government health centers.
CLASS
INCOME(monthly)
Upper class
200,000-above
Middle class
10,000-199,000
lower class
1,200-10,000

Conclusion: Social stratification lies at the core of society and of the discipline of sociology.
Social inequality is a fundamental aspect of virtually all social processes, and a person's position
in the stratification system is the most consistent predictor of his or her behavior, attitudes, and
life chances. Social stratification links almost all aspects of society together, and therefore
understanding what is happening to social stratification helps us to understand a wide range of
other changes in society.