Social Stratification: Sociological Overview

Social Stratification
Social stratification refers to the hierarchical arrangement of individuals

into divisions of power and wealth within a society. Stratification derives
from the geological concept of strata - rock layers created by natural
processes. The term most commonly relates to the socio-economic
concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based
on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with
economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."
In modern Western societies, stratification is broadly organized into three
main layers: upper class, middle class, and lower class. Each class may be
further subdivided into smaller classes (e.g. occupational). These
categories are particular to state-level societies as distinguished from, for
instance, feudal societies composed of nobility-to-peasant relations.
Stratification may also be defined by kinship ties or castes. For Max Weber,
social class pertaining broadly to material wealth is distinguished
from status class which is based on such variables as honor, prestige and
religious affiliation. It is debatable whether the earliest hunter-
gatherer groups may be defined as 'stratified', or if such differentials began
with agriculture and broad acts of exchange between groups. One of the
ongoing issues in determining social stratification arises from the point that
status inequalities between individuals are common, so it becomes a
quantitative issue to determine how much inequality qualifies as
stratification.
Sociological overview
The concept of social stratification is interpreted differently by the various
theoretical perspectives of sociology. Proponents of structural-
functionalism have suggested that since social stratification is commonly
found in developed societies, hierarchy may be necessary in order to
stabilize social structure. Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist,
asserted that stability and social order are achieved by means of
a universal value consensus, satisfying the functional prerequisites of a
society. By contrast, conflict theories, such as Marxism, point to the
inaccessibility of resources and lack of social mobility found in stratified
societies. Many sociological theorists have criticized the extent to which
the working classes are unlikely to advance socioeconomically;
the wealthy tend to hold political power which they use
to exploit the proletariat intergenerationally. Theorists such as Ralf
Dahrendorf, however, have noted the tendency toward an enlarged middle-
class in modern Western societies due to the necessity of an educated
workforce in technological and service economies. Various social and
political perspectives concerning globalization, such as dependency theory,
suggest that these effects are due to the shift of workers to the third world.
Karl Marx
In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production consists of two main

economic parts: the Base and the Superstructure. The base comprehends
the relations of production — employer-employee work conditions, the
technical division of labour, and property relations — into which people
enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life. In the capitalist
system, the ruling classes own themeans of production, which essentially
includes the working class itself as they only have their own labour
power ('wage labour') to offer in order to survive. These relations
fundamentally determine the ideas and philosophies of a society,
constituting the superstructure. A temporary status quo is achieved by
various methods of social control employed, consciously or unconsciously,
by the bourgeoisie in the course of various aspects of social life. Through
the ideology of the ruling class, false consciousness is promoted both
through ostensibly political and non-political institutions, but also through
the arts and other elements of culture. Marx believed the capitalist mode
would eventually give way, through its own internal conflict, to revolutionary
consciousness and the development of egalitarian communist society.
According to Marvin Harris and Tim Ingold, Lewis Henry Morgan's accounts

of egalitarian hunter-gatherers formed part of Karl Marx and Engels's
inspiration for communism. Morgan spoke of a situation in which people
living in the same community pooled their efforts and shared the rewards of
those efforts fairly equally. He called this "communism in living." But when
Marx expanded on these ideas, he still emphasized an economically-
oriented culture, with property defining the fundamental relationships
between people. Yet, issues of ownership and property are arguably less
emphasized in hunter-gatherer societies.[7] This, combined with the very
different social and economic situations of hunter-gatherers may account
for many of the difficulties encountered when implementing communism in
industrialized states. As Ingold points out: "The notion of communism,
removed from the context of domesticity and harnessed to support a
project of social engineering for large-scale, industrialized states with
populations of millions, eventually came to mean something quite different
from what Morgan had intended: namely, a principle of redistribution that
would override all ties of a personal or familial nature, and cancel out their
effects."
Max Weber
Max Weber was strongly influenced by Marx's ideas, but rejected the

possibility of effective communism, arguing that it would require an even
greater level of detrimental social control and bureaucratization than
capitalist society. Moreover, Weber criticized the dialectical presumption of
proletariat revolt, believing it to be unlikely. Instead, he developed
the three-component theory of stratification and the concept of life chances.
Weber supposed there were more class divisions than Marx suggested,
taking different concepts from both functionalist and Marxist theories to
create his own system. He emphasized the difference between class,
status, and party, and treated these as separate but related sources of
power, each with different effects on social action. Working around half a
century later than Marx, Weber claimed there to be in fact four main
classes: the upper class, the white collar workers, the petite bourgeoisie,
and the manual working class. Weber's theory more-closely resembles
modern Western class structures, although economic status does not seem
to depend strictly on earnings in the way Weber envisioned.
Weber derived many of his key concepts on social stratification by

examining the social structure of Germany. He noted that contrary to
Marx's theories, stratification was based on more than simply ownership
of capital. Weber examined how many members of the aristocracy lacked
economic wealth yet had strong political power. Many wealthy families
lacked prestige and power, for example, because they were Jewish. Weber
introduced three independent factors that form his theory of stratification
hierarchy; class, status, and power:
 Class: A person's economic position in a society. Weber differs from
Marx in that he does not see this as the supreme factor in stratification.
Weber noted how managers of corporations or industries control firms
they do not own; Marx would have placed such a person in
the proletariat.
 Status: A person's prestige, social honor, or popularity in a society.
Weber noted that political power was not rooted in capital value solely,
but also in one's individual status. Poets or saints, for example, can
possess immense influence on society with often little economic worth.
 Power: A person's ability to get their way despite the resistance of
others. For example, individuals in state jobs, such as an employee of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or a member of the United States
Congress, may hold little property or status but they still hold immense
power.
Anthropological overview
Anthropologists have found that social stratification is not the standard

among all societies. John Gowdy writes, "Assumptions about human
behaviour that members of market societies believe to be universal, that
humans are naturally competitive and acquisitive, and that social
stratification is natural, do not apply to many hunter-gatherer
peoples." Non-stratified egalitarian or acephalous ("headless") societies
exist which have little or no concept of social hierarchy, political or
economic status, class, or even permanent leadership.
Kinship-orientation
Anthropologists identify egalitarian cultures as "kinship-oriented," because
they appear to value social harmony more than wealth or status. These
cultures are contrasted with economically-oriented cultures
(including states) in which status and material wealth are prized, and
stratification, competition, and conflict are common. Kinship-oriented
cultures actively work to prevent social hierarchies from developing
because they believe that such stratification could lead to conflict and
instability.Reciprocal altruism is one process by which this is accomplished.
A good example is given by Richard Borshay Lee in his account of
the Khoisan, who practice "insulting the meat." Whenever a hunter makes a
kill, he is ceaselessly teased and ridiculed (in a friendly, joking fashion) to
prevent him from becoming too proud or egotistical. The meat itself is then
distributed evenly among the entire social group, rather than kept by the
hunter. The level of teasing is proportional to the size of the kill. Lee found
this out when he purchased an entire cow as a gift for the group he was
living with, and was teased for weeks afterward about it (since obtaining
that much meat could be interpreted as showing off). [11]
Another example is the Indigenous Australians of Groote
Eylandt and Bickerton Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land, who have
arranged their entire society, spirituality, and economy around a kind of gift
economy called renunciation. According to David H. Turner, in this
arrangement, every person is expected to give everything of any resource
they have to any other person who needs or lacks it at the time. This has
the benefit of largely eliminating social problems like theft and relative
poverty. However, misunderstandings obviously arise when attempting to
reconcile Aboriginal renunciative economics with the competition/scarcity-
oriented economics introduced to Australia by Anglo-European
colonists. See also the Original affluent society.
Social impact
Social stratification has been shown to cause many social problems. A

comprehensive study of major world economies revealed that homicide,
infant mortality, obesity, teenage pregnancies, emotional depression and
prison population all correlate with higher social inequality

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Social Stratification

Social stratification refers to the hierarchical arrangement of individuals

In Marxist theory, the capitalist mode of production consists of two main

According to Marvin Harris and Tim Ingold, Lewis Henry Morgan's accounts

Max Weber was strongly influenced by Marx's ideas, but rejected the

Weber derived many of his key concepts on social stratification by

Anthropologists have found that social stratification is not the standard

Social stratification has been shown to cause many social problems. A

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