Class System

It is a system of stratification on the basis of education, etc, Karl Max- 'Man is a class animal' i.e.
his status age, education etc are not same in the society property capitalist & the poor the
haves & the have notes.

Education Illiterate & literate Business or occupation-farmers,clerk officers, industrialists etc.

In general, class consciousness is a must in the class system. There must be the we feeling. The
charade of in group given by summer is found in the class system summer I belong ?
identifying oneself in a particular group or family. The behavior of a person is fixed due to their
class consciousness. Trade union is a result of class consciousness. These is feeling of superiority
& inferiority in class syst. The higher has the feeling superiority & the lower class feels inferior.
In these classes too there is sub classes as Upper Open class, middle upper class, lower upper
class; lower middle class, middle class; upper lower class, middle lower class, to lower2 class.
Class system is open in character. Because it is based on a variety of things like age, sex etc. Also
one can change one's less easily. The people of lower class may enter the upper class & those of
the upper class may become members of the lower class.

Definition Of Class

P.Gisbert - "A social class is a category or group of persons having a definite status in society
which permanently determines their relation to other group feeling of superiority &
inferiorities. The relative position of the class in the social scale arises from the degree of
prestige attached to the status.

Mac Iver & Page - "A social class is any portion of community marked off the from the rest by
social status 'Ongburn & Nimk off. A social class is the aggregate of persons having essentially
the same social status in a given society." i.e. a class consciousness.

Max weber held that "classes are aggregate of individuals who have the same opportunities of
acquiring goods. The same exhibited standard of lining.

Hoebal defines "A social class is a group within a society, whose members hold a no. of
distinctive status in common & who trough the operation of roles associated with these status,
develop are awareness of the life interest as against the unlike trait & interest of other groups."

In general "A social class consists of group of individuals who are ranked by the members of the
community in socially superior inferior position."

Characteristics of class system:

1. Class system is based on occupation, wealth, education, age, sex
2. Hierarchy of status group. In general there are 3 class upper middle & tower. 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 &

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Sub-classes, class is divided into different groups. Similar to caste system, the class
system is divided.

6. Class system is an open system.

7. 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).

S.No. Caste Class

1. Based on birth Birth, educ. Wealth etc.

2. In general there are 3000 castes & sub- Whereas class has subclasses (based on
castes in India. different things)

3. Define class syst. Discuss its character

4. Distinguish between Caste & class

5. Caste & class there are the 2 phenomena

of social stratification. How?

6. Caste is a closed class. Discuss.

Caste is a closed group whereas Class is an open system. Even Sanskritisation is unable to
change caste whereas class can be changed quiet easily.
Caste System. Caste is hereditary but there is no such thing in class. A child of Brahmin will
always be a Brahmin but not so in class.
Status is inborn and ascribed in Caste System whereas in class system, it is acquired & achieved.
 i. Define social stratification? How can you stratify society on the basis of birth?
ii. What is Caste System Describe the character of the Caste System

iii. What are the factors that had to change in the rigid characteristics of the caste system.

iv. Define Caste System? In caste character into class comment.

Class System

The class system is universal phenomenon denoting a category or group of persons having a
definite status in society which permanently determines their relation to other groups. The social
classes are de facto groups (not legally or religiously defined and sanctioned) they are relatively
open not closed. Their basis is indisputably economic but they are more than economic groups.
They are characteristic groups of the industrial societies which have developed since 17th
century. The relative importance and definition of membership in a particular class differs greatly
over time and between societies, particularly in societies that have a legal differentiation of
groups of people by birth or occupation. In the well-known example of socioeconomic class,
many scholars view societies as stratifying into a hierarchical system based on
occupation,economic status, wealth, or income.

According to Ogburn and Nimkoff a social class is the aggregate of persons having essentially
the same social status in a given society. Marx defined class in terms of the extent to which an
individual or social group has control over the means of production.In Marxist terms a class is a
group of people defined by their relationship to the means of production.

Classes are seen to have their origin in the division of the social product into a necessary product
and a surplus product. Marxists explain history in terms of a war of classes between those who
control production and those who actually produce the goods or services in society (and also
developments in technology and the like). In the Marxist view of capitalism this is a conflict
between capitalists (bourgeoisie) and wage workers (proletariat). Class antagonism is rooted in
the situation that control over social production necessarily entails control over the class which
produces goods -- in capitalism this is the exploitation of workers by the bourgeoisie. Marx saw
class categories as defined by continuing historical processes.

Classes, in Marxism, are not static entities, but are regenerated daily through the productive
process. Marxism views classes as human social relationships which change over time, with
historical commonality created through shared productive processes. A 17th-century farm
labourer who worked for day wages shares a similar relationship to production as an average
office worker of the 21st century. In this example it is the shared structure of wage labour that
makes both of these individuals "working class."Maclver and Page defines social class as any
portion of the community marked off from the rest by social status.Max Weber suggest that
social classes are aggregates of individuals who have the same opportunities of acquiring goods,
the same exhibited standard of living. He formulated a three component theory of stratification
with social, status and party classes (or politics) as conceptually distinct elements.
 Social class is based on economic relationship to the market (owner, renter, employee,
etc.)
Status class has to do with non-economic qualities such as education, honour and prestige
Party class refers to factors having to do with affiliations in the political domain

According to Weber a more complex division of labour made the class more heterogeneous.In
contrast to simple income--property hierarchies, and to structural class schemes like Weber's or
Marx's, there are theories of class based on other distinctions, such as culture or educational
attainment. At times, social class can be related to elitism and those in the higher class are
usually known as the "social elite".For example, Bourdieu seems to have a notion of high and
low classes comparable to that of Marxism, insofar as their conditions are defined by different
habitus, which is in turn defined by different objectively classifiable conditions of existence. In
fact, one of the principal distinctions Bourdieu makes is a distinction between bourgeoisie taste
and the working class taste.Social class is a segment of society with all the members of all ages
and both the sexes who share the same general status.Maclver says whenever social intercourse
is limited by the consideration of social status by distinctions between higher and lower there
exists a social class.

Challenges to Traditional Class Analysis

A social class is essentially a status group. Class is related to status. Different statuses arise in a
society as people do different things, engage in different activities and pursue different vocations.
Status in the case of class system is achieved and not ascribed. Birth is not the criterion of status.
Achievements of an individual mostly decide his status. Class is almost universal phenomenon.
It occurs in all the modern complex societies of the world. Each social class has its own status in
the society. Status is associated with prestige. The relative position of the class in the social set
up arises from the degree of prestige attached to the status. A social class is relatively a stable
group. A social class is distinguished from other classes by its customary modes of behaviour.

This is often referred to as the life-styles of a particular class. It includes mode of dress, kind of
living the means of recreation and cultural products one is able to enjoy, the relationship between
parent and children. Life-styles reflect the specialty in preferences, tastes and values of a class.
Social classes are open- groups. They represent an open social system. An open class system is
one in which vertical social mobility is possible. The basis of social classes is mostly economic
but they are not mere economic groups or divisions. Subjective criteria such as class-
consciousness, class solidarity and class identification on the on hand and the objective criteria
such as wealth, property, income, education and occupation on the other hand are equally
important in the class system. Class system is associated with class consciousness. It is a
sentiment that characterizes the relations of men towards the members of their own and other
classes. It consists in the realization of a similarity of attitude and behavior with members of
other classes.

Sociologists have given three-fold classification of classes which consists of - upper class,
middle class and lower class.Sorokin has spoken of three major types of class stratification -they
are economic, political and occupational classes. Lloyd Warner shows how class distinctions
contribute to social stability.Veblen analyzed the consumption pattern of the rich class by the
concept of conspicuous consumption. Warner has classified classes into six types- upper-upper
class, upper-middle class, upper-lower class, lower-upper class, the lower middle class and lower
class. Anthony Giddens's three class model is the upper, middle and lower (working) class.

Jajmani system

William H Wiser introduced the term Jajmani system in the vocabulary of Indian sociology
through his book The Hindu Jajmani system where he described in detail how different caste
group interact with each other in the production and exchange of goods and services. In different
parts of India different terms are used to describe this economic interaction among the castes for
example in Maharashtra the term Balutadar is used. However in sociological literature jajmani
system has come to be accepted as a general term to describe the economic interaction between
the castes at the village level. This system is also a ritual system concerned with the aspects of
purity and pollution as with economic aspects. It functions so that the highest caste remains pure
while the lowest castes absorb pollution from them. Villages are composed of number of jatis
each having its occupational speciality.Jajmani system is essentially an agriculture based system
of production and distribution of goods and services. Through jajmani relations these
occupational jatis get linked with the land owning dominant caste. The jajmani system operates
around the families belonging to the land owning dominant caste the numbers of which are
called jajmans.The land owning caste occupy a privileged position in the jajmani relations. The
interaction between occupational castes and the land owning castes take place within the
framework of non-reciprocal and asymmetrical type of relations. The land owning castes
maintain a paternalistic attitude of superiority towards their occupational castes that are called
Kamins in North India. The term Kamin means one who works for somebody or serves him.

In terms of Karl Polanyi's classification of exchange system -Jajmani exchange can be termed as
redistributive system of exchange. The Functionalist view of jajmani system regards it as the
basis of self-sufficiency, unity, harmony and stability in the village community. However the
Marxist scholars hold a very different opinion. They regard the jajmani system as essentially
exploitative, characterized by a latent conflict of interest which could not crystallize due to the
prevalent social setup. Thus if in future the conditions of the lower caste improve an open
conflict between the lower and upper caste is inevitable. Oscar Lewis who studied Rampur
village near Delhi and Biedelmn has been critical of the Jajmani system which they regard as
exploitative. According to them the members of occupational jatis are largely landless labourers
and have no resources to wage a struggle against the dominant caste out of the compulsion of the
need for survival. They succumb to all injustice perpetuated by the landowning dominant caste
who enjoy both economic and political power. Scholars like Berreman, Harold Gould and
Pauline Kolenda etc accept that there is an element of truth in both the functionalist and Marxist
views of the jajmani system. They believe that consensus and harmony as well as conflict and
exploitation are prevalent in the village society. According to Dumont jajmani system makes use
of hereditary personal relationships to express the division of labour.This system is a ritual
expression rather than just an economic arrangement.S.C Dube refers to the system as
corresponding to the presentation and counter presentation by which castes as a whole are bound
together in a village which is more or less universal in nature. Leach believes that the system
maintains and regulates the division of labour and economic interdependence of castes.
Points to Remember

Peculium: An institution in the estate system where a sum of money or some property was given
to a slave by his master.

Cartel: A group of industrialists who together monopolize or gain complete control over the
market.

Differential mobilization: A process takes place when the changes that caste has and
undergoing carries it beyond the traditional ascriptive definition.

Dahrendorf held that the differential distribution of authority leads to class formation and class
conflict.

Hiller observed that when a class system becomes closed to vertical mobility, it becomes a caste.

Marx was the first one to introduce the concept of alienation into sociological theory.

Srinivas termed independence among castes as vertical unity.

It was Hutton who pointed out that the exclusivity and range of the caste panchayat led to an
arrangement in which the members of the caste ceased to be members of the community as a
whole.

Aristotle classified the society into three strata- guardians, auxiliaries and workers.

Max Weber characterized caste as a closed status group.

Davis and Moore stressed that stratification served to ensure effective role allocation and
performance.

Senart advocated the religious theory of the origin of caste.

Parsons held that society would rank highly and reward those who perform successfully in terms
of society's values.

According to Tawney in estate system inequality is not primarily economic but judicial.

Nesfield gave the concept of occupational theory of caste.

Marx categorized India under the Asiatic Mode of Production.

Pelham stated that the higher the class one belongs the lessen is the pretence because there is
less to pretend to.This is chief reason why our manners are better than other persons.
Proudhon stated property is theft.

Durkheim advocated a form of guild socialism.

Utilitarianism is a theoretical outlook associated with the name of J Benthem.