SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

CARIBBEAN CONTEXT

How are we stratified?

Class Status Power Race/ ethnicity Colour Gender Education etc.

Stratification in general:
White Coloured

Black

Upper Class

Upper Class

Middle Class

Middle Class

Lower Class

Lower Class

19th Century

Present System

Jamaica
M.G. Smith:
Each strata in society reflects a different cultural grouping. This is aligned to skin colour. (Plural Society) The only vertical mobility that occurred was the blacks moving from lower class to middle class. Industrialization resulted in the widening of the economy, increased job creation and thus the emergence of new social classes. These groups remained distinct to the prestigious upper class grouping.

 Derek Gordon:
He noted that the increased occupational opportunities provided avenues for persons to achieve upward mobility. Between 1943 1984 there was a significant upward movement to the middle and upper middle classes. The higher managerial and professional group showed an increase in black representation from 20% in 1943 to 42% in 1984. There are still inconsistencies as persons with poor or low socio-economic backgrounds did not receive a fair chance of mobility

Trinidad
- Lloyd Brathwaite
- Society largely defined by race: White- good; Black- evil - Syrians, Asians and the Chinese maintain their status by keeping a relatively closed system except for intermarriage with the white grouping.

Selwyn Ryan
30years later, notes that Brathwaites system of stratification has virtually disappeared especially with the rise of the Blacks to power (Peoples National Movement)

 The expansion of various systems (education, occupation etc) has undermined the old social order. Meritocracy is evident. Rhoda Reddock
notes that gender has become a more important factor in distinguishing groups in the society Though female participation in the labour force remains low, there is evidence of them experiencing greatest mobility across all ethnic groupings.

NOTE: The Caribbean Sociology text is critical to this topic.