SOCIAL & POLITICAL

STRATIFICATION
Chapter 8
The Concept of Social Stratification
 Social stratification – refers to the division of large social
groups into smaller groups based on categories
determined by economics.
 In larger traditional societies and in several countries
today, the common bases of social stratification include
wealth, property, access to material and cultural goods,
and access to political power.
 Social exclusion – related to the concept of social
stratification and inequality. This refers to the process by
which individuals are cut off from full involvement in the
wider circles of society.

2 Primary Systems of Stratification

-Closed Systems
-Open Systems
 Close Systems impose rigid boundaries between social
groups and limit interactions among members who belong
to different social groups or occupy different levels in the
social hierarchy.

 Open System is based on achievement, allowing more

flexibility in social roles, increased social mobility, and
better interaction among social group and class.
 Caste Systems are closed stratification systems because
people are unable to change their social standing.
 Caste Systems promote belief in fate, destiny, and the
will of a higher spiritual power rather than the promotion of
individual freedom.
 Class System is a stratification system based on the
ownership of resources and the individual’s occupation or
profession.
 A social class is composed of people who share the
same background and characteristics such as income,
education, and occupation.
 Class systems base social status on achievement rather
than ascription and are thus more open in terms of social
mobility.
 Exogamous marriages – marriages between people
who come from different social classes.
 Endogamous marriages – marriages between people
from the same social class.
Meritocracy

 Another system of stratification that is determined by

personal effort and merit.
 Social standing and advancement in this system is
determined by how well a person performs his or her
social role.
 High level of effort will result in advancement, while
insufficient effort will lad to an individual losing his or her
social status
Theoretical Perspectives on Social
Stratification
 Functionalists believe that each part or aspect of society
serves an important purpose. They also believe that
social stratification is based on the intrinsic value of social
activities or roles.
 Davis-Moore Thesis – introduced by Kingsley Davis
and Wilbert Moore in 1945, proposed that a social role
that has a greater functional purpose will result in greater
types of work.
Melvin Tumin

 Proposed an alternative perspective on the significance of

employment on social stratification in 1953.
 He criticized the Davis-Moore thesis and said that it was
unable to consider situations where individuals of little
talent or skill are able to access better opportunities or
occupy higher positions in society, citing the example of
media personalities who attain great social status but do
not possess traits that would characterize them as
productive citizens.
 Conflict Theory takes a critical view of social
stratification and considers society as benefitting only a
small segment.
 Conflict Theorists believe that stratification perpetuates
inequality, and they draw many of their ideas from the
works of Karl Marx.
 Marx believed that social stratification is influenced by
economic forces, and that relationships in society are
defined by the factors of production.
 Marx considered society as being divided between two
groups: the bourgeois or capitalists who own the factors
of production such as resources, land, and businesses;
and the proletariat who are the workers that provide the
manual labor needed to produce goods.
 The bourgeois belong to the upper classes of society
and gained wealth due to the profits from their business.
 The proletariat belongs to the lower classes, lacks power
and influence, and experience great hardships.
Symbolic Interactionism
 Refrains from looking into the larger structural factors that
define social stratification and contribute to inequality and
poverty.
 It examines stratification from a microlevel perspective
and attempts to explain how people’s social standing
affects their everyday interactions.
 Social stratification, for symbolic interactionists, often
leads people to interact with others within their own social
class – people who have the same background, interests,
and way of life.
 Symbolic interactionists also observe that people’s
appearance reflects their perceive social standing.
Housing, clothing, and transportation indicate social
status, as do hairstyles, taste in food, music or
accessories, and personal style.
Theory of Conspicuous Consumption

 Refers to buying certain products to make a social

statement about status.
 Some people buy expensive items even though they will
never wear or use them.
Social Mobility
 Is the ability of individuals or groups to change their
positions within a social stratification system.
 It also refers to how individuals progress from a lower to a
higher social class, or even how individuals lose their
status and occupy a much lower social position in society.
2 Main Types of Social Mobility

 Upward Mobility – refers to an upward movement in

social class.
 Example: people who have gained wealth and individuals
who rose to fame or power like politicians and celebrities.
 Downward Mobility – refers to the lowering of an
individual’s social class.
 Example: economic setbacks, unemployment, illness, and
dropping out of school
 When considering how people from different generations
experience social mobility, the phenomenon can be
classified as either intragenerational or intergenerational.

 Intragenerational Mobility – focuses on the experience of

people who belong to the same generation.
 Example: siblings may come from the same family and
background but depending on their choices and actions,
one sibling may considered more well-off than others.
 Intergenerational Mobility – refers to the changes in
social standing experienced by individuals belonging to
different generations.
 Example: a successful businessman who was raised by
lower-income parents, or a powerful politicians who traces
his or her roots to generations of poor immigrants.
 Structural Mobility – large-scale changes in society can
result in the improvement or decline of the conditions and
status of a large group of people.
Social Inequality
 Societies are usually characterized by divisions.
 Social divisions reflect an unequal distribution of status,
wealth, and power within society and result in individuals
and groups occupying different positions of influence
power.
 Social inequality may be expressed differently from
society to society but is often seen in distinctions in class,
gender, religion, ethnicity, and age.
Social Inequality and Poverty

 Karl Marx considered class as an essential characteristics

based on the economic structure of society.
 Max Weber defined stratification through the concept of
status which he defined as the esteem or “social honor”
given certain individuals or groups.
 Weber focused on the concept of “market position”,
which he refers to the ability of individuals or groups to
engage in economic activities.
 Warner, Meeker, and Eels suggested that class is
influenced by cultural factors such as lifestyles, and
consumption of patterns.
 The concept of class is divided into upper class, middle
class, and lower or working class.
 Upper class – composed of the rich, well-born, powerful,
or combination of these. Usually wield the greatest
political power.
 Middle class – refers to a group of people who fall
socioeconomic between the lower and upper classes.
 Lower class or Working class – refers to those
employed in low-paying wage jobs with very little
economic society. They are also sometimes called blue-
collar workers.
 Underclass – refer to the segment of society that is not
only affect by poverty but is also subject to social
exclusion.
Types of Poverty
 Absolute poverty – refers to the lack of basic resources like
food, clean water, safe housing, and access to health care
needed to maintain a quality lifestyle.
 The World Bank defines absolute poverty as living on less
than $1.25 daily.
 Relative poverty – applies to those who may be able to
obtain basic necessities but are still unable to maintain an
average standard of living compared to the rest of society.
 Subjective poverty – defined by how an individual evaluates
his or her actual income against his or her expectations and
perceptions
Gender Inequality

 Gender – refers to the culturally-imposed characteristics

that define masculinity and femininity.
 Sex – refers to biological and anatomical differences that
distinguishes males from females.
 Sex is unchanging aspect of a person’s identity while
gender, being a social construct, is a fluid concept that
changes depending on the mores, norms, and values
espoused by a particular society.
 Gender Role – refers to specific tasks and behaviors
expected of a person by virtue of his or her sex.
 Gender Identity – refers to how a person identifies
himself or herself as belonging to a particular gender.
 Patriarchy – refers to the socially sanctioned and
systematic domination of males over females, and this is
expressed in various aspects of society.
 Ex. Men are the traditionally recognized head of the family
and when couples are married, the woman usually takes
on the family name of her husband.
 The World Economic Forum in 2014 has ranked the
country as ninth best among 142 countries in terms of
gender equality.
 In 1979, the United Nations adopted the convention on
the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW), which defined discrimination directed
against women and called for action to end such
discrimination. This documentation eventually became
known as the Bill of Rights for Women.
Liberal Feminists

 Explain gender inequality in terms of social and cultural

attitudes.
 They believe that sexism and discrimination can be
countered by political, social and economic reforms like
giving equal access to both men and women.
Radical Feminists
 Argue that men are responsible for the exploitation of
women through patriarchy.

Black Feminism
 Identifies factors such as class and ethnicity, in addition to
gender, as essential for understanding the oppression
experienced by non-white women.
Ethnicity and Race Issues
Ethnicity
 The feeling of affinity or loyalty towards a particular
population, cultural group, or territorial area.
Race
 Refers to a group of people who share a common
ancestry.
 Refers to physical or genetic differences among humankind
that distinguish one group of people from another such as
skin and hair color, physique, and facial features.
 Racism – refers to a set of attitudes, beliefs, and
practices used to justify the superior treatment of one
racial or ethnic group and the inferior treatment of another
racial or ethnic group.
 A racist believes that some individuals are superior or
inferior to others as a result of racial differences.
 Displacement and Scapegoating – are psychological
mechanisms associated with prejudice and discrimination.
 Prejudice – involves holding “stereotypes” or
preconceived views that are often based on faulty
generalizations about members of a race or particular
ethnic or other groups.
 Discrimination – refers to actions or behavior of
members of a dominant social group that negatively
impacts other members of society that do not belong to
the dominant group.
Global Inequality
 Global Stratification – refers to the unequal distribution
of wealth, power, and prestige on global basis,
highlighting patterns of social inequality and resulting in
people having vastly different lifestyles and opportunities
both within and among the nations of the world.
 Market-oriented theories such as modernization theory
claim that cultural and institutional barriers to
development explain poverty in low-income countries.
 Modernization theory – believes that poverty can be
eliminated by overcoming or adjusting cultural values like
negative attitudes regarding work, limiting government
intervention in economic affairs, and encouraging high
rates of savings and investment.
 Dependency Theories – claim that global poverty is the
result of exploitation of poor countries by wealthy ones,
thereby creating a cycle of dependence.
 For dependency theorists, low income countries are
trapped in a cycle of structural and economic dependency
on high income countries.
 Low income countries depend on high income countries
for infusion of economic capital.
 State-centered theories – emphasize the role of
governments in fostering economic development.