ANP 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Caste System In India, Social Stratification, Endogamy
Document Summary
A publicly recognized position of individuals in society. The publicly accepted behaviors, rights, and duties arrached to a status. Patterns of statuses and roles that characterize a society. The contrast between special forces and the individual capacity to act independently. Anthropologists are concerned about the relationship between determinism and free will. The system by which the societies rank categories of people such that some categories of people have more power, status, and wealth than the others. Social stratification ranks people in social hierarchy. Egalitarian societies: all individuals have the same degree of wealth, prestige, and power. Stratified societies: some individuals and groups have greater access to these resources. In tradition caste societies, there is no mobility and intermarriage may be forbidden. Example of societies stratified by caste: medieval europe, india, classical mayan. Membership and rank are assigned at birth: even if a family within a caste acquires wealth, they are still ranked in the same caste.
