Chapter 10: Social Stratification
Textbook Notes
•examining social inequality in Canada
•Social stratification: a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, is
based on four basic principles:
•1. social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences:
neither the poor or the rich created social stratification, yet this system shapes the lives of us
all.
•2. social stratification carries over from generation to generation: some individuals, especially
in high-income societies, do experience social mobility: a change in position within the social
hierarchy
•3.social stratification is universal but variable: what is unequal and how unequal it is, varies
from one society to another
•4. social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well: it gives some people
more than others, and defines this as equal.
•Caste and class systems:
•caste system: social stratification based on ascription, or birth
•pure caste system is closed because birth alone determines a person's entire future,
allowing little or no social mobility based on individual effort.
•Caste systems are typical of agrarian societies
•class system: social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement
•meritocracy: refers to social stratification based on personal merit
•status consistency: is the degree of consistency in a person's social standing across various
dimensions of social inequality
•ideology: cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of
inequality
•According to Plato, every culture considers some type of inequality fair.
•Marx criticized capitalist societies for defending wealth and power in the hands of a few as “a law
of the marketplace.”
•Davis-Moore thesis: social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of a
society.
•Socioeconomic status: to refer to a composite ranking based on various dimensions of social
inequality
•conspicuous consumption: to refer to buying and using products because of the “statements” they
make about social position.
Lecture Notes:
•Inequality
•The titanic e.g the manifest of the ship, the more money you have, the more higher class you are
•determined by income – dependent upon occupation – dependent upon education
•Class – Occupation, Education, Income
•females, facing inequality over men
•membership in certain categories affect those for life. e.g being female, or a member of a
lower social class
•struggle and conflicts, are what people do to stop the suffering it is associated with
•women are more likely to be saved by men in society
•the titanic replicated the society
•norm: women and children first.
•Women and children first, is not a legal but a social norm
•it regulates the conduct of the rich and powerful men
•the richer you are, the more valuable you are, and the more valuable you are, the more entitled
you are to get onto the lifeboat.
•Stratification based on the titanic
•stratification is a property of society, the systems exist in society
•stratification: a system in which society ranks groups of people
•they are ranked high to low in terms of prestige, power, income, goals, etc
•they are universal, exist in all societies
•inequalities exists in all societies, but it is variable, more in some, less in others
•less inequality in Canada and the US
•Sharing – Hunter/Gatherers
•they shared everything
•lived a peaceful life
•Plough
•created a surplus, which lead to inequalities
•very few people had power over the many, that were powerless
•they had power over the surplus
•Marx wanted a universal egalitarian society
•it didn't work out
•stratification associated with belief, inequality plus beliefs
•if the beliefs support the ones at the top and the ones at the bottom, come into conflict with them,
that will create ideological/ideoligies
•inter-generation stratification: passed on from one generation to another
•rich people have rich sons, who have rich children
•social mobility: the movement from one social class to another
•upper: lower to higher class
•downward: higher to a lower class
•Class groupings: categorizing people who have the same income and share a similar way of life
•they are social classes
•different socio-economic groups
•e.g in India, there is a class system, e.g the Brahmins are at the top
•birth determines if you are a Brahmin, or a member of a lower class
•it cannot be changed during your lifetime
•I.Q + EFFORT = MERIT
•varies with ethnicity
•ethnicity with crime
•can lead to racism
•people pick different parts to this
•take into account the parents social class position and education
•Structuralist/Functionalist – Davis/Moore
•Conflict – Marx/Weber
•Class (economic)
•Status (prestige)
•Power