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Identifying Social Class in Society

Decent Essays
Social class is defined as the position that people hold in the society. It is simply a class that helps other to determine or distinguish what position that particular individual has in the society. It is based on the social stratification that provides people some sort of hierarchical system such as upper class, middle class and lower class etc. It is very hard to define social class because it cannot be determined on one aspect of society. There are various ways in which people social class can be defined. Education, income, wealth, occupation are the important factors that determine social class. Sometimes social class is inherited too passing from generation to generation. It is very difficult to find the universal definition of social class as it very complex.
Many sociologists have given their viewpoint on it but every time their opinions are collide with each other ideas. Usually social class is measured on the basis of income or wealth but one of the French sociologist argue that it is also based on cultural tastes and leisure pursuits. Besides occupational differences, consumption and lifestyles are the contributing factors to determine one social class in the society. The sociologist Karl Marx says people class depend upon means of production so he ranks class on the basis of capitalist, workers and bourgeois whereas Weber argues class system is not based on means of production rather it is based on skills and talents they consume. So there are various ways to
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