Social Stratification

Social inequality is a problematic phenomenon that occurs all around the world and affects both the developed and developing nations. It is defined as “the unequal distribution of social, political and economic resources within a social collective” (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 205). Inequality is closely connected with social stratification, a system of social hierarchy that positions individuals and groups into categories according to social variables such as class or ethnicity (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 485). This stratification has a significant impact on the opportunity that an individual may have to move up the hierarchy of inequality (Gill 2017a).

The social indicators can be used to identify stratification and inequalities within a social structure.  Stratification is the ranking of groups using a systematic hierarchical system (Durkin & Carrothers, 2015).  Stratification is the preference of a certain group with privileges to greater opportunities on success than others.  The preference and privileges form inequalities within the social structure.  Social inequality is the unequal distribution of power that often results in conditions of differing wealth, prestige, and status (Durkin & Carrothers, 2015).  The relationship between stratification and inequalities can be evaluated by social indicators.  Social indicators are measurable data within a social structure.

Social stratification can influence what is considered normal in a particular culture or subculture due to their social categories. Within different social categories, people can and

Marx perceives society made up as two classes, the powerful and exploitive higher class known as the bourgeoisie and the industrial wage earners that must earn their living by selling their labor known as the proletariat. The bourgeoisie is known as the private property owners and the proletariat works for the bourgeoisie. There is an inequality between these two

The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology defines inequality as ‘the unequal distribution of opportunities, rewards, and power among and between individuals, households and groups’(1). It goes on to say that ‘the subfield of social stratification has as its main task the description and analysis of inequalities, or the makeup of the stratification system of any given society’.(1) From this one definition, we can already begin to see the strong links that lie between inequalities and social stratification. As we delve deeper into the topics, we can begin to see both the inevitability and the functionality of stratification

Social inequality can practically be made apparent at any moment of someone’s life – whether at work or school amongst peers or simply watching the news in the morning. According to Dalton Conley, social inequality is narrowly defined as “a condition in which a difference in wealth, power, prestige, or status based on nonnatural conventions exist” (2017 p.241). Moreover, social inequality is a process whereby society can determine how a class of people is expected to coexist within predetermined social, political, and economic boundaries. The affected class will live within the predefined constraints, and the affected class will then pass the predefined constraints on to future generations. It is imperative to understand that social inequality is a result of social stratification, which according to

The social stratification of people can be affected by many things. In most cases people are affected by economic factors. In class we watched documentaries that shows different economic struggles and other structural inequalities. The documentaries were Violence Next Door: Growing up in the Favelas and The Other Side of Immigration. They both showed different economic factors from different places.

Social stratification implies the separation of a given populace into progressively superimposed classes. It is showed in the presence of upper and lower social layer. Its premise comprises in an unequal conveyance of rights and benefits, obligations and duties, social esteems, social power and impacts among the individuals from a general public. No general public is unstratified. Stratification includes the dissemination of unequal rights and benefits among the individuals from a general public. Social stratification is the division of society into lasting gatherings or classes connected with each other by the relationship of prevalence and subordination.

The Functionalist, Libertarian and Egalitarian models all attempt to explain stratification. The Functionalist model argues that social inequality is necessary in modern society, as long as recruitment is based on merit, with

Social stratification is defined as a system by which society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. For example, There are fundamental principles of stratification:

What is social stratification? Social stratification is societies way of categorizing people based on their occupation, income, wealth, race and social status.

Social Stratification is a term used by sociologists to describe inequalities that exist between society and us as individuals and can also be described as a hierarchy with the less privileged people at the bottom and the more favoured people at the top. (Giddens, 2006)

Per Henslin (2013) social stratification is the division of large numbers of people into layers according to their relative power, property, and prestige; applies to nations and to people within a nation, society, or other groups. The three systems of stratification are slavery, caste, and class. These systems are not used by all nations, but all nations use some way of stratifying their populace and other nations.

The conflict theory believes that stratification occurs through a conflict between different classes, with the upper classes using superior power to take a larger share of the social resources (Social Stratification, Definition Social Stratification, n.d.). The conflict theorist argues that social stratification causes an inequality in society.

Instead, the business owners made choices for them and used the workers for their own rewards. The bourgeoisie were the owners "the formation of the bourgeoisie public sphere was ideological to the extent that it secured the domination of one class over another."3 The problem with the bourgeoisie class was that they saw no wrong in their system because they reasoned it to be the right way. The owners controlled the means of production, but it was the people under them that actually knew what they were doing. The oppressed people were controlled by the oppressors and could not make decisions about the work they did, political matters, or equality in the workplace but held the responsibility of making the businesses successful. There was huge clashing between the workers and the owners because the owners made the choices while the workers were forced to take responsibility for them.