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).

Conflict perspective emphasizes on inequality through the division of groups among poor and rich class.

Individuals within a society are grouped into certain rankings that is based on their wealth, income, race and education known as the social stratification. Sociologist use this to determine the social standings of individuals within a society. Social stratification can also appear in much smaller groups. These groups such as the work place, schools, and businesses can “take the form of a distribution of power and authority down the ranks”. (Cole, 2017) The Caste system is also another form of stratification that one does not get a choice in. They are born into it and regardless of their talents will hold positions that are given to them their whole life. Social mobility is the ability for individuals to move about their social standings.

Another part of my research included looking at other factors that relate to social stratification there are huge gaps in this area in regard to income, wealth, power, and prestige. Social stratification is defined in our book as the ranking of people and the rewards they receive based

215 chapter 8 Sociology In Our Times: The Essentials) this is to suggest that the different classes in society are in conflict because the more powerful groups maintain and control the distribution of resources, rewards, privileges and opportunities by exploiting the less powerful. They also believe that inequality is a result of profits being generated from the cost of labour being less than the cost of the goods and services being produced from that labour, also known as the surplus value. Conflict theorists do not believe that stratification is functional for society, or that it serves as a source of stability. Rather, they believe that stratification will lead to instability and social change.

The extremes of income are the main cause of class related conflicts. The presence of a middle

Social stratification is a concept used within sociology that explains the divisions and social inequalities of large groups of people within a particular society. The Hunger Games (2012) is a film that demonstrates this through amplifying how the power of the rich members in a polarised society are taking control of the poor and separating them in different districts which create specific social rankings. This essay will use the perspective of conflict theory to examine how Australian society is also effected by social stratification and therefore divided in social classes which effects their access to social equalities.

Where there is classism, there is conflict. Conflict theory was portrayed in “The Devil in the White City”. Conflict theory argues that individuals and social classes within society have differing amounts of material resources (Savur, 1975, 3). However, the more powerful groups use

The society is full of inequity. Therefore, where there is inequity, there will be conflict. Between the poor and the elite as well as the ones with power and the ones do not, those groups or individuals competes with each other to over various resources, leading to particular distributions of wealth, status, and power in societies. Just like in the Lemon Grove Incident, the conflict generated between the Lemon Grove Neighbors Committee and the Lemon Grove School Board.

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:

Social stratification involves various inequalities within a gender, race, class. When considering the role of gender, race, and class in the social stratification system, it affects the organization system which is known for disparity based on the families’ income statutes, lack of resources, organization activity, and systematic inadequate government law. In the following essay I will focus how social stratification inequality effect families and individuals in the United States based on a gender, race, and class. Society has lived over decades experiencing different types of inequality. For example, gender inequality has been around since our ancestors. Informing society and continuous advocating about inequality is vital for positives changes

The idea of social inequality dates back since the time of our founding fathers. The mistreatment and unlawful equality and opportunity that these foreigners received became embedded into our history—this endless list includes, just to name a few, the Irish, Chinese, Jews, and most notably the African Americans (Blacks), who became slaves to the American people. Here in the United States, the current social class system is known as the class system, where families are distributed and placed into three different existing class—the upper class (wealthy), middle class (working), and lower class (poor). Since then, improvisations have been worked on into the class system, establishing now roughly six social classes: upper class, new money, middle class, working class, working poor, and poverty level. Social stratification is a widely common topic of debate because there have since been many arguments and debates on this controversial situation of social inequality and how it relates to social class and social mobility. According to Economist Robert Reich, he states that "The probability that a poor child in America will become a poor adult is higher now than it was 30 years ago..." (Reich, par. 5), meaning the given amount of equality, opportunity, and support that these struggle families obtain have gone mainly unnoticed by the government that it has gotten worst. The constant uproar of social inequality and injustice that these middle and lower working class families stem

The 21-st century is characterized by the continuous economic downfall. The relationship between race, class and gender should be evaluated to identify the life chances of people to improve their relative position in our socially stratified world. The increased rates of unemployment, homelessness and poverty show that our society requires implementing a transformative approach to reduce social stratification. The term social stratification is applied to identify and asses different forms of inequality that exist in the US society. Patricia H Collins suggests, “while a piece of the oppressor may be planted deep within each of us, we each have the choice of accepting that piece or challenging it as part of the 'true focus of revolutionary change'” (p. 680). Inequality has become a universal feature of our society; therefore, it exists everywhere and concerns race, class, and gender as the key categories of society.

Even without being consciously aware of it, the use of some sort of scale when interacting with others is quintessential. This is because it represents a basic need of defining the self through the means of the others; knowing one’s place in society, as well as the positions of fellow individuals, ensures an orderly functioning of said system. For the sake of this essay, the definition of social stratification as a society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, race, education, and power (Pearce, 2015), will be used.

This movement is called social mobility “By social mobility is understood any transition of an individual or social object or value- anything that has been created or modified by human activity- from on social position to another.”(Sorokin, 1964, p. 133) This change in class is not always related to money or economic change. In some cultures an individual may ascertain great wealth in their life time but not be accepted into a higher class status. On the other hand a person who loses economic status is still revered as elite. This inability to move from one class to another is mostly observed in the estate system and the class system. There are two fundamental ways in which a person can be mobile within society either horizontal or vertical.