SOCIAL CLASS CANNOT BE MEASURED/DETERMINED
"A social class is a group of people of similar status, commonly sharing comparable levels of power and wealth. In sociology, social classes describe one form of social stratification." Cheggs (n.d)[online].
“A large group of people whose economic circumstances, usually measured by their incomes, wealth and occupation, are broadly similar” Earlhamsociology pages (n.d) [online].
Social class can be said to be the level which an individual or a group of people are place by the society. It is also said to be the position of an individual in a society. “A caste system is a social system in which one’s social position is given for a lifetime.” Giddens (2009) [online].
The definitions given above
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Macro sociologists such as Karl Marx and Max Weber both believe that social class can be determined but their reasons differ. Karl Marx asserted “that there were two great classes, the owners of the means of production (capitalists) and the workers, the only thing that the workers owned was their ability to work, what Marx called labor power”. This is because “owners (capitalists) paid wages to workers and could for the most part determine that wage, owners had power over workers Udel (n.d)[online].
Marx felt that the lack of power of workers was the source of exploitation and the basis of class conflict; Marx argued that owners and workers developed ideas, understandings about their positions and this Marx called class consciousness” Udel (n.d) [online]. Udel (n.d)[online] states that "although Marx talked mainly about the two great classes, owners and workers, he was aware as well of a third category which he called petit bourgeoisie, literally little middleclass and these were owners of own small businesses".
Max Weber defined social class as the market position of a person in a society, which is the position of people, is determined by the forces of demand and supply. He also emphasized that there are three dimension of class which are; status, party and class.
According to Udel (n.d) [online] "He argued that class referred to economic interests. It was a quantifiable economic
Socioeconomic class is a class of a group of people having the same social, economic, or educational status. The working class and emerging professional class comes under the socioeconomic class. The socioeconomic varies by different factors such as gender, race and social class. Money is involved when we talk about socioeconomic class but there is more to it. For example, a waitress earning $7 per hour and wins a jackpot of $1 million won’t be in the same situation as the one whose business is worth $1 million. And this is what we will discuss further in one of the films.
The concept of social class has been around for ages and is still a part of today’s society. Social class is not only based on the individual’s wealth but also on their social standing such as; monarchs, priests, nobles, merchants, and peasant class. The peasant class was practically ignored, which means that the higher classes would only pay attention to each other. This can be the case in society today, there are some people who feel that their career makes them higher than a janitor. Even though humans have been around for centuries, social class is still a big issue.
Society is set up into a hierarchical triangle that essentially determines social class. A social class is any person or group of people with the same educational, social or economical status. Social class can be broken down into many different categories such as race, age, gender, economic status, educational status and many more. Social class can be measured in many different ways such as financial status, family values, appearance, and demeanor. In America there are six main economical social classes which are the: Very poor, Poor, Working class, Middle class, Upper middle class, and the ruling class.
Social class is defined as 'people having the same social or economic status' (Wordnet). In contemporary American society, social class is based on the amount of money and property you have and also prestige. Prestige is given to a person through the line of work or the family that they come from. For example, upper-upper class member Jennifer Lopez reeks of prestige not only because she has millions of dollars in her bank account, but she has very expensive luxuries, cars, and houses.
Social class: social class is normally linked to a person’s income and the sort of job they do. People may discriminate against other people because they are of a different social class to themselves.
Social class refers to the system of stratification of the different groups of people in a society. These different forms of classification are, in most instances, based on gender ethnicity and age. Social class makes everyone’s lives extremely different. For example: How long one can expect to live. In a wide range of ways, from success, to one’s health class, social class influences people’s lives (Grusky,2003).
Anthony Giddens (2006) defines class as “a large-scale group of people who share common economic resources, which strongly influence the type of lifestyle they are able to lead.” (pg 300). Karl Marx, a sociologist in the 19th
Most societies throughout history and the world have developed a notion of social class. It is refers to hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups within society. How these social classes have been determined has been a common topic among social scientists throughout time. Two individuals who have headed this long standing debate are Karl Marx and Max Weber. In this paper I will be summarizing Marx and Weber’s theories on social class; how they are determined, their interests, and problems that may exist among groups. I will then provide my own critiques of their arguments.
Social class describes the different "layers" that exist in society. These "layers," or classes in society, are a division that civilization has been running on ever since the beginning of mankind. In most modern societies, our system of social class division is one of opportunity. We experience a good deal of social mobility, where people through generations or in their own lifetime can move up or down the social scale. By examining the many different perceptions of social class along with S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders, it is illustrated that social class has an impact on people while they are growing up, and will usually deny them from rising above adversity.
The two main theorists on the idea of social class are Karl Marx and Max Weber. Marx based his theory on the idea that there are only two social classes, the bourgeoisie and proletariat. The bourgeoisie being the capitalist upper classes such as factory and business owners who exploit and dominate the mindless proletariat (lower or working class). ‘In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality’(Marx, Capital, 2015). Marx claimed that the proletariat would rise in revolution against the bourgeoisie as they gained a class conscious. Although this did not happen due to the fact that working classes gained more skills and created unions and labor laws in order to protect themselves from exploitation. However, Weber built on Marx’s theory and believed that Social Class was built on more than property and wealth, Weber argued that social class is also determined by someone’s power and prestige exemplified in his book ‘The Theory of Social and Economic Organization’. Weber linked prestige to property and wealth but also made point that prestige can be gained
“Social class refers to a group of people within a society who possess roughly the same socioeconomic status.” (“Social Class”)
Class is an analytical framework introduced by sociologists. Marx and Weber shared a similar definition towards it. In the broadest sense, class is a category classifying people with similar economic situations. For Marx, class is determinate by the ownership and control of means of production and for Weber, class is determined by the life chances in
Social class is defined as a label that categorizes individuals based on their economic status, wealth, and
Social Class is a division of a society based on social and economic status. In today’s society there are three main social groups in America: upper, middle, and lower class; these rankings are contributed by mass amounts of factors, but one of the main factors that people cannot control is their race and ethnicity. Race and ethnicity, likewise as gender, can also play a part in a variety of other concerns such as, education level, income, and where you reside.
Social class is defined as a broad group in society having common economic, cultural, or political status. Where somebody comes from can effect somebody's decision to become involved with that person or not, can effect whether that person will be hired for a job or not and can often effect they way one is looked at and treated by society. Either way, class distinction is always evident within society.