ANSWER 1

In the social sciences, social stratification is any given society's categorization of its people into rankings
of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, social status, occupation and power. Stratification
is the relative social position of persons in a given social group, category, geographical region or other social
unit. In modern Western societies, stratification is often broadly divided into three main divisions of social
class:upper class, middle class, and lower class. Each of these classes can be further subdivided into smaller
classes (e.g., "upper-middle").[1] Social strata may otherwise be formed on the basis of kinship
ties or caste designations.
Such social categorization is not peculiar to complex state-based societies but also found in
simple tribal or feudal societies composed of nobility-to-peasantrelations. Scholars debate whether the
earliest hunter-gatherer groups may be defined as 'stratified' or if such differentials began with agriculture and
widespread acts of exchange between groups.[2] One of the ongoing issues in determining the structure of
social stratification arises from the point that status inequalities between individuals are common, so it
becomes a quantitativeissue to determine how much social inequality qualifies as stratification. In general, the
more complex the society, the more numerous the layers or strata of social differentiation.[3]
Four underlying principles[edit]
Four principles are posited to underlie social stratification. First, social stratification is socially defined as a
property of a society rather than individuals in that society. Second, social stratification is reproduced from
generation to generation. Third, social stratification is universal (found in every society) but variable (differs
across time and place). Fourth, social stratification involves not just quantitative inequality but qualitative
beliefs and attitudes about social status.[3]
Complexity[edit]
Although stratification is not limited to complex societies, all complex societies exhibit features of stratification.
In any complex society, the total stock of valued goods is distributed unequally, wherein the
most privileged individuals and families enjoy a disproportionate share of income, power, and
other valued resources. The term "stratification system" is sometimes used to refer to the complex social
relationships and social structure that generate these observed inequalities. The key components of such
systems are: (a) social-institutional processes that define certain types of goods as valuable and desirable, (b)
the rules of allocation that distribute goods and resources across various positions in the division of labor(e.g.,
physician, farmer, housewife), and (c) the social mobility processes that link individuals to positions and
thereby generate unequal control over valued resources.[4]
Social mobility[edit]
Social mobility is the movement of individuals, social groups or categories of people between the layers or
strata in a stratification system. This movement can be intragenerational (within a generation) or
intergenerational (between two or more generations). Such mobility is sometimes used to classify different
systems of social stratification. Open stratification systems are those that allow for mobility between strata,
typically by placing value on the achieved status characteristics of individuals. Those societies having the
highest levels of intragenerational mobility are considered to be the most open and malleable systems of
stratification.[3] Those systems in which there is little to no mobility, even on an intergenerational basis, are
considered closed stratification systems. For example, in caste systems, all aspects of social status
are ascribed, such that one's social position at birth is the position one holds for a lifetime.[4]
Economic[edit]
Main article: Economic inequality
Strictly quantitative economic variables are more useful to describing social stratification than explaining how
social stratification is constituted or maintained. Income is the most common variable used to describe
stratification and associatedeconomic inequality in a society.[4] However, the distribution of individual
or household accumulation of surplus and wealthtells us more about variation in individual well-being than
does income, alone.[20] Wealth variables can also more vividly illustrate salient variations in the well-being of
groups in stratified societies. [21] Gross Domestic Product (GDP), especiallyper capita GDP, is sometimes used
to describe economic inequality and stratification at the international or global level.
Social[edit]
Main article: Social status

Social variables, both quantitative and qualitative, typically provide the most explanatory power
in causal research regarding social stratification, either as independent variables or as intervening variables.
Three important social variables includegender, race, and ethnicity, which, at the least, have an intervening
effect on social status and stratification in most places throughout the world.[22] Additional variables include
those that describe other ascribed and achieved characteristics such
as occupation and skill levels, age, education level, education level of parents, and geographic area. Some of
these variables may have both causal and intervening effects on social status and stratification. For example,
absolute age may cause a low income if one is too young or too old to perform productive work. The social
perception of age and its role in the workplace, which may lead to ageism, typically has an intervening effect
on employment and income.
Gender[edit]
Main article: Gender inequality
Gender is one of the most pervasive and prevalent social characteristics upon which social distinctions are
made between individuals. Gender distinctions are found in economic-, kinship- and caste-based stratification
systems.[23] Social roleexpectations are often formed along sex and gender lines. Entire societies may be
classified according to the rights andprivileges afforded to men or women, especially those associated with
ownership and inheritance of property.[24] Inpatriarchal societies, such rights and privileges are granted to men
over women; in matriarchal societies, the opposite holds true. Sex- and gender-based division of labor is
historically found in the annals of most societies and such divisions have increased with the advent
of industrialization.[25] Sex-based wage discrimination exists in some societies such that men, typically, receive
higher wages than women for the same type of work. Other differences in employment between men and
women lead to an overall gender pay gap in many societies, where women as a category earn less than men
due to the types of jobs which women are offered and take as well as differences in the number or hours
worked by women.[26] These and other gender-related values affect the distribution of income, wealth, and
property in a given social order.
Race[edit]
Main article: Racism
Racism consists of both prejudice and discrimination based in social perceptions of observable biological
differences between peoples. It often takes the form of social actions, practices or beliefs, or political
systems in which different races are perceived to be ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other,
based on presumed shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. In a given society, those who share racial
characteristics socially-perceived as undesirable are typically under-represented in positions of social power,
i.e., they become a minority category in that society. Minority members in such a society are often subjected to
discriminatory actions resulting from majority policies, including assimilation, exclusion,oppression, expulsion,
and extermination.[27] Overt racism usually feeds directly into a stratification system through its effect on social
status. For example, members associated with a particular race may be assigned a slave status, a form of
oppression in which the majority refuses to grant basic rights to a minority that are granted to other members of
the society. More covert racism, such as that which many scholars posit is practiced in more contemporary
societies, is socially hidden and less easily detectable. Covert racism often feeds into stratification systems as
an intervening variable affecting income, educational opportunities, and housing. Both overt and covert racism
can take the form of structural inequality in a society in which racism has become institutionalized.[28]
Ethnicity[edit]
Main article: Ethnocentricity
Ethnic prejudice and discrimination operate much the same as do racial prejudice and discrimination in society.
In fact, only recently have scholars begun to differentiate race and ethnicity; historically, the two were
considered to be identical or closely related. With the scientific development of genetics and the human
genome as fields of study, most scholars now recognize that race is socially defined on the basis of biologically
determined characteristics that can be observed within a society while ethnicity is defined on the basis
of culturally learned behavior. Ethnic identification can include shared cultural heritage such
as language and dialect, symbolic systems, religion, mythology and cuisine. As with race, ethnic categories of
persons may be socially defined as minority categories whose members are under-represented in positions of
social power. As such, ethnic categories of persons can be subject to the same types of majority policies. For
example, the Bosnian warthat took place in the 1990s was accompanied by a threat of extermination
called ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Bosniakand Croat population, especially in eastern Bosnia and
throughout the Republika Srpska.[29] Whether ethnicity feeds into a stratification system as a direct, causal
factor or as an intervening variable may depend on the level of ethnocentrism within each of the various ethnic

populations in a society, the amount of conflict over scarce resources, and the relative social power held within
each ethnic category.[30]

ANSWER 2
Types of Social Stratification:
Social stratification is based upon a variety of principles. So we find different type of stratification.
The major types of stratification are
(i) Caste
(ii) Class
(iii) Estate
(iv) Slavery
(i) Caste is a hereditary endogamous social group in which a persons rank and its accompanying
rights and obligations are ascribed on the basis of his birth into a particular group. For exampleBrahmins, Kshyatryas, Vaishyas and Sudra Caste.
(ii) Class-Stratification on the basis of class is dominant in modern society. In this, a persons position
depends to a very great extent upon achievement and his ability to use to advantage the inborn
characteristics and wealth that he may possess.
(iii) Estate system of medieval Europe provides another system of stratification which gave much
emphasis to birth as well as to wealth and possessions. Each estate had a state.
(iv) Slavery had economic basis. In slavery, every slave had his master to whom he was subjected.
The masters power over the slave was unlimited.
Characteristics of Social Stratification:
On the basis of the analysis of the different definitions given by eminent scholars, social stratification
may have the following characteristics.
(a) Social stratification is universal:
There is no society on this world which is free from stratification. Modern stratification differs from
stratification of primitive societies. It is a worldwide phenomenon. According to Sorokin all
permanently organized groups are stratified.
(b) Stratification is social:
It is true that biological qualities do not determine ones superiority and inferiority. Factors like age,
sex, intelligence as well as strength often contribute as the basis on which statues are distinguished.
But ones education, property, power, experience, character, personality etc. are found to be more
important than biological qualities. Hence, stratification is social by nature.
(c) It is ancient:
Stratification system is very old. It was present even in the small wondering bonds. In almost all the
ancient civilizations, the differences between the rich and poor, humble andpowerful existed. During
the period of Plato and Kautilya even emphasis was given to political, social and economic
inequalities.

(d) It is in diverse forms:

The forms of stratification is not uniform in all the societies. In the modern world class, caste and
estate are the general forms of stratification. In India a special type of stratification in the form of caste
is found. The ancient Aryas were divided into four varnas: the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and
Sudras. The ancient Greeks were divided into freemen and slaves and the ancient Romans were
divided into the particians and the plebians. So every society, past or present, big or small is
characterized by diversed forms of social stratification.
(e) Social stratification is Consequential:
Social stratification has two important consequences one is life chances and the other one is life
style. A class system not only affects the life- chances of the individuals but also their life style.
The members of a class have similar social chances but the social chances vary in every society. It
includes chances of survival and of good physical and mental health, opportunities for education,
chances of obtaining justice, marital conflict, separation and divorce etc.
Life style denotes a style of life which is distinctive of a particular social status. Life-styles include
such matters like the residential areas in every community which have gradations of prestige-ranking,
mode of housing, means of recreation, the kinds of dress, the kinds of books, TV shows to which one
is exposed and so on. Life-style may be viewed as a sub-culture in which one stratum differs from
another within the frame work of a commonly shared over-all culture.
Social Stratification and Social Mobility:
Social mobility refers to the movement within the social structure, from one social position to another.
It means a change in social status. All societies provide some opportunity for social mobility. But the
societies differ from each other to extent in which individuals can move from one class or status level
to another.
It is said that the greater the amount of social mobility, the more open the class structure. The concept
of social mobility has fundamental importance in ascertaining the relative openness of a social
structure. The nature, forms, direction and magnitude of social mobility depends on the nature and
types of social stratification. Sociologists study social mobility in order to find out the relative
openness of a social structure.
Any group that improves its standard will also improve its social status. But the rate of social mobility
is not uniform in all the countries. It differs from society to society from time to time. In India the rate of
mobility is naturally low because of agriculture being the predominant occupation and the continuity of
caste system as compared to the other countries of the world.

ANSWER 3
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Social Stratification is the ranking of people in a vertical arrangement (hierarchy) that differentiates
them as superior or inferior.
1. Biological traits to not become relevant in patterns of social superiority and inferiority until they
are socially recognized and given importance by being incorporated into the beliefs, attitudes and
values of the people in the society.
2. Social stratification means that inequality has been institutionalized.
In what ways are societies stratified?

1. Social class "implies having or not having the following: individual rights, privileges, power, rights
over others, authority, life style choices, self-determination, status wealth access to services, comfort,
leisure, etc" (Comer, 1978).
2. Racial and ethnic stratification refers systems of inequality in which some fixed groups
membership, such as race, religion, or national origin is a major criterion for ranking social positions
and their differential rewards. Race is socially defined on the basis of a presumed common genetic
heritage resulting in distinguishing physical characteristics. Ethnicity refers to the condition of being
culturally rather than physically distinctive. Ethnic peoples are bound together by virtue of common
ancestry and a common cultural background.

Without slavery there is no cotton; without cotton there is no modern industry. (Karl Marx)

The slave labor force grew from 530,000 in 1780 to 1,180,000 million in 1830, to 2,340,000 in
1860. (Steinberg, 1981)

Whereas only 12,000 pounds of cotton were exported in 1790, by 1860, the figure had grown to
1.7 billion pounds. (Steinberg, 1981)

By 1860, cotton constituted 60 percent of American exports; nearly all went to Britain. Cotton
was the most important stimulus to growth in both countries. (Thistlewaite, 1959)

The Unites States was built up on an economy of slavery. That in itself was no crime. Many
societies and countries have been based on slavery. The crime of the United States is that it is the
first and only country which, having freed its slaves legally, by proclamation, by law and in the courts,
then continued to enslave them and denied them equal rights on the basis of their color. (Boggs,
1970)

A society which had consistently underinvested in black students ought to now adopt race
based policies aimed at helping young blacks overcome the deficits yielded by segregation. The
legacy of decades of systematic deprivation could be overcome only by color conscious policies
direct at the victims of that deprivation. (Howard, 1997)

Opponents of affirmative action have sought to seize the moral high ground, arguing that such
policies betray the central ethical claim which drove the civil rights movement in its long struggle
against segregation. People ought to be accorded equal treatment without regard to race, gender, or
other extraneous characteristics. the main burden of change must lie with programs that can
develop a degree of genuine equality that will make affirmative action unnecessary. (Howard, 1997)
3. Gender is the patterning of difference and domination through distinctions between women and
men. Gender roles are social constructions: they contain self-perceptions and psychological traits, as
well as family, occupational, and political roles assigned to each sex. Patriarchy is the term for forms
of social organization in which men are dominant over women.
Order Perspective on Stratification: "Society must provide suitable rewards (money, prestige, and
power) to induce individuals to fill positions such as those that involve decision-making, medicine,
religion, teaching, and the military. A differential reward system guarantees that the important societal
functions are fulfilled, thereby ensuring the maintenance of society. Differential ranks actually serve to
unify society through a division of labor and through the socialization of people to accept their
positions in the system. Is inequality primarily integrative or divisive?
Conflict Perspective on Stratification: "Conflict perspective assumes that stratification reflects the
distribution of power in society and is therefore a major source of discord and coercion. The unequal
distribution of rewards reflects the interests of the powerful and not the basic survival needs of
society. Stratification is unjust, divisive, and a source of social instability or change" (p. 238).
Institutional Discrimination is when the customary way of doing things, prevailing attitudes and
expectations, and accepted structural arrangements work to the disadvantage of the poor.

ANSWER 4
Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy.
In the United States it is perfectly clear that some groups have greater status, power, and wealth

than other groups. These differences are what lead to social stratification. Social stratification is
based on four major principles:
1.
2.
3.

social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences

social stratification persists over generations
social stratification is universal (it happens everywhere) but variable (it takes different forms
across different societies)
4. social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well (inequality is rooted in a
society's philosophy)
Stratification is a hierarchy of positions with regard to economic production which influences the
social rewards to those in the positions.