CAPE Sociology Unit one module three

1. CAPE 2003 - Social Stratification Unit 1 - Module 3
Evaluate the relative importance of any TWO determinants of social stratification in the Caribbean.
(25 marks)
Social Stratification refers to the division of society into a pattern of layers or strata made up of a hierarchy of unequal social
groups. As one sociologist puts it, social stratification is simply structured inequality. In other words, a society characterized
by stratification will contain inequalities based upon factors such as wealth and income, occupation and status, social class,
political power, religion, race, gender, and age. One or two groups will dominate others.
The Caribbean society is highly stratified and this is evident in our history of slavery, colonization and Indentureship. For
most parts, the region can be regarded as on open society where achievements can advance a person’s position in society,
thus meaning that social mobility on factors such as wealth and education is evident. However, there are many ascriptive
factors that determine a person’s stratum in society. The Caribbean is thus stratified on basics of people’s class, status,
power, race/ethnicity, colour, gender, wealth and education among others. For this discussion we will examine
Race/ethnicity and Wealth.
Wealth
The Distribution of wealth is a major determinant of a person’s stratum in the Caribbean society. As Weber puts it,
stratification is the result of a struggle for scarce resources especially wealth, power and prestige. There is a distinction
made between those who own the means of production and those who do not. Wealth therefore determines an individual
standards of living and class in the Caribbean. Hence, a person with more wealth is viewed as a member of the upper class
and one with little wealth, a member of the lower class.
A person’s wealth is directly linked to the class in which society puts them. Carl Stone advocates that stratification in the
Caribbean is based on material differences (wealth). He notes that the economic changes in Jamaica has allowed for an
expansion of new social classes and a modified stratification system. The growth of the manufacturing and service sector
allowed for a more diverse and fragmented class structure and opened up new modes of mobility.
Many opposed Stone saying that he had ignored race, colour and occupational prestige as major determinants of social
status in the Caribbean. However, he maintains that all these are outweighed by income level. This was enhanced by the
findings of Derek Gordon in Jamaica. Gordon notes that the wealth that comes along with the increase in occupational
opportunities have provided avenues for persons to achieve upward mobility. Between 1943- 1984 there was a significant
upward movement to the middle and upper classes. He notes that there are still inconsistencies as persons with poor or low
socio-economic backgrounds did not receive a fair chance of mobility.
Race/ ethnicity
Race/ ethnicity will always continue to be a means of stratification in the Caribbean society. So was during slavery and
Indentureship, and so is it now. The Caribbean has numerous ethnic groups throughout the region. With the whites from
colonization, to the Africans from slavery along with the numerous ethnic groups from Indentureship such as Syrians, Asians
and the Chinese, the Caribbean can be termed as M.G. Smiths puts it a “plural society”.
M.G. Smith, a conflict theorist, presents society as being divided by race/cultures. Smith regards the society as being
distinguishable by cultural groupings: white cultures, black cultures and brown cultures. This is extended for territories with
Asian and Chinese cultures. Each group in the society can be distinguished by a distinct way of life (social patterns, value
systems and institutional activities). The groups mix but do not mingle. Thus they share the same geographical space but
do not share the same institutions and values. Though cultural universals exist, they act as the basics for making a
distinction between the groups.
Braithwaite, though opposed the fact that Smith offered his research in a conflict manner, believes in his idea of a society
that mix but do not mingle. He asserts that most of the races in the Caribbean maintain their status by keeping a relatively
closed system except for the inter-marriage with the white grouping. Carl Stone, however, believe that the Caribbean is
divided by class and not race or cultural groups/ variations.