The document discusses social stratification, defining it as a hierarchical system that categorizes individuals based on socio-economic factors, where inequities influence status, power, and privilege. It outlines various forms of stratification, such as slavery, caste, and class systems, alongside theories from Karl Marx and Max Weber on class relations and their influence on social mobility. The text concludes that while class divisions persist, factors like education and economic changes are reshaping opportunities for upward mobility in modern societies.

1. Stratification
&
Mobility

2. Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people
in a hierarchy
In sociology, social stratification is a concept involving the "classification of people into
groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with
economic, social, political and ideological dimensions." When differences lead to greater
status, power or privilege for some groups over the other it is called social stratification.
It is a system by which society ranks categories of people, hierarchy. Social
stratification is based on four basic
principles:
(1) Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual
differences;
(2) Social stratification carries over from generation to generation;
(3) Social stratification is universal but variable (takes diff form across society)
(4) Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well. ( inequality is
rooted in a society’s philosophy)

3. Stratification:
Social stratification is defined as the inequalities that exist between
individuals and groups within human societies. Often we think of stratification
in terms of assets and properties, but it can also occur because of other
attributes gender, age, religious affiliation or military rank.
 All socially stratified system has three basic characteristics:
1.The ranking apply to social categories of people who share a common
characteristics without necessarily interacting or identifying with one another.
2.People’s life experiences and opportunities depend heavily on how their
social category is ranked.
3.The ranks of different social categories tends to change very slowly over
time.

4. Slavery:
Slavery is an extreme form of inequality, in which certain people are owned as property
by others. The legal conditions of slave ownership have varied considerable from society
to society. Sometimes slaves were deprived of almost all rights by law- as was the case
on southern plantations in the united states- while in other societies, there position was
more akin to that of servants. For example, in the ancient Greek City Athens, Some
slaves occupied positions of great responsibility.
Caste:
A caste system is a social system in which ones social status is given for life. In caste
societies, therefore, different social levels are closed, so that all individuals must remain
at the social level of their throughout the life. Everyone’s social status is based on
personal characteristics – such perceived race or ethnicity (often based on physical
characteristics such as colour of skin), parental religion or parental caste that are
accidents of birth and are therefore not changeable. A person is born into a caste and
remains there for entire life.

5. Class
We can define a class as a large scale grouping of people who share common economic
resources, which strongly influence the type of life style they are able to lead. Ownership
of wealth together with occupation are the chief bases of class differences. Classes
differ from earlier forms of stratification in four main respects.
1. Class system are fluid the boundaries between classes are never clear cut.
2. Class positions are in some part achieved. An individual’s class is not simply given at
birth as is the case in the other types of stratification systems, social mobility (movement
upward downward in a class structure) is more common than in other types.
3. Class is economically based, it depend on economic differences between group of
individuals – inequalities in the possession of material resources.
4. Class system are large scale and impersonal. In other types of stratification systems,
inequalities are expressed primarily in personal relationships of duty or obligation-
between slave and master and lower and higher caste individuals class system by
contrast operate mainly through large scale impersonal associations.

6. Theories of class and stratification
1) Karl Marx’s Theory
For Karl Marx, there exist two major social classes with significant inequality between
the two.
The two are delineated by their relationship to the means of production in a
given society. Those two classes are defined as the owners of the means of production
and those who sell their labour to the owners of the means of production.
In capitalistic societies, the two classifications represent the opposing social
interests of its members, capital gain for the capitalists and good wages for the
labourers, creating social conflict.

7. # According to Marx the relationship of class is an exploitative one.
In feudal societies exploitation often took the form of the direct transfer of procedure
from the peasantry to the aristocracy. Serfs were compelled to give a certain proportion
of their production to their aristocratic master or had to work for number of days each
month in his fields to produce crops to be consumed by him and his retinue.
In modern capitalist societies the source of exploitation is less obvious. In the course
of the working day, Marx reasoned, workers produced more than is actually needed by
employers to repay the cost of hiring them. This surplus value is the source of the profit
which capitalists are able to put their own use.
Before the rise of modern industry, the means of production consisted
primarily of land and the instruments used to raise crops or pastoral animals. In pre
industrial societies , therefore the two main classes consisted of those who own the
land(aristocrats, gentry or slave holders) and those actively engaged in producing from
it(serfs, slaves and free peasantry).
In modern industrial societies, factories, offices, machinery and the wealth or
capital needed to buy them have become more important. The two main classes
consists of those who own these new means of production – industrialist or capitalists –
and those who earn their living by selling their labour to them- the working class or the
Proletariat.

8. 2) Max Weber’s theory
Weber’s approach to stratification was built on the analysis developed by Marx, but he
modified and elaborated it.
Like Marx, Weber regarded society as characterized by conflicts over power and
resources. Yet where Marx saw polarized class relations and economic issues at the
heart of all social conflict, Weber developed a more complex, multi dimensional view of
society.
Social stratification is not simply a matter of class, according to Weber but is shaped by
two further aspects; status(prestige) and power (party). These three overlapping
elements of stratification produce an enormous number of possible positions within
society, rather than the more rigid bipolar modal which Marx proposed.

9.  Although Weber accepted Marx’s views that class is founded on objectively given
economic conditions, he saw a greater variety of economic factors as important in
class formation than were recognised by the Marx.
 According to Weber, class divisions derive not only from control (or lack of control) of
the means of the production, but from economic differences which have nothing to
directly with the property. Such resources include especially the skills and credentials,
or qualifications, which effect the types of job people are able to obtain, Weber
believed that an individual’s market position strongly influences his or her overall life
chances.
 Those in managerial or professional occupations earn more and have more favourable
conditions of work, for example, than the people in blue collar jobs. The qualifications
they posses, such as degrees, diplomas and skills they have acquired, make them
more ‘marketable’ than others without such qualifications. At a lower level among blue
collar workers, skilled craftsmen are able to secure higher wages than the semi skilled
or un skilled.

10.  In advance industrial societies, status came to be expressed through people’s style
of life (status) . Markers and symbols status – such as housing, dress, manner of
speech and occupation- all help to shape an individuals social standing in the eyes of
others. People sharing the same status for the community in which there is a sense of
shared identity.
 While Marx believed that status distinction are the result of class divisions in society.
Weber argued that status often varies independently of class divisions.
Possessions of wealth normally tends to confer the high status, but there are many
exceptions. The term ’genteel poverty’ refers to one example. In Britain, Individuals
from aristocratic families continue to enjoy considerable social esteem even when
there fortunes have been lost. Conversely, ‘new money’ is often looked on with some
scorn by the well established wealthy.
 In modern societies, Weber pointed out, party formation is an important aspect of
power ,and can influence stratification independently of class and status. Party
defines a group of Individuals who work together because they have common
backgrounds, aims or interests. Often a party works in an organized fashion towards
a specific goal which is in the interest of the party membership. ( Marx tended to
explain both status differences and party organisation in terms of class)

11. # Stratification in western society:
Like all societies, the United States is stratified, and this stratification is often based on a
person’s socioeconomic status (SES). This complex formula takes into account three factors:
a) Education b) Occupation and c) Income
The number of years a person spends in school, plus the prestige of his or her occupation, plus
the amount of money he or she makes, determine one’s social class.
In modern Western societies, inequalities are often broadly classified into three major 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"). Members of different classes have varied
access to financial resources, which affects their placement in the social stratification system

12. # Global Stratification
Societies are stratified in relation to one another:
• The three broad categories of global stratification are most-industrialized nations,
industrializing nations, and least-industrialized nations.
• Each category differs in wealth, power, and prestige.
• Theories of global stratification include colonialism, world system theory,
neocolonialism, and multinational corporations.
• Colonialism occurs when a powerful country invades a weaker country in order to
exploit its resources.
• According to Wallerstein’s world system theory, as societies industrialized, capitalism
became the dominant economic system, which led to the globalization of capitalism.
• Harrington’s theory of neocolonialism argues that most industrialized nations tend to
politically and economically exploit less developed countries.
• Multinational corporations help maintain the global stratification system.

13. Social Mobility
# The term ‘social mobility’ refers to the movement of individuals and groups
between socio economic positions.
 Vertical mobility means movements up or down the socioeconomic scale.
Those who gain in property, income or status are said to be upwardly mobile
while those who move in the opposite direction are downwardly mobile
 In modern societies there is also a great deal of Lateral mobility, which refers to
geographical movements between neighborhoods, towns or regions.
# There are two ways of studying social mobility.
 First, we can look at individuals own careers – how far they move up or down the
social scale in the course of their working lives. This is usually called intra
generational mobility.
 Alternatively, we can analyse how far children enter the same type of occupation as
their parents or grand parents. Mobility across the generations is called
intergenerational mobility

14. Conclusion : The importance of class
 Although the traditional hold of the class is most certainly weakening in some ways,
particularly in terms of people’s identities, class divisions remain at the heart of core
economic inequalities in modern societies. Class continues to exert great influence on
our lives and class membership is correlated with a variety of inequalities from life
expectancy and overall physical health to access to education well paid jobs.
 Inequalities between the poor and the more affluent have expanded in Britain over the
last three decades. The pursuit of wealth, the reasoning was, creates economic
development because it is a motivating force encouraging innovation and drive. Many
argue that in the present day, globalisation and the deregulation of economic markets
are leading to a widening of the gap between rich and poor and a ‘hardening’ of class
inequalities.
 Yet it is possible to remember that our activities are never completely determined by
the class divisions: many people experience social mobility. The expansion of higher
education, the growing accessibility of professional qualification and the emergence
of the Internet and the ‘new economy’ are all also presenting important news
channels for upward mobility. Such developments are further eroding old class and
stratification patterns and are contributing to a more fluid, meritocratic order.