GS 336: Work and Society

Lecture 10
 2: Work in Historical Perspectives
Topic:
Factory system: The rise of Capitalism and Classism in
Society

OUTLINE/OBJECTIVES

 Social Stratification

 What is a social Class

 Components of Social Class

 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
• SOCIAL STRATIFICATION is the unequal distribution
of goods and services, rights and obligations, power and
prestige.

• Social stratification refers to all attributes of positions in

society, not attributes of individuals;

• Without exception, modern societies are socially

stratified;

• It has been argued that such inequalities have not

always existed, however. During most of human history,
more egalitarian/equalitarian societies were existing.
 Why Social Stratification?
There are three hypotheses why social stratification exist:

1. Social stratification develops when economic

productivity increases and surpluses are produced;

2. Social stratification develops when people are

invested in land or technology and cannot easily
move away from political leadership they dislike;

3. Social stratification develops when there is

population pressure on resources in rank societies.
 Social Class
Social Class refers to a large group of individuals who
share similar positions in four dimensions of socio-
economic life:

Occupation Education
Income Wealth

SOCIAL CLASS is a large group of individuals who

share similar occupational, educational, income, and
wealth positions and thus who share similar standard of
living and amounts of power and prestige.
 Social Class
• UPPER CLASS – the elite with great wealth who own the “means of
production”, or who otherwise dominate the economic system.

• MIDDLE CLASS – professionals with high paying jobs in respected

occupations (upper-middle class), and the skilled who work in moderately
compensated occupations, and who own few assets (lower-middle class).

• LOWER CLASS – working class who do not earn enough to accumulate

wealth, but who may be able to purchase a home and vehicle, etc. (The
Upper Lower Class). The lower-lower class is made up of those who are
not educated (not attended college and sometimes high school) and live in
the less desirable parts of the community because of low costs of rent. They
typically do not own a home. The lowest of the poor live at subsistence
level or below, are chronically unemployed, and are sometimes homeless.
Social class provides people with different
chances, and different ways of viewing the world.
DIFFERENT LIFE EXPERIENCES
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES GET A JOB SO
DIFFERENT OPINIONS YOU CAN BUY
HEY BUDDY, CAN YOUR OWN
YOU SPARE A COFFEE!
DOLLAR FOR
A CUP OF HOT
COFFEE?

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 Components of Social Class
 Wealth - consists of property and income minus outstanding debt.

Wealth and income are not the same.

Some have wealth but little income.

 Power - the ability to carry out your will despite resistance.

The power elite - those who make the big decisions in society.
• Power lies in the hands of the few---Wealth influences power in
todays world.

 Prestige – respect/status or regard: In modern capitalistic world

wealth and power can influence one’s prestige.

• Class ranking is persistent across cultures and time.

• People display prestige through status symbols e.g., Cow for Hindus,
Turban, gray hair for older, Expensive Cars, Rolls Rice etc.
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Any Question?

Thank You!

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