Social stratification

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

• Is a system by which a society ranks categories

of people in a hierarchy according to power,
wealth, and prestige (Macionis 2012: 224).
Social Desirables (Rewards Of Social Positions)
• Power, wealth, and prestige are referred to as of statuses.
• Wealth pertains to ownership or control of resource.
• Power is the ability to compel obedience or control a number of people.
• Prestige refers to social recognition and deference.
• People in different positions have different access to wealth, power, and
prestige.
• These differences in society give rise to social inequality.
Macionis (2012) points out that in certain societies, some people
experience social mobility or the change in position within the
social hierarchy.
• Vertical mobility refers to the change from one status to
another that is higher or lower.
• Individuals who rose from modest beginnings to fame and
fortune experience upward mobility.
• Some people move downward because of business
failures, unemployment, or illness.
Macionis (2012) points out that in certain societies, some people
experience social mobility or the change in position within the
social hierarchy.
• Horizontal mobility is the change from one
status to another that is roughly equivalent.
• This is the case when people switch from one
job to another at about the same social level.
Two Types Of Social Stratification Systems

• Closed systems allow for little change in social position, while open systems,
permit much more social mobility.
• Closed systems are called caste systems.
• A caste system is social stratification based on ascription, or birth.
• India’s caste system and apartheid, or separation of the races in South
Africa, are examples of a caste system.
Two Types Of Social Stratification Systems

• Open system is called class system, in contrast, is social

stratification based on both birth and individual achievement.
• The system is common in industrial societies.
• In some societies such as the United Kingdom and Japan, social
stratification mixes caste and class (Macionis 2012: 228).
Global
stratification and
inequality
Social stratification
• Involves not just people within a single
country; it is also a worldwide pattern
with some nations far more economically
productive than others.
Three Worlds Model
First World
• Made up of rich, industrial, capitalist countries.
Second World
• Refers to less industrialized socialist countries.
Third World
• The non- industrialized poor countries.
REVISED SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION
• High-income countries: The 72 high-income countries are those
with the highest overall standards of living. These nations have a
per capita gross domestic product (GDP) greater than $12,000.
• Middle-income countries: The 70 middle-income countries are those
with a standard of living about average for the world as a whole.
Their per capita GDP is less than $12,000 but greater than $2,500.
• Low-income countries: The remaining 53 low-income countries are
those with a per capita GDP less than $2,500, and a low standard
of living. Most people in these nations are poor.
Theories of global
stratification
There are two major explanations for inequality
among nations: Modernization theory and
Dependency theory (Macionis 2012: 280-281).
1. Modernization theory
• Walt Rostow explains global inequality in terms of
technological and cultural differences between
nations.
• Nations become rich by developing advanced
technology, a process that depends on a culture that
encourages innovation and change toward
higher living standards.
Rostow identifies four stages of development:
1. Traditional stage: People’s lives are built around families and local
communities (Example: Bangladesh)
2. Take-off stage: A market emerges as people produce goods not just for
their own use but also to trade with others for profit. (Example: Thailand)
3. Drive to technological maturity: The ideas of economic growth and
higher living standards gain widespread support (Example: Mexico)
4. High mass consumption: Advanced technology fuels mass production
and mass consumption as people now “need” countless goods.
(Example: the United States of America)
How to address
global inequalities?
How to address global inequalities?
• Rostow’s modernization theory highlights the role of
technology transfer and foreign aid.
• Accordingly, rich nations can help poor nations by
providing technology to control population size,
increase food production, and expand industrial
output and by providing foreign aid to support
economic development.
2. Dependency theory
• This views global inequality as a result of the historical
exploitation of poor nations by rich ones.
• It maintains that colonialism created global inequality
beginning 500 years ago, giving rise to rich nations and
underdeveloped poor nations.
• This process continues today in the form of
neocolonialism, or the economic exploitation of poor
nations by multinational corporations.
Immanuel Wallerstein’s model of the capitalist world
economy identified three categories of nations:
1. Core: the world’s high-income countries, which are home to
multinational corporations
2. Semiperiphery: the world’s middle-income countries, with ties
to core nations
3. Periphery: the world’s low-income countries,
which provide cheap labor and raw materials,
and a vast market for industrial products
How to address
global inequalities?
How to address global inequalities?
• The dependency theory claims that three
factors, namely export-orientation, a lack of
industrial capacity, and foreign debt, make
poor countries dependent on rich nations and
prevent their economic development.
Andre Gunder Frank’s dependency theory
• Argues that countries in the Periphery
must cut the “umbilical cord” that
connects them to the Center, if they
were to become developed countries
themselves.