Lecture on Social Stratification

Introduction

Main Topic: Social stratification and inequality.
Key Question: Who deserves wealth? The inheritor or the self-made person? The answer varies by society.

Definition: A system by which society categorizes people and ranks them in a hierarchy.
Influences social status, job opportunities, and chances of poverty.

Universal but Variable: Exists in every society but differs in form and impact.
Characteristic of Society: Not based on individual differences.
- Example: Children of wealthy families have better life outcomes, regardless of personal traits.
Persists Across Generations: Stratification affects life chances over generations.
Involves Beliefs: Cultural beliefs define and justify inequalities.

Definition: Changes in position within the social hierarchy.
Types of Mobility:
- Vertical (upward/downward)
- Horizontal (changing jobs with similar status)
- Structural Social Mobility: Large shifts due to societal changes, e.g., recessions.

Closed Systems:
- Rigid; little social mobility.
- Based on ascribed status (e.g., birth).
- Examples:
  - Caste System: India’s varnas.
  - Feudal Estates: Nobility, clergy, commoners.
  - Race-Based Systems: Apartheid in South Africa, Jim Crow laws.
Open Systems:
- Allow social mobility; based on ascribed and achieved status.
- Class Systems:
  - Found in places like the U.S.; bound by meritocracy.
  - Challenges: Structural inequalities persist despite opportunities for mobility.

Mixed Systems:
- Example: Modern Britain with remnants of nobility and class systems.
Classless Claims:
- Soviet Union post-1917 claimed classlessness but had political stratification.

Key Takeaway: Understanding a society requires understanding its stratification system and mobility.
Next Topic: Sociological theories of stratification.