Social Stratification
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Stratification in pre-industrial societies
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Stratification in an Advanced Industrial Society –
the U.S.
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The Caste system of India
Income Inequality
What is the median income?
How many people live in poverty?
Wealth Inequality
Status Inequality in the U.S.
Social Mobility
Income and wealth inequality in comparative
perspective
Stratification in preindustrial societies
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Very little stratification in hunting and
gathering societies
Nobody owns much, so there is no
basis for inequality.
Primary differences are differences in
prestige or social honor (status)
Good hunters, weavers, older people
etc. are given prestige
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In horticultural societies people are
more settled in one place and own
more, so there is more stratification
If a horticultural society is a tribe,
there may be no leaders or someone
referred to as a “big man.”
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Men compete for status by holding
feasts and giving away food and
goods.
The man who holds the biggest feast
and gives away the most becomes the
big man of the tribe.
Big men are not permanent leaders
and cannot bequeath their position
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Sometimes horticultural societies have
chiefs, or permanent leaders who can
bequeath their position to their
children.
Now we see status group differences
between the chief, his family and his
retainers (who become the
aristocracy) and the common people
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Most of these differences concern
rules of behavior and dress
Dress codes can be so elaborate for
aristocrats that they are a physical
handicap.
Zulu warrior
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Material differences between
aristocrats and commoners are not
great.
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Inequality reaches its maximum in agrarian
societies.
At the top is a monarch who is hugely
wealthy.
There is also a large aristocracy – the ruling
class
Below the aristocracy is the retainer class of
top officials, soldiers and servants.
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Most people are part of the peasantry, the
vast majority of people who work the land.
Below the peasantry are groups of slaves,
craftsmen, and degraded classes who work
as tanners or garbage collectors.
Below them are groups of beggars and the
destitute.
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There are vast differences between
the lifestyle of the monarch and the
aristocracy and the peasants and
lower classes.
The caste system of India
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This system of ranked groups of
people in agrarian societies reaches its
most rigid form in the Indian caste
system.
Each caste is an endogamous,
hereditary group.
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Brahmins- priestly class
Kshatria - rulers and aristocrats
Vaisia - landlords and business men, or.
Sudra, the peasantry and those who work in
non-polluting jobs.
Untouchables- those who work in unclean
jobs such as garbage collection, etc.
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The first three castes have social and
economic rights which the Sudra and
the untouchables do not have.
Interaction between the castes is
strictly regulated, and there are
penalties for people who do not follow
the rules.
Stratification in the U.S.
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Inequality can be by money (class) or
status
Class inequality can be inequality by
income or inequality by wealth
(property, stocks and bonds, savings)
Income Inequality
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In 2007, the top fifth of households in
the U.S. earned nearly half of all
income.
Equivalence income takes into account
the number of people living in the
household
Which states have the
most income inequality?
Has income inequality been
getting better or worse?
Percent change in Gini coefficient, U.S. Higher coefficients
mean more inequality.
In which states do people
earn the most?
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Income is usually referred to as
median income
That is the income of someone who is
the very middle of the income scale.
Median income is highest on the east
and west coasts
Has median income been
rising or falling?
Is that because women
are working?
How about poverty?
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Is that getting better or worse?
Mostly it seems to be getting better
Fewer people are living in poverty
Wealth Inequality
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Net worth refers to equity in home,
stocks, bonds, IRAs, 401k accounts,
savings, equity in vehicles, etc.
It is a measure of wealth
Figures shows median net worth by
income
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In 2002, households in the highest
fifth of income earners had
substantially higher net worth than
anyone else.
How has net worth
changed over time?
Status Inequality in the
U.S.
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There are status groups in American
society that may be defined by their
style of life.
The ranking of a status group often
corresponds to its income and wealth
ranking, but not always.
Status groups in the U.S.
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The top out of sight group- This group
lives entirely on inherited capital. This is
most prestigious if it is at least 3 to 4
generations old (e.g. Rockefellers).
The upper- This group inherits a lot of
their money but earns a lot too, “usually
from some attractive, if slight work,
without which they would feel bored or
even ashamed.” This work might be
controlling banks or older corporations,
think tanks, or foundations.
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Upper middle -This group may have as
much money as the upper group, but they
earned it from law, medicine, finance, oil,
shipping, real estate or the more honorific
kinds of trade such as art.
Middle -The middle is the most earnest and
insecure group. Middle class people are very
concerned about what people think of them
and often obsessed with doing everything
right. Middle class people have jobs in the
middle ranks of companies.
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High Proletarian -This group is made up
mostly of blue collar workers, people who
skilled workers and craftspeople. People in
this group are proud of their work and are
tempted to call what they do a profession.
Mid proletarian-This group is made of
operators like bus drivers, truck drivers and
heavy equipment operators. They tend to
have more supervision in their jobs than the
high proletarians.
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Low proletarian-These people have
uncertain employment such as seasonal
jobs. They are highly supervised on the job
and often prefer social isolation outside of
work.
Destitute-These people never have even
seasonal work but live wholly on welfare.
Bottom out of sight-The homeless, and
those in charitable or correctional
institutions.
Social Mobility
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How easy is it to move up (or down)
the class structure in the U.S.?
Research shows that in most industrial
societies there has been considerable
upward mobility over the course of the
20th century.
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Much of that mobility, however, is due
to changes in the available jobs, and
the proliferation of white collar jobs
(that are generally higher prestige)
and the disappearance of blue collar
jobs (that are generally lower prestige)
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When changes in the nature of
available jobs is factored in, the
amount of mobility has not change
that much in over a century.
How does the U.S. compare
to other industrial societies?
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The United States is by far the richest
nation.
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Why? Americans work harder – longer
hours every day and more weeks per
year.
Unemployment tends to be low in U.S.
More U.S. couples are dual earner
couples.
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At the same time, the U.S. has the
highest level of income inequality.
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The U.S. also has a larger percentage
of people in poverty.