Chapter 12
Stratification: Class and Caste
Chapter Outline

Explaining Social Stratification
 Criteria of Stratification: Power, Wealth and
Prestige
 Ascription and Achievement
 Caste
Explaining Social Stratification

No culture has ever devised a successful
means of organizing a large population
without stratification and inequality.
 From a functionalist perspective, inequality
and the promise of economic and social
rewards motivate people to engage in difficult,
jobs.
 Although social stratification may be and of
some benefit, it is also a source of conflict
and instability.
Explaining Social Stratification

In the view of the conflict theory, social
stratification is a result of the struggle for
scarce goods and services.
– Inequalities exist because individuals and
groups who have acquired power, wealth,
and prestige use their assets and their
power to maintain control over the
apparatus of the state, particularly its
institutions of coercion and ideology.
Theories of Stratification

Functionalism specifies that specific cultural
institutions function to support the structure of
society or serve the needs of individuals in
society.
 Conflict theory focuses on inequality as a
source of conflict and change.
Question

If one looks at how social stratification may
benefit a state-level society and/or its
members, one is taking a(n) ________
perspective.
a) anthropological
b) functionalist
c) historical
d) evolutionary
e) psychological
Answer: b

If one looks at how social stratification may
benefit a state-level society and/or its
members, one is taking a functionalist
perspective.
Dimensions of Stratification

Power is the ability to control resources in
one’s own interest.
 Wealth is the accumulation of material
resources or access to the means of
producing these resources.
 Prestige is social honor or respect.
Ascribed Vs. Achieved Status

Ascribed Status
Social position into which a person is
born. (sex, race, kinship group)
 Achieved Status
Social position that a person chooses or
achieves. (professor, criminal, artist)
Social Class in the United States

Status depends on occupation, education,
and lifestyle.
 “The American Dream,” is based on the
democratic principle of equality and
opportunity for all.
 Social class in the United States correlates
with attitudinal, behavioral, and lifestyle
differences.
Stratification Systems

Closed system
A system of stratification based primarily on
ascription.
 Open system
A system of stratification based primarily on
achievement.
 Class system
A form of social stratification in which the
different strata form a continuum and social
mobility is possible.
Social mobility

Movement from one social class to another.
Life Chances

Opportunities people have to fulfill their
potential in society.
 Include:
– chance of survival and longevity
– opportunities to obtain an education
– opportunities to participate in cultural life
– opportunities to live in comfort and
security
Social Classes as Subcultures

Many studies demonstrate that social class
correlates with differences in attitudes,
behavior, lifestyle, and values.
 A social class has aspects of a subculture:
– its members tend to share similar life
experiences, occupational roles, values,
educational backgrounds, affiliations,
leisure activities, buying habits, religious
affiliation, and political views.
Caste System

System of stratification based on birth.
 Movement from one caste to another is not
possible.
 Castes are hereditary, endogamous, ranked
in relation to one another and usually
associated with a traditional occupation.
Hindu Caste System
Four caste categories
1. Brahmins - priests and scholars
2. Kshatriyas - ruling and warrior caste
3. Vaisyas - the merchants
4. Shudras - menial workers and artisans
5. Harijans – “untouchables”
Question

Which of the following is not characteristic
of caste systems?
a) based on birth
b) marriage is exogamous with respect to
caste
c) caste is hereditary
d) ranked with respect to one another
e) a person cannot move from one caste
to another
Answer : b

That marriage is exogamous with respect
to caste is not characteristic of caste
systems.
Changes in the Caste System

There have been important changes in the
caste system in the past 50 years.
– Caste ranking appears to be less sharply
defined within the higher caste categories.
– Caste is less relevant for occupations.:
– Differences in caste are now referred to in
public as cultural differences, rather than
as a hierarchy based on spiritual purity and
pollution.
Quick Quiz
1. The view that social stratification and
inequalities in a state result from competition
for scare goods and services, and that the
elite classes attempt to maintain control over
the state apparatus is called
a) functionalism.
b) evolutionary theory.
c) conflict theory.
d) cultural relativity.
e) structuralism.
Answer : c

The view that social stratification and
inequalities in a state result from competition
for scare goods and services, and that the
elite classes attempt to maintain control over
the state apparatus is called conflict
theory.
2. Social scientists refer to the opportunities that
people have to fulfill their potential in society
as
a) social statuses.
b) roles.
c) social mobility.
d) life chances.
e) random.
Answer: d

Social scientists refer to the opportunities
that people have to fulfill their potential in
society as life chances.
3. The example of poor whites in the American
south who did not join with poor blacks to
work for a desperately needed improvement
of their economic situation illustrates
________ observation that people may often
value prestige more than economic selfinterest.
a) Margaret Mead's
b) Karl Marx's
c) Max Weber's
d) Emile Durkheim's
e) Wilhelm Lang's
Answer : c

The example of poor whites in the American
south who did not join with poor blacks to
work for a desperately needed improvement
of their economic situation illustrates Max
Weber's observation that people may often
value prestige more than economic selfinterest.
4. Social class in American society can be described by
all except which one of the following statements?
a) People of a social class share cultural patterns,
so a class can be also seen as a "subculture."
b) Members of a social class associate with one
another, more than with people in other social
classes.
c) Friendship and marriage generally occur
between people of the same social class.
d) One's social class is determined almost
exclusively by one's income level and amount of
accumulated wealth.
e) People born into higher social classes work hard
to maintain their position, often trying to keep
others from upward mobility.
Answer: d

Social class in American society can not be
described by the following statements:
– One's social class is determined
almost exclusively by one's income
level and amount of accumulated
wealth.