Chapter 8 : Stratification, Class and Inequality

Social Stratification

  Social stratification refers to the division of people socioeconomically into layers, or strata. When we talk of social stratification, we draw attention to the unequal positions occupied by individuals in society. In the larger traditional societies and in industrialized countries today there is stratification in terms of wealth, property, and access to material goods and cultural products.

  Three major types of stratification systems can be distinguished: slavery, caste, and class . Whereas the first two of these depend on legal or religiously sanctioned inequalities, class divisions are not "officially" recognized but stem from economic factors affecting the material circumstances of people's lives.

Class Systems

  Classes derive from inequalities in possession and control of material resources and access to educational and occupational opportunities. An individual's class position is at least in some part achieved, for it is not simply "given" from birth. Some recent authors have suggested that cultural factors such as lifestyle and consumption patterns are important influences on class position. According to such a view, individual identities are now more structured around lifestyle choices than they are around traditional class indicators such as occupation.

  Class is of major importance in industrialized societies, although there are many complexities in the class system within such societies. The main class divisions are between people in the upper, middle, and lower working classes , and the underclass.

Inequality in the United States

  Most people in modern societies are more affluent today than was the case several generations ago. Yet the distribution of wealth and income remains highly unequal. Between the early 1970s and the late 1990s, partly as a result of economic globalization, the gap between rich and poor grew. Incomes at the top increased sharply, while many ordinary workers and families saw their incomes drop as higher wage manufacturing jobs moved offshore to low-wage countries.

Social Mobility

  In the study of social mobility, a distinction is made between intragenerational and intergenerational mobility. The first of these refers to movement up or down the social scale within an individual's working life. Intergenerational mobility is movement across the generations, as when the daughter or son from a blue-collar background becomes a professional. Social mobility is mostly of limited range. Most people remain close to the level of the family from which they came, though the expansion of white-collar jobs in the last few decades has provided the opportunity for considerable short-range upward mobility.

Poverty

  Poverty remains widespread in the United States. Two methods of assessing poverty exist. One involves the notion of absolute poverty , which is a lack of the basic resources needed to maintain a healthy existence. Relative poverty involves assessing the gaps between the living conditions of some groups and those enjoyed by the majority of the population.

  Problems of declining income and poverty are especially pronounced among racial and ethnic minorities, families headed by single women, and persons lacking education. The feminization of poverty is especially strong among young, poorly educated women who are raising children on their own.

Social Exclusion

  Social exclusion refers to processes by which individuals may become cut off from full involvement in the wider society. People who are socially excluded, due to poor housing, inferior schools, or limited transportation, may be denied the opportunities for self betterment that most people in society have. Homelessness is one of the most extreme forms of social exclusion. Homeless people lacking a permanent residence may be shut out of many everyday activities that most people take for granted.

Theories of Stratification

  The most prominent and influential theories of stratification are those developed by Marx and Weber. Marx placed the primary emphasis on class, which he saw as an objectively given characteristic of the economic structure of society. He saw a fundamental split between the owners of capital and the workers who do not own capital. Weber accepted a similar view, but distinguished another aspect of stratification, status. Status refers to the esteem, or "social honor," given to individuals or groups.

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