Social Stratification What is social stratification Creation of

Social Stratification

What is social stratification? • Creation of layers of people who possess unequal shares of scarce resources – The “haves” and the “have nots” • Bases of stratification: – Wealth – Power – prestige

Wealth • Karl Marx divided industrial societies into 2 major classes: – Bourgeoisie (capitalists) • Own the means of production and hire others to work • Petite bourgeoisie- small capitalists – Own means but do work themselves – Proletariat (workers) • Forced to work for capitalists

Marx • Exploitation of the proletariat characterizes the relationship between the 2 classes • Eventually workers will rise in revolt and establish a classless society • Failed to foresee that the exploitation of workers would ease and that a large class of white collar workers would emerge (like in US)

Distribution of Wealth in US • The richest 20% of the population earn nearly 48% of the nation’s total income • The poorest 20% have only 4. 2% of the national income

Power • The ability to control the behaviors of others, even against their will – Associated with wealth • More wealth tends to = more power – Explains to domination of top govt positions by the wealthy • Poorer people are more likely to feel powerless and are therefore more indifferent to politics

Distribution of power • Power cant be identified and measures as easily as wealth • Marxists and elite theorists argue that a very small group holds most of the power in the US – Capitalists or top business leaders – This explains why large corporations through heavy political campaign contributions and lobbying are able to hold down their taxes and avoid regulations

Power elite • According the C. Wright Mills, the power elite- a small group of top leaders not just from business but fed govt and military- hold most of the power • Members have similar backgrounds, values, and interests and together have a lot of power to make decisions for the nation

Plural theorists • Argue that power is not tightly concentrated but widely dispersed • Power of big business is balanced by that of big labor and gov’t actions are determined by competition and compromise – Ordinary citizens have the power to vote anyone into or out of office

Prestige • Status system- a system in which people are stratified according to their social prestige • Prestige is subjective- depends on how the individual is perceived by others – Someone can be rich and powerful but if seen as unworthy of respect they have low prestige • Organized crime boss for example

Prestige and occupation • People have varying ideas about the prestige of various occupations – Occupations that require more education and offer higher income are more prestigious

A person’s status • Based on age, race, gender and occupation (among others) • May create status inconsistency- same individual is given 2 conflicting status rankings – Example: high in occupation but low in ethnicity or gender – People plagued with this may experience considerable stress and resentment – Likely to support liberal and radical movements designed to change the status quo