In the article, we will talk about what social stratification and social inequality are. This is a rather burning issue, which still remains relevant and popular in the modern world. Inequality has existed from the very beginning of time, but it has changed its forms and is being transformed. We will try to consider this issue in detail from all sides.
What is it about?
Consideration of issues of social inequality and stratification of society should be only after we clearly understand the terminology. Interestingly, not all people know that the term to which our article is devoted was borrowed from geology. There it means that the earth consists of different layers.
Social stratification is the division of society into separate layers using a variety of social instruments. Most often, this is a social status that gives a concept of the achievements and significance of a person in our system of values. In fact, there are a lot of criteria for separation. We will try to mention all of them.
Figuratively speaking, one can imagine a straight line that is divided along its entire axis. Stratification is that there are different distances between different coordinates. The vertical line very demonstratively demonstrates how stratification is formed. Most often, the divisions on it reflect the financial condition of a person, the amount of his power, education, ways of spending leisure time, consumption measures, and so on.
Why are we so different?
Too many people negatively perceive social stratification and social inequality. The reason is that they believe that all conflicts in society arise on this basis. However, it is not. Even a child notices that all people are different. We are all very different in character, in appearance, in intellectual abilities. Of course, one does not always want to acknowledge this and focus attention on this, but this is so. Another issue is that the concept of social inequality and social stratification is subjected to so many attacks because people, even realizing their shortcomings, do not want to overcome them. They simply have a negative attitude towards those who are at a higher level in the social hierarchy. But intelligent people understand that it is completely pointless to envy and denigrate those whom nature has endowed with the talent of an artist, musician, entrepreneurial savvy, and so on. At the same time, each person can try to develop these qualities in himself and become better. But you need to take into account your psychological and physiological characteristics in order to really assess the situation.
Distribution base
Now we will talk about the basic criteria by which the division of society occurs. As we know, the inequality of social groups reflects social stratification, but we will go deeper into the main indicators.
The first is revenue. Money has always been a key factor, as it gives power and allows it to hold. At the moment, money is not the only key factor in stratification, but still it plays a huge role in society. And this is normal. The next indicator is education. It is not a matter of whether you graduated, how many universities you have completed, and whether you have a red diploma. It is more about how educated a person is, how he can maintain a conversation, how he solves logical problems, how he is oriented in difficult situations, how he gets rid of stress, and so on. All this allows us to judge how intelligent this person is and how to build relationships with him.
Power
The next indicator is power. Very often it depends on family relationships and income, as well as on intellectual abilities, but not always. Sometimes power can be an innate quality of a person. That is, he can be able to lead people, convince them of something, adjust their points of view and influence decisions. This is also a form of power, which has a rather strong influence on large groups of the population. Of the following basic indicators, we note prestige, that is, an indicator of our status. All people understand that they have advantages and disadvantages, but someone knows how to present it in a profitable way, and someone creates the impression of an insecure and negligent child. The fact is, even if you are very smart talented - this is not enough. You must be able to demonstrate your qualities, to defend your point of view, and most importantly to be yourself in any situation. The courage to be oneself also brings a certain power and prestige, which in the future is reflected in the reputation and relations in the group.
Causes
Social stratification describes social inequality in society, but it also gives an explanation of why everything happens this way and not otherwise.
It should be noted that without social inequality it would be very difficult for society to exist. In other words, normal chaos would begin, since there would be no hierarchy. Sociology cannot answer specifically the reasons for stratification, but it offers different options and points of view, which we will discuss below.
First, social stratification and social inequality are explained by the fact that each person or a certain group of people performs a certain function in society. In other words, everyone has their own specific task and, of course, some tasks are more important and some less important. Based on this, there is already a division of people into those who are busy with more specific serious matters, and those who help them in this. You can draw a parallel with production. So, for example, there are key workers who are directly involved in the production process itself. And there are those who help to service this process and this is their main job. Likewise with society. In order for everyone to be able to exist under normal conditions, everyone should do his own thing and fulfill his role. But the problem of modernity is that due to the large number of motivational books, trainings, videos, films, etc., many people decided to abandon their role and try themselves in something more. In fact, there is nothing wrong with this, it is the other way around, a very good development of events. But there is one big problem. All motivational incentives affect even those people who are satisfied with their position. That is, they like to live in a certain city, do a certain job, return to their family, or live on their own and engage in some craft, it is possible to live only on the goals of society, etc. But modern society criticizes all this and aims everyone at the common goal is to achieve happiness through self-realization. All this confuses people, and they cease to follow their true desires, go on about marketing people.
We departed a little from the topic of the functional causes of inequality. In fact, it leads us to the next reason, which is the different status of people. That is, if you occupy a certain place, then you have a certain status. Inequality in status leads to the fact that differentiation of the population appears in principle.
Economic point of view
It is very important to consider this issue from such a point of view. Social structure, social inequality, social stratification - all this is examined in detail in the writings of Marxists. They say that the stratification of society began with the advent of private property. Naturally, this is an exaggeration, which, nevertheless, has gained a lot of fans around the world. But there is still some truth in this.
The fact is that economic inequality is caused by the fact that people have different attitudes to the process of creating and accumulating wealth, as well as to property. Someone pays more attention to their real life and wants to get the most out of the present, while someone puts aside more money, and then skillfully invests it and makes even more profit. For others, money is simply inherited or as a result of a successful operation. In other words, there can be many reasons for inequality, but there are some.
Personal qualities
Social stratification and social inequality are also caused by the fact that each person has his own individuality. This means that everyone has a personal set of qualities that are a union of advantages and disadvantages. But someone focuses on their minuses, thus stopping a bit on their life path. Others focus on their merits, trying to solve the problem of their shortcomings, that is, somehow fight them or learn to live peacefully. Such people do more because they know what their main weapon is.
Social Inequality: Theory of Social Stratification
This theory belongs to William Warner, who proposed the idea that stratification is built on the prestige of different segments of the population, as well as on what people think of each other. But he explored Western society, and identified 6 population groups that he found in the context of social division:
- Aristocrats.
- Millionaires who themselves have achieved high results.
- The intellectual elite.
- Educated people.
- Workers.
- People without education, without their own homes, beggars and criminals.
Theory of inequality M. Weber
Max Weber believed that the main criterion for stratification, which determines a person’s position in the hierarchy of life, is not his membership in a particular group, but his personal qualities and status, which allow him to independently raise or lower himself on the social ladder. The second important factor in the stratification of Max Weber considered the respect and reputation that a person receives in the course of his activities. It is a good position in society that very often provides a quick and high-quality promotion of a person.
Social stratification, inequality, mobility - all this was considered by the researcher as factors on which the person himself is able to exert influence if desired. He said that the classification of people based on what class or caste they are is a thing of the past.
Theory of P. Sorokin
The scientist expressed his thoughts in the work "Social Mobility", written in 1927. Note that in sociology this work is considered classic. By his definition, social differentiation is the division of people into certain groups within a certain hierarchical system. The essence is that everything is distributed unevenly - rights, privileges, duties, power, etc. All this is never distributed in equal parts and in such a way that everyone and everyone suffices.
Three forms of differentiation
Also, a feature of Sorokin’s work is that he identified three main forms of differentiation, namely political, economic and professional. He considered a social group, social stratification, social inequality only in the context of these three spheres of human life. At the same time, he noted that they are very intertwined, and it is on their basis that relationships are built in all other areas.
In professional stratification, he also identified interprofessional and intraprofessional differentiation. In other words, he divided people according to the rank that they occupy within the framework of their profession. That is, they are hired workers, entrepreneurs, or senior employees. As for interprofessional stratification, he emphasized the importance of the profession for society as a whole and the level of intelligence that is necessary for engaging in one or another activity.
Summing up the article, we note that a social group, social stratification, social inequality are concepts with which the life of a modern person is closely intertwined. Nevertheless, the ideas of humanism at the moment are so widespread that inequality is gradually fading into the background, which indicates positive changes in society.