Social stratification is known as the unjust social system in which people are categorically ranked and are placed in hierarchies. Such tradition exercises an accepted form of discrimination which persist over time through various generations. It is formed by the mix of negative culture, belief and philosophies of a majority, creating an impression of seclusion and inequality towards a certain minor group. Usually based on three major premises: power, prestige and property it is commonly exemplified in 4 different manners: Slavery, Caste, Feudalism and Class System. Social stratification generates the structured division of social groups, through such authority and control withdrawn. That being said, social stratification is directly linked …show more content…
The structured ranking present in social stratification only perpetuates inequality among citizens. With the presence of communism, social classes will be eliminated, thus destroying the essence of stratification (Britannica Encyclopedia, 2014). Upon applying the communist socioeconomic system, the amounts of wealth, prestige and power will be uniform to all, producing equality and killing the existence of inequality. Together with the plausible solution that communism offers, it is paired with hindrances that might arise later once implemented. Although, communism brings end to social gaps, it ultimately dissolved the ultimate freedom of all citizens. The liberty and freedom to act, speak and live without restraint, is non-existent since communist leaders implement their rules very strictly. Hence, communism is a probable remedy to social stratification that consequently ends of absolute freedom. (Cause and …show more content…
Being a prehistoric practice, thousands of nations already consider it as a part of their culture. For several societies, it is deemed as the embodiment of organization and quintessence of order. That being said, a promising answer to eliminate such negative tradition is to abolish the old set of practices with the power of a social contract. The theory of a social contract revolves on the construction of a set of governing rules that are benefiting to and accepted by all people (Locke, 1689). Thus, through embedding a social contract in the constitutional bill of rights, there will be less differentiation between demographics and more equality concepts and processes. Although the idea seems idealistic it comes with consequence, the contract is a very fragile subject matter, for if one disagrees to the terms of the contract it will then be void, creating a greater conflict. Nevertheless, the creation of a social contract is an answer to the dilemma of social stratification and ultimately benefits all citizens but the consensus of all has to be obtained. (Process
Social Stratification in 'Manifesto of the Communist Party' by Karl Marx and Max Weber's 'Class, Status and Party'. Social stratification is the ranking of members of society in a way that some of its members are regarded as superior and others as inferior. This theory is certainly debated at present time and has been debated as far. back as 1776 when Karl Marx presented his theory in his "Manifesto of the Communist Party".
Social stratification is putting individuals into certain rankings within a society. One process of social stratification is socioeconomic status, which is a measurement of a persons standing based on education, work experience, and income. Socioeconomic status is something that separates individuals and can cause severe isolation between the distinct groups. The functionalist perspective focuses on how problems come from society and whether they serve a function for society. Changes in society, such as war or even an economic change, can affect the rate of suicide for a society (Risholm 2014).
Society’s structure has been debated and contested as far back as ancient Greece. Since then, man has developed social systems that greatly differ from anything the ancients had in mind. One such system is the social contract theory, which first came to prominence around the time of the enlightenment. Simplified, social contractarians argued that in order to achieve a balanced and stable society, all of its members must sacrifice certain liberties to a government or similar authority. As Rousseau explains, the contract begins when “Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will” (148). Essentially, it is an agreement between the rulers and the ruled that produces a stable political state. John Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract are both enlightenment works that detail contractarianism, yet each has a unique and different way of considering the social contract. Although John Stuart Mill is also known for his work with Utilitarianism, his essay On Liberty considers consent and other issues relating to contract theory. These authors provide different insights into the social contract, and frequently one will reject another’s idea and offer a new solution. Even after this meshing of ideas and solutions, contract theory falls short of practicality. The idea is appealing, appearing on the surface as a fair and just way of governance. However, true liberty cannot arise from a contract, as man cannot be “forced to be free” (150). There are two fundamental flaws with contractarianism: it is not practical and it ignores human nature, and even if were possible to establish a true contract-based society, the citi...
Stratification in general is the formation of classes or categories. “Racial and ethnic stratification refers systems of inequality in which some fixed groups membership, such as race, religion, or national origin is a major criterion for ranking social positions and their differential rewards” (Social Stratification). An example of this would be someone who is African American may not be able
Social stratification as defined by Brinkerhoff et al. is “an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources” (Brinkerhoff et al. 152). By scarce resources, many people have to deal with poverty and having a lack of money to buy the things they need in their lives. Social class is defined as “a category of people who share roughly the same class, status, and power and who have a sense of identification with each other” (Brinkerhoff et al. 155). Your social class has to do with your socioeconomic status along with the power and connections you have. Social mobility on the other hand is “the process of changing one’s social class” (Brinkerhoff et al. 153).
Society is flawed. There are critical imbalances in it that cause much of humanity to suffer. In, the most interesting work from this past half-semester, The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx is reacting to this fact by describing his vision of a perfectly balanced society, a communist society. Simply put, a communist society is one where all property is held in common. No one person has more than the other, but rather everyone shares in the fruits of their labors. Marx is writing of this society because, he believes it to be the best form of society possible. He states that communism creates the correct balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of society. And furthermore thinks that sometimes violence is necessary to reach the state of communism. This paper will reflect upon these two topics: the relationship of the individual and society, and the issue of violence, as each is portrayed in the manifesto.
The intrinsic values of communism rely on the basic tenet that all citizens will sacrifice individualistic ideals for the greater good of Society. Each member of society must sacrifice himself for the sake of others, resulting in a country where each citizen is effectively the same as others in terms of wealth, property, and class. Effectively, each member of society is but one part used to build an impressive machine: taken independently, each cog seems worthless, but in the context of the ...
Stratification systems, categorized people by class, gender, ethnicity, wealth/income. When people are categorized, start looking at different systems within the social system or social mobility. “The four main systems of stratification have been slavery, caste, estate, and class. Each of these systems allows greater or less flexibility in terms of social mobility. Social mobility is the ability to move up or down within a social stratification hierarchy” (Larkin, 2015). Slavery is a social status began with social norms allowing people to own others. The slaves had no wealth or power while under this social status. Caste systems are all aspects of social status are assigned at births and held forever,
Structural-functionalist Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore concluded that stratification of society is inevitable because: for society to function its positions must be filled, some positions are more important than others, the more important positions must be filled by the more qualified people, and to motivate the more qualified people to fill these positions they must offer greater rewards. (2012:228) Example of Davis and Moore conclusion is if someone apply for a job as a teacher, they need to be highly qualify in area such as education and experience. For that person to be interest in the job, employer need to offer benefit like retirement plan, vacation time, health insurance, etc… Unlike the position as a teacher, if someone is applying
Social stratification is seen everywhere within the United States and around the world. As discussed in lecture, there are two types of stratification systems, and both are prominent in the United States. The first type is achievement based, which depends on a person’s wealth and accomplishments (Wadsworth). In the film, “People Like Us,” this system is presented. A teenage boy is embarrassed of his mother and his family’s social status, so he hides is social class from his friends. The second system is ascription-based stratification which has to do with what an individual is born with. The school that was interviewed and observed in “People Like Us,” prove that the family you are born into plays a huge role in popularity, and the group of friends you choose to surround yourself with. Another example in this film was the WASP label. The man they interviewed, explained that you are
First, the chapters cover stratification. According to study.com “Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. In the United States, it is perfectly clear that some groups have greater status, power, and wealth than other groups.” According to the textbook “Stratification is unequal distribution of valued
Social Stratification in the African American community has changed over the years. Social stratification is defined as a rigid subdivision of a society into a hierarchy of layers, differentiated on the basis of power, prestige, and wealth according to Webster’s dictionary. David Newman in Sociology Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life describes stratification as a ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society. From slavery to the present, the African American community has been seen to have lower status compared to white people. Today, the stratification or hierarchy difference between whites and black are not really noticeable, but it is still present. However, during slavery, the difference in social stratification was noticeable. Whites dominated over the blacks and mulattoes (offspring of a white and black parent). The mulattoes were seen to have a higher stratification than an offspring of black ancestry. Because the mulattoes were related to the whites, they were able to obtain higher education and better occupations than blacks. For example, most slaves of a lighter skin tone worked in the houses and darker slaves worked in the fields. As the people of light skin tone had children, they were able to have advantages too. The advantages have led into the society of today. In this paper I will discuss how stratification has been affected in the African American community over time by skin tone to make mulattoes more privileged than dark skin blacks.
Though the rewards are pleasing to the ear, the path to obtaining the benefits of communism is a violent one. This strict governing idea was derived from Communist Manifesto, a book written by two German economists, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels, who declare that many problems in society are caused by the unequal distribution of wealth. These two believe that “Communism deprives no man of the ability to appropriate the fruits of his labour. The only thing it deprives him of is the ability to enslave others by means of such appropriations.” To achieve the goal of happiness and prosperity for all, the lines that distinguish the differences between the rich and poor must be erased. Obviously, the rich will never voluntarily give up their goods or status; therefore the figureheads must force equality among the citizens. Communism places their citizens, whether they be the wealthy or the laborers, into working classes that specify their contribution to the government. With such balanced placement of the people, individuality is impossible for any single person to achieve.
According to Black?s definition, stratification is ?the vertical aspect of social life?, ?any uneven distribution of the material conditions of existence? (Black 11), in other words the discrimination of wealth. Stratification can be measured in quantity, delineated in style and viewed from two perspectives, as a ?magnitude of difference in wealth? (Black 11) and as the level to which the setting is stratified. Moreover, stratification explains not only law, its quantity and style, but also other aspects of social life. The relationship Black is mostly interested in is the positive correlation between stratification and law, meaning the more law, the more stratified the setting is. When utilizing this proposition by inserting other variables of social ...
It is perpetuated by the way wealth, power, and prestige are distributed and passed on from one generation to the next