SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Social Stratification

CASTE SYSTEM AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Introduction

Social stratification is a social phenomenon which is the study of caste, privilege, status and class of a particular society. Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla were used for the purpose of research. Some search engines and online databases were used to explore the topic. These search engines and databases include Google, Sage Publications, Proquest, EBSCO and JSTOR.

Social Stratification has become a common characteristic of society. Social stratification can vary according to the society that how it is being organized in terms of work and production. Anthropologists have continued to further classify societies as either egalitarian or stratified. In egalitarian societies, members or member groups have primarily equal access to the same degree of wealth, power, and prestige. In stratified societies, members or member groups have different levels of access to these resources. Egalitarian societies are often seen in smaller and less technologically developed communities like bands and tribes. Stratified societies are seen in larger, more complex, bureaucratic, or advanced societies like chiefdoms and states. Rank societies may lie somewhere in between these two.

Discussion

Social stratification is the process by which the members of a society are arranged into a pattern of superior and inferior ranks. It is a structural hierarchy of social inequality. These hierarchies may contain ranks, statuses, and classes, to which certain role behaviors will be assigned. Anthropologists consider social stratification a recent historical development because archaeological evidence from about 7,500 years ago shows distinct equalities in housing and burial sites. Anthropologists believe that members of those societies had similar access to resources and privileges. Recent industrial and postindustrial societies are considered socially stratified. These societies have families, social classes, and ethnic groups that have unequal access to economic resources, power, and prestige. Differences exist at more defined levels such as age, skill, gender, and education. For example, adults have greater status than children, and in many societies, men still have greater status than women. Those with special skills, technical training, or other advanced education may also have greater status and prestige. (D'Souza, Victor, 1967)

Social stratification is related to the manner in which economic resources are divided. In separate studies anthropologists found that the production of surplus stimulates the development of stratification. Some anthropologists also felt that conflict arises over the control of the surplus and that the manner of distribution determines the basis of power. Inequalities in power create inequalities in access to economic resources and prestige.

In stratified societies, members or member groups have greater and sometimes permanent access to wealth, power, and prestige. Anthropologists traditionally describe stratified societies as class systems or caste systems. These societies often exist in chiefdoms and states. The two forms of stratified societies are internally divided into hierarchical groups. These societies, class or caste, are fully stratified and have unequal access to economic resources, power, and prestige. (Neisser, 1986)

Caste

Some stratified societies have a closed class system called a caste system. Although the first prototype of a caste system originated in India, anthropologists use the ...