Social Inequalities: Class and Caste

Social Stratification A relatively permanent unequal distribution of goods, resources, wealth, and services in a society. The ways this distribution takes place depends on the organization of production, cultural values, and the access that different individuals and groups have to the means for achieving social goals in society.

Class Systems A class is a category of persons with about the same opportunity to obtain economic resources, power, and prestige and who are ranked high and low in relation to each other. There are possibilities for movement between the classes or social strata, called social mobility.

Intensification of Social Stratification Agriculture requires intensive labor, allows for surpluses upon which the upper classes depend, and allows for craft and task specialization. Stratification becomes entrenched over the generations (inherited wealth and status lead to an élite class).

Theories of Stratification: Functionalism Specifies that specific cultural institutions function to support the structure of society or serve the needs of individuals in society. Different sectors have different roles. Different kinds of labor have different values.

Theories of Stratification: Conflict Theory Focuses on inequality as a source of conflict and change. Each class has its own interests. Neo-Marxist theory: Lower classes are enculturated to believe an ideology that stratification is right, just, and moral. Stratified systems require lower status members.

Dimensions of Stratification Power is the ability to control resources in one’s own interest and to coerce others. Wealth is the accumulation of material resources or access to the means of producing these resources. Prestige is social honor or respect.

Ascribed vs. Achieved Status Ascribed status is the social position into which a person is born: Examples? Achieved status is the social position that a person chooses or achieves:

Stratification Systems A closed system is a system of stratification based primarily on ascription. An open system is a system of stratification based on achievement. Social Mobility Movement from one social class to another.

Income and Social Class in the U.S. Income is the most important determinant of social class. Sufficient and steady income is essential toward saving and accumulating assets.

Income and U.S. Social Class From 1979 to 2001: The after-tax income of the top 1% of American households jumped 139% to more than $700,000. The income of the middle fifth of households rose 17%, to $43,700. The income of the poorest fifth rose 9%.

Income and U.S. Social Class With the aforementioned in mind, how may we evaluate the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and the rhetoric around it?

Social Class in the United States Status depends on occupation, education, and lifestyle. The American Dream is based on the democratic principle of equality and opportunity for all. Other factors that affect class on the ground?

Social Classes as Subcultures Many studies demonstrate that social class correlates with differences in attitudes, behavior, lifestyle, and values. A social class has aspects of a subculture: Members often share similar life experiences, occupations, values, educational backgrounds, affiliations, leisure activities, buying habits, religions, dialects, and political views.

Social Class and Language People may switch between standard and non-standard speech (diglossia). Middle and high-class dialects are considered more standard. Members in the middle-class tend to speak a more standard dialect than working-class members in formal contexts.

Caste System A closed stratification system with little or no possibility of social mobility, or movement between strata. Castes are hereditary (ascribed), endogamous, ranked in relation to one another, and usually associated with a traditional occupation. They are maintained by economic, political, and ritual ideologies.

Hindu Caste System The top three castes: Brahmins are priests and scholars. Kshatriyas are the ruling and warrior caste. Vaishyas are the merchants. These three castes are traditionally considered “twice-born,” meaning they are believed to be more “spiritually evolved” and thus deserving of higher status.

Hindu Caste System The bottom two castes: Shudras are menial workers and artisans. Harijans are “untouchables”. Gandhi coined this term, meaning “sons of God.” They call themselves Dalits. These are traditionally considered “once-born,” meaning they were born into these low castes because they had not yet spiritually earned being in a higher caste.

Changes in the Hindu Caste System In the past 50 years: Caste ranking appears to be less sharply defined within the higher caste categories. Caste discrimination is technically illegal now, but persists. Caste is less relevant for occupations. Differences in caste are referred to as cultural differences, rather than as a hierarchy based on spiritual purity.

Edo Japanese Caste System (1603-1868) The upper rungs of society included the imperial family and the warrior classes. Under them was the peasantry who worked the fields. Next were the artisans and craftsmen, and below them, merchants and tradesmen. Townspeople, of most other varieties, were at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Edo Japanese Caste System There were two groups of untouchables. The non-humans (hinin) were registered beggars, ex-convicts, prostitutes, and vagrants. The outcasts (eta) were hereditary, composed of people who slaughtered animals, worked with leather, and dealt with dead humans. The Burakumin, who are still discriminated against as a racial group, descend from the eta.

Edo Japanese Caste System (1603-1868)

Edo Japanese Caste System The taint of the Burakumin comes from the (emic) Shinto belief that working with the unclean brings a person further from godliness, a matter made more taboo by Buddhist tenets against killing. Etically speaking, this exemplifies how religious, economic, and political ideologies can support each other in the maintenance of social stratification.