Helpful Hints 

Education as a criterion of social stratification. Criteria of social stratification

Stratification criteria

The first to attempt to explain the nature social stratification within social science Karl Marx and Max Weber. Marx believed that in capitalist societies the cause of social stratification is the division into those who own and manage essential means production, the oppressor capitalist class, or bourgeoisie, and those who can only sell their labor, the oppressed working class, or proletariat. According to Marx, these two groups and their diverging interests are the basis of the stratification. Thus, for Marx, social stratification existed in only one dimension. Believing that Marx oversimplified the picture of stratification, Weber argued that there are other dividing lines in society that do not depend on class or economic status, and proposed a multidimensional approach to stratification, highlighting three dimensions: class ( economic situation), status (prestige), and party (power). Each of these dimensions is a separate aspect of social gradation. However, for the most part, these three dimensions are interconnected; they feed and support each other, but still may not be the same. Thus, individual prostitutes and criminals have great economic opportunities, but do not have prestige and power. The teaching staff of universities and the clergy enjoy high prestige, but in terms of wealth and power they are usually evaluated relatively low. Some officials may wield considerable power and at the same time receive little wages and no prestige.

Economic situation. The economic dimension of stratification is determined by wealth and income. Wealth is what people own. Income is simply understood as the amount of money people receive. For example, a person may own vast property and make little profit from it; such people include those who collect rare coins, gems, works of art, etc.

Prestige - authority, influence, respect in society, the degree of which corresponds to a certain social status. Prestige is an intangible phenomenon, something implied. However, in everyday life, a person usually seeks to give prestige tangibility - he assigns titles, observes rituals of respect, issues honorary degrees, demonstrates his "ability to live." These actions and objects serve as symbols of prestige to which we assign social significance. Our interactions with others necessarily involve negotiation as to the degree of respect and deference we should give and receive. by the most different ways we show respect to a person of higher rank.

So, in the rituals of acquaintance, symbolic actions are used - bows, compliments. In rituals of avoidance, the same goal is achieved while maintaining an "appropriate distance" from prestige figures.

Majority Prestige modern people is determined, as a rule, by income, occupation and lifestyle, and origin and wealth are of less importance than 100 years ago. At the same time, the personality and sociability of a person are very important. Although many still believe that money is the most important thing, but the lifestyle and values ​​​​that a person professes play the most significant role in determining their prestige today.

Power determines which people or groups will be able to translate their preferences into reality. social life. Power is the ability of individuals and social groups to impose their will on others and to mobilize available resources to achieve a goal. Sociologist Amos Hawley observed: "Every social act is a manifestation of power, every social relationship is an equation of power, and every social group or system is an organization of power."

The foundations of power fall into three categories of resources. Firstly, there is coercion - resources that allow the party that has these resources to introduce new restrictions into some situation. People usually treat restrictions as a punishment, because the result of restrictions is damage to property, body, soul. Secondly, there are incentives - resources that allow one side to give the situation new advantages. Individuals usually consider incentives to be rewards because they involve the transfer of socially recognized good things - material objects, services, or social position - in exchange for doing the will of power structures. Thirdly, there is the power of persuasion - the resources that enable one party to change the views of other people without introducing the disadvantages or advantages of any situation. Under the influence of a belief based on reputation, wisdom, personal charm, or control over others, individuals or social groups begin to advocate for the same goals that the person in power prefers.

Thus, to master important resources means to gain dominance over people. To control key resources means to place oneself (or one's group) between people and the means that provide people with the satisfaction of their biological, psychological and social needs.

Social status is that relative rank, with all the ensuing rights, duties and life styles, that an individual occupies in the social hierarchy. Status may be assigned to individuals at birth, regardless of the individual's qualities, and on the basis of sex, age, family relationships, origin, or may be achieved in competition which requires special personal qualities and own efforts.

Achieved status may be based on education, profession, advantageous marriage, etc. In most Western industrial societies, such attributes as a prestigious profession, possession of material wealth, appearance and style of dress, manners, acquired more weight in determining personal social status than descent. vital status suggests the presence of social stratification along a vertical scale. Thus, a person is said to be in a high position if he has the ability to control the behavior of other people, by command or by influence; if the basis of his prestige is the important post he holds; if he earned the respect of his colleagues by his actions. Relative status is the main determinant of people's behavior towards each other. The struggle for status can be considered the primary goal of people. The status of an individual tends to change depending on the social context.

The most striking manifestations of status groups are found in the caste system of India. Indian villages are usually inhabited by members of several small endogamous groups based on traditional occupations, and contact with a person of a lower caste (for example, food or drink taken from his hands, bodily contact) defiles members of a higher caste and requires ritual purification.

The system of age gradation that exists in many traditional East African societies also resembles the system of status groups.

In modern Western sociology, Marxism is opposed by the theory of social stratification.

Classification or stratification? Representatives of the theory of stratification argue that the concept of class is not applicable to the modern post-industrial society. This is due to the uncertainty of the concept of "private property": in view of the wide corporatization, as well as the exclusion of the main shareholders from the sphere of production management and their replacement by hired managers, property relations turned out to be blurred, lost their certainty. Therefore, the concept of "class" should be replaced by the concept of "stratum" or the concept of a social group, and the theory of social class structure of society should be replaced by theories of social stratification. However, classification and stratification are not mutually exclusive approaches. The concept of "class", convenient and appropriate for the macro approach, will be clearly insufficient when we try to consider the structure of interest to us in more detail. In a deep and comprehensive study of the structure of society, the mere economic dimension offered by the Marxist class approach is clearly not enough. Stratification dimension- this is a fairly fine grading of layers within the class, allowing for a deeper detailed analysis of the social structure.

Most researchers believe that social stratification- a hierarchically organized structure of social (status) inequality that exists in a certain society, in a certain historical period of time. hierarchically organized structure social inequality can be imagined as a division of the whole society into strata. Layered, multi-level society in this case can be compared with the geological layers of the soil. In modern sociology, there are four main criteria of social inequality:

ü Income It is measured in rubles or dollars that an individual or family receives during a certain period of time, say, one month or a year.

ü Education measured by the number of years of study in a public or private school or university.

ü Power is measured by the number of people who are affected by the decision you make (power is the ability to impose your will or decisions on other people, regardless of their desire).

ü Prestige- respect for the status established in public opinion.



The criteria of social stratification listed above are the most universal for all modern societies. However, the social position of a person in society is also influenced by some other criteria that determine, first of all, his " starting opportunities. These include:

ü social background. The family carries out the introduction of the individual into the social system, determining in many respects his education, profession and income. Poor parents reproduce potentially poor children, which is determined by their health, education, qualifications. Children from poor families are 3 times more likely to die due to negligence, from diseases, accidents and violence in the first years of life than children from rich families.

ü gender. Today in Russia there is an intensive process of feminization of poverty. Despite the fact that men and women live in families belonging to different social levels, the income, status of women and the prestige of their professions are usually lower than those of men.

ü Race and ethnicity. Thus, in the US, white people receive a better education and have a higher professional status than African Americans. Ethnicity also affects social position.

ü Religion. In American society, members of the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches, as well as Jews, occupy the highest social positions. Lutherans and Baptists occupy a lower position.

Pitirim Sorokin made a significant contribution to the study of status inequality. To determine the totality of all social statuses of society, he introduced the concept social space.

In his work "Social mobility" in 1927, P. Sorokin, first of all, emphasized the impossibility of combining or even comparing such concepts as "geometric space" and "social space". According to him, a person of the lower class can physically come into contact with a noble person, but this circumstance will not in the least reduce the economic, prestige or power differences existing between them, i.e. will not reduce the existing social distance. Thus, two people between whom there are significant property, family, official or other social differences cannot be in the same social space, even if they are embracing.



According to Sorokin, social space is three-dimensional. It is described by three coordinate axes - economic status, political status, professional status. Thus, the social position (general or integral status) of each individual who is integral part given social space, is described using three coordinates ( x, y, z). Note that this system coordinates describes exclusively the social, and not the personal statuses of the individual.

A situation where an individual, having high status along one of the coordinate axes, at the same time has a low status level along the other axis, is called status incompatibility.

For example, individuals with high level acquired education that provides high social status along the professional dimension of stratification, may occupy a poorly paid position and therefore have a low economic status. Most sociologists rightly believe that the presence of status incompatibility contributes to the growth of resentment among such people, and they will support radical social change aimed at changing the stratification. And vice versa in the case of the “new Russians” who aspire to get into politics: they are clearly aware that the high economic level they have achieved is unreliable without being compatible with an equally high political status. Similarly, a poor person who has received a fairly high political status of a deputy State Duma inevitably begins to use the acquired position for the corresponding "pulling up" of his economic status.

Ticket 9. Social stratification: criteria and types

social stratification – it is a system of social inequality, consisting of hierarchically arranged social strata (strata). Under stratum is understood as a set of people united by common status features.

One of creators of the theory of stratification P. Sorokin identified three types of stratification structures:

    economic(according to the criteria of income and wealth);

    political(according to the criteria of influence and power);

    professional(according to the criteria of mastery, professional skills, successful performance of social roles).

In modern sociology, it is customary to distinguish the following main social stratification criteria:

    income - the amount of cash receipts for a certain period (month, year);

    wealth - accumulated income, i.e. the amount of cash or embodied money (in the second case, they act in the form of movable or immovable property);

    power - the ability and opportunity to exercise one's will, to exert a decisive influence on the activities of other people through various means (authority, law, violence, etc.). Power is measured by the number of people it extends to;

    education - a set of knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the learning process. The level of education is measured by the number of years of education;

    prestige- public assessment of the attractiveness, significance of a particular profession, position, a certain type of occupation.

Despite the variety of different models of social stratification that currently exist in sociology, most scientists distinguish three main classes: high, middle and low.

In sociology, there are four main types of stratification: slavery, castes, estates and classes.

Slavery- an economic, social and legal form of enslavement of people, bordering on complete lack of rights and an extreme degree of inequality.

Castoy called a social group, membership in which a person owes solely to his birth. Each person falls into the appropriate caste, depending on what his behavior was in a previous life: if it was bad, then after the next birth he should fall into a lower caste, and vice versa.

estate- a social group that has fixed custom or legal law, inherited rights and obligations.

The estate system, which includes several strata, is characterized by a hierarchy, expressed in the inequality of position and privileges. Europe was a classic example of a class organization, where at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. society was divided into upper classes (nobility and clergy) and an unprivileged third estate (artisans, merchants, peasants).

In the X-XIII centuries. There were three main estates: the clergy, the nobility and the peasantry.

The rights and obligations of each estate were determined by legal law and consecrated by religious doctrine. Membership in the estate was determined by inheritance.

Classes are social groups of politically and legally free citizens. The differences between these groups lie in the nature and extent of ownership of the means of production and the product produced, as well as in the level of income received and personal material well-being.

Thus, the American sociologist W.L. Warner(1898-1970) identified six classes in his famous Yankee City study:

    top-top class(representatives of influential and wealthy dynasties with significant resources of power, wealth and prestige);

    lower-higher class(“new rich” - bankers, politicians who do not have a noble origin and did not have time to create powerful role-playing clans);

    upper-middle class(successful businessmen, lawyers, entrepreneurs, scientists, managers, doctors, engineers, journalists, cultural and art figures);

    lower-middle class(employees - engineers, clerks, secretaries, employees and other categories, which are commonly called "white collars");

    upper-lower class(workers engaged mainly in physical labor);

    lower-lower class(poor, unemployed, homeless, foreign workers, declassed elements).

sociological concept "stratification"(from Latin stratum - layer, layer) reflects the stratification of society, differences in social position its members. Social stratification is a certain way organized inequality, a system of hierarchically arranged social strata (strata). A stratum, in turn, is understood as a group of people united by status signs. To determine belonging to a particular social stratum, scientists offer various criteria. One of the founders of the stratification theory P. Sorokin distinguished three types of stratification: 1) economic (according to the criteria of income and wealth); 2) political (according to the criteria of influence and power); 3) professional (according to the criteria of mastery, professional skills, successful completion social roles). It was this scientist who emphasized the multidimensionality of stratification.

Founder of structural functionalism T. Parsons also identified three groups of signs of social stratification: 1) qualitative characteristics inherent in individuals from birth (origin, family ties, gender and age characteristics, personal qualities, innate characteristics, etc.) ; 2) role characteristics(education, profession, position, qualification, various types of labor activity etc.) ; 3) characteristics associated with the possession of material and spiritual values(wealth, property, works of art, social privileges, the ability to influence other people, etc.).

In modern sociology, as a rule, the following main criteria for social stratification are distinguished: 1. income - the amount of cash receipts for a certain period of time; 2. wealth - accumulated income, i.e. the amount of cash or embodied (movable and immovable property) money; 3. power - the ability and ability to exercise one's will, determine and control the activities of people using various means (rights, authority, violence, etc.). Power is measured by the number of people in control. 4. education - a set of knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the learning process. The level of education is measured by the number of years of education. 5. prestige - a public assessment of the significance, attractiveness of a particular profession, position, occupation (a subjective indicator of people's attitude to a particular type of activity).

Thus, income, power, education and prestige are the criteria for the position of an individual in the system of social stratification.

⇐ Previous13141516171819202122Next ⇒

Publication date: 2014-12-10; Read: 255 | Page copyright infringement

Studopedia.org - Studopedia.Org - 2014-2018. (0.001 s) ...

About the Map of Words project

Words and expressions in the Russian language are inextricably linked by millions invisible threads. We hear the word snow and associations immediately flash in our head: winter, snowflakes ❄, Santa Claus 🎅, snowman ⛄, Christmas tree 🎄 and dozens of others.

KARTASLOV.RU is an online map of Russian words and phrases. Here the connections between words take on a tangible form.

When creating the site, we used the latest achievements in the field of computational linguistics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, while relying on the most powerful theoretical base of the Russian language, created by outstanding Soviet and Russian linguists.

Start your journey with any word or expression by following the links to neighboring sections of the map. Now there are two types of relationships - associations and synonyms, but in the future we will definitely cover word-building and vertical relationships between words, turning the service into a full-fledged online thesaurus.

For all the words and expressions presented on the map, examples of usage in context are shown. At the same time, using the search, you can always go beyond the lined area.

Community

Join our community on VKontakte, where we regularly publish project news and communicate with our users.

Are you sure you're human?

know: criteria of stratification in modern society: income and property, power, prestige, education. The system of stratification of modern Western society: the upper, middle and lower classes. Modern stratification system Russian society. Features of the formation of the higher, middle, lower classes. Basic social stratum

be able to: classify the stratification systems of modern societies

TASK N 1)

A specific model of modern Russian society, according to Z.T. Golenkova, includes six social strata: elite, upper, middle, ___, lower, social bottom.

1) basic 2) basic

3) leading 4) dominant

TASK N 2(choose one answer)

The place of the individual in the social stratification system modern society, prevails in a given society, according to T. Parsons, is determined primarily by its ...

1) Power status 2) possession

TASK N 3(choose one answer)

"White-collar workers" are ranked by the American sociologist W.L. Warner to _______

class of society

1) lower higher 2) higher lower

3) Lower average 4) Higher average

TASK N 4(choose one answer)

The bulk of the population of modern Russia belongs to the ________ layer.

1) base 2) lower

3) top 4) middle

TASK N 5(choose one answer)

The social strata of an open society include...

1) clans 2) estates

3) castes 4) classes

TASK N 6(choose one answer)

A subjective assessment of the place and role of a particular group in society is

1) role 2) status

3) function 4) prestige

TASK N 7(choose one answer)

R. Dahrendorf considered stratification through the prism

1) gender 2) ethnicity

3)Distribution of power 4)Age and gender

TASK N 8(choose one answer)

The main way of acquiring wealth by representatives of the "lower layer of the upper class" is

1) Inheritance 2) High earnings and entrepreneurial income

3) Getting rent 4) Winning the lottery

TASK N 9(choose one answer)

David Rockefeller, president of a large American bank founded by his ancestor, is a typical member of the __________ class.

1)Middle 2)Top top layer

3) working 4) lower layer of the higher

TASK N 10

The upper class in modern industrial societies includes the following two categories...

1) marginals 2) representatives of rich and influential dynasties

3) "blue collar" 4) top managers

TASK N 11(choose one answer)

The class in modern society that stands for political, economic and cultural stability is the ___________ class

1) underground 2) higher

3) lower 4) middle

TASK N 12)

In modern sociology, the following two professional groups do not belong to the category of "blue collar workers":

1) highly skilled workers 2) show business stars

3)technical specialists 4)top managers

TASK N 13

The system of criteria for social stratification by T. Parsons does not include such a sign as:

Belonging to a related cell 2) Possessions

1) Nationality 4) Achievements

TASK N 14(select multiple answers)

Which two of the following criteria are the basis for classifying an individual as a “basic stratum” of Russian society:

TASK N 15(select multiple answers)

Social stratification in the theory of R. Dahrendorf is based on…

1) religious affiliation 2) authorities

TASK N 16(select multiple answers)

The following two categories of the population can be attributed to the basic social stratum of modern Russian society ...

1) public sector workers 2) farmers

3) top managers 4) oligarchs

TASK N 17(

The criterion for the economic stratification of modern society is NOT ...

1) personal property 2) the amount of income received

3) treasure ownership 4) financial capital

TASK N 18(select multiple answers)

An analysis of the social stratification of modern Russian society was undertaken ...

1) R. Ryvkina 2) M.

Bakunin

3) T. Zaslavskoy 4) P. Sorokin

TASK N 19(select multiple answers)

Two social groups that modern Russian sociologists (T.I. Zaslavskaya and V.V. Radaev) classify as "new poor" are ...

1) citizens with a high family load 2) entrepreneurs

3) employees of the "public sector" 4) employees of joint ventures

TASK N 20(select one answer)

A characteristic feature of the "underclass" is ...

1) high social mobility 2) high level of education

3) a high level of income 4) complete dependence on state support

TASK N 21(select one answer)

The "business layer" of Russian society does NOT include...

1) government officials 2) co-owner managers

3) heads of firms 4) entrepreneurs

TASK N 22(select one answer)

Income level, which sociologists define as "average" _______ subsistence level

1) does not exceed 2) two or three times exceeds

3) reduces 4) ten times higher

TASK N 23(select one answer)

In "old" middle class included...

1) owners of TNCs 2) proletariat

3) people of free professions 4) knights

TASK N 24(select multiple answers)

Two reasons holding back the growth of the middle class in modern Russia are

TASK N 25

The sequence of development of the class system:

top-highest lower-higher
upper-middle medium-middle
lower-middle upper-lower

TASK N 26

The concept of "middle class" arose and began to be used in England in the ... century.

TASK N 27(Establishing a sequence of answers)

The sequence of changes in the typology of classes under capitalism, according to M. Weber:

TASK N 28(select one answer)

A new layer that appeared in Russia in the 1990s.

1) party nomenclature 2) business layer

3) workers 4) intelligentsia

TASK N 29(matching answers)

Correspondence between characteristics and elements of social stratification:

TASK N 30(select one answer)

Most intellectuals in modern Western countries classify themselves as ___ class

1) higher 2) average

3) basic 4) lower

TASK N 31(Are the following statements correct)

A. The middle class in modern Russia includes mid-level managers, highly and medium-skilled intellectual workers

B. The base in modern Russia includes the intelligentsia, workers, employees and peasants

1) both judgments are wrong 2) Only A is true

3) Only B is true 4) both judgments are correct

TASK N 32 (select one answer)

According to this scholar, the poor perform important economic, political and social functions; he refers to the economic

TASK N 33(choose more than one answer))
Into the system of criteria for social stratification of modern society not included the following two signs:

TASK N 34 (select one answer)

The rise of the middle class is a characteristic

1) traditional 2) post-industrial

3) industrial 4) agricultural

TASK N 35(select multiple answers)

Two trends, which, according to the sociological concept of P.A. Sorokin prevail in the system of stratifications of modern Western society - these are

⇐ Previous33343536373839404142Next ⇒

Publication date: 2015-11-01; Read: 522 | Page copyright infringement

Studopedia.org - Studopedia.Org - 2014-2018 year. (0.006 s) ...

Social stratification and social inequality.

Stratification(lat. stratum - layer, layer, facere - to do) - the process and result of the division of society into various social strata, distinguished by their social status (lat. status - state, position). This may be an unequal amount of power or wealth, unequal rights and obligations, etc.

The term "stratification" is borrowed by sociology from geology, where it means the vertical arrangement of the earth's layers. If you make a cut earth's crust, it will be found that under the layer of chernozem there is a layer of clay, then sand, etc. Sociology has likened the structure of society to the structure of the earth, that is, it has divided society into "strata" (classes, estates, castes, etc.). Each stratum of the earth is made up of homogeneous elements, so the stratum also includes people with the same income, education,

power and prestige. Large social strata are also called classes, within which smaller subdivisions (actually strata, layers) are found. Social strata are arranged according to the criterion of access to power, wealth, education and prestige.

The criteria for dividing society into layers are objective and subjective, therefore, social stratification can be explained by the interaction of objective and subjective factors: objective social differentiation and subjective social assessment.

Social differentiation- division of society into elements, differentiation and specialization constituent parts social organism, the emergence of new structures, statuses and roles. For the first time, this term was introduced by G. Spencer to describe the process of the emergence of functionally specialized institutions and the division of labor. E.

Social stratification: concept, criteria, types

Durkheim associated social differentiation with the growth of population density and the intensity of interpersonal and intergroup contacts. Historical examples of social differentiation can be the separation of cattle breeding from agriculture, then - the separation of crafts and trade from them, and then - science, education, management, etc. Today, differentiation is associated with the informatization of society, as a result of which new specialties appear in society, the content is updated old professions, activities. These processes lead to changes in the social structure of society, in the statuses, interests, values, norms, roles, lifestyles, and skills of various social groups.

Social differentiation is a complex and contradictory process. On the one hand, this is a progressive process, without which the successful (creative) development of society and the individual is impossible, and on the other hand, differentiation can lead to sharp social inequality.

Horizontal differentiation, or heterogeneity (Greek heteros - heterogeneity, heterogeneity) includes the grouping of the population by sex, age, race, religion, nationality, place of residence, etc. In modern civilized societies, these parameters usually have a nominal (conditional) character and are not compared according to the “higher-lower” principle.

Vertical differentiation(social stratification) describes the presence of a set social formations, whose representatives differ among themselves in an unequal amount of power and material wealth, rights and obligations, privileges and prestige.

In sociology, three basic types of stratification are usually distinguished (economic, political, professional), as well as non-basic types of stratification (cultural-speech, age, etc.).

economic stratification is characterized by indicators of income and wealth. Income - the amount of money received by an individual or family for a certain period of time (month, year). This includes wage, pension, allowances, fees, etc. Income is usually spent on living but can be accumulated and turned into wealth. Income is measured in units of money that an individual (individual income) or family (family income) receives over a specified period of time.

Political stratification is characterized by the amount of power. Power - the ability to exercise one's will, to determine and control the activities of other people using various means (law, violence, authority, etc.). Thus, the amount of power is measured, first of all, by the number of people who are subject to

domineering decision.

professional stratification is measured by the level education and prestige professions. Education is a set of knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the process of education (measured by the number of years of study) and the quality of the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities.

Education, like income and power, is an objective measure of the stratification of society. However, it is also important to take into account the subjective assessment of the social structure, because the process of stratification is closely linked with the formation of a system of values, on the basis of which a “normative rating scale” is formed. So, each person, based on their beliefs and passions, differently evaluate

professions existing in society, statuses, etc. At the same time, the assessment is carried out according to many criteria (place of residence, type of leisure, etc.).

Prestige professions are a collective (public) assessment of the significance, attractiveness of a certain type of occupation. Prestige is the respect for status that has developed in public opinion. As a rule, it is measured in points (from 1 to 100). Thus, the profession of a doctor or a lawyer in all societies enjoys respect in public opinion, and the profession of a janitor, for example, has the least status respect. In the USA, the most prestigious professions are doctor, lawyer, scientist (university professor), etc. Middle level prestige - manager, engineer, small owner, etc. Low level prestige - a welder, a driver, a plumber, an agricultural worker, a janitor, etc.

The main dimensions of social position - wealth, power, education, prestige often do not coincide. For example, on the scales of education and prestige, the professor ranks higher than the policeman, but on the scales of income and power, on the contrary, the policeman ranks higher than the professor. If we mark the social position of both with dots on each scale and connect them with lines, then we get the total status of each of them. The aggregate status looks like a broken line, which is called the stratification profile (or status profile).

⇐ Previous9101112131415161718Next ⇒

The concept, content, foundations of social stratification

The essence and causes of social inequality

LECTURE No. 19. social structure societies and stratification

Inequality is the living of people in conditions in which they have unequal access to resources. The concept of "social stratification" is used to describe the system of inequality. On the basis of inequality, a hierarchy of estates and classes is created. Signs of social differentiation:

1) gender and age characteristics;

2) ethno-national characteristics;

3) religion;

4) income level, etc.

The reason for inequality is the heterogeneity of labor, which results in the appropriation of power and property by some people, the uneven distribution of rewards and incentives. The concentration of power, property and other resources in the elite contributes to the formation of social conflicts.

In Western societies, the reduction of social distance occurs through the middle class (small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, the prosperous part of the intelligentsia, enterprise workers, small owners), which is the guarantor of stability.

People differ among themselves in many ways: gender, age, skin color, religion, ethnicity, etc. But these differences become social only when they affect the position of a person, social group on the social hierarchy ladder. social differences define social inequality, implying the existence of discrimination on various grounds: by skin color - racism, by gender - sexism, by ethnicity - ethno-nationalism, by age - ageism. Social inequality in sociology is usually understood as the inequality of the social strata of society. It is the basis of social stratification. Literally translated, stratification means “to make layers”, that is, to divide society into layers (from “stratum” - “layer”, “facere” - “to make”). The four main dimensions of stratification are income, power, education, and prestige. A stratum is thus a social stratum of people who have similar objective indicators on the four scales of stratification.

Social inequality and social stratification (22)

The stratum includes the same layer of people with the same income, education, power and prestige.

In the 20s. 20th century P. Sorokin introduced the concept of "stratification" to describe the system of inequality in society. Stratification can be defined as structured inequalities between different groups of people. Societies can be seen as being composed of strata arranged in a hierarchical fashion, with the most privileged strata at the top and the least at the bottom. The foundations of the theory of stratification were laid by M. Weber, T. Parsons, P. Sorokin and others.

Social stratification performs a dual function: it acts as a method of identifying layers this society and at the same time represents his social portrait. Social stratification is distinguished by a certain stability within a particular historical stage.

In sociology, there are several approaches to the study of social stratification:

1) "self-evaluative", when the sociologist grants the respondent the right to attribute himself to the population group;

2) the method of "assessment", in which the respondents are asked to evaluate the social position of each other;

3) here the sociologist operates with a certain criterion of social differentiation.

Social stratification - central theme sociology, as it explains the stratification into rich and poor. The four main dimensions of stratification are income, power, education, and prestige. Inequality between statuses is the main property of stratification.

T. Parsons identified three groups of differentiating features. These include:

1) characteristics that people have from birth - gender, age, ethnicity, physical and intellectual characteristics, family ties, etc.;

2) signs associated with the performance of the role, i.e. with various types of professional and labor activities;

3) elements of "possession", which include property, privileges, material and spiritual values, etc.

These signs are the original theoretical basis multidimensional approach to the study of social stratification. Sociologists identify various cuts or dimensions in determining the number and distribution of social strata. This diversity does not exclude the essential features of stratification. First, it is connected with the distribution of the population into hierarchically organized groups, i.e., upper and lower strata; secondly, stratification consists in the unequal distribution of sociocultural benefits and values. According to P. Sorokin, the object of social inequality are four groups of factors:

1) rights and privileges;

2) duties and responsibilities;

3) social wealth and need;

4) power and influence.

Stratification is closely connected with the dominant system of values ​​in society. It forms a normative scale of evaluation various kinds human activity, on the basis of which people are ranked according to the degree of social prestige. In empirical research in modern Western sociology, prestige is often generally defined using three measurable features - the prestige of the profession, the level of income, the level of education. This indicator is called the index of socio-economic position.

6.4. social stratification

The sociological concept of stratification (from Latin stratum - layer, layer) reflects the stratification of society, differences in the social status of its members. Social stratification - it is a system of social inequality, consisting of hierarchically arranged social strata (strata). A stratum is understood as a set of people united by common status features.

Considering social stratification as a multidimensional, hierarchically organized social space, sociologists explain its nature and causes of origin in different ways. Thus, Marxist researchers believe that the social inequality that determines the stratification system of society is based on property relations, the nature and form of ownership of the means of production. According to the supporters of the functional approach (K. Davis and W. Moore), the distribution of individuals into social strata occurs in accordance with their contribution to the achievement of society's goals, depending on the importance of their professional activities. According to the theory of social exchange (Zh. Homans), inequality in society arises in the process of unequal exchange of the results of human activity.

To determine belonging to a particular social stratum, sociologists offer a variety of parameters and criteria. One of the creators of the stratification theory, P. Sorokin (2.7), distinguished three types of stratification: 1) economic (according to the criteria of income and wealth); 2) political (according to the criteria of influence and power); 3) professional (according to the criteria of mastery, professional skills, successful performance of social roles).

In turn, the founder of structural functionalism T. Parsons (2.8) identified three groups of signs of social stratification:

Qualitative characteristics of members of society that they possess from birth (origin, family ties, gender and age characteristics, personal qualities, innate characteristics, etc.);

Role characteristics determined by the set of roles that an individual performs in society (education, profession, position, qualifications, various types of work, etc.);

Characteristics associated with the possession of material and spiritual values ​​(wealth, property, works of art, social privileges, the ability to influence other people, etc.).

In modern sociology, as a rule, the following main criteria for social stratification are distinguished:

income - the amount of cash receipts for a certain period (month, year);

wealth - accumulated income, i.e., the amount of cash or embodied money (in the second case, they act in the form of movable or immovable property);

power - the ability and ability to exercise one's will, to determine and control the activities of people using various means (authority, law, violence, etc.). Power is measured by the number of people affected by the decision;

education - a set of knowledge, skills and abilities acquired in the learning process. The level of education is measured by the number of years of study (for example, in the Soviet school it was accepted: elementary education- 4 years, incomplete secondary education - 8 years, complete secondary education - 10 years);

prestige - public assessment of the significance, attractiveness of a particular profession, position, a certain type of occupation. Professional prestige acts as a subjective indicator of people's attitude to a particular type of activity.

Income, power, education and prestige determine the total socio-economic status, which is a generalized indicator of position in social stratification. Some sociologists offer other criteria for identifying strata in society. Thus, the American sociologist B. Barber stratified according to six indicators: 1) prestige, profession, power and might; 2) income or wealth; 3) education or knowledge; 4) religious or ritual purity; 5) the situation of relatives; 6) ethnicity. The French sociologist A. Touraine, on the contrary, believes that at present the ranking of social positions is carried out not in relation to property, prestige, power, ethnicity, but in terms of access to information: the dominant position is occupied by the one who owns the largest amount of knowledge and information.

In modern sociology, there are many models of social stratification. Sociologists mainly distinguish three main classes: the highest, the middle and the lowest. At the same time, the share of the upper class is approximately 5–7%, the middle class is 60–80%, and the lower class is 13–35%.

To upper class include persons occupying the most high positions according to the criteria of wealth, power, prestige, education. These are influential politicians and public figures, the military elite, big businessmen, bankers, managers of leading firms, prominent representatives of the scientific and creative intelligentsia.

The middle class includes medium and small entrepreneurs, managers, civil servants, military personnel, financial workers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, representatives of the scientific and humanitarian intelligentsia, engineering and technical workers, highly skilled workers, farmers and some other categories.

According to most sociologists, the middle class is a kind of social core of society, thanks to which it maintains stability and stability. As the famous English philosopher and historian A. Toynbee emphasized, modern western civilization is first and foremost a middle-class civilization: Western society has become modern after it succeeded in creating a large and competent middle class.

The lower class is made up of people with low incomes and mainly engaged in unskilled labor (loaders, cleaners, auxiliary workers, etc.), as well as various declassed elements (chronic unemployed, homeless, vagrants, beggars, etc.).

In a number of cases, sociologists make a certain division within each class. Thus, the American sociologist W. L. Warner, in his famous study of Yankee City, identified six classes:

? top - top class(representatives of influential and wealthy dynasties with significant resources of power, wealth and prestige);

? lower - upper class(“new rich”, who do not have a noble origin and did not have time to create powerful tribal clans);

? upper-middle class(lawyers, entrepreneurs, managers, scientists, doctors, engineers, journalists, cultural and art figures);

? lower-middle class(clerks, secretaries, employees and other categories that are commonly called "white collars");

? upper-lower class(workers engaged mainly in physical labor);

? lower - lower class(chronic unemployed, homeless, vagrants and other declassed elements).

There are other schemes of social stratification. Thus, some sociologists believe that the working class constitutes independent group, which occupies an intermediate position between the mean and lower classes. Others include highly skilled workers in the middle class, but in its lower stratum. Still others suggest distinguishing two strata in the working class: upper and lower, and three strata in the middle class: upper, middle, and lower. The variations vary, but they all boil down to this: non-basic classes arise by adding strata or layers that lie within one of the three main classes - rich, wealthy, and poor.

Thus, social stratification reflects the inequality between people, which manifests itself in their social life and acquires the character of a hierarchical ranking of various activities. The objective need for such a ranking is related to the need to motivate people to perform their social roles more effectively.

Social stratification is fixed and supported by various social institutions, is constantly reproduced and modernized, which is an important condition for the normal functioning and development of any society.


| |
Have questions?

Report a typo

Text to be sent to our editors:

Send