How Stratification has Changed Over the Course of History

                                                            By Sumer Gill

      Social Stratification is defined as the system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. It is the introduction to talking about inequality in the sociological perspective. It is based on four basic principles. 1) It is a trait of society not a reflection of individual differences. 2) Carries over from generation to generation. 3) It is universal but variable. 4) It involves not just inequality but beliefs as well. There are two major categories class system and caste system. A caste system is based on ascription or birth and tends to be more close so little social change and mobility which is is a change in position within the social hierarchy but high status consistency which is the degree of uniformity in a persons social standing across various dimensions of social inequality. In this system birth can determine your marriage, social life, belief system, and occupation.An example of this that is still being implemented is India. The class system is based on both birth and individual achievement and tends to be open so more social mobility and low status consistency. In this system there is a strong view of meritocracy which is based on personal merit and works in a three step system. 1) social mobility is possible. 2) All people gain equal standing before the law. 3) Work involves some personal choice. Throughout history there has been a shift and has thus created a shift in systems from a caste to mix or class system which usually follows some type of revolution or time in general. Some examples are England, Japan, Russia, and China. England has changed from Aristocratic to today even with the royal family still in charge. This is the same in Japan. In Russia they had many transitions from soviet union with a feudal state system to the Russian revolution  to modern Russia. China has gone through many transitions as well. It started with  Mao Zedong where all types of work is equal. Next is Deng Xiaoping where new classes of business owners emerged. Then to Jinping where small groups of wealthy elites became more pronounced. Finally, we end up in modern china that is class oriented and very industrial.  David- Moore thesis states that social stratification has beneficial sequences for the operation of society when it has three things. 1) the greater the importance of  position more rewards a society attaches to it. 2) Egalitarian societies after little incentive for people to try their best. 3) it does not state what rewards a society should give to any occupational position or how unequal the rewards should be. Ideology cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements including patterns of inequality. Some of the most famous ideologies came from Plato (every culture considers some type of inequality just), Marx ( capitalist society keeps wealth and power for few), and Spencer (survival of the fittest). In terms of social-conflict theory, Marx thought the problem was in class conflict and Weber thought it was class, status, and power. For symbolic interaction theory differences in social class position can affect interaction in people. Which ties in with conspicuous consumption which is the buying and selling products because of the statement they make. Stratification can be thought of in terms of technology especially that among different societies like hunting/gathering and postindustrial. This can be displayed in the Kuznets curve

Stratification can also be thought of in terms of facts and values. The two main sociologists for this are Vonnegut (an egalitarian society can exist only if everyone is reduced to the lowest common denominators) and Marx (inequality causes human suffering and conflict aka injustice and greed).  

References

http://home.earthlink.net/~clevy/Social_Stratification__Chapter_8_.pdf

http://www.sociologyguide.com/questions/social-stratification.php