Social stratification and its dimensions

Meaning and definition of the social differentiation, social stratification, and the social inequalities

Social Differentiation

Social differentiation is related to the rise and the operation of the social classes. 

According to the calhoun et al (19940 states,

The term is borrowed from the sociology where it is used to explain the hierarchical arrangement of the rocks and the minerals in the earth surfaces.when applied to the world of the people , it refers to the hierarchical arrangement of the people into the different classes or the strata which is the division of the population into the two or the more layers each of which relatively homogenous , between which there are differences in the privileges, restrictions, rewards and the obligations.

All the societies and the social groups exhibit the social differentiation.Social differences is the process by which different status develop in any group of the organization or the society.Social differentiation is related to the rise and the operation of the social classes . In the economic sense,differentiation is found in the different roles of the entrepreneur , manager and the skilled , unskilled manpower and its based upon the three major premises, power prestige and the property.

Social stratification

Social stratification is the segmentation of the society into the different hierarchical arrangement or strata. It refers to the differences or the inequalities in the socio-economic lives of the people in a given society.It represents the ranking of the individuals or the social positions and the status in terms of the certain attributes.The three major components of the social stratification are wealth , prestige and the political power.Usually, the person's ranking on the society coincides with the positions of the others.

Thus, the social stratification is the process by which the societies is divided into the different categories. It is the pattern of social inequalities.It is also the unequal distribution of the sources of the society. There is the social differentiation of the society by the age,sex, occupation,and personal characteristics because of which the men and women,teenagers and the adults, children poor, rich are not always equal.

The four fundamental principles of the societies are as follow;

1.Social stratification is the characteristics of the society not including the individual differences.

2.Social stratification persists over the generation.

3.Social stratification is universal but variable as it changes.

4.Social stratification includes both the inequality and the belief.

A society without the social stratification implies that there are no inferior or the superior positions and all the human beings are equal and have the same prerequisites when they are born.

Social differentiation is related to the rise and the operation of the social classes.There is the social differentiation of the society by the age,sex, occupation,and personal characteristics because of which the men and women,teenagers and the adults, children poor, rich are not always equal.All the society have the complexity of the social stratification.All the society have the system of the social stratification although they vary in the degree and the complexity of the social stratification.Social stratification is mainly influenced by the class.Social stratification is a relatively fixed , hierarchical arrangement in the society by which groups have different access to the resources power and perceived social worth. Social stratification is the structured system of the social inequality.

Social inequalities

The term inequality describes the condition in which the member of the society has different amounts of the wealth , prestige or the power . Some degrees of the social inequality are found every where in the society.When the system of the social inequality is based upon the groups hierarchy, sociologists refers to it as the social stratification: a structured ranking of the society that perpetuates unequal distribution of the economic rewards and the power in the society.

Dimensions of the social stratification

Social stratification based on the class

Social stratification is based upon the different types of classes, a class is the open and the flexible systems thus, we have the societies which are characterized as the open system as opposed to the closed system. This form of the social class is common in the industrialization, modern and the heterogeneous,and the literate societies.In a class system , social stratification is based on the individuals talents, intelligence,property and the achievement and also the positions too.The status is not ascribed but achieved by the individual's attempt,a social class consists of the people who can be considered as the peers for the similar interest, similar life circumstances, similar opportunities.

According to the Karl Marx,

The ruling ideas of any epoch or the period are the ideas of the ruling class because they control the mental means of the production.Class system may help to classify and rank the roles according to the merit and the importance and it encourages the individuals to attempt invest time and effort in the education and skills acquisition for the functionally more important in the roles.Society is divided into its components including the individuals into various class such as

1. higher class

2. middle class.

3.lower class

If a people is born in the labor class, it is not necessary for him to remain in that class for entire life but he can change it through the upliftment in the achievements . People can change the social class through the social mobility and the social class is open and flexible.

Social Stratification based on the caste

A caste system is the type of the social system or the structure which divides the people on the basis of the inherited social status. People within the class are expected to marry and carry the relation and interact with people of the same caste.Nepal has the well-known examples of the caste system but it is also found in every type of the society.

According to the evoluntary theory, the following factors among the others contributed to the development of the present caste system:

1.Heredity occupations.

2.Desire of the brahmins to keep themselves pure.

3. Lack of the rigid unitary control of the state.

4.The geographical isolation of the Indian peninsula.

5..Beliefs in the reincarnation and to devotion in karma.

6.Static nature of the Hindu society.

As the caste system consists of the fixed arrangement of the strata from the most to the least privileges, with a person's positions frimed inflexibility by the birth.Social stratification based on the caste is based upon different types of the castes such as:

1.The Brahmin

2.The kshettri

3.The Vaisyas

4.The Shudras

Brahmin is regarded as the superior caste and are mostly devoted to the religious activities and the kshetri are also devoted to the warrior and the soldiers.The Shudras are regarded as untouchables .The vaishyas are devoted to the business and the merchant.People are not allowed for the inter-caste marriage in past days and it is considered as illegal while at present it is legal.The caste system is believed to have been established based on the hold of religious belief. The Hindu caste structure may have risen out of the subjection or the dependence accompanying with the occupation and perhaps also out of the subordination of the endogamous community to another.

Social stratification based on the gender and the ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to the characteristics of the people , especially a group, sharing a common and distinctive culture ,religion ,food language, or the like.It refers to being a member of the group that is a minority within a largest society like ethnic Nepalese, in asam.People can share the same nationality but have different ethnic groups and the people who share the same ethnic identity have different nationality.Ethnicity has been based upon the practices of the representation and serve social discrimination.

According to ridgeway,

Gender is one of the very few master roles that are the foundation for the both personal identity and the societal division of the labors, it has an affect on and is affected by virtually all types of the interaction.

Gender refers to the socio-cultural definition of the man and the women ; the way societies distinguish man and the women and assign them various social roles.Gender is the socio-cultural and the political manifestation of the man and woman while sex is biological and genetic.In context of Nepal, gender plays the role in forming the cultural structure. The construction of the gender and the gender relations may vary from the society and the society to another in terms of the age , sex, caste , ethnicity,class, geographical location, etc.Gender-based discrimination is highly experienced in all Nepali patriarchial society which contributes to an unequal distribution of the opportunities between man and the women.

Social Stratification in the Management and the Business administration

Social stratification is the segmentation of the society into the different hierarchical arrangement or strata. It refers to the differences or the inequalities in the socio-economic lives of the people in a given society.It represents the ranking of the individuals or the social positions and the status in terms of the certain attributes.In the field of management and business, stratification plays the important roles . There is also the inequalities and the difference in the various position of the business offices . There is discrimination in these positions, higher level managers order and suppress the lower managers while lower managers suppress the workers.

References

Bhandari, Laxman p. Fundamental of sociology. kathmandu: budddha publication, 2015.

Sabin , E (1987)’ Hidden jobs:Good News for sociologists,The american sociologists.

Pinker,R The idea of the welfare. London :heinemann Educational Books, 1979

Social Class,values and behaviour in schools in craft ,1970