Question

discuss the forms of social stratification​

Answer 1

Stratification is ranking of people in a society. Ranking is made on certain criteria. These criteria include power, status and prestige. The Marxists look at stratification from the perspective of mode of pro­duction.

As a matter of fact social stratification in contemporary sociology has become a multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional field of study. It is qualified by the adjective multi because the disciplines of sociology, rural sociology, social anthropology, psychology, political science and economics also study stratification. Because of its multi- disciplinary nature, its approaches to study are also different.

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We can categorise them into two parts:

(1) Marxist, and

(2) Non-Marxist or Weberian.

As stated above, the Marxist analyse the social stratification in terms of made of production. Such an approach is historical and takes into consideration the conceptual framework of production forces and production relations. The Marxist approach to stratifica­tion has several variants but mode of production remains the prime framework.

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The Weberian approach to stratification takes into consideration the concepts of wealth, power and prestige. Wealth, for example, may be defined by occupational category and its accompanying ability to produce income, or by inherited valuables such as real estate. Prestige refers to honour and style of life; for example, how elegant one’s life­style is.

Power refers to the ability to control or dominate the course of events which make up social life. Thus positions in a society are ranked in terms of the amount of those desirables that are attached to them. Stratification, then, involves inequality because the higher the rank of a position, the more desirable one can get by holding that po­sition.

When we look at rural social stratification we either stress on the mode of production that is the owners of the land, types of peasants, role of technology in production, surplus for market and circulation of labourers. By way of example the study conducted by Jan Breman, entitled, Of Peasants, Migrants and Paupers, in the region of south Gu­jarat takes into consideration the mode of production as a basic framework for his analysis.

Those who look at stratification from the Weberian point of view accept class, status and power as basic determinants of stratification or ranking, Andre Beteille’s study, Caste, Class and Power is an excellent example of studying rural stratification from the Weberian perspec­tive. K.L. Sharma’s classical work, The Changing Rural Stratification System (1974), is another example of employing Weberian approach to the inquiry of rural stratification.

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Social stratification is very simple term that means inequality. And, inequality in class, status and power or mode of production is found in all societies. Recently, the sociologists have begun to stress on criterion of power as a major determinant in stratification. Stratifi­cation thus is found in all the societies mechanical and organic. It is, however, possible that in some societies stratification is elaborate whereas in some only nominal.

Admittedly, rural stratification is not much complicated compared to urban stratification. It is possible that in some societies the pace of social stratification is faster in compari­son to other societies, but there is certainly some pattern of stratification in all the societies.