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Unit 3 Social Inequality
Section 1
Dimensions of Stratification
Key Terms
• social stratification
• social class • bourgeoisie • proletariat
Section
• income • wealth • power
• prestige
of the Sneetches, birds
whose rank depends on
whether or not they
have a large star on their
stomachs. Star-bellied
Sneetches have high sta-
tus, and plain-bellied
Sneetches have low sta-
tus. In the classic novel
Animal Farm, George Orwell creates a barnyard society where the pigs ulti- mately take over the previously classless animal society. The animals’ motto changes from “All animals are equal” to “All animals are equal—but some an- imals are more equal than others.” Both books mock the tendency of humans to form ranks. Social stratification is the creation of layers (or strata) of peo- ple who possess unequal shares of scarce resources. The most important of these resources are income, wealth, power, and prestige (Levine, 1998).
How is social stratification related to social class? Each of the lay- ers in a stratification system is a social class—a segment of a population whose members hold similar amounts of scarce resources and share values, norms, and an identifiable lifestyle. The number of social classes in a society varies. Technologically developed countries generally have three broad classes— upper, middle, and lower—subdivided into smaller categories. In some devel- oping countries, there might only be an upper class and a lower class.
Karl Marx and Max Weber made the most significant early contributions to the study of social stratification. (See Chapter 1, pages 16–18 for an intro- duction to these two pioneers of sociology.) Marx explained the importance of the economic foundations of social classes, while Weber emphasized the prestige and power aspects of stratification.
Section
Social Stratification and Social Class
In one of his best- known children’s books, Dr. Seuss writes
Preview
Preview
Stratification is the division of society into classes that have unequal amounts of wealth, power, and pres- tige. Karl Marx and Max Weber studied these dimen- sions of stratification in great detail.
social stratification
ranking of people or groups according to their unequal access to scarce resources
social class
segment of society whose members hold similar amounts of resources and share values, norms, and an identifiable lifestyle
In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the animals overthrew their human master to form their own soon-to-be stratified society.