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What is a social stratum definition. Stratification criteria

What is a social stratum definition. Stratification criteria

11.10.2019

Between people in society there are differences of a social, biological, psychological nature. Social differences are called differences that are generated by social factors, such as: division of labor, lifestyle, functions performed, level of prosperity, etc. Modern society is characterized by the multiplication (growth) of social differences.

Society is not only extremely differentiated and consists of many social groups, classes, communities, but also hierarchized: some layers have more power, more wealth, have a number of obvious advantages and privileges compared to others. Therefore, we can say that society has a social structure.

The social structure is a stable set of elements, as well as connections and relationships that groups and communities of people enter into regarding the conditions of their life.

The initial element of the social structure of society is a person. Larger elements of the social structure: social groups, social strata (strata), classes, social communities, etc.

The social structure thus reflects the “vertical section” of society, however, all the constituent elements in society are located in a certain hierarchy, it is reflected by social stratification (“horizontal section”).

Social stratification (lat. stratum - layer, fasio - I do) - a set of vertically arranged social strata of society. The concept of stratification is borrowed by sociology from geology, where it denotes the position of layers of various rocks along the vertical.

Social stratum - it is a set of people within a large group who have a certain kind and level of prestige gained from their position and the ability to achieve a special kind of monopoly. Sometimes in the literature, the concept of “social stratification” (i.e., division into layers) is used, which is identical to stratification. The term "stratification" captures not only the process of polarization of the population into poor and rich, but also the end result of stratification, when a middle class arises. The phenomenon of stratification is characteristic of both modern and pre-industrial societies.

A historical example of stratification is the caste system of Hindu society. In India, there were thousands of castes, but they were all grouped into four main ones: Brahmins - the caste of priests (3% of the population), Kshatriyas - descendants of warriors; vaishya - merchants, who together made up about 7% of Indians; sudra - peasants and artisans (70%); the rest are untouchables who have traditionally been cleaners, scavengers, tanners, swineherds.

Strict rules did not allow representatives of the higher and lower castes to communicate, as it was believed that this defiles the higher ones. Of course, the stratification of ancient societies is not similar to the stratification of modern society, they differ in many criteria, one of which is the criterion of openness. In an open system of stratification, members of the social structure can easily change their social status (characteristic of modern societies); in a closed system of stratification, members of society can change their status with great difficulty (agrarian-type societies).

The theory of social structure and stratification in sociology was developed by M. Weber, P. Sorokin, K. Marx and others.

P. Sorokin identified 3 types of social stratification according to 3 criteria:

1) income level,

2) political status,

3) professional roles.

P. Sorokin He represented social stratification as the division of society into strata (layers). He believed that the layers (strata) do not remain data, unchanged, they are in constant change and development. P. Sorokin called the totality of such changes social mobility, i.e. mobility of social strata and classes.

social stratum- is a set of people within a large group, with a certain kind and level of prestige obtained through position, as well as the ability to achieve a monopoly.

social mobility- this is a change by an individual or group of a place in the social structure of society, a movement from one social position to another.

Social mobility has various characteristics, of which the spatial characteristics, the speed and density of the flow of stratification changes are essential.

Movement (mobility) happens:

Horizontal, vertical (up and down to another layer or within its own stratum);

Slow, fast (in terms of speed);

Individual, group.

T. Parsons improved the theory of social stratification proposed by P. Sorokin.

He supplemented the stratification criteria with new features:

1) qualitative characteristics that people have from birth (ethnicity, gender characteristics);

2) role characteristics (position, level of knowledge);

3) characteristics of possession (property, material values).

K. Marx understood social structure as the division of society into social classes. He linked the division of society into classes with the division of labor and the institution of private property. He believed that the cause of social stratification is the division of society into those who own the means of production, and those who can only sell their labor. According to K. Marx, these two groups and their diverging interests serve as the basis for stratification. Thus, for Marx, social stratification existed in only one dimension - economic.

M. Weber believed that K. Marx simplified the picture of stratification too much; there are other criteria for division in society. He proposed a multidimensional approach to stratification. M. Weber considered the sources of development of strata: various types of people's occupations (professions), "charisma" inherited by some people and the appropriation of political power.

The scientist proposed to use 3 criteria for the stratification of society:

Class (economic status);

Status (prestige);

Party (power).

The economic position of stratification is determined by the wealth and income of the individual; prestige is authority, influence, respect, the degree of which corresponds to a certain social status; power is the ability of individuals and social groups to impose their will on others and to mobilize human resources to achieve a goal.

These three dimensions are interrelated, but not necessarily ranking high on one criterion, an individual will also rank high on another criterion (for example, the prestige of a priest in society is high, but this group of the population ranks low in terms of influence on politics).

Basic dimensions of stratification

Modern scientists have come to the conclusion that when analyzing the social stratification of society, it is advisable to use several criteria. Thus, use multilevel stratification, which, unlike single-level, represents the division of society according to two or more criteria. The differentiation of people (or social groups) in society into social strata is characterized by inequality in income, education, profession, participation in power structures, etc.

Sociologists take into account the following features of stratification:

1. In the process of stratification, people are differentiated into hierarchically formed groups (layers, classes, strata).

2. Social stratification divides people not only into upper and lower strata, but also into a privileged minority and an infringed majority.

3. When stratifying, the possibility of movement is taken into account.

Modern society can be differentiated (structured) according to various criteria.

Society differentiation criteria:

ethno-national,

worldview,

Religious-confessional,

educational,

spiritual and cultural,

Value-oriented (religious, secular morality).

Economic (ownership of capital, level of personal income and consumption);

Ideological and political (involvement in the management of society, involvement in the processes of redistribution of social wealth).

Some Western sociologists distinguish three classes in the social structure of society: top class(usually 1-2% of the population, these are the owners of big capital, the highest bureaucracy, the elite); lower class(low-skilled and unskilled workers with low levels of education and income); middle class(a set of groups of self-employed and wage labor occupying a middle, intermediate position between the higher and lower strata in most status hierarchies and having a common identity). The middle class in developed countries is 60% of the population (for example, in the USA). According to some sociologists, in Belarus it is no more than 20%.

Within the distinguished classes, differentiation is also possible. For example, within the middle class there are upper middle(owners of middle capital, middle-level administrative and political elite, representatives of higher intellectual professions); average average(representatives of small business, farmers, businessmen, persons of “liberal professions”); lower middle(the average composition of the provision of education, health care and social services, workers of mass trade and service professions, highly skilled workers).

The social structure can have a "pyramidal" or "diamond" shape. With a pyramidal form of social structure, the middle class in society is quite small, but a significant part of society belongs to the lower strata. With a diamond structure, the middle class is large. It is believed that the larger the middle class, the more stable the society.

Some sociologists study the social structure from the point of view of status and role differences that affect the content and direction of social relations. Others analyze the social structure on the basis of various models of social relations, from which role differences between people are derived. If perceived social structure as a set of different in size, social position in the system of social relations relatively stable forms of social groups, communities, their social positions and interactions between them, it becomes probable to determine such elements as: individuals, norms, values, social statuses, roles, positions and so on.

The elements of the system are emergent, i.e. their properties are not reduced to their sum, but are the properties of this particular set of elements.

The social structure of modern Belarusian society

In the post-Soviet space, the main stratification criterion was the scale of property appropriation, which reflected the ongoing social changes. For example, in 1990, the share of income received from entrepreneurial activity, which was not officially recorded at that time, amounted to 2% of all income, in 1999 - 12%. Sociologists note that the criterion of income has become the main one in the assessments of the population of their position in society. For example, in the course of numerous sociological surveys, it turned out that 2/3 of the respondents in our country are concerned about the low level of their income.

The situation of the population in the 90s. The twentieth century, according to statistics summarized by sociologists, looked like this:

1) rich people (1.5% of the population);

2) the wealthy (they can afford to stay in expensive sanatoriums, expensive purchases, trips, etc.) - 5-6%;

3) wealthy (they feel restrictions when buying expensive things) - 8-9%;

4) middle-income (make a choice: either expensive clothes or good food) - 14%;

5) low-income (feeling difficulties in buying quality food, clothing) - 17%;

6) poor (47%);

7) beggars (7%).

However, in order to present a picture of the Belarusian society, it is not enough to use one criterion of income, it is necessary to compare a number of social and status criteria.

Socio-status hierarchy of the population:

1. The upper stratum (new elite, owners of banks, firms, officials in ministerial positions, etc.).

2. The upper middle layer (directors, entrepreneurs, artists, etc.).

3. The middle middle layer (professors, doctors, lawyers, etc.).

4. The lower middle layer (teachers, engineers, etc.).

5. The lowest layer (workers, employees, etc.).

7. Marginal layers (beggars, vagabonds).

The criteria for dividing the Belarusian society into these groups are the following: income, influence in the political sphere, education, the prestige of the profession, the availability of social guarantees, the level of consciousness. These seven indicators are interrelated.

The variety of mutually intersecting connections and interactions of the identified groups of indicators predetermines the complex panorama of social and stratification changes in modern Belarusian society.

The summary of the educational material is compiled on the basis of the literature:

1. General sociology: textbook. allowance / under total. ed. prof. A.G. Efendiev. - M.: INFRA-M, 2007. - 654 p.

2. Ekadoumova, I.I. Sociology: answers to examination questions / I.I. Ekadoumova. M.N. Mazanik. - Minsk: TetraSystems, 2010. - 176 p.

3. Dobrenkov, V.I. Sociology. T. 2. Social structure and stratification / V.I. Dobrenkov, A.I. Kravchenko. - M.: Vuzovskaya kniga, 2005 - 535 p.

4. Volkov, Yu.G. Sociology / V.I. Dobrenkov [i dr.]. - 2nd ed., corrected. and additional - M.: UITs "Gardariki", 2000. - 510 p.

5. Babosov, E.M. General sociology: textbook. allowance for university students - 3rd ed. / EAT. Babosov. - Minsk: TetraSystems, 2006. - 640 p.

5. Sociology: Encyclopedia / comp. A.A. Gritsanov [i dr.]. - Minsk: Book House, 2003. - 1312 p.

6. Babosov, E.M. Workshop on sociology: textbook. allowance for university students / E.M. Babosov - Minsk: TetraSystems, 2003. - 416 p.

7. Babosov, E.M. Sociology of personality, stratification and management / E.M. Babosov - Minsk: Bel. Navuka, 2006. - 591 p.

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus

educational institution

"BELARUSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY

INFORMATION SCIENCE AND RADIO ELECTRONICS»

Department of Humanities

Test

in sociology

on the topic: "SOCIAL STRATIFICATION"

Completed by: student gr.802402 Boyko E.N.

Option 19

The concept of social stratification. Sociological theories of social stratification.

Sources and factors of social stratification.

Historical types of social stratification. The role and importance of the middle class in modern society.

1. The concept of social stratification. Sociological theories of social stratification

The very term "social stratification" was borrowed from geology, where it means a successive change of rock layers of different ages. But the first ideas about social stratification are found in Plato (distinguishes three classes: philosophers, guards, farmers and artisans) and Aristotle (also three classes: "very wealthy", "extremely poor", "middle class"). 1 The ideas of the theory of social stratification finally took shape at the end of the 18th century. thanks to the emergence of the method of sociological analysis.

Consider the various definitions of the concept of "social stratification" and highlight the characteristic features.

Social stratification:

it is social differentiation and structuring of inequality between different social strata and population groups based on various criteria (social prestige, self-identification, profession, education, level and source of income, etc.); 2

these are hierarchically organized structures of social inequality that exist in any society; 3

these are social differences that become stratification when people are hierarchically located in some dimension of inequality; 4

a set of vertically arranged social strata: poor-rich. 5

Thus, the essential features of social stratification are the concepts of "social inequality", "hierarchy", "system organization", "vertical structure", "layer, stratum".

The basis of stratification in sociology is inequality, i.e. uneven distribution of rights and privileges, responsibilities and duties, power and influence.

Inequality and poverty are concepts closely related to social stratification. Inequality characterizes the unequal distribution of society's scarce resources—income, power, education, and prestige—between different strata or strata of the population. The main measure of inequality is the number of liquid values. This function is usually performed by money (in primitive societies, inequality was expressed in the number of small and large cattle, shells, etc.).

Poverty is not only a minimum income, but a special way and style of life, norms of behavior, stereotypes of perception and psychology that are passed down from generation to generation. So sociologists talk about poverty as a special subculture.

The essence of social inequality lies in the unequal access of different categories of the population to socially significant benefits, scarce resources, and liquid values. The essence of economic inequality is that a minority always owns most of the national wealth, in other words, receives the highest incomes.

K. Marx and M. Weber were the first to try to explain the nature of social stratification.

The first saw the cause of social stratification in the separation of those who own and manage the means of production and those who sell their labor. These two classes (the bourgeoisie and the proletariat) have different interests and oppose each other, the antagonistic relations between them are built on exploitation. The basis for distinguishing classes is the economic system (the nature and mode of production). With such a bipolar approach, there is no place for the middle class. Interestingly, the founder of the class approach, K. Marx, did not give a clear definition of the concept of "class". The first definition of class in Marxist sociology was given by VI Lenin. Subsequently, this theory had a huge impact on the study of the social structure of Soviet society: first, the presence of a system of two opposing classes, in which there was no place for the middle class with its function of coordinating interests, and then the "destruction" of the class of exploiters and the "striving for universal equality" and, as follows from the definition of stratification, a classless society. However, in reality, equality was formal, and in Soviet society there were various social groups (nomenklatura, workers, intelligentsia).

M. Weber proposed a multidimensional approach, highlighting three dimensions to characterize classes: class (economic status), status (prestige) and party (power). It is these interrelated (through income, profession, education, etc.) factors that, according to Weber, underlie the stratification of society. Unlike K. Marx, for M. Weber class is only an indicator of economic stratification, it appears only where market relations arise. For Marx, the concept of class is historically universal.

Nevertheless, in modern sociology, the question of the existence and significance of social inequality, and, hence, social stratification, occupies a central place. There are two main points of view: conservative and radical. Theories based on the conservative tradition ("inequality is a tool for solving the main problems of society") are called functionalist. 6 Radical theories view social inequality as a mechanism of exploitation. The most developed is the theory of conflict. 7

The functionalist theory of stratification was formulated in 1945 by K. Davis and W. Moore. Stratification exists because of its universality and necessity; society cannot do without stratification. Social order and integration require a certain degree of stratification. The stratification system makes it possible to fill in all the statuses that form the social structure, it develops incentives for the individual to fulfill the duties associated with their position. The distribution of material wealth, power functions and social prestige (inequality) depends on the functional significance of the position (status) of the individual. In any society there are positions that require specific abilities and training. Society must have certain benefits that are used as incentives for people to take positions and fulfill their respective roles. As well as certain ways of uneven distribution of these benefits, depending on the positions held. Functionally important positions should be rewarded accordingly. Inequality plays the role of an emotional stimulus. Benefits are built into the social system, so stratification is a structural feature of all societies. Universal equality would deprive people of the incentive to advance, the desire to make every effort to fulfill their duties. If incentives are not enough and statuses are not filled, the society breaks up. This theory has a number of shortcomings (does not take into account the influence of culture, traditions, family, etc.), but is one of the most developed.

The theory of conflict is based on the ideas of K. Marx. The stratification of society exists because it is beneficial to individuals or groups that have power over other groups. However, conflict is a common feature of human life and is not limited to economic relations. R. Dahrendorf 8 believed that group conflict is an inevitable aspect of society. R. Collins, within the framework of his concept, proceeded from the belief that all people are characterized by conflict due to the antagonism of their interests. 9 The concept is based on three basic principles: 1) people live in subjective worlds constructed by them; 2) people can have the power to influence or control the subjective experience of an individual; 3) people often try to control the individual who opposes them.

The process and result of social stratification was also considered within the framework of the following theories:

distributive theory of classes (J. Mellier, F. Voltaire, J.-J. Rousseau, D. Diderot, etc.);

the theory of production classes (R. Cantillon, J. Necker, A. Turgot);

theories of utopian socialists (A. Saint-Simon, C. Fourier, L. Blanc, etc.);

class theory based on social ranks (E. Tord, R. Worms and others);

racial theory (L. Gumplovich);

multicriteria class theory (G. Schmoller);

the theory of historical layers by W. Sombart;

organizational theory (A. Bogdanov, V. Shulyatikov);

multidimensional stratification model of A.I. Stronin;

One of the creators of the modern theory of stratification is P.A.Sorokin. He introduces the concept of "social space" as the totality of all social statuses of a given society, filled with social connections and relationships. The way of organizing this space is stratification. Social space is three-dimensional: each of its dimensions corresponds to one of the three main forms (criteria) of stratification. Social space is described by three axes: economic, political and professional status. Accordingly, the position of an individual or group is described in this space using three coordinates. A set of individuals with similar social coordinates form a stratum. The basis of stratification is the uneven distribution of rights and privileges, responsibilities and obligations, power and influence.

T.I. Zaslavskaya made a great contribution to the solution of practical and theoretical problems of the stratification of Russian society. 10 In her opinion, the social structure of society is the people themselves, organized into various kinds of groups (layers, strata) and performing in the system of economic relations all those social roles that the economy gives rise to, which it requires. It is these people and their groups that carry out a certain social policy, organize the development of the country, and make decisions. Thus, in turn, the social and economic status of these groups, their interests, the nature of their activity and their relationship with each other influence the development of the economy.

2.Sources and factors of social stratification

What "orients" large social groups? It turns out that there is an unequal assessment by society of the meaning and role of each status or group. A plumber or a janitor is valued below a lawyer and a minister. Consequently, high statuses and people occupying them are better rewarded, they have more power, the prestige of their occupation is higher, and the level of education should also be higher. We get four main dimensions of stratification - income, power, education, prestige. These four dimensions exhaust the range of social benefits to which people aspire. More precisely, not the benefits themselves (there may just be many of them), but the channels of access to them. A home abroad, a luxury car, a yacht, a vacation in the Canary Islands, etc. - social goods that are always in short supply (i.e. highly respected and inaccessible to the majority) and are acquired through access to money and power, which, in turn, are achieved through high education and personal qualities.

Thus, social structure arises over the social division of labor, and social stratification arises over the social distribution of the results of labor, i.e., social benefits.

The distribution is always unequal. So there is an arrangement of social strata according to the criterion of unequal access to power, wealth, education and prestige.

Imagine a social space in which vertical and horizontal distances are not equal. P. Sorokin, 11 the man who was the first in the world to give a complete theoretical explanation of the phenomenon, and who confirmed his theory with the help of a huge empirical material extending over the entire human history, thought this way or something like this. Points in space are social statuses. The distance between the turner and the miller is one, it is horizontal, and the distance between the worker and the master is different, it is vertical. The master is the boss, the worker is the subordinate. They have different social ranks. Although the case can be presented in such a way that the master and worker will be located at an equal distance from each other. This will happen if we consider both of them not as a boss and a subordinate, but only as workers performing different labor functions. But then we will move from the vertical to the horizontal plane.

The inequality of distances between statuses is the main property of stratification. She has four measuring rulers, or coordinate axes. All of them are located vertically and next to each other:

Education,

Prestige.

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

Education is measured by the number of years of study at a public or private school or university.

Power is not 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). The decisions of the President of Russia apply to 147 million people, and the decisions of the foreman - to 7-10 people.

Three scales of stratification - income, education and power - have completely objective units of measurement: dollars, years, people. Prestige is outside this range, as it is a subjective indicator. Prestige - respect for status, prevailing in public opinion.

Membership in a stratum is measured by subjective and objective indicators:

subjective indicator - a sense of belonging to this group, identification with it;

objective indicators - income, power, education, prestige.

Thus, a large fortune, high education, great power and high professional prestige are the necessary conditions for a person to be classified as the highest stratum of society.

3. Historical types of social stratification. The role and importance of the middle class in modern society.

The assigned status characterizes a rigidly fixed system of stratification, that is, a closed society in which the transition from one stratum to another is practically prohibited. Such systems include slavery, caste and estate system. The achieved status characterizes a mobile system of stratification, or an open society, where people are allowed to move freely up and down the social ladder. Such a system includes classes (capitalist society). These are the historical types of stratification.

Stratification, that is, inequality in income, power, prestige and education, arose along with the birth of human society. In its embryonic form, it was already found in a simple (primitive) society. With the advent of the early state - the eastern despotism - stratification becomes tougher, and as European society develops, mores are liberalized, stratification softens. The class system is freer than caste and slavery, and the class system that replaced the class system became even more liberal.

Slavery is historically the first system of social stratification. Slavery arose in ancient times in Egypt, Babylon, China, Greece, Rome and has survived in a number of regions almost to the present day. It has existed in the United States since the 19th century. Slavery is an economic, social and legal form of enslavement of people, bordering on complete lack of rights and an extreme degree of inequality. It has evolved historically. The primitive form, or patriarchal slavery, and the developed form, or classical slavery, differ substantially. In the first case, the slave had all the rights of the youngest member of the family: he lived in the same house with the owners, participated in public life, married the free, inherited the property of the owner. It was forbidden to kill him. At the mature stage, the slave was finally enslaved: he lived in a separate room, did not participate in anything, did not inherit anything, did not marry and had no family. He was allowed to be killed. He did not own property, but he himself was considered the property of the owner (<говорящим орудием>).

Like slavery, the caste system characterizes society and rigid stratification. It is not as ancient as the slave system, closed and less common. If almost all countries went through slavery, of course, to varying degrees, then castes were found only in India and partly in Africa. India is a classic example of a caste society. It arose on the ruins of the slave system in the first centuries of the new era.

A caste is a social group (stratum) in which a person owes membership solely to birth. He cannot move from one caste to another during his lifetime. To do this, he needs to be born again. The caste position of a person is fixed by the Hindu religion (now it is clear why castes are not very common). According to its canons, people live more than one life. The previous life of a person determines the nature of his new birth and the caste into which he falls in this case - the lowest or vice versa.

In total, there are 4 main castes in India: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), Shudras (workers and peasants) - and about 5 thousand minor castes and podcasts. The untouchables (outcasts) are especially worthy - they are not included in any caste and occupy the lowest position. In the course of industrialization, castes are replaced by classes. The Indian city is becoming more and more class-based, while the village, in which 7/10 of the population lives, remains caste-based.

Estates are a form of stratification that precedes classes. In the feudal societies that existed in Europe from the 4th to the 14th centuries, people were divided into estates.

An estate is a social group that has rights and obligations enshrined in custom or legal law and inherited. The estate system, which includes several strata, is characterized by a hierarchy, expressed in the inequality of their position and privileges. A classic example of class organization was feudal Europe, where at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries society was divided into upper classes (nobility and clergy) and an unprivileged third estate (artisans, merchants, peasants). And in the X-XIII centuries there were three main estates: the clergy, the nobility and the peasantry. In Russia, from the second half of the 18th century, a class division into nobility, clergy, merchants, peasantry and philistinism (middle urban strata) was established. Estates were based on landed property.

The rights and obligations of each estate were enshrined in legal law and consecrated by religious doctrine. Membership in the estate was determined by inheritance. Social barriers between the estates were quite rigid, so social mobility existed not so much between as within the estates. Each estate included many layers, ranks, levels, professions, ranks. So, only nobles could engage in public service. The aristocracy was considered a military estate (chivalry).

The higher in the social hierarchy an estate stood, the higher was its status. In contrast to castes, inter-class marriages were quite allowed, and individual mobility was also allowed. A simple person could become a knight by purchasing a special permit from the ruler. Merchants acquired titles of nobility for money. As a relic, this practice has partially survived in modern England.

Belonging to a social stratum in slave-owning, caste and estate-feudal societies was officially fixed - by legal or religious norms. In a class society, the situation is different: no legal documents regulate the place of the individual in the social structure. Every person is free to move, with ability, education or income, from one class to another.

Today, sociologists offer different typologies of classes. One has seven, the other has six, the third has five, and so on. social strata. The first typology of US classes was proposed in the 1940s by the American sociologist Lloyd Warner. It included six classes. Today it has been replenished with one more layer and in its final form it represents a seven-point scale.

Upper-upper class includes<аристократов по крови>who emigrated to America 200 years ago and accumulated untold wealth over many generations. They are distinguished by a special way of life, high society manners, impeccable taste and behavior.

The lower-upper class consists mainly of<новых богатых>who have not yet managed to create powerful tribal clans that have seized the highest positions in industry, business, and politics. Typical representatives are a professional basketball player or a pop star who receive tens of millions, but in the family who have no<аристократов по крови>.

The upper-middle class consists of the petty bourgeoisie and highly paid professionals: big lawyers, famous doctors, actors or TV commentators. Their lifestyle is approaching high society, but they still cannot afford a fashionable villa in the most expensive resorts in the world or a rare collection of art rarities.

The middle-middle class represents the most massive stratum of a developed industrial society. It includes all well-paid employees, medium-paid professionals, in a word, people of intelligent professions, including teachers, teachers, middle managers. It is the backbone of the information society and the service sector.

The lower-middle class was made up of lower employees and skilled workers, who, by the nature and content of their work, gravitate rather not to physical, but to mental labor. A distinctive feature is a decent way of life.

The upper-lower class includes medium and low-skilled workers employed in mass production in local factories, living in relative prosperity, but in behavior significantly different from the upper and middle class. Distinctive features: low education (usually complete and incomplete secondary, secondary specialized), passive leisure (watching TV, playing cards, etc.), primitive entertainment, often excessive use of alcohol and non-literary vocabulary.

The lower-lower class are the inhabitants of basements, attics, slums and other unsuitable places for habitation. They do not have any or have only a primary education, most of all they are interrupted by odd jobs or begging, they constantly feel an inferiority complex due to hopeless poverty and constant humiliation. They are usually called<социальным дном>, or an underclass. Most often, their ranks are recruited from chronic alcoholics, former prisoners, homeless people, etc.

Term<верхний-высший класс>means the upper layer of the upper class. In all two-part words, the first word denotes a stratum or layer, and the second - the class to which this layer belongs.<Верхний-низший класс>sometimes they call it what it is, and sometimes it refers to the working class. In sociology, the criterion for attributing a person to one or another layer is not only income, but also the amount of power, the level of education and the prestige of the occupation, which presuppose a specific lifestyle and style of behavior. You can get a lot, but all the money is ineptly spent or spent on drink. Not only the arrival of money is important, but also their expenditure, and this is already a way of life.

The working class in modern post-industrial society includes two layers: lower-middle and upper-lower. All knowledge workers, no matter how little they get, are never enrolled in the lower class.

The middle class (with its layers) is always distinguished from the working class. But the working class is also distinguished from the lower class, which may include the unemployed, the unemployed, the homeless, the poor, and so on. As a rule, highly skilled workers are included not in the working class, but in the middle, but in its lowest stratum, which is filled mainly by low-skilled mental workers - employees.

The middle class is a unique phenomenon in world history. Let's put it this way: it has not been throughout the history of mankind. It appeared only in the 20th century. In society, it performs a specific function. The middle class is the stabilizer of society. The larger it is, the less likely it is that society will be shaken by revolutions, ethnic conflicts, social cataclysms. The middle class separates two opposite poles, rich and poor, and does not allow them to collide. The thinner the middle class, the closer the polar points of stratification are to each other, the more likely they are to collide. And vice versa.

The middle class is the broadest consumer market for small and medium businesses. The more numerous this class, the more confidently the small business stands on its feet. As a rule, the middle class includes those who have economic independence, i.e. own an enterprise, firm, office, private practice, their own business, scientists, priests, doctors, lawyers, middle managers, the petty bourgeoisie - the social "backbone" of society .

What is the middle class? It follows from the term itself that it belongs to the middle position in society, but its other characteristics are important, primarily qualitative ones. It should be noted that the middle class itself is internally heterogeneous, it distinguishes such layers as the upper middle class (it includes managers, lawyers, doctors, representatives of medium-sized businesses with high prestige and high income), the middle middle class (owners of small businesses , farmers), the lower middle class (office staff, teachers, nurses, salesmen). The main thing is that the numerous strata that make up the middle class and are characterized by a fairly high standard of living have a very strong, and sometimes decisive, influence on the adoption of certain economic and political decisions, on the whole, on the policy of the ruling elite, which cannot but listen to majority vote. The middle class largely, if not completely, forms the ideology of Western society, its morality, and typical way of life. It should be noted that in relation to the middle class, a complex criterion is applied: its involvement in power structures and influence on them, income, prestige of the profession, level of education. It is important to emphasize the last term in this multivariate criterion. Due to the high level of education of numerous representatives of the middle class of modern Western society, its inclusion in power structures of various levels, high incomes and the prestige of the profession are ensured.

Annotation: The purpose of the lecture is to reveal the concept of social stratification associated with the concept of a social stratum (stratum), to describe models and types of stratification, as well as types of stratification systems.

The stratification dimension is the allocation of layers (strata) within communities, which allows a more detailed analysis of the social structure. According to the theory of V.F. Anurin and A.I. Kravchenko, the concepts of classification and stratification should be distinguished. Classification - the division of society into classes, i.e. very large social groups that have some common feature. The stratification model is a deepening, detailing of the class approach.

In sociology, the vertical structure of society is explained with the help of such a concept, transferred from geology, as "stratum"(layer). Society is presented as an object, which is divided into layers, piling up on each other. The allocation of layers in the hierarchical structure of society is called social stratification.

Here we should dwell on the concept of "stratum of society". Until now, we have used the concept of "social community". What is the relationship between these two concepts? First, the concept of a social stratum is used, as a rule, to characterize only the vertical structure (that is, the layers are layered on top of each other). Secondly, this concept indicates that representatives of the most diverse communities belong to the same status in the social hierarchy. The composition of one layer can include representatives of both men and women, and generations, and various professional, ethnic, racial, confessional, territorial communities. But these communities are included in the layer not entirely, but partially, since other representatives of the communities can be included in other layers. Thus, social strata consist of representatives of various social communities, and social communities are represented in various social strata. We are not talking about equal representation of communities in the layers. For example, women are larger than men, usually represented in the strata located on the lower rungs of the social ladder. Representatives of professional, ethnic, racial, territorial and other communities of people are also unevenly represented in social communities.

When talking about the social status of communities of people, we are dealing with average ideas, while in reality there is a certain "scatter" of social statuses within a social community (for example, women who are on different steps of the social ladder). When talking about social strata, they mean representatives of different communities of people who have the same hierarchical status (for example, the same level of income).

Models of social stratification

Usually, three largest strata are distinguished in social stratification - the lower, middle and upper strata of society. Each of them can also be divided into three more. Based on the number of people belonging to these layers, we can also build stratification models that give us a general idea of a real society.

Of all the societies known to us, the upper strata have always been a minority. As one ancient Greek philosopher said, the worst are always the majority. Accordingly, the "best" (rich) cannot be more than the middle and lower. As for the "sizes" of the middle and lower layers, they can be in different proportions (larger either in the lower or in the middle layers). Proceeding from this, it is possible to build formal models of the stratification of society, which we will conditionally call as "pyramid" and "rhombus". In the pyramidal model of stratification, the majority of the population belongs to the social bottom, and in the diamond-shaped stratification model, to the middle strata of society, but in both models, the top is a minority.

Formal models clearly show the nature of the distribution of the population over various social strata and the features of the hierarchical structure of society.

Types of social stratification

Due to the fact that the resources and power that separate hierarchically located social strata can be economic, political, personal, informational, intellectual and spiritual in nature, stratification characterizes the economic, political, personal, informational, intellectual and spheres of society. Accordingly, it is possible to single out the main varieties of social stratification - socio-economic, socio-political, socio-personal, socio-informational and socio-spiritual.

Consider varieties socio-economic stratification.

In the public mind, stratification appears primarily in the form of dividing society into "rich" and "poor". This, apparently, is not accidental, because it is precisely the differences in the level of income and material consumption that are "striking" By income level such strata of society as the poor, the poor, the wealthy, rich and the super rich.

Social "lower classes" on this basis represent the poor and the poor. The beggars, who represent the "bottom" of society, have the income necessary for the physiological survival of a person (so as not to die of hunger and other factors that threaten a person's life). As a rule, beggars subsist on alms, social benefits, or other sources (collecting bottles, searching for food and clothes among the garbage, petty theft). However, some may be classified as beggars. categories workers, if the size of their wages allows satisfying only physiological needs.

The poor include people who have incomes at the level necessary for the social survival of a person to maintain their social status. In social statistics, this level of income is called the social subsistence minimum.

The middle strata of society in terms of income are represented by people who can be called "wealthy", "prosperous", etc. Income secured p exceed the living wage. To be secure means to have the income necessary not only for social existence (simple reproduction of oneself as a social being), but also for social development (expanded reproduction of oneself as a social being). The possibility of expanded social reproduction of a person suggests that he can improve his social status. The middle strata of society, in comparison with the poor, have different clothes, food, housing, their leisure time, social circle, etc. are qualitatively changing.

The upper strata of society in terms of income are represented by rich and super rich. There is no clear criterion for distinguishing between the wealthy and the rich, the rich and the super-rich. Economic criterion wealth - the liquidity of available values. Liquidity refers to the ability to be sold at any moment. Consequently, the things the wealthy own tend to rise in value: real estate, art, stocks of successful businesses, and so on. Incomes at the level of wealth go beyond even expanded social reproduction and acquire a symbolic, prestigious character, defining a person's belonging to the upper strata. The social status of the rich and super-rich requires a certain symbolic reinforcement (as a rule, these are luxury goods).

Rich and poor strata (strata) in society can also be distinguished according to ownership of the means of production. To do this, it is necessary to decipher the very concept of "ownership of the means of production" (in the terminology of Western science - "control over economic resources"). Sociologists and economists identify three components in property - ownership of the means of production, disposal of them, and their use. Therefore, in this case, we can talk about how, to what extent certain strata can own, dispose of and use the means of production.

The social lower classes of society are represented by layers that do not own the means of production (neither the enterprises themselves, nor their shares). At the same time, among them, one can single out those who cannot and use them as employees or tenants (as a rule, they are unemployed), who are at the very bottom. Slightly higher are those who can use the means of production, the owners of which are not.

The middle strata of society include those who are usually called small proprietors. These are those who own the means of production or other means of generating income (shops, services, etc.), but the level of these incomes does not allow them to expand their business. The middle strata also include those who manage enterprises that do not belong to them. In most cases, these are managers (with the exception of top managers). It should be emphasized that the middle strata also include people who are not related to property, but receive income through their highly qualified work (doctors, scientists, engineers, etc.).

Those who receive incomes at the level of wealth and super-wealth thanks to property (who live off property) belong to the social "tops". These are either the owners of large enterprises or a network of enterprises (controlling shareholders), or top managers of large enterprises participating in profits.

Income depends both on the size of the property and on qualification (complexity) of labor. The level of income is the dependent variable of these two main factors. Both property and the complexity of the work performed are practically meaningless without the income they provide. Therefore, not the profession itself (qualification), but how it provides a person's social status (mainly in the form of income), is a sign of stratification. In the public mind, this manifests itself as the prestige of professions. Occupations themselves can be very complex, requiring high qualifications, or quite simple, requiring low qualifications. At the same time, the complexity of a profession is not always equivalent to its prestige (as you know, representatives of complex professions can receive wages that are inadequate to their qualifications and the amount of work). Thus, stratification by property AND professional stratification| make sense only when they are built within stratification by income level. Taken as a whole, they represent the socio-economic stratification of "society".

Let's move on to the characteristics socio-political stratification of society. The main feature of this stratification is the distribution political power between strata.

Political power is usually understood as the ability of any strata or communities to spread their will in relation to other strata or communities, regardless of the desire of the latter to obey. This will can be distributed in a variety of ways - with the help of force, authority or law, legal (legal) or illegal (illegal) methods, openly or in a secret (form, etc.). In pre-capitalist societies, different classes had different amounts of rights and obligations (the "higher", the more rights, the "lower", the more obligations). In modern countries, all strata have, from a legal point of view, the same rights and obligations. However, equality does not mean political equality. Depending on the scale of ownership, income levels, control over the media, position and other resources, different strata have different opportunities to influence the development, adoption and implementation of political decisions.

In sociology and political science, the upper strata of society, which have a "controlling stake" in political power, are usually called political elite(sometimes use the concept of "ruling class"). Thanks to financial resources, social connections, control over the media and other factors, the elite determines the course of political processes, nominates political leaders from its ranks, selects from other sectors of society those who have shown their special abilities and at the same time do not threaten its well-being. At the same time, the elite is distinguished by a high level of organization (at the level of the highest state bureaucracy, the top of political parties, the business elite, informal connections, etc.).

An important role in the monopolization of political power is played by inheritance within the elite. In a traditional society, political inheritance carried out by transferring titles and class affiliation to children. In modern societies, inheritance within the elite is carried out in many ways. This includes elite education, and elite marriages, and protectionism in career growth, and so on.

With a triangular stratification, the rest of society is made up of the so-called masses - effectively deprived of power, controlled by an elite, politically unorganized layers. With diamond-shaped stratification, the masses form only the lower strata of society. As for the middle strata, most of their representatives are politically organized to one degree or another. These are various political parties, associations representing the interests of professional, territorial, ethnic or other communities, producers and consumers, women, youth, etc. The main function of these organizations is to represent the interests of social strata in the structure of political power by putting pressure on this power. Conventionally, such layers that, without having real power, exert pressure in an organized form on the process of preparing, adopting and implementing political decisions in order to protect their interests, can be called interest groups, pressure groups (in the West, lobby groups protecting the interests of certain communities). Thus, in political stratification, three layers can be distinguished - "elite", "interest groups" and "masses".

Socio-personal stratification studied within the framework of sociological socionics. In particular, it is possible to single out groups of sociotypes, conditionally named as leaders and performers. Leaders and performers, in turn, are divided into formal and informal. Thus, we get 4 groups of sociotypes: formal leaders, informal leaders, formal performers, informal performers. In socionics, the relationship between social status and belonging to certain sociotypes is theoretically and empirically substantiated. In other words, innate personal qualities affect the position in the system of social stratification. There is an individual inequality associated with differences in the types of intelligence and energy-information exchange.

Social information stratification reflects the access of various layers to the information resources of society and communication channels. Indeed, access to information goods, compared with access to economic and political goods, was a minor factor in the social stratification of traditional and even industrial societies. In today's world, access to economic and political resources increasingly begins to depend on the level and nature of education, on access to economic and political information. Previous societies were characterized by the fact that each stratum, distinguished by economic and political characteristics, also differed from others in terms of education and awareness. However, socio-economic and socio-political stratification did not depend much on the nature of the access of one or another layer to the information resources of society.

Quite often, the society that replaces the industrial type is called informational, thus denoting the special importance of information in the functioning and development of the society of the future. At the same time, information becomes so complicated that access to it is associated not only with the economic and political opportunities of certain strata, this requires an appropriate level of professionalism, qualifications, and education.

Modern economic information can only be accessible to economically educated strata. Political information also requires appropriate political and legal education. Therefore, the degree of accessibility of a particular education for different strata becomes the most important sign of the stratification of a post-industrial society. The nature of the education received is of great importance. In many countries of Western Europe, for example, members of the elite receive social and humanitarian education (law, economics, journalism, etc.), which will further facilitate their ability to maintain their elite affiliation. Most representatives of the middle strata receive an engineering and technical education, which, while creating the possibility of a prosperous life, nevertheless does not imply wide access to economic and political information. As for our country, the same trends have also begun to emerge over the past decade.

Today we can talk about what is beginning to take shape socio-spiritual stratification as a relatively independent type of stratification of society. The use of the term "cultural stratification" is not entirely correct, given that culture can be both physical, and spiritual, and political, and economic, and so on.

The socio-spiritual stratification of society is determined not only by inequality in access to spiritual resources, but also inequality of opportunity spiritual impact different strata on each other and on society as a whole. We are talking about the possibilities of ideological influence, which are possessed by the "tops", "middle layers" and "bottoms". Thanks to control over the media, influence on the process of artistic and literary creativity (especially cinematography), on the content of education (what subjects and how to teach in the system of general and vocational education), the "tops" can manipulate public consciousness, primarily such a state of it, as public opinion. So, in modern Russia, in the system of secondary and higher education, hours for teaching the natural and social sciences are being reduced, at the same time, religious ideology, theology and other non-scientific subjects that do not contribute to the adaptation of young people to modern society and economic modernization are increasingly penetrating into schools and universities. .

In sociological science, there are two methods of studying stratification society - one-dimensional and multidimensional. One-dimensional stratification is based on one feature (it can be income, property, profession, power, or some other feature). Multidimensional stratification is based on a combination of various features. One-dimensional stratification is a simpler task than multidimensional stratification.

Economic, political, informational and spiritual varieties of stratification are closely related and intertwined. As a result, social stratification is something of a single whole, a system. However position of the same layer in different types of stratification may not always be the same. For example, the largest entrepreneurs in political stratification have a lower social status than the top bureaucracy. Is it then possible to single out one integrated position of the various strata, their place in the social stratification of society as a whole, and not in one or another of its types? Statistical approach (method averaging statuses in various types of stratification) is impossible in this case.

In order to build a multidimensional stratification, it is necessary to answer the question of which attribute primarily determines the position of one or another layer, which attribute (property, income, power, information, etc.) is "leading", and which is " led." Thus, in Russia, politics traditionally dominates the economy, art, science, the social sphere, and computer science. When studying various historical types of societies, it turns out that their stratification has its own internal hierarchy, i.e. a certain subordination of its economic, political and spiritual varieties. On this basis, various models of the system of stratification of society are distinguished in sociology.

Types of stratification systems

There are several main types of inequality. Sociological literature usually distinguishes three systems stratification - caste, estate and class. The caste system has been studied least of all. The reason for this is that such a system, in the form of vestiges, existed until recently in India, as for other countries, the caste system can be judged approximately on the basis of surviving historical documents. In a number of countries there was no caste system at all. What is caste stratification?

In all likelihood, it arose as a result of the conquest of some ethnic groups by others, which formed hierarchically arranged strata. Caste stratification is supported by religious rituals (castes have different levels of access to religious benefits; in India, for example, the lowest caste of the untouchables is not allowed to the ritual of purification), heredity of caste, and almost complete secrecy. It was impossible to move from a caste to another caste. Depending on ethno-religious affiliation, caste stratification determines the level of access to economic (primarily in the form of division of labor and professional affiliation) and political (by regulating rights and obligations) resources. Therefore, the caste type of stratification is based on a spiritual and ideological (religious) form inequalities

Unlike the caste system, class stratification is based on political and legal inequality, first of all, inequality. Class stratification is carried out not on the basis of "wealth", but

Models of social stratification

Formal models clearly show the nature of the distribution of the population over various social strata and the features of the hierarchical structure of society.

Types of social stratification

Consider varieties socio-economic stratification.

Let's move on to the characteristics socio-political stratification of society. The main feature of this stratification is the distribution political power between strata.

Types of stratification systems

Unlike the caste system, class stratification is based on political and legal inequality, first of all, inequality. Class stratification is carried out not on the basis of "wealth", but

social stratification

social role

social role- a model of behavior focused on this status. It can be defined differently - as a template type of behavior aimed at fulfilling the rights and obligations assigned to a specific status.

The banker is expected to behave in one way and the unemployed in another. Social norms - the prescribed rules of behavior - characterize the role, not the status. The role is also called dynamic side of the status. The words ʼʼdynamicʼʼ, ʼʼbehaviorʼʼ, ʼʼnormʼʼ indicate that we are not dealing with social relations, but with social interaction. Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, we must learn:

social roles and social norms refer to social interaction;

Social statuses, rights and obligations, functional relationship of statuses are related to social relations;

· social interaction describes the dynamics of society, social relations - its statics.

The subjects expect from the king the behavior prescribed by custom or document. Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, there is an intermediate link between status and role - expectations people (expectations).

Expectations can somehow be fixed, and then they become social norms. If, of course, they are considered as mandatory requirements (prescriptions). And they may not be fixed, but this does not stop them from being expectations.

social stratification - central theme of sociology. It describes social inequality in society, the division of social strata by income level and lifestyle, by the presence or absence of privileges. In primitive society, inequality was insignificant, in connection with this, stratification was almost absent there. In complex societies, inequality is very strong, it divided people by income, level of education, power. Castes arose, then estates, and later classes. In some societies, the transition from one social stratum (stratum) to another is prohibited; there are societies where such a transition is limited, and there are societies where it is completely allowed. Freedom of social movement (mobility) determines whether a society is closed or open.

The term ʼʼstratificationʼʼ comes from geology, where it refers to the vertical arrangement of the Earth's layers. Sociology has likened the structure of society to the structure of the Earth and placed the social strata (strata) also vertically. The bottom line is the income ladder, with the poor at the bottom, the wealthy at the middle, and the rich at the top.

Each stratum includes only those people who have approximately the same income, power, education and prestige. The inequality of distances between statuses is the main property of stratification. She has four measuring rulers, or coordinate axes. All of them are located vertically and next to each other:

· power;

· education;

prestige.

Income - the amount of cash receipts of an individual or family for a certain period of time (month, year). Income is the amount of money received in the form of wages, pensions, allowances, alimony, fees, deductions from profits. Income measured in rubles or dollars that an individual receives (individual income) or family (family income) within a certain period of time, say one month or one year.

On the coordinate axis, we plot equal intervals, for example, up to $5,000, from $5,001 to $10,000, from $10,001 to $15,000, and so on up to $75,000 and above.

Incomes are most often spent on the maintenance of life, but if they are very high, they accumulate and turn into wealth.

Wealth - accumulated income, i.e., the amount of cash or embodied money. In the second case, they are called movable (car, yacht, securities, etc.) and immovable (house, works of art, treasures) property. Usually wealth is inherited. Inheritance can be received by both working and non-working, and only working people can receive income. In addition to them, pensioners and the unemployed have income, but the poor do not. The rich may or may not work. In both cases, they are owners because they have wealth. The main wealth of the upper class is not income, but accumulated property. The salary share is small. For the middle and lower classes, the main source of subsistence is income, since the first, if there is wealth, it is insignificant, and the second does not have it at all. Wealth allows you not to work, and its absence forces you to work for the sake of wages.

Wealth and income are unevenly distributed and mean economic inequality. Sociologists interpret it as an indicator that different groups of the population have unequal life chances. Οʜᴎ buy different quantities and different qualities of food, clothes, housing, etc. People who have more money eat better, live in more comfortable houses, prefer a private car to public transport, can afford expensive vacations, etc. But in addition to obvious economic advantages, the wealthy strata have hidden privileges. The poor have shorter lives (even if they enjoy all the benefits of medicine), less educated children (even if they go to the same public schools), etc.

Education measured by the number of years of education in a public or private school or university. Let's say elementary school means 4 years, junior high school means 9 years, high school means 11 years, college means 4 years, university means 5 years, graduate school means 3 years, doctoral studies means 3 years. Τᴀᴋᴎᴍ ᴏϬᴩᴀᴈᴏᴍ, a professor has over 20 years of formal education behind him, while a plumber may not have even eight.

Power measured by the number of people affected by the decision you make (power - the ability to impose one's will or decisions on other people, regardless of their desire). The decisions of the President of Russia apply to 148 million people (whether they are implemented is another question, although it also concerns the issue of power), and the decisions of the foreman - to 7-10 people.

essence authorities - in the ability to impose one's will against the wishes of other people. In a complex society, power institutionalized, i.e. protected by laws and tradition, surrounded by privileges and wide access to social benefits, allows you to make decisions that are vital for society, incl. laws, as a rule, advantageous to the upper class. In all societies, people who wield some form of power—political, economic, or religious—constitute an institutionalized elite. It determines the domestic and foreign policy of the state, directing it in a direction that is beneficial to itself, which other classes are deprived of.

Three scales of stratification - income, education and power - have completely objective units of measurement: dollars, years, people. Prestige is outside this range, as it is a subjective indicator.

Prestige - respect, which in public opinion is enjoyed by this or that profession, position, occupation. The profession of a lawyer is more prestigious than the profession of a steelworker or a plumber. The position of president of a commercial bank is more prestigious than that of a cashier. All professions, occupations and positions that exist in a given society can be placed from top to bottom on the ladder of professional prestige. As a rule, professional prestige is determined by us intuitively, approximately. But in some countries, primarily in the United States, sociologists measure it with the help of special methods. Οʜᴎ study public opinion, compare different professions, analyze statistics and eventually get an accurate scale of prestige.

Historical types of stratification

Income, power, prestige and education determine the total socio-economic status, that is, the position and place of a person in society. In this case status acts as a generalizing indicator of stratification. Earlier we noted its key role in the social structure. Now it turned out that he plays a crucial role in sociology as a whole.

The assigned status characterizes a rigidly fixed system of stratification, i.e. closed society, in which the transition from one stratum to another is practically prohibited. Such systems include slavery, caste and estate system. The achieved status characterizes a mobile system of stratification, or open Society, where people are allowed to move freely up and down the social ladder. Such a system includes classes (capitalist society). These are historical types of stratification.

a closed society is a society where the movement of individuals or information from one country to another is excluded or substantially restricted. Slavery - historically the first system of social stratification. Slavery arose in ancient times in Egypt, Babylon, China, Greece, Rome and has survived in a number of regions almost to the present day. Like slavery, the caste system characterizes a closed society and rigid stratification. Castoy called a social group (stratum), membership in which a person owes solely to birth. He cannot move from one caste to another during his lifetime. To do this, he needs to be born again. estate - a social group that has fixed custom or legal law and inherited rights and obligations. It is important to note that the estate system, which includes several strata, is characterized by a hierarchy, expressed in the inequality of their position and privileges. class society the situation is different: no legal documents regulate the place of the individual in the social structure. Every person is free to move, with ability, education or income, from one class to another.

Social stratification - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Social stratification" 2017, 2018.