IBRAHIM SA'ADU a.k.a gco (B Sc. Sociology)
INTRODUCTION
Stratification is a system or formation of layers, classes,
or categories. Stratification is used to describe a particular way of
arranging seeds while planting, as well as the geological layers of rocks. But
like so many science words, somehow it’s not content to stay in the scientific
realm, and must also have a place in the social sphere, where its job is to
categorize and arrange people into groups: upper, middle, and lower classes,
for example.
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Social stratification is a society's categorization of people into socioeconomic strata, based upon their occupation and income,
wealth
and social status,
or derived power (social and political). As such,
stratification is the relative social position of persons within a social
group, category, geographic region, or social unit.
In modern Western societies, social stratification
typically is distinguished as three social
classes: (i) the upper class, (ii) the middle class,
and (iii) the lower class; in turn, each class can be
subdivided into strata, e.g. the upper-stratum, the middle-stratum, and the
lower stratum. Moreover, a social stratum can be formed upon the bases of kinship
or caste,
or both.
The categorization of people by
social strata occurs in all societies, ranging from the complex, state-based
societies to tribal
and feudal
societies, which are based upon socio-economic relations among classes of nobility
and classes of peasants.
Historically, whether or not hunter-gatherer
societies can be defined as socially stratified or if social stratification
began with agriculture and common acts of social exchange, remains a debated matter
in the social sciences. Determining
the structures of social stratification arises from inequalities of status
among persons; therefore, the degree of social
inequality determines a person's social stratum. Generally, the
greater the social complexity of a society, the more social
strata exists, by way of social differentiation.
PERSPECTIVES OF STRATIFICATION
The structural-functional approach
to stratification asks the same question that it does of the other components
of society: What function or purpose does it serve? The answer is that all
aspects of society, even poverty, contribute in
some way to the larger system's overall stability.
According to
structural-functionalists, stratification and inequality are inevitable and
beneficial to society. The layers of society, conceptualized as a pyramid, are
the inevitable sorting of unequal people. The layering is useful because it
ensures that the best people are at the top and those who are less worthy are
further down the pyramid, and therefore have less power and are given fewer
rewards than the high quality people at the top. The Davis-Moore hypothesis,
advanced by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore in a paper published in 1945,
is a central claim within the structural functionalist paradigm, and purports
that the unequal distribution of rewards serves a purpose in society.
Inequality ensures that the most functionally important jobs are filled by the
best qualified people. In other words, it makes sense for the CEO of a company,
whose position is more
important functionally, to make more money than a janitor
working for the same company.
A job's functional importance is
determined by the degree to which the job is unique and requires skill, meaning
whether only a few, or many other people, can perform the same function
adequately. Garbage collectors are important to public sanitation, but do not
need to be rewarded highly because little training or talent is required to
perform their job. For example, according to this theory doctors should be
rewarded highly, because extensive training is required to do their job. It is
logical that society must offer greater rewards (e.g., income, vacations,
promotion) to motivate the most qualified people to fill the most important
positions.
CONFLICT PERSPECTIVE ON STRATIFICATION
"Conflict perspective assumes that stratification reflects the distribution of power in society and is therefore a major source of discord and coercion. The unequal distribution of rewards reflects the interests of the powerful and not the basic survival needs of society. Stratification is unjust, divisive, and a source of social instability or change"
THE
INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE
The interactionists perspective on
social inequality focuses on the way that micro-interactions maintain
structural inequality. The
interactionists perspective on inequality focuses on how micro-interactions
reflect and create unequal power dynamics. Interactionists consider the
question of how power is exchanged in a situation. For example, when a child
and an adult engage in conversation, the adult establishes their power by
claiming knowledge and authority that the child cannot. When considering larger
systems of inequality, interactionists look at the inequality between social
roles. Social roles refer to one's position and responsibilities in society, which are largely
determined in modern developed
nations by occupation.
The interactionist perspective on inequality looks at how certain social roles
have more power, or authority, than others.
DEFINITIONS OF ETHNICITY AND RACE
What is ethnicity?
Ethnicity is state of belonging to a social group that has a
common national or cultural tradition. This is, by definition, a
fluid concept; ethnic groups can be broadly or narrowly construed. For example,
they can be as broad as "Native American" or as narrow as "Cherokee".
Another example is the Indian subcontinent — Indians may be considered one
ethnic group but there are actually dozens of cultural traditions and subgroups
like Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, and Tamil that are also bonafide ethnic groups. Yet
another example is people in Great Britain — they may be considered British, or
more precisely English, Scottish or Welsh.
What is race?
A race is a group of people with a common physical feature
or features. While there are hundreds; if not thousands of ethnicities, the
number of races is far fewer.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RACE AND ETHNICITY
1.
The term race
refers to the concept of dividing people into populations or groups on the
basis of various sets of physical characteristics (which usually result from
genetic ancestry). WHILE an ethnic
group or ethnicity is a population group whose members identify with each other
on the basis of common nationality or shared cultural traditions.
2.
Race presumes
shared biological or genetic traits, whether actual or asserted. In the early
19th century, racial differences were ascribed significance in areas of
intelligence, health, and personality. There is no evidence validating these
ideas. WHILE Ethnicity connotes
shared cultural traits and a shared group history. Some ethnic groups also
share linguistic or religious traits, while others share a common group history
but not a common language or religion
3.
Ethnic groups
distinguish themselves differently from one time period to another. They
typically seek to define themselves but also are defined by the stereotypes
of dominant groups WHILE Races are
assumed to be distinguished by skin color, facial type, etc. However, the
scientific basis of racial distinctions is very weak. Scientific studies show
that racial genetic differences are weak except in skin color
RACIAL STRATIFICATION
Racial stratification is a system of
structured inequality, where access to scarce and desired resources is based on
ethnic/racial group membership. Racial stratification assigns roles and
functions to individuals based on their ethnic-racial group membership. These
assignments have both physical and social consciousness consequences. Though
stratification systems vary across time and space, two of its primary
components appear to be ubiquitous: ideological
and structural. Stratification systems have ideologies
justifying their existence and have ranged from “the will of God” to those
alleging biological superiority. Bierstedt (1963, 171) noted that “an ideology
is an idea supported by a norm.” Ideologies, then, encompass norms, mores, folkways,
values, and theories. Ideologies provide explanations for the order of things
and, more importantly, they are rooted in group interests (Mannheim 1936, Chp.2).
Structural mechanisms are a second component of
stratification systems. Structural mechanisms involve the regular and patterned
forms of separate or unequal treatment of groups. There are two such structural
mechanisms that appear to characterize stratification systems: behavioral and physical. Examples
of behavioral mechanisms include the norms that lead to inequitable treatment
and discrimination. Housing and occupational segregation are examples of the physical
mechanisms characterizing stratification systems. Structural mechanisms, then, involve
specific kinds of social interactions, including the separation of groups.
Structural and ideological mechanisms
not only reinforce one another, but they also serve to justify and maintain
social order. There is a built-in tautology to their relationship: an ideology
justifies differential treatment or structural separation, and a given
structure, in turn, perpetuates and reinforces an ideology (e.g., group norms, values,
and stereotypes).
A system of racial stratification
exists if race and ethnic group membership are the basis for a system of
structured inequality. Race and ethnicity are used as a “way of classifying
people and their functions, of prescribing which sorts of people should do what
sort of things” (Hodges 1964,8).The overall effect of racial stratification is
the separation of racial groups, both physically and in the social conscience
(see Blank, Dabady, and Citra 2004).
ETHNIC STRATIFICATION
The uneven distribution of advantages, material rewards,
opportunities and power among groups, is due to stratification within a
society. Ethnic stratification is a system of structured inequality in which
people receive different amounts of society's resources based on someone's
ethnic group. Level of power is determined according to a person’s differences
from the dominant group. These differences are generally cultural and physical.
The ethnic groups most similar to the dominant group are more highly ranked,
and those that are considerably different are ranked low. The lower ranked
groups generally take a subordinate position to those of the dominant group.
This comparison of ethnic groups to ones owns group is called ethnocentrism
(Marger 40-1).
Ethnocentrism is one of the
building blocks for ethnic stratification. When you add competition for the
same scarce resources, and different levels of power, it will lead to the
development of ethnic stratification. When the dominant culture has been
determined, the wider the gap in distribution of power determines the strength
of the stratification system. The more powerful the dominant group is the
stronger the system is. The dominant group uses its power to block the
development of other groups and to solidify their own superiority (Marger
47-8).
CONCLUSION
Racial and ethnic stratification
refers systems of inequality in which some fixed groups membership, such as
race, religion, or national origin is a major criterion for ranking social
positions and their differential rewards.
Race is socially defined on the basis of a presumed common
genetic heritage resulting in distinguishing physical characteristics. Ethnicity refers to the condition of
being culturally rather than physically distinctive. Ethnic peoples are bound together by
virtue of common ancestry and a common cultural background.
In relation to our understanding
of social stratification based on or around the concept of ethnicity,
there are two main areas that we need to note: Firstly, those form where biological characteristics (such as skin
colour) are a determining characteristic of an individual's position in a
stratification system. In such societies, both racism and racialism
are practiced legally (that is, it is considered normal for a society as
a whole to discriminate against particular ethnic groups).
Secondly, those forms where ethnic background is used to
discriminate against individuals or groups, such that biological
characteristics are used to deny people equality of status, income, opportunity
and the like.
References
1.
Alexander, K.et al.1987. School
performance, status relations, and the structure of sentiment: bringing the
teachers back in American Sociological Review,5 2: 665-682.
2.
Anyon, J.1980.Social class and the
hidden curriculum of work. Journal of Education, 16 2:67-92.
3.
Barrera,M.1979.Race and Class in
the Southwest:A Theory of Racial Inequality . South Bend,IN: University of
Notre Dame Press.
4.
“The
Interactionist Perspective.” Boundless Sociology. Boundless, 21 Jul.
2015. Retrieved 07 Feb. 2016.
5.
Blank,R.M.,Dabady,M.,and
Citro,C.F.(eds.).2004.Measuring Racial Discrimination .Washington,DC:National
Academies Press.
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