Essay On Social Stratification

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What is social stratification? Social stratification is the emergence of classes, relationships between different groups that are most likely based off of inequality and access to wealth, power, and prestige. For some, social stratification is so important that anthropologists believe that it is necessary to keep a society functioning. As in the book it is almost compared to a caste system, which is a system that is determined at birth. When comparing and contrasting different types of social stratification there are different social classes that existed. Archeological features, laws and written documents and artifacts. The first type of social stratification would be The Caste System. The Caste System is a social stratification in India that divided the Hindu’s into four main groups. The four main groups were Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishya’s, and Shudras. These are based off of what social status you had. The Brahmins which is the top was made up of priests and teachers. If one was a ruler or a warrior their status would be a Kshatriyas. Then comes the Vaishya’s which was farmers, merchants, and traders. This was the thought of, upper class, middle, and lower class. The upper class was one who was born into wealth and power. When comparing to the Caste system this would be like the Brahmins. The middle class was people who lived happily and were not poor but they were not extremely wealthy and did not have a lot of power and prestige. And lastly comes the lower class, this was the lowest social status, based on they do not earn much. Their income is low and as some could say upper class used this term in a manipulative way and direct attitudes towards the lower-class people. In the class system, it is very hard to change social classes, it can be difficult to move between the classes but it can be done. If you marry rich and are going to be coming into wealth your social status can be

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