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Define Concept Of Social Stratification
How social structure affects an individual in everyday life
Social Stratification means
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1.In your own words, define social stratification. What functions does social stratification serve? How do those in higher ranks use their status? Social Stratification refers to a system by which society ranks people into categories of a hierarchy. In the United States, it is easy to tell which groups of people have a greater status, power, and wealth. It can be determined by a social group or region. These groups are usually divided into upper-class people, middle class, and lower class people. These groups are made to service social order, to ensure that rolls of different ranks are filled, and to make sure that the best person fits that job. I’ve noticed that people with a higher status feel they live with lots of power. Their food, drinks, cars, houses and everything about their lives shows the rich taste they are able to live with. I’ve also noticed that sometimes people with a higher …show more content…
Nation-State systems are single or multiple nationalities joined together to form a political union. These unions determine what kind of currency the people will use, the language they will speak and any laws the area will follow. Ideally, one would think that it would be better to live with a government in a nation-state system. The government enforces laws that control the people’s actions that live within the area as well as add a shape to the area on what kind of place it will be. If a place didn’t have a government, the people living there would do what they pleased and there would be no control over how to restrain certain actions from happening. Some people may say that it is better to live without a government because the government seems to sometimes hide information from the people it represents or even make decisions the people aren’t happy with. Without a government, living in a non-state political system area would give people the freedom to make their own
If you have ever read the book 1984 by George Orwell, then an interesting topic may have crossed your mind. The way the classes of people break down can be quite similar, and very different at times. In the United States, we have classes like the lower class, the working class, and the middle class. In 1984, there were such classes as the Proles, the Outer Party, and the Inner Party. The way the classes are broken down in 1984 reminds me a little bit of my old history class. When I studied medieval times and the classes back then were broken down into the nobles, the bourgeois, and the serfs.
There is a high degree of social inequality within the United States. Of most modern industrial countries, the United Stated has some of the richest and some of the poorest people to be found. That fact is very disturbing, however, explains why much of the inequality exists in the US. In the following essay I will explain to you about the inequality in our country and why it occurs, based on the theoretical perspectives of a functionalist, conflict theorist, and social interationist.
...rceived to have more wealth received special treatment in the weekend event I chose to attend, which is a clear indication of the disparities existing in terms of wealth distribution nationally and globally. The level of interaction for those present was based on perception of individual social status. People were more inclined to freely interact with individuals from a similar social status rather than a person from a different social status. While some had ascribed status, other presented achieved stratification status. However, the difference emerging from this scenario is that a small number of individuals are given opportunities to amass wealth within a short time while the rest linger in their glory. In return, the cultural response to this difference is to elevate those who have amassed wealth at the expense of those in middle and low-class income bracket.
Social rank has been a big part in a “Knight's Tale”. Without social classes we would not be able to determine who is rich and who is poor. Social class is based off of you income and the thing you own. They are three social classes low, middle, and upper.
According to Black?s definition, stratification is ?the vertical aspect of social life?, ?any uneven distribution of the material conditions of existence? (Black 11), in other words the discrimination of wealth. Stratification can be measured in quantity, delineated in style and viewed from two perspectives, as a ?magnitude of difference in wealth? (Black 11) and as the level to which the setting is stratified. Moreover, stratification explains not only law, its quantity and style, but also other aspects of social life. The relationship Black is mostly interested in is the positive correlation between stratification and law, meaning the more law, the more stratified the setting is. When utilizing this proposition by inserting other variables of social ...
Social stratification as defined by Brinkerhoff et al. is “an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social statuses are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources” (Brinkerhoff et al. 152). By scarce resources, many people have to deal with poverty and having a lack of money to buy the things they need in their lives. Social class is defined as “a category of people who share roughly the same class, status, and power and who have a sense of identification with each other” (Brinkerhoff et al. 155). Your social class has to do with your socioeconomic status along with the power and connections you have. Social mobility on the other hand is “the process of changing one’s social class” (Brinkerhoff et al. 153).
In the article “Confronting Inequality”, Paul Krugman argues that the gap of inequality between social classes in the United States is growing because of self- interest. He cites a “movement conservative”, Irving Kristol, who claims income inequality is not important because there is social equality. Krugman uses Kristol’s statement as a starting position to state his own. Krugman describes the claim as being a “fantasy world” and not the “real America we live in” (Krugman 246). I agree with his statement, many people were not aware of this issue five years ago, the fact that the upper class is gaining power. They have “their own virtual country” and “a separate economy” (Krugman 246). The upper class has many opportunities that prevent the middle and lower class from achieving the same success. Fewer opportunities for the lower classes are harming America’s vision of equality for all. Their chances of achieving the American Dream have been cut down because of government, health care, and self-interest.
Stratification systems, categorized people by class, gender, ethnicity, wealth/income. When people are categorized, start looking at different systems within the social system or social mobility. “The four main systems of stratification have been slavery, caste, estate, and class. Each of these systems allows greater or less flexibility in terms of social mobility. Social mobility is the ability to move up or down within a social stratification hierarchy” (Larkin, 2015). Slavery is a social status began with social norms allowing people to own others. The slaves had no wealth or power while under this social status. Caste systems are all aspects of social status are assigned at births and held forever,
Does social mobility in our contemporary American society really exist? Is it possible for someone from the deepest depths of poverty to become successful, and ascend into the upper echelons of society? Could the American Dream still be attained in these times where we see the stratification of contemporary American society based on their wealth and social class so vehemently pointed out and perhaps emphasized to a certain degree? Or perhaps, could Charles Sackrey, Geoffrey Schneider, and Janet Knoedler (authors of Introduction to Political Economy) be right about the American Dream being a "particularly deceitful myth?" This is a topic which has been debated over a long period of time between different scholars, analysts, and people just like us - in American society today, it could be broken into many parts: some observe the rich, the middle class, and the poor, and others lean towards the 99% versus the 1%, in regards to debates stemming from wealth distribution. The American Dream, a long-standing national ethos which definitively puts forward the idea that our freedom allows us the opportunity for great prosperity and success, as well as upward social mobility through the application of hard work, is perhaps central to this idea of whether social mobility, as scholars continue to debate that it is less attainable in this day and age compared to previous generations, and that it is much less prevalent in the U.S. than in other western countries. As for social mobility, it's also argued that while it exists to a greater extent in other western countries, it is no less attainable in the United States today than it was in the past. The purpose of this essay is to really get a good look at both sides of the coin in terms of this i...
Social Stratification in the African American community has changed over the years. Social stratification is defined as a rigid subdivision of a society into a hierarchy of layers, differentiated on the basis of power, prestige, and wealth according to Webster’s dictionary. David Newman in Sociology Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life describes stratification as a ranking system for groups of people that perpetuates unequal rewards and life chances in society. From slavery to the present, the African American community has been seen to have lower status compared to white people. Today, the stratification or hierarchy difference between whites and black are not really noticeable, but it is still present. However, during slavery, the difference in social stratification was noticeable. Whites dominated over the blacks and mulattoes (offspring of a white and black parent). The mulattoes were seen to have a higher stratification than an offspring of black ancestry. Because the mulattoes were related to the whites, they were able to obtain higher education and better occupations than blacks. For example, most slaves of a lighter skin tone worked in the houses and darker slaves worked in the fields. As the people of light skin tone had children, they were able to have advantages too. The advantages have led into the society of today. In this paper I will discuss how stratification has been affected in the African American community over time by skin tone to make mulattoes more privileged than dark skin blacks.
First, the chapters cover stratification. According to study.com “Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. In the United States, it is perfectly clear that some groups have greater status, power, and wealth than other groups.” According to the textbook “Stratification is unequal distribution of valued
It is perpetuated by the way wealth, power, and prestige are distributed and passed on from one generation to the next
Social stratification can have a big impact on poverty. Social stratification consists of social and economic institutions. These institutions generate inequality and further poverty. It creates hierarchy and classes within society. The hierarchy that forms can put people at disadvantages. This disadvantage can lead to poverty and the inability to get out of poverty.
The Major Dimensions of Social Stratification For one to attempt the question, “what are the major dimensions of social stratification?” , one must first define the term social stratification. Social stratification is often used interchangeably with social inequality and one must distinguish between the two terms. Social inequality refers to the existence of socially created inequalities. Social stratification is a form of social inequality, however, social inequality does not inevitably lead to social stratification. It is define as the presence of distinct social groups which are ranked one above the other in terms of factors such a prestige and wealth.
"The nation-state system has proven to be an enormously successful construct" (Smallman and Brown 37). Nation-states being when its citizens think similarly and live harmoniously under one government. "Security was defined in terms of the survival of the nation-state, and its ability to maintain its sovereignty" (Smallman and Brown 37). Basically, nations deserve to keep the authority and power to lead itself. In a democracy, the citizens of the nation are able to make more decisions for the nation. For example, when voting on who will lead the nation, voters are able to take into account many different aspects of the candidates. Citizens are then by an extent able to decide things along the lines of whether to engage or not engage in war. This is an example to how politics impact state security. This is important because "the first task of every government is to ensure the security of its citizens from outside threats" (Smallman and Brown 36). This is why an enforcement of peace by the United Nations is ideal because the fact is that "at the current mo...