Ryan Chan

Lookholder
Sociology 1
4 December 2016
Stratification Definitions
1. Social Stratifications.
Social Stratification is the structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuates
unequal economic rewards and power in a society. The main four types are slavery,
castes, estates and social classes. Slavery is the most extreme form out of the four, and it
treats humans as privatized property. An example would be the United States before its
Civil War uses Blacks as farming workers. The second type is castes, which are
hereditary ranks, usually dictated by religion, that tend to be fixed and immobile. An
example would be India, which has four major castes. They are priests, warriors,
merchants, and artisans, and the higher your rank, the more power you have. The third is
estates, which is the system where nobles owned the land, and they leased it to peasants
who worked it and lived on it. Workers earn an income by selling corps grown from the
land, and they give part of their income to the landowners. The last one is social class,
which is a social ranking based on economic position in which achieved characteristics
can influence social mobility. Social rankings are mostly assigned by ascribed status. An
open stratification system implies that a persons achieved status influences his or her
social position. One instance is when a person worked hard to go to college and
eventually become a respected person. Ones social status is achieved through ones
action. On the other hand, closed system allows little or no possibility of individual social

mobility. In this system, social positions are mostly ascribed status, such as race and
gender. People in this system rarely change their social positions. Open systems reflect
achieved status, while close systems reflect ascribed status.
2. Means of Production
Means of production is the capital to produce. Marx considers it to be the most significant
source of power in a society. The bourgeoisie are the capitalist class who owns the means
of production, while the proletariat, or the working class, are the ones who works for the
bourgeoisie. Bourgeoisie are the ones who control the resource to produce, while
proletariat are the ones who produce, but dont own what they produce. Class
consciousness is a subjective awareness of common vested interests and the need for
collective political action to bring social change. Marx notes that class consciousness is
needed if one class wants to overthrow capitalism and the bourgeoisie who controls the
means of production. Dominant ideology describes a set of cultural belief s and practices
that helps to maintain powerful social, economic, and political interests. Marx believes
that bourgeoisie controls the beliefs of production. Last but not least, false consciousness
is an attitude held by members of a class that does not accurately reflect their objective
position. An example is when a worker do not realize his or her own socioeconomic
position.
3. Weber's Definitions of Class, Status Group & Party
To Weber, class refers to a group of people who have a similar level of economic
resources. He notes that material resources and skill knowledge in the marketplace are
two core elements of class. Status group refers to people who share the same perceived
level of prestige. Membership for a club will be an example of status group. Party refers
to the capacity to organize to accomplish some particular goal. A political party will be a
group of people come together to accomplish certain political goals. Weber believes that

class is not simply two where one suppresses the others, but she notes that different
classes shape power for each other. Marx believes that the proletariat does not have much
power over the bourgeoisie, while Weber believes that groups support each other and give
power to each other.
4. Cultural Capital
Cultural Capital, according to sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, refers to the tastes, knowledge,
attitudes, language, and ways of thinking that people exchange in interactions with
others. Bourdieu notes that different social classes have different cultural capital, and
most of the time, the working classs culture is seen as low culture. When we interact
with each other, we show our cultural capital to others. Cultural capital can be related to
power that people in power exclude others by their cultural capital. For example, a boss
may not like a persons cultural capital, and hence not hire this person as one of his or her
workers. Material resources refer to economic resources that we own or control,
including money, property, and land. Social resources include prestige and social network
of a person. Cultural taste is ones attitude; it is the perspective of viewing the world.
These three affects our cultural capital they affect how we interact with the world.
Cultural capital is expressed in attire when we ask what the dress code is. business
casual may be comfortable to certain people, but not to others. Different houses also
reveal ones cultural capital; a rich may have a big house and a nice drive way, while a
poor may have small condo and live in a crowded place. A poor may go on a short road
trip, while rich may go far away and for long periods such as a month. A rich may eat
more expensive and precious food such as lobster, while poor may eat something filling
such as beans and rice to fulfil their wants. The rich may play golf, the poor may play
street basketball. All these actions reflect ones cultural capital.
5. Terms:

Relative poverty is a floating standard of deprivation by which people at the bottom of a

society, whatever their lifestyles, are judged to be disadvantaged in comparison with the
nation as a while. Absolute poverty refers to a minimum level of subsistence that no
family should be expected to live below. Socioeconomic status is a measure of social
class that is based on income, education, occupation and related variables. Prestige refers
to the respect and admiration that an occupation holds in a society. But esteem refers to
the reputation that a specific person has earned within an occupation.