A SOCIETY OF

(NON)EQUALS:
THE SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION
SYSTEM

Calunsag Danganan Ermac Esmajer Seno

Singco

All people are equal, but some people are more equal than
others.

WHAT DOES STRATIFICATION

MEAN?
o A system by which a society ranks categories

of people in a hierarchy, according how

superior or inferior they are.
o Dividing of a society into levels based on

factors such as: power, socioeconomic status,

occupation, gender, race, and others

TITANIC
The fate of the passengers of the Titanic dramatically

illustrates how social inequality affects the way people

live, and at times, whether they live at all.

4 BASIC PRINCIPLES
1.

Social stratification is a trait of society and not simply a

reflection of individual differences

2.

Social stratification carries over from generation to

generation (but social mobility is there)

3.

Social stratification is universal but flexible

4.

Social stratification involves not just inequality but

beliefs

SOCIAL INEQUALITY
Occurs when attributes such as gender, minority status,

and class affect a persons access to socially valued

resources

Social stratification is a ranking; Social Inequality is the

effect of that ranking

Social inequality results from collective decisions of a

society about what is important in evaluating a person or

a group; results from a system that ranks people from
better to worse.

STRUCTURES OF
INEQUALITY
1. Inequality is institutionalized, supported by both social

structures and by long-standing social norms.

2. The inequality is based on membership in a status

rather than on personal attributes.

TYPES OF STRATIFICATION
SYSTEMS
1.

Closed systems: Allow little or no change in social

positions

2.

Open systems: Permit some social mobility

The main difference between the two kinds is that one

permits social mobility (open system), the other does not
(closed system).
Social Mobility The ability to change ones social
position or status

1.) EXAMPLE OF CLOSED

SYSTEM:
CASTE SYSTEM

Social stratification based on ascribed status or birth.

A pure caste system is closed because birth alone

decides a persons future, regardless of ones

achievements

Determines everything in their lives: what they wear,

what jobs they can perform, and who they marry

INDIA
Indian women can
change their
castes through
marriage (Cooke,
1999); but men
can only change
theirs through
reincarnation.

INDIA

JAPAN
Burakumin (people of the village)similar to the

Dalit/Untouchables of India

Descendants of the outcast communities of the Japanese

feudal era

Held occupations that were thought to be impure

(butchering animals or burying humans), or non-human

(begging, prostitution)

Lived in isolated villages or ghettos

ABOLITION OF THE CASTE

SYSTEM
India abolished the caste system in 1950
Japan abolished the caste system in 1871

Despite this, the Dalit and the Burakumin continue to exist

even when governments try to abolish the system. They
continue to face various forms of discrimination.

2.) EXAMPLE OF OPEN

SYSTEM:
CLASS SYSTEM

A social stratification system based both on birth and

individual achievement

Meritocracy: based on personal merit

The amount of rewards is achieved or influenced by a

persons talents, ambition, effort, or the lack of these.

CLASSISM
Belief that peoples worth is at least partly determined by

their social and economic status

Classism justifies economic inequality and includes an

ideology of competitive individualism

Based on the idea that everyone in society starts out with

the same chances of success: results in the belief that

the wealthy deserve what they have and the poor are
responsible for their failure.

CLASSISM: POINTS OF VIEW

ON CLASS
Karl Marx: Class is determined solely by ones

relationship to the means of production.

There are only 2 classes: the bourgeosie and the

proletariat.

Bourgeosie The class that owns the tools and materials

necessary for the means of production.

Proletariat The class that does not own the means of

production. So that they can earn a living, they sell their

labor to those who own the means of production.

CLASSISM: POINTS OF VIEW

ON CLASS
Max Weber: There are 3 dimensions in which people are

ranked in stratification.

1.

Class The relationship of people to the means of

production

2.

Status Refers to social honor and expressed in

lifestyles. For example, people who eat together,
engage in the same sports, or do similar things or go to
the same places.

3.

Power The ability to control or direct other peoples

behaviors regardless of their wishes.

ESTATE SYSTEM
Another type of Open system, but only existed long ago

in medieval Europe

Three major feudal estates: (1) the Nobility, (2) the

Clergy, and (3) the Peasantry

Sustained by law and tradition

MODELS OF
STRATIFICATION
(1) Structural Functionalism
(2) Conflict Theory

1.) STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM
Views the world as a dynamic system of interrelated and

interdependent parts

Society is composed of groups cooperating to meet

common needs.

Social stratification is necessary and desirable.

1.) STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM

Human society is
similar to a living
organism

Like the human body,

society is made up of
structures that work
together for the good of
the collective.
When society does not
meet the needs of the
majority, the system is
sick and thus must make
adjustments to return to
a state of equilibrium

1.) STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM
Davis-Moore thesis
The theory that social stratification is

functional for society because it

ensures that key social positions are
held by the most capable people

1.) STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM
Davis-Moore thesis
Some tasks, such as cleaning streets or

serving coffee in a restaurant, are relatively

simple. Other tasks, such as performing
brain surgery or designing skyscrapers, are
complicated and require more intelligence
and training than the simple tasks. Those
who perform the difficult tasks are therefore
entitled to more power, prestige, and
money.

1.) STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM
WEAKNESSES:
Ignores the importance of power and

inheritance
By implying that social change is an

effect of dysfunctions in the system, it

seems to say that the status quo is
almost always desirable.

2.) CONFLICT THEORY

Based on the assumption that society

is grounded in inequality
Competition over scarce resources
ultimately result in conflict

2.) CONFLICT THEORY

Power is the core of all social relationships

and is scarce and unequally divided among

members of society

Social values and the dominant ideology

are ways by which the powerful promote their

own interests at the expense of the weak

2.) CONFLICT THEORY

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

2.) CONFLICT THEORY

Dominant Ideology: A set of beliefs

and values that support and justify the

ruling class of society

Examples:
Capitalist ideologies
Patriarchal ideologies
Racist ideologies

2.) CONFLICT THEORY

WEAKNESSES:
Too much focus on hostile relationships
Social conflict occurs but so does cooperation

CONSEQUENCE
S OF SOCIAL
CLASS

[INSERT DATA FROM BOOK]

THEORIES OF
POVERTY

POVERTY
Major social problem in the Philippines
A condition of not having enough money to take care of

the basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.

POVERTY
OSCAR LEWIS: attempted to explain the existence of

poverty

Culture of Poverty
Various social strata manifest different cultures and the

values of the poor are substantially different from the values

of people in mainstream society.
These traits prevent the poor from adjusting to a successoriented life like the middle class possesess.

POVERTY
Traits that characterize the culture of

poverty:

1. Feelings of powerlessness
2. A sense of helplessness
3. Unemployment
4. Inability to defer gratification
5. Lack of privacy
6. Predisposition to authoritarianism

BLAMING THE VICTIM

Assumes that the poor only

needs work harder in order to

escape their poverty

The individual is responsible

for the negative conditions in

which they live

Culture of Poverty?

BLAMING THE SYSTEM

Systemic discrimination

exists within the social

system

Larger socio-economic

factors imposes certain

restrictions on certain
members of society