Inequality and Social Stratification - Research Paper Example

Introduction Inequality is considered as one of the most debated topics outlining the roles, status and positions of different social es within a given society. Though social inequality is limited to the inequality in social status and social class however, inequality can be a larger concept. Inequality can exist in terms of economic, racial, ethnic, political, gender as well as religion. Such diversity of the concept and its application therefore makes it a relatively diversified concept. Modern societies boast about the equal opportunities for all however, considering the overall differences in the social class, wealth, social status, religion as well as gender and color are some of the key variables making inequality an inevitable thing within any society. Social stratification is a concept outlining the ranking of people or group of people within society. Social stratification and inequality therefore is considered as one of the oldest concepts as societies, over the period of time, clearly categorized their citizens based on certain standards and criteria. Various scholars have therefore attempted to understand the phenomenon of inequality and outlined the social and economic characteristics of inequality. The work of Karl Marx, Max Weber, Vilfredo Paretto, and Emile Durkheim is considered as the major works to outline social stratification and inequality. These scholars therefore outlined and explored the idea of whether inequality is inherent within societies and how societies can progress to achieve equality. This paper will therefore argue and explore as to whether the inequality is inevitable while discussing the theories of Marx, Weber, Paretto and Durkheim. Inequality and Social Stratification Social stratification is considered as the central part of the human organization and the earliest writings on the subject too outline this concept. Aristotle even discussed about the natural ranking of the free and slave people. Even during the age of enlightenment, major philosophers of that time such as Locke and Rousseau discussed about how feudal system within the European society at that time produced social stratification and inequalities. (KERBO) The word stratification has a root of Strata which naturally refers to the ranking of people or group of people within a given population. It is however, critical to understand that social stratification not just signifies the universal inequalities however; It also outlines some legitimation behind the inequalities existing within the societies. Many scholars therefore suggested that the social stratification is a system with predictable rules behind it which consciously rank people according to different criteria. It is also argued that without a backing of some belief regarding the ranking of people, it is relatively difficult to keep the system of social stratification as stable. As such social stratification therefore critically outlines that ranking of people is inherent characteristics of the system with some rules according to which stratification is carried out. (Cuff, Sharrock and Francis) The work of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim and Max Weber specially is considered important step towards outlining the concepts of social stratification and how societies actually attempt to create inequalities among people. Following sections will discuss important theoretical discussions of these scholars. Karl Marx Marx present social stratification within a historical perspective and outlines the progress of society through four different epochs before taking on the subject of class and social stratification. According to Marx, there are four epochs through which Western society went through and all three epochs outlined different aspects of social classes and how the social stratification emerged. To Marx, all of the human history therefore is a collection of class struggle which resulted into different changes as the oppressed and oppressors stood in constant opposition to each other. (Wright) It is important to understand that Karl Marx clearly visualized the mobility within social classes as he believed that the owners of capital can lose their business and become part of those who don’t own capital and vice versa. This approach therefore seems to recognize the back and forth movement of individuals and groups from one social strata to another based upon the relative change in their circumstances. He was however, of the view that this movement is limited and very few opportunities exist for individuals and groups to move between social classes. According to Marx, the key variable which created classes within the society is the ownership of the property. Marx suggested that the classes within a society are created with respect to their association with the modes of production and if the ownership of the private property is removed, the inequality and social stratification from a society can be eliminated. According to Marx, throughout human history there has been an important distinction between the one who owned and controlled the fundamental resources required for social existence and one who don’t own these resources. Marx therefore suggested the existence of two basic classes within any society and suggested that it is only under communism that one single class can exist. As such, Marx does not seem to suggest that the inequality is investable within a society because by suggesting abolishing the private property rights, inequality can be eradicated. Marx also suggested that it is only under communism that the social stratification can be eliminated. Max Weber Though it is argued that Weber, more or less touched on the same ideas as explored by Marx however, he seems to be reaching different conclusions about the social stratification and inequality within a society. It is also due to this closer proximity with Marx that Weber is also called a conflict theorist. Weber did not see social stratification and inequality as a historical process however; he seems to agree with Marx that economic dimension is one of the dominating factors. He however, outlined two other important variables of status and political power also needs to be studied together in order to fully understand the dynamics of social stratification. Weber therefore produced three dimensions of stratification i.e. class, status and party. It is critical to note that in order to better understand Weber’s ideas, it is also important to understand two basic concepts of hierarchical organizations of the society and how political power can actually interfere to define social relationships within the groups. (Wright) Weber seems to identify two different economic divisions i.e. division based on ownership and division based upon skills. He therefore seems to adapt a more micro approach as against the approach adapted by Marx. By further categorizing the groups according to the skills and occupations, Weber actually widened the base for social stratification within a society. It is important to understand that the arguments of Weber were readily accepted during 20th century as the emergence of middle class seems to validate his arguments. As industrial society progressed and more and more occupations emerged, the gap between the owners of the capital and the unskilled workers reduced. Central to the arguments of Weber is the use of power and how individuals and groups exercise that power to achieve their objectives. Weber outlines that the societies are organized into hierarchical systems of domination and subordination by using class, social and political power. Weber therefore implicitly concluded that the inequality and social stratification cannot be eliminated. The multi-dimensional nature of social stratification will never allow societies to achieve equality because minimization of dimension such as economic does not mean that other two dimensions of status and power can be eliminated too. Vilfredo Paretto Paretto’s work on social stratification and inequality is largely based upon his mathematical work on income inequalities and how income equality is distributed across the societies. He was probably one of the earliest to combine both the sociology with economics and outlined his initial ideas in his book Manual of Political Economy. He outlined that the social and economic inequalities within humans in any given society may be the result of physical, moral and intellectual differences of the individuals. Paretto however was of the view that these differences were not the direct expressions of the humans as according to him social stratification follows a different distribution as compared to the distribution of individuals exhibiting normal traits. (Pakulsk and Malcolm ) It is also important to note that the Paretto also discusses about the opportunities available to different strata of the society. According to his distribution, population falling in the middle seems to have higher opportunities as compared to the population which resides in the upper and lower strata of the society. This conclusion is often considered as in conflict with the conclusions made by other scholars that opportunities tend to incline more towards falling in the upper strata of the population. In nutshell, it can be concluded that Paretto even conceived that the inequality exists within the society and he outlined a different approach to study how inequality exists within society and the role of different strata in magnifying this inequality. Emile Durkheim Durkheim’s approach towards sociology is considered as an approach which considers sociology as an evolutionary thing. According to Durkheim, society is like an organism with distinguished structure and functions. As such Durkheim is of the view that society is not just the sum total of the individuals but society in itself is a separate and distinctive reality separate from individuals. Though he was less concerned specifically about the social stratification however, Durkheim’s holistic approach outlined as to how the whole and the parts of the society work. It is also however, important to understand that he did explored the question of inequality and suggested that there are two types of inequalities i.e. internal and external. He suggested that the external inequality is imposed on an individual due to social circumstances of birth. By this he argued that inequality is imposed on an individual due to his or her status at the time of birth and he went on to suggest that such inequalities existed in preindustrial societies. (Crompton) Internal inequalities however, based upon perceived talent or achieved status of the individual himself. Durkheim therefore outlined that in order to allow industrial society to work efficiently and to progress, it is important those with the talent must be allowed to move up the ladder. In a sense, he argues that inequality, to some extent can be reduced in industrial societies if talented individuals are allowed to move due to their skills and abilities. Durkheim therefore suggested that inequality will be there within a society but he concluded that it is necessary to create merit within society. He suggested that the dominance of internal inequality is more important than the external inequality in order to keep social solidarity intact. He believed that imposition of external inequality may not be helpful in keeping the social solidarity intact and may create constraints on individuals. Conclusion Inequality and social stratification is one of the earliest debated topics in sociology as both these concepts outlines the ranking of people within a society. Aristotle provided discussion regarding the ranking of people according to the free men and slaves and the same tradition seems to continue today too. Major scholars such as Marx, Weber, Paretto and Durkheim suggested that the inequality is the inherent part of the society. Marx however, was relatively different in his approach as he suggested that inequality can be removed if the society is moved towards total communism. Weber, though borrowed some ideas from Marx however, he seems to make different conclusion and suggested that the inequality and social stratification is not a single dimensional concept. He specifically discussed the hierarchical organization of the society and the role of power in shaping the social relationships. Paretto’s work is considered as an amalgamation of economics and sociology as his work is based upon the use of mathematics and economic concepts. He studied income distribution and suggested that the inequality is rather a relatively different concept and it emerges as a result of some differences between individuals. Durkheim though did not explicitly touched on the idea of social stratification in details he however, was of the view that inequality may be considered as good in order to maintain merit within the society. He considered inequality as one of the major aspects of moving industrial society ahead. Bibliography Crompton, Rosemary. Class and stratification. London: Polity, 2008. Cuff, E. C., W W Sharrock and D. W. Francis. Perspectives in Sociology. London: Routledge, 1992. KERBO, HAROLD R. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION. 2010. 17 Feb 2012 . Pakulsk, Jan and Waters Malcolm . The death of class. London: Sage, 1996. Wright, Erik Olin. Approaches to class analysis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. —. The debate on classes. New York: Verso,, 1998. Read More