Three major systems of social stratification: 1. Slavery - Has many meanings: wage slavery, marriage slavery, debt burden, crime oppression, war prisoner, child labor, and contract labor which is estimated at 27 million people today in some form of slave labor. (Phil Bartle, 1967, 1987, 2007)
Harriet Martineau, the first female sociologist, was an abolitionist for slavery. She wrote a book called “Society in America”. She was one of the first people to identify that racism becomes one ideology of slavery. In 1835, while attending an anti-slavery meeting in Boston as an observer, Martineau was invited to make a statement in favor of abolition. In her statement, Martineau denounced slavery as "inconsistent with the law of God." Those that were in agreement accompanied her on her tour of the western states. She was determined to evaluate and criticize what she saw. She traveled widely, covering 10,000 miles, meeting people of all classes. Although she was generally impressed by American democracy, in “Society in America” Martineau expressed disappointment in the free enterprise system for the tendency to allow some, pursuing "a sordid love of gain," to trample the rights of others. She thought that democracy could only be preserved, in the long run, by the abolition of private property. She also expressed concern over the position of woman who ought to have been far better than it actually was; that the condition of American women differed from that of slaves only in that they were treated with more indulgence. "Is it to be understood that the principles of the Declaration of Independence bear no relation to half of the human race? If so, what is the ground of the limitation?" (Hughes, 1999-2009) 2. Caste
Cited: Bank, T. W. (2010). The World Bank . Retrieved November 9, 2010, from The World Bank; Working for a World Free From Poverty: http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications Castells, M. (1999). Information Technology, Globalization and Social Development . Palais des Nations: United Nations Research Institute. Hughes, M. C. (1999-2009). Harriet Martineau. Retrieved November 8, 2010, from http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/harrietmartineau.html Lechner, F. (2000-2001). The Globalization Website. Retrieved November 9, 2010, from Globalization theories: http://www.sociology.emory.edu/globalization/theories01.html Phil Bartle, P. (1967, 1987, 2007). Community Empowerment. Retrieved November 8, 2010, from Global Stratification: Inequality on a world scale: www.scn.org/cmp/ Professors Douglas C. Dacy (Chair), J. K. (2004). Walt Whitman Rostow. Retrieved November 9, 2010, from The University of Texas at Austin- What Starts Here Changes the World: http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2003-2004/memorials/rostow/rostow.html Richard Swedberg, O. A. (n.d.). The Max Weber Dictionary. T.Schaefer, R. (2009). In Sociology: A Brief Introduction, Eighth Edition (p. 186). The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.