CHAPTER 4: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF STRATIFICATION Meaning of Stratification Stratification is an institutionalized pattern of inequality in which social categories are ranked on the basis of their access to scarce resources (Brinkeoff and White‚ 1988). “Strata” means “layers” “UNEQUAL” Social stratification is a system whereby people rank and evaluate each other as superior or inferior and on the basis of such evaluation‚ unequally reward one another with wealth‚ authority
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On the other hand‚ conflict theorists argue that income inequality is part of a socio-structural force lead by elites to increase their wealth and opportunity at the expense of the working and middle classes. The theory of structural functionalism‚ coined by Davis and Moore (1945)‚ asserted that stratification was necessary in society. The primary reasons given for their claims were that stratification serves a useful function of society. That is‚ not every job or task is equally important or desirable;
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Essay Topic: Discuss the View that the system of social stratification developed in the Pre-emancipation period remains largely unchanged in the Caribbean today. Social Stratification can be defined as “a particular form of social inequality. It refers to the presence of social groups which are ranked above the other‚ usually in terms of the amount of power prestige and wealth their member posses. Those who belong to a particular group or stratum will have some awareness
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Social stratification is a concept involving the classification of people into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions. Giddens (2009:1133) defines social stratification as “the existence of structured inequalities between groups in society‚ in terms of their access to material or symbolic rewards”. This context explains in detail the three agents of social stratification and expresses personal views about the categories of social class in the Zambian society it further goes on to explain
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Assess the view that social class differences in educational achievement are the result of school processes such as labeling. (20 marks) Labelling refers to meanings or definitions we attach to someone or something to make sense of them and these could be negative or positive labels. For example‚ in schools teachers are likely to label middle-class pupils as bright and more able to achieve in education whereas‚ they would see working class pupils as less able. Teacher labels can affect a pupil’s
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is a book often known as a novel of identity while recognizing and breaking the normal social order. Highly criticized identity developments often used by critics are the social and gender aspects. The March girls are often recognized as an abnormal case in socio-economic order and challenge gender roles‚ mostly credited to their upbringing by Mrs. March. In the article Resentful Little Women: Gender and Class feeling in Louisa May Alcott‚ author Stephanie Foote argues that the negative emotions
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The overriding theme of class and social status in the Victorian era is forgrounded in the opening chapter of Jane Eyre and explored in the entirety of the novel through Gothic genre literary technique of a double‚ between Jane’s wealthy cousins the Reeds contrasting with her lower class relatives‚ the Rivers. In the 19th century‚ class divisions were far more fixed and pronounced than they are today‚ and the predetermined class you were born into based on wealth‚ dictated the sort of life you would
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of Marx‚ Weber and Durkheim useful for understanding social change today? Illustrate your answer using the ideas of one of these theorists This essay will discuss Karl Marx’s theory to understand social change in contemporary society. This will be explored through the relevance of Marx’s theory on class divisions and Globalisation in today’s society. Additionally‚ it will also incorporate arguments on the restrictions on Marx’s theory of social change. Globalisation is described as a significant
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Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice satirically depicts the universal ideals in Regency England‚ primarily regarding social class. Austen follows the development of an outspoken‚ middle-class British woman‚ Elizabeth Bennet‚ as she encounters and overcomes the many social barriers that separate her from her aristocratic neighbors. Throughout the novel‚ Lizzie must face society’s class-consciousness‚ particularly with her family’s growing relationship with the wellborn Bingleys and their friend‚ Mr
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statement with reference to the pattern of class struggle that Marx sees appearing under capitalism. Karl Marx was an innovative German economist and philosopher. He was also the founder of the “Communist movement”. Marx was writing in contradiction of a backdrop of a huge industrial change. Newly industrialised cities were expanding and overcrowding‚ and most of the working class were living in excessive poverty. Marx looked at history as the “story of class struggles” in which the troubled fight against
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