Ch-11 SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
IN INDIA
Social stratification is a
particular form of social inequality. All societies arrange their members in
terms of superiority, inferiority and equality. Stratification is a process of
interaction or differentiation whereby some people come to rank higher than
others.
In one word, when
individuals and groups are ranked, according to some commonly accepted basis of
valuation in a hierarchy of status levels based upon the inequality of social
positions, social stratification occurs. Social stratification means division
of society into different strata or layers. It involves a hierarchy of social
groups. Members of a particular layer have a common identity. They have a
similar life style.
The Indian Caste system
provides an example of stratification system. The society in which divisions of
social classes exist is known as a stratified society. Modern stratification
fundamentally differs from stratification of primitive societies. Social
stratification involves two phenomena (i) differentiation of individuals or
groups on the basis of possession of certain characteristics whereby some
individuals or groups come to rank higher than others, (ii) the ranking of
individuals according to some basis of evaluation.
Sociologists are concerned
not merely with the facts of social differences but also with their social
evaluation.
Definitions:
1. Ogburn and Nimkoff:
‘The process by which
individuals and groups are ranked in more or less enduring hierarchy of status
is known as stratification”
2. Lundberg:
“A stratified society is
one marked by inequality, by differences among people that are evaluated by
them as being “lower” and “higher”.
3. Gisbert:
“Social stratification is
the division of society into permanent groups of categories linked with each
other by the relationship of superiority and subordinations”.
4. Williams:
Social Stratification
refers to “The ranking of individuals on a scale of
superiority-inferiority-equality, according to some commonly accepted basis of
valuation.
5. Raymond W. Murray:
Social stratification is
horizontal division of society into “higher” and “lower” social units.”
6. Melvin M Tumin:
“Social stratification
refers to “arrangement of any social group or society into hierarchy of
positions that are unequal with regard to power, property, social evaluation
and psychic gratification”.
Origin of Stratification:
Regarding the origin of
stratification many views have been given.
(i) According to Davis,
social stratification has come into being due to the functional necessity of
the social system.
(ii) Professor Sorokin
attributed social stratification mainly to inherited difference in
environmental conditions.
(iii) According to Karl
Mrax, social factors are responsible for the emergence of different social
strata, i.e. social stratification.
(iv) Gumplowioz and other contended
that the origin of social stratification is to be found in the conquest of one
group by another.
(v) According to Spengler,
social stratification is founded upon scarcity which is created whenever
society differentiates positive in terms of functions and powers.
(vi) Racial differences
accompanied by dissimilarity also leads to stratification.
Types of Social Stratification:
Social stratification is
based upon a variety of principles. So we find different type of
stratification.
The major types of
stratification are
(i) Caste
(ii) Class
(iii) Estate
(iv) Slavery
(i) Caste is a hereditary
endogamous social group in which a person’s rank and its accompanying rights
and obligations are ascribed on the basis of his birth into a particular group.
For example-Brahmins, Kshyatryas, Vaishyas and Sudra Caste.
(ii) Class-Stratification
on the basis of class is dominant in modern society. In this, a person’s
position depends to a very great extent upon achievement and his ability to use
to advantage the inborn characteristics and wealth that he may possess.
(iii) Estate system of
medieval Europe provides another system of stratification which gave much
emphasis to birth as well as to wealth and possessions. Each estate had a
state.
(iv) Slavery had economic
basis. In slavery, every slave had his master to whom he was subjected. The
master’s power over the slave was unlimited.
Characteristics of Social Stratification:
On the basis of the
analysis of the different definitions given by eminent scholars, social stratification
may have the following characteristics.
(a) Social stratification is universal:
There is no society on this
world which is free from stratification. Modern stratification differs from
stratification of primitive societies. It is a worldwide phenomenon. According
to Sorokin “all permanently organized groups are stratified.”
(b) Stratification is social:
It is true that biological
qualities do not determine one’s superiority and inferiority. Factors like age,
sex, intelligence as well as strength often contribute as the basis on which
statues are distinguished. But one’s education, property, power, experience,
character, personality etc. are found to be more important than biological
qualities. Hence, stratification is social by nature.
(c) It is ancient:
Stratification system is
very old. It was present even in the small wondering bonds. In almost all the
ancient civilizations, the differences between the rich and poor, humble
andpowerful existed. During the period of Plato and Kautilya even emphasis was
given to political, social and economic inequalities.
(d) It is in diverse forms:
The forms of stratification
is not uniform in all the societies. In the modern world class, caste and
estate are the general forms of stratification. In India a special type of
stratification in the form of caste is found. The ancient Aryas were divided
into four varnas: the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. The ancient
Greeks were divided into freemen and slaves and the ancient Romans were divided
into the particians and the plebians. So every society, past or present, big or
small is characterized by diversed forms of social stratification.
(e) Social stratification is Consequential:
Social stratification has
two important consequences one is “life chances” and the other one is “life
style”. A class system not only affects the “life- chances” of the individuals
but also their “life style”.
The members of a class have
similar social chances but the social chances vary in every society. It
includes chances of survival and of good physical and mental health,
opportunities for education, chances of obtaining justice, marital conflict,
separation and divorce etc.
Life style denotes a style
of life which is distinctive of a particular social status. Life-styles include
such matters like the residential areas in every community which have
gradations of prestige-ranking, mode of housing, means of recreation, the kinds
of dress, the kinds of books, TV shows to which one is exposed and so on.
Life-style may be viewed as a sub-culture in which one stratum differs from
another within the frame work of a commonly shared over-all culture.
Social Stratification and Social Mobility:
Social mobility refers to
the movement within the social structure, from one social position to another.
It means a change in social status. All societies provide some opportunity for
social mobility. But the societies differ from each other to extent in which
individuals can move from one class or status level to another.
It is said that the greater
the amount of social mobility, the more open the class structure. The concept
of social mobility has fundamental importance in ascertaining the relative
“openness” of a social structure. The nature, forms, direction and magnitude of
social mobility depends on the nature and types of social stratification.
Sociologists study social mobility in order to find out the relative ‘openness’
of a social structure.
Any group that improves its
standard will also improve its social status. But the rate of social mobility
is not uniform in all the countries. It differs from society to society from
time to time. In India the rate of mobility is naturally low because of
agriculture being the predominant occupation and the continuity of caste system
as compared to the other countries of the world.
Types of Social Mobility:
In social stratification
the movement occurs in three directions.
(a) From lower to higher
(b) From higher to lower
(c) Between two positions
at the same level.
Social mobility is of two types:
(i) Vertical mobility
(ii) Horizontal mobility
(i) Vertical mobility:
It refers to the movement
of people from one stratum to another or from one status to another. It brings
changes in class, occupation and power. It involves movement fromlower to
higher or higher to lower. There are two types of vertical mobility. One is upward
and other is downward mobility.
When an individual moves
from lower status to higher status, it is called upward mobility. For example,
if the son of a peon joins a bank as an officer, it is said to be upward social
mobility but if he loses the job due to any other reason or inefficiency, he is
downwardly mobile from his previous job. So downward mobility takes place when
a person moves down from one position to another and change his status.
(ii) Horizontal Mobility:
It refers to the movement
of people from one social group to another situated on the same level. It means
that the ranks of these two groups are not different. It indicates change in
position without the change in status. For example, if a teacher leaves one
school and joins another school or a bank officer leaves one branch to work in
another or change of residence are the horizontal mobility.
Horizontal mobility
Apart from the above two
broad types of social stratification, there are two other types of social
stratification in terms of dimension of time. They are:
(i) Inter-generational
mobility:
When changes in status
occur from one generation to another, it is called intergenerational mobility.
For example, if the son changes his status either by taking upon occupation of
higher or lower rank with that of his father, there inter-generational mobility
takes place.
(ii) Intra-generational
mobility:
When changes in status
occur within one generation, it is called intra-generational mobility. For
example, the rise and fall in the occupational structure of a family which
leads to change in its social status within one generation is called
intra-generational mobility.
Stratification and Caste:
Under the caste system
status is hereditary. It is based on birth, it is purely an ascribed status.
Once such positions are assigned, they can not advance and improve their social
status in any way. Hence, caste as a major type of social stratification does
not facilitate vertical social mobility.
Social Stratification and Class:
Class is an “open” system.
Under this system vertical mobility is absolutely free. Movement from one
status to another has no barrier. Status is based on achievement. It is
determined by the talents, wealth, money, intelligence, power, education,
income, etc. of a person. There is no inheritance of parental status.
Gender:
Like caste and class gender
is another kind of social stratification system. Gender, perhaps is the oldest
and permanent source of social differentiation. But within the broad hierarchy
of caste and class, gender cuts across caste and class. In present day Indian
society caste, class and gender are dynamic phenomena which vary between
groups, communities and regions. Recent years have witnessed a thorough and
widespread discussion on gender. It has claimed critical address within ender
as a concept and as a set of practices has occurred during the last three
decades.
The origin of the concept
gender can be traced to the 19th century women’s movement and in Marxism. But
it seems to have first appeared among American Feminists who wanted to reject
biological determinism. Feminists prefer the term gender than sex.
But the term gender means
much more than sex and more inclusive than sex. It is a socially constructed
category rather than biologically determined. The gender of a man is masculine
and a woman is feminine. Neither a man nor a woman is sex alone. Gender refers
to the socially constructed and culturally determined role that men and women
play in their day-to-day lives. Gender is the most potent significant and
enormously useful analytical concept used by the feminists.
It is a matter of social
ascription, a socio-cultural construction and provided a deeper analysis of
inequalities existing between male and female. It refers to the social
institutionalization of sexual difference. In feminist literature gender is not
a value free concept rather a value loaded term and has acquired new
dimensions. It is a conceptual tool for analysis and is used to highlight
different structural relationships of inequality between men and women. As a
socially constructed differences and relations between males and females it
very from time to time and from place to place.
Gender is defined as the
social construction of relations between women and men and among various groups
of women and men. Feminist consider gender as the socio-cultural manifestation
of being a man or a woman.
(1) According to N. Kabeer
“Gender is seen as the process by which individuals who are born into
biological categories of male or female become the social categories of men and
women through the acquisition of locally defined attributes of masculinity and
feminity.”
(2) According to A.
Masefield—”Gender can be defined as a notion that offers a set of frameworks
within which the social and ideological construction and representation of
differences between sexes are explained.”
(3) According to ILO,
“Gender refers to the social differences and relations between men and women,
which are learned, which vary widely among societies and cultures and change
over time.”
Thus, gender involves power
structure and economic relationships. It is used to analyze the role,
responsibilities, constraints, needs of men and women in all areas. It
encompasses the social division and cultural distinctions between women and
men. It plays an important role in shaping institutions and practices in every
society.
Gender and Sex:
The term gender does not
replace the term sex. It is necessary to distinguish between sex and gender.
The distinction between sex and gender is fundamental, since many differences
between males and females are not biological in origin. Sex refers to the
physical differences of body where as gender refers to social, cultural and
psychological differences between males and females.
Sex refers to biological
differences between male and female which are much more the same over time and
space where as gender refers to socially and culturally constructed differences
and relations between males and females which vary from place to place and from
time to time. Sex refers to male and female where as gender refers to masculinity and feminity. Gender is a structural feature
of a society
