Structured Inequalities
Social divisions have several functions in a society. Division of labor is a principal driver of social division. Modern societies need groups of people to attend to the different types of labor required to run the society. Types of labor include basic social requirements such as procuring food, providing protection, and raising children, as well as more complex requirements such as contributing to the growth of the economy and providing a legal and governmental structure for society. This division of labor is necessary for a society to function. However, division of labor also contributes to different roles, expectations, and opportunities for members of different social divisions. Thus, while social division contributes to a society being able to function effectively and efficiently, it also creates the potential for structured inequalities—inequalities built into the larger social system giving unequal access and opportunities to different groups. For instance, in the United States structured inequalities impact people who are not fluent in English. Many of these individuals provide socially and economically valuable labor in fields such as agriculture, construction, food service, child care, and household services. They provide this labor at a low cost, benefitting society. However, these individuals often do not have access to education and employment opportunities that other groups have.
Members of different social divisions do not have the same access to material rewards, such as wealth and property, or symbolic rewards, such as status and respect. One potential result is that social divisions are repeated over generations, with the children of people who hold low status jobs having limited pathways to achieve higher status. Structured inequalities relating to racial divisions result in some racial groups having greater access to good education, good jobs, health care, more social and cultural prestige, and better treatment by the justice system. Other racial groups without this same access face barriers to achieving material and symbolic rewards. This may serve a social function—providing society with groups of people who are available to perform low-status jobs. In this way, structured inequality can be seen as an efficient way to organize a society. However, structured inequality also can lead to conflict and social problems, including poverty.
| Major Theories of Social Stratification | |
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| Karl Marx |
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| Max Weber |
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| Davis and Moore |
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Social Stratification
Social stratification is the hierarchical ranking of social groups based on unequal levels of wealth, power, and social status. Stratification means there are layers, or strata, of people in society. Every society has some form of social stratification. There are four major forms of stratification: estate systems, caste systems, class systems, and status hierarchy systems. Estate systems were found throughout Europe and Asia from the Middle Ages through the Industrial Revolution. In an estate system, a wealthy class of aristocrats owned large tracts of land and held power in these societies. Serfs, or workers, provided labor. They usually were tied to a particular aristocrat or noble family by legal ties and by tradition and a sense of loyalty or duty. While estate systems were common in the past, other systems of social stratification exist in the modern world. A caste system is a system of social division in which people are born into a certain class that determines their life trajectory. The caste system in India is a well-known example of this form of stratification. In a class system, individuals are born into a certain social position, but some people are able to move up or down in the social structure over the course of their lives. Some class systems are more open, allowing for more social mobility, while others are more closed. In the United States, the class system is considered open and includes the potential for upward or downward mobility. A status hierarchy system is based on degrees of social prestige, tied to factors including wealth, occupation, lifestyle, and membership in respected groups. This type of system also exists in the United States. For example, a working class individual with a low income who becomes famous or a respected leader might hold a fairly high status position. César Chávez (1927–93) was a farmworker who became a leader in the labor rights and civil rights movements of the mid-20th century. By the late-20th century, he held a very high status because of the respect and recognition many people had for his work. In addition to these four types of stratification, slavery is also considered a system of stratification. It is a completely closed system; those who are enslaved have no social power and virtually no possibility of moving out of their social position.
Social stratification exists in many forms. The concept of social stratification provides a framework to understand the ways that people are divided into social categories, primarily by levels of wealth, income, power, and other forms of social capital—resources that allow individuals to acquire wealth, power, and other forms of social standing. All socially stratified systems have certain characteristics:
Stratification is not related to differences among individuals. It is tied to socially constructed understandings of the identities of particular social groups. Justification for the particular stratification of a society is provided by the belief system of the society. In other words, most members of the society essentially buy into the system of stratification.
Stratification results in power differences between different social groups. This means that inequalities are embedded in the structure of society. Several theories of stratification inform how sociologists think about structured inequalities. Arguments developed by Karl Marx and Max Weber, developed in the 19th and 20th centuries, continue to be influential. Other sociologists have since expanded upon their work, proposing theoretical frameworks for understanding and analyzing social stratification.