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Social Stratification. social stratification. the unequal distribution of goods and services, rights and obligations, power and prestige all attributes of positions in society, not attributes of individuals universality of stratification. STRATIFICATION & STATUS. status - ascribed & achieved
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social stratification • the unequal distribution of goods and services, rights and obligations, power and prestige • all attributes of positions in society, not attributes of individuals • universality of stratification
STRATIFICATION & STATUS • status - ascribed & achieved • ascribed status - social positions that people hold by virtue of birth • achieved status - social positions attained as a result of individual action • shift from kin based societies to modern society involves growth in importance of achieved status
Roles, Stereotypes, Stratification • Roles -- tasks & activities that a culture assigns to people • Stereotypes -- oversimplified strongly held ideas about the characteristics of people • Stratification -- unequal distribution of rewards (socially valued resources, power, prestige, personal freedom) between people reflecting their position in the social hierarchy
Stratified Society • stratification means • there are significant breaks in the distribution of goods services, rights, obligations, power prestige • as a result of which are formed collectivities or groups we call strata
class societies • Unequal access to all 3 advantages, economic resources, power, prestige • Open & closed class systems • the extent to which mobility occurs allowing people to pass through inequalities • Closed system • No mobility • tend to persist across generations • Open system • ease of social mobility permitted
caste, slavery, and class systems • caste systems • closed, hereditary systems of stratification often dictated by religion • hierarchical social status is ascribed at birth, people locked into their parents social position • legal & religious sanctions, occupation, commensality applied against people who seek to cross them • apartheid - caste like system, legally maintained hierarchy based on skin color (the color bar)
caste, slavery, and class systems • slavery – closed class system • people treated as property • the most extreme & coercive form of legalized inequality
Open Class System • facilitates mobility • individual achievement & personal merit determining social rank • hierarchical social status is achieved on the basis of people's efforts • ascribed status (family background, ethnicity, gender, religion, skin color) less important • blurred class lines & wide range of status positions