Punjab State Board PSEB 11th Class Sociology Book Solutions Chapter 10 Social Stratification Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.
PSEB Solutions for Class 11 Sociology Chapter 10 Social Stratification
Sociology Guide for Class 11 PSEB Social Stratification Textbook Questions and Answers
Answer the following very short answer questions in 1-15 words each:
Question 1.
What do you mean by social stratification ?
Answer:
The process of dividing society in different layers and on different basis is known as stratification.
Question 2.
Name the forms of social stratification,
Answer:
There are four forms of social stratification caste, class feudalism and slavery.
Question 3.
Name the elements of social stratification.
Answer:
It is universal and social, inequality exists in it and it has different base in different societies.
Question 4.
What is estate system ?
Answer:
This system prevailed in the medieval European society in which an individual was made feudal lord by giving a large piece of land.
Question 5.
From where has the word ‘Caste’ been derived ?
Answer:
The word ‘Caste’ has been derived from a Spanish and Portuguese word ‘Casta’ which means race, lineage or breed.
Question 6.
What is Varna System?
Answer:
The system of ancient India in which society was divided into four parts on the basis of occupation.
Question 7.
Name the hierarchical positions of the different Varnas in Hindu society.
Answer:
Ancient Hindu society had four Varnas : Brahmins, Kshatriyas Vaishyas and Shudras.
Question 8.
What do you mean by untouchability?
Answer:
During the times of caste system, different castes were not allowed to touch each other which is known as untouchability.
Question 9.
Name some reformers who protested against untouchability.
Answer:
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyatiba Phuley, Mahatma Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar etc.
Question 10.
What is Class?
Answer:
Class is a group of people having similarity on any basis such as money, occupation, property etc.
Question 11.
Name the types of Classes.
Answer:
Mainly three classes exist in society-upper class, middle class and lower class.
Question 12.
What are the two classes mentioned by Marx?
Answer:
Capitalist Class and Labour Class.
Answer the following short answer questions in 30-35 words each:
Question 1.
What is social inequality ?
Answer:
When all the members of the society do not get enough chances to develop their personality, differences prevail among them on the basis of caste, birth, race, colour, wealth, occupation etc. then this is known as inequality.
Question 2.
Name two forms of social stratification.
Answer:
- Caste : Caste is a form of stratification in which stratification prevails among different castes.
- Class : Many classes prevail in society and difference exists among them on different basis.
Question 3.
Write two features of caste system.
Answer:
- Membership of caste is based upon birth and one cannot change his caste even if he has the ability to do so.
- Caste is an endogamous group and marriage among different castes is not allowed.
Question 4.
What is endogamy ?
Answer:
Endogamy is a type of marriage in which one needs to marry within his group i.e. caste or sub-caste. If any one tried to break this rule, he was severely punished and thrown out of the group. That’s why every one preferred to marry in his group;
Question 5.
What do you mean by pollution and purity ?
Answer:
The hierarchy of caste was attached was the concept of pollution and purity. It means that traditionally few castes were considered pure and they had higher status in society. Few castes were considered impure or polluted and they had low status in society.
Question 6.
Write a short note on industrialisation and urbanisation.
Answer:
The meaning of industralisation is advent of large scale industries in the country. When people migrate from rural areas to urban areas it is known as urbanisation. Both these processes played a very important role in the decline of caste system. ,
Question 7.
Write two features of class system.
Answer:
- Each class is conscious about the fact that its status is higher or lower than the others.
- Members of one class prefer to keep relations within their own class and have very limited relations with other classes.
Question 8.
Write a short note on new middle class.
Answer:
During last few decades, a new middle class has emerged in our society. Doctors, engineers, managers, small traders, job-oriented people etc. come in this class. Upper class exploits lower class with the help of middle class.
Answer the following short answer questions in 75-85 words each:
Question 1.
Write down four characteristics of social stratification.
Answer:
- Stratification is a universal process. There is no society where this process doesn’t exist.
- In stratification, all the members of society have an unequal status. Someone has higher status and someone has lower status.
- In stratification, society is divided into different layers which determines an individual’s status. All the classes have mutual relations based on superiority or inferiority.
- Yet many layers are there in this but these layers have mutual interdependence.
Question 2.
How is class related to social stratification? Discuss it briefly.
Answer:
Social stratification is always related with class. We can see that there exist many classes in society. Classes in different societies, ancient or modern, depend upon different basis and these bases can be caste, occupation, money, wealth, race, religion etc. All the classes depend upon each other for their own existence.
Question 3.
Differentiate between caste and class.
Answer:
Class:
- One gets social status according to one’s personal ability.
- Membership of class is based upon wealth, money, occupation etc.
- An individual gets more freedom in class system.
- Mutual difference is quite less in different classes.
- Class system is based upon the concept of democracy.
Caste:
- There was no place of personal ability in this and social status was based upon birth.
- Membership of caste is based upon birth.
- Many restrictions are imposed on an individual such as keeping relations, exchange of eatables, marriage etc.
- Different castes are quite far away from each other.
- It is completely against the system of democracy.
Question 4.
Write the four factors of change in caste system.
Answer:
- During 19th and 20th centuries, many socio-reform movements started which greatly affected the caste system.
- After independence, Indian government passed many laws and many provisions were kept in the constitution which brought many changes in caste system.
- With the advent of industrialisation, members of different castes started working with each other which reduced the caste based restrictions.
- In urban areas, people belonging to different castes live with each other which has reduced the caste’s rule of keeping relations with the same caste.
- Spread of education has also contributed a lot in reducing the impacj of caste system.
Question 5.
Distinguish between caste and class as two major forms of social stratification.
Answer:
Class:
- One gets social status according to one’s personal ability.
- Membership of class is based upon wealth, money, occupation etc.
- An individual gets more freedom in class system.
- Mutual difference is quite less in different classes.
- Class system is based upon the concept of democracy.
Caste:
- There was no place of personal ability in this and social status was based upon birth.
- Membership of caste is based upon birth.
- Many restrictions are imposed on an individual such as keeping relations, exchange of eatables, marriage etc.
- Different castes are quite far away from each other.
- It is completely against the system of democracy.
Answer the following short answer questions in 250-300 words each:
Question 1.
Define stratification. What are the features of social stratification ?
Answer:
Eight from the ancient times, humans have tried to make a society based on equality and where there will be no class in it. In other words society based on equality is that society in which there is no class, social and economic status of all the members is equal, every one gets equal number of facilities. But till today none of the society of this type has come into being. Different types of classes exist in all the societies and all the societies are stratified.
All the societies, from ancient times till today are divided in different classes. In earlier times, society was divided on the basis of age, sex, head of the societies etc. but due to increased complexity, modern societies are divided in higher or lower classes on different basis. If we observe our society carefully then we will come to know that there are many inequalities existing in our society.
For example, some persons are rich and some are poor. Our society has been divided on the basis of political, social, religious, economic basis etc. Because of this division, relations of different individuals in our society are based on higher and lower positions. In this way the division of society in different parts is known as stratification.
(1) According to Sorokin, “Social Stratification means the differention of a given population into hierarchically superposed classes. It is manifested in the existence of upper and lower social layers. Its basis and very essence consist of unequal distribution of rights and privileges, duties and responsibilities, social values and privation, social power and influences among the members of a society.”
(2) According to Kurt B. Mayer, “Social Stratification is a System of social position whose occupants are treated as superior, equal or inferior relative to one another in social important respects.”
(3) According to Kingsley Davis, “Social inequality is thus an unconsciously evolved device by which societies ensure that the most important positions are consciously filled by the most qualified persons. Hence every society, no matter how simple or complex must differentiate persons in terms of both prestige and esteem.”
(4) According to Raymond W. Moorey, “Stratification is a horizontal division of society into higher and lower units.” On the basis of these definitions, we can conclude that the social stratification determines the higher and the lower social groups and status and roles of different humans.
It shows hierarchy among persons on the basis of birth, caste, occupation, gender, money, power etc. Relations of inferiority and superiority exist among different groups and every person has a definite position m society. That is why man gets status and respect in society.
Features or Characteristics of Stratification:
1. Stratification is social:
Differences exist on the basis of stratification in different societies. Whenever we differentiate anything, which exists in society, from other thing and until that difference is not accepted by all the members of society, we cannot accept that difference as the base of stratification.
It means that until members of a group will not determine the stratification, this stratification cannot exist in society. Stratification is possible only then when all the members of society will accept these differences. In this way, it is social because it is accepted by all the members of society.
2. Stratification is a universal process:
Process of stratification exists in every society. We can check every type of society, whether it is ancient, tribal, rural or modern complex society. Then we can see that definitely there were and there are some differences among people. Difference of Gender is natural on the basis of which we can divide the humans. There are many bases of stratification in modern complex society.
It means that yet the bases of stratification are different in different societies but stratification exists in every type of society. Each country and society is divided in different layers on different basis yet inequalities may be different. So we can say that it is a universal process.
3. Inequality of status of different classes:
Status and role of humans is not the same in social stratification. Any one has higher status and any one has low status. Position of persons never remains the same all the times. Changes keep on coming in this. It can go higher at anytime and can go to a low level. It means that inequality exists in position of humans.
If any one has higher position on the basis of money then other might have lower position. Anyone is officer and other one is clerk. Position of both is unequal. Yet the base might be different like gender, age, money, status, job etc. but the position of different classes is unequal.
4. Relation of upper and lower classes:
Society has been divided into different layers in stratification which determine the position of a person. Generally society can be divided in two parts higher and lower. Some people in society have higher position and some people in society have low status. Some people exist between them. In this way in higher and lower classes, there exists one middle class. All of them have some relations of higher and lower positions.
5. Stratification restricts interaction:
The interactions in the process of stratification are only restricted to a specific layer. Generally we can see that every person establishes relations with the members of his layer or class. That is why he shares his feelings with them. Person has friends in his class only. Sometimes man is unable to adjust by keeping contacts with the members of other strata.
Like in modern age interaction between a rich person and a poor person is not possible. Stratification restricts the interaction between different classes. Every class has class consciousness because of which they interact .with other classes in a limited way. In this way stratification restricts the interaction.
6. It develops the sense of competition:
The process of stratification produces the sense of hard work in person. In this every person is conscious about his social status. He always tries to move forward because he thinks that people around him are of higher strata. He tries to move forward by using his capabilities in competition with them.
In this way this consciousness produces the sense of competition, Every person wishes to take himself up in society and he can do this by hard work. He does this hard work and competes with members of other classes and takes himself up in stratification.
Question 2.
Discuss in detail the forms of stratification.
Answer:
(i) Varna Stratification:
After the advent of the Aryans in India, society was divided among the Aryans and the original inhabitants of India. Later on Aryan people, on the basis of their traits and behaviour, were divided among Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. In this way, society was divided among four Varnas and this form of stratification came in front.
In this hierarchy, Brahmins had the highest place, Kshatriyas came second, Vaishyas at third and at the end, people of fourth varna were there. In this system, occupation of each varna was fixed and separate from each other. Initial form of Varna system was not based on birth but was based on individual traits and one was free to change his varna. But it was quite a difficult process to change one’s varna.
(ii) Slavery Stratification:
Slave is a human who is completely controlled by the other individual. He lives on the mercy of his owner. He has no rights. In certain cases he is protected by his owner such as to protect him from becoming other’s slave. But still he is an individual without rights. He is considered as the property of his owner.
So, there existed a lot of inequality in slave societies. This custom prevailed, during 19th century, in America, Africa etc. Owner was free to sell his slave. He had to work very hard for his owner. With time, this custom was strongly opposed and gradually came to an end. Slave became farmers but still some sort of this stratification existed among farmers and labourers.
(iii) Feudalism:
Along with slavery, the institution of feudalism came into being. Feudal lords were the owners of large piece of land and they rented out their land to others on project sharing basis. During the medieval period, feudalism had legal sanction in Europe and feudal lords had special status, special privileges and duties.
Farmers, during those days, had very few rights. They had to depend upon the mercy of feudal lords for justice. Major power was in the hands of feudal lords and clergy. Zamindars existing in India were very much different from the feudalism existing in Europe. So stratification based on feudalism existed in society.
(iv) Racial Stratification:
Stratification on the basis of race also exists in different societies. Whole of the world is divided on the bases of race. Mainly three racial groups are there : Caucasion (white), Mongoloid (yellow or brown) and Negroid (black). A system of hierarchy exists among these races. White race is considered superior among all.
Yellow race is considered at middle leval and black race is at lower level. Racial discrimination in U.S. A. also exists on this base. People of different races never marry eaph other. Yet few changes are coming in modern society but still this system prevails in the world.
(v) Caste Stratification:
The stratification on the basis of birth is known as caste stratification because status of a child was determined according to his birth. In ancient and traditional Indian society this type of statification prevailed. It was having great impact on the Indian society. Mainly four castes existed-Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. This form of stratification was more stable because one was not allowed to change his caste. ,
(vi) Class Stratification:
It is also known as universal stratification because such stratification exists in every society. It is an open stratification and bases of this stratification are income, power, property, religion, education, occupation etc. One gets a definite position in this and people with equal status form a class. With this, different classes are formed and relations are established among them. One can change his status or class with his efforts.
Question 3.
What factors are causing change in caste system?
Answer:
1. Socio-Religious Reforms Movements:
Even before the advent of British empire many religious movements had criticised the caste system. Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and Sikhism had criticised caste system. Gautam Buddha had criticised caste system 2500 years back. Except this Islam and later on Sikhism had also criticised caste system.
In 19th century many social reformers had started movements against this. Some of these movements Brahmo Samaj by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Arya Samaj by Dayanand Saraswati, Rama Krishna Mission etc. were important. Except these Jyoti Ba Phule established Satya Shodhan Samaj in 1873 whose main aim was to provide equality to every person. Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar also criticised the caste system.
2. Efforts of Indian Government:
During British empire and after independence many important laws were passed by government which contributed towards weakening of caste system. Caste and rural panchayats were very powerful before British rule. These panchayats had the rights to give punishment to criminals.
During British empire One Law i.e. ‘Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850’ was passed which weakened the caste Panchayats. In this way ‘Special Marriage Act, 1872’ gave approval to the marriage of different castes. After independence a number of laws like Untouchability Offences Act, 1955 and Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 also weakened the caste system. In 1949 Hindu Marriage Validation Act was passed in which legal sanction was given to inter-caste marriage.
3. Contribution of the Britishers:
A comprehensive opposition against the caste system began during the British reign. The British had applied the rule of equality in front of law. Rights from caste based Panchayats were taken back. Educational system of the British was secular. Government jobs were open to everyone.
The British started modern industries, rails, buses etc. which was a strong slap on the face of caste system. All the people jointly worked in the industries and travelled in rails and buses with each other which resulted in the establishment of contacts between different castes.
4. Industrialization:
Industrialization played an important role in bringing change in caste system. It increased the importance of ability of the person. Importance of materialism has also been increased. People came out of their houses to go to job. Everyone started to work in industries. In industries no one asks for anyone’s caste but they look to each other’s abilities. Lower castes have also got higher status with their hard work.
5. Modern Education:
Modern education has also put a great effect on the caste system. In ancient Hindu Society, education was confined only to higher castes and education was also based upon religion. But with the advent of Britishers, a rule of equality was started by Britishers. Then educational institutions were opened for everyone.
Western Education was started instead of religious education. Boys and girls both started to get education. In this way modern educational system started to give importance to individual’s abilities instead of any one’s caste. With this intercaste relations started to establish. After independence Indian Constitution also started to implement democratic values which was a great setback to caste system.
6. Urbanization:
Urbanization was also developed with industrialization because people came out of their houses for work. Urban features like more density of population, individual’s feelings, social mobility, more occupations etc. have weakened the caste system. People live with each other in big cities. Feeling of assimilation of higher and lower caste was increased. The individual abilities started to control the society. Man has to achieve status in society.
Difference on the basis of gender in cities was decreased. Males and females started to work together. In this way females came out of the four walls of house and started to work in offices. They became economically independent. Urbanization has increased the mutual contacts between different castes which resulted in exogamy instead of endogamy.
7. Importance of Money:
Caste System started to weaken due to increase in materialistic approach of the people. People get status due to money in society. Every one gives respect to rich persons irrespective of his caste. In Modern Society a person works only for the sake of his profit. Every one tries to earn more and more money. It increses the importance of individuals’ abilities. Inthisthe importance of moneyhas been increased and the importance of caste system has been reduced.
Question 4.
Define class system. Write down its characteristics.
Answer:
The base of social stratification is class. Status of a person in class depends upon his role in class. Position of all the persons is not same in all the societies. Some type of inequality is always there in class and because of this inequality of classes came into being. Especially because of westernization, industrialization, educational system, modernization etc. classes came into being in India. Stratification in Western Societies is also Based upon class system. Many classes also came into being in India like Teacher class, Business class, Doctor class etc. ‘
Meaning and Definitions of Class:
Every society has been divided into classes and every class has a different status in the society. On the basis of status person’s status is high or low. In this way when different persons achieve special social status in society, then it is known as class system. Every class is economically different from the other.
Different Sociologists have given different views about class system which are given below :
(1) According to Maclver, “A social class is any position of Community marked off from the rest by Social Status.”
(2) According to Morris Ginsberg, “A class is group of individuals who through common descent, similarity of occupation, wealth and education have come to have a similar mode of life, n similar stock of those ideas, feelings, attitudes and forms of behaviours and who on any or all of these grounds meet one another on equal terms and regard themselves, with varying degrees of explicitness as belonging to one group.”
(3) According to Gilbert, “A social class is a category of group of persons having a definite status in a society which permanently determines their relationships to other groups.”
(4) According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, “The fundamental attribute of social class is thus its local position of relative superiority or inferiority to other social classes.”
On the basis of given definitions we can say that social class is a class of many persons which has one specific status in a specific time. That is why they have some special power, rights and duties. Ability of an individual is important in class system. That is why every person wants to achieve higher status in society with hard work.
Every society is divided in many classes. Status of a person is not definite in class system. There is some sort of mobility existing in his status. That is why it is known as open stratification. Person determines his class status himself. It is not based on birth.
Characteristics of Class:
1. Feelings of Superiority and Inferiority: Relationships of inferior and superior exist in class system. For example, people of higher class think themselves as different and superior from lower class. Rich persons are coming in higher class and poor people are coming in lower class. Rich people have higher status in society and poor people live at different places. By looking at the residence of the person we can imagine about the class of the person.
2. Social Mobility:
Class system is not definite for person. It keeps on changing. Man can achieve higher status with hard work and can go to lower status with wrong deeds. Every person wants to increase his prestige in society. That is why class system makes the person active. So in this way social mobility is there in class system.
For example if a person, who is working as a clerk in any office, does a lot of hard work and passes the I.A.S. exam then his status and position will be completely changed. It means that class system has social mobility in which person can make from one place to another with his hard work and ability.
3. Openness:
Openness exists in the class system because in this every person is free to do anything. He is free to adopt any occupation. Any one can become the member of any class on the basis of his ability. Person from lower class can go to higher class with his hard work. In this there is no value of birth of the person.
Status of person depends upon his ability. A boy from rich family can become rich only if he has the property. If this property will finish then he can become poor. This class system gives opportunity to every one to move forward. In this way openness exists in class system.
4. Limited Social Relations:
Social relations of a person are limited in class system. Persons of every class love to establish relations with the people of their own class. Every class wants to establish contacts with persons of their own class. They don’t like to keep contacts with the people of other castes.
5. Development of Sub-classes:
We can divide class system into three parts from economic point of view and these are :
- Upper Class
- Middle Class
- Lower Class.
These classes are again divided into sub-classes. For example, we can see difference between rich people. Some one is Billionaire and some one is Millionaire. In the same way we can see sub-classes in middle class and lower class. In every class we can see sub-classes. In this way class is made up of sub-classes.
6. Different Basis :
Classes are made on different basis. According to Karl Marx, the main base of class system is economic. According to him, there are two classes in society. First one is capitalist class and second is labour class. According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, Maclver and Gilberg, social base is important for class. Ginsberg and Lapire has accepted cultural base as the main base of class system.
In this way we can say that there is not a single base of class system but there are many bases of class system.
7. Identification of Class:
External outlook is important in class system. Sometimes just by external outlook we can imagine about the class of the person. In modern society big house, car, scooter, T.V., V.C.R., Fridge etc. symbolise towards the position of the person. In this way external symbols tell us about class differences. Life Style of one class is almost same and their necessities are generally same.
Question 5.
What new classes have emerged in India ?
Answer:
Durings the last few decades, the caste system has been replaced by the class system.After independence, many new laws were passed, people started taking education which resulted in the decline of the caste system and the advent of class system. Now class system is not a simple concept. In modern times, many new classes have emerged on different basis and the process is going on.
For example, after the Indian Independence, many land reforms were introduced which brought many changes in the rural economy. Green revolution greatly contributed in it. Along with old farmers, who had large pieces of land, a new farmer class emerged which had experience of new methods of agriculture.
These were the people who were retired from army or administrative services. They started investing their money in agriculture and earning lot of money. This is not the class of traditional farmers but are known as Gentlemen Farmers. Along with this, a new class of farmers, Capitalist farmers, is also emerging.
These are the farmers who earn a lot of money by using new techniques, HYV seeds, new techniques of agriculture, modern irrigation facilities, taking loans and by using modern means of transport and communication. But small farmers were unable to take advantage of this and are still poor.
They are unable to take advantage of the land reforms introduced by the government. After this, a middle class has also emerged which gave birth to the culture of consumerism. This middle class was seen as a potential market and many multinational companies get attracted towards this group. In the advertisements of different companies, upper middle class is seen as the most important consumer.
These days, a new middle class is emerging which gives more importance to its taste and consumption and it has become a cultural idea. In this way with the emergence of middle class, the concept of economic liberalism is also emerging. One of the important features of existing class system in modern India is that all these classes have helped in creating a national economy.
Now people from the far off villages are becoming a part of middle classes. People living in villages and engaged in different occupations have not remained isolated. Now caste based restrictions have come to an end and class based consciousness is coming forward.
Question 6.
Bring out the main features of class system in India.
Answer:
The base of social stratification is class. Status of a person in class depends upon his role in class. Position of all the persons is not same in all the societies. Some type of inequality is always there in class and because of this inequality of classes came into being. Especially because of westernization, industrialization, educational system, modernization etc. classes came into being in India. Stratification in Western Societies is also Based upon class system. Many classes also came into being in India like Teacher class, Business class, Doctor class etc. ‘
Meaning and Definitions of Class:
Every society has been divided into classes and every class has a different status in the society. On the basis of status person’s status is high or low. In this way when different persons achieve special social status in society, then it is known as class system. Every class is economically different from the other.
Different Sociologists have given different views about class system which are given below :
(1) According to Maclver, “A social class is any position of Community marked off from the rest by Social Status.”
(2) According to Morris Ginsberg, “A class is group of individuals who through common descent, similarity of occupation, wealth and education have come to have a similar mode of life, n similar stock of those ideas, feelings, attitudes and forms of behaviours and who on any or all of these grounds meet one another on equal terms and regard themselves, with varying degrees of explicitness as belonging to one group.”
(3) According to Gilbert, “A social class is a category of group of persons having a definite status in a society which permanently determines their relationships to other groups.”
(4) According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, “The fundamental attribute of social class is thus its local position of relative superiority or inferiority to other social classes.”
On the basis of given definitions we can say that social class is a class of many persons which has one specific status in a specific time. That is why they have some special power, rights and duties. Ability of an individual is important in class system. That is why every person wants to achieve higher status in society with hard work.
Every society is divided in many classes. Status of a person is not definite in class system. There is some sort of mobility existing in his status. That is why it is known as open stratification. Person determines his class status himself. It is not based on birth.
Characteristics of Class:
1. Feelings of Superiority and Inferiority: Relationships of inferior and superior exist in class system. For example, people of higher class think themselves as different and superior from lower class. Rich persons are coming in higher class and poor people are coming in lower class. Rich people have higher status in society and poor people live at different places. By looking at the residence of the person we can imagine about the class of the person.
2. Social Mobility:
Class system is not definite for person. It keeps on changing. Man can achieve higher status with hard work and can go to lower status with wrong deeds. Every person wants to increase his prestige in society. That is why class system makes the person active. So in this way social mobility is there in class system.
For example if a person, who is working as a clerk in any office, does a lot of hard work and passes the I.A.S. exam then his status and position will be completely changed. It means that class system has social mobility in which person can make from one place to another with his hard work and ability.
3. Openness:
Openness exists in the class system because in this every person is free to do anything. He is free to adopt any occupation. Any one can become the member of any class on the basis of his ability. Person from lower class can go to higher class with his hard work. In this there is no value of birth of the person.
Status of person depends upon his ability. A boy from rich family can become rich only if he has the property. If this property will finish then he can become poor. This class system gives opportunity to every one to move forward. In this way openness exists in class system.
4. Limited Social Relations:
Social relations of a person are limited in class system. Persons of every class love to establish relations with the people of their own class. Every class wants to establish contacts with persons of their own class. They don’t like to keep contacts with the people of other castes.
5. Development of Sub-classes:
We can divide class system into three parts from economic point of view and these are :
- Upper Class
- Middle Class
- Lower Class.
These classes are again divided into sub-classes. For example, we can see difference between rich people. Some one is Billionaire and some one is Millionaire. In the same way we can see sub-classes in middle class and lower class. In every class we can see sub-classes. In this way class is made up of sub-classes.
6. Different Basis :
Classes are made on different basis. According to Karl Marx, the main base of class system is economic. According to him, there are two classes in society. First one is capitalist class and second is labour class. According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, Maclver and Gilberg, social base is important for class. Ginsberg and Lapire has accepted cultural base as the main base of class system.
In this way we can say that there is not a single base of class system but there are many bases of class system.
7. Identification of Class:
External outlook is important in class system. Sometimes just by external outlook we can imagine about the class of the person. In modern society big house, car, scooter, T.V., V.C.R., Fridge etc. symbolise towards the position of the person. In this way external symbols tell us about class differences. Life Style of one class is almost same and their necessities are generally same.
Question 7.
What are the Marxian and Weberian perspectives on class?
Answer:
Marxian Conflict Theory of Stratification. Karl Marx has given conflict theory of social stratification and this theory comes out because of political and social conflicts of 19th century. According to Marx, economic factor is the alone factor of social stratification and struggle in different classes. Marx has given this theory on the base of division of labour.
According to him, labour is of two types, physical and mental and this difference is the main reason of difference in social classes. Marx was of the view that there are only two classes in society. First class is the owner of the means of production and second class is not the owner of means of production.
On the basis of this ownership the position of owner class is higher and position of non-owner class is lower. According to Marx, owner class is capitalist class and non-owner class is labourer class. Capitalist class economically exploits the labourer class and labourer class fights with capitalist class to get their rights. This is the result of stratification.
Marx was of the view that the main reason of stratification is the unequal distribution of property. The nature of stratification depends upon the classes of that society and the nature of the classes depends upon the means of production. Ways of production depend upon technique. Class is a group in which relations of its members with forces of production are equal.
In this way all those persons, who control the forces of production, come in first class i.e. capitalist class. Second class is that class which is not the owner of forces of production but it earns its livelihood by selling its labour and that is labourer class. Their name in different societies is different. For example, Feudal Lords and agricultural labourers in Feudal societies and capitalist and labourer in capitalist societies.
Capitalist class has all the forces of production and labourer class has only its labour to sell with which it earns its livelihood. In this way the classes made on the basis of ways of production and unequal distribution of property are, according to Marx, social classes.
According to Marx, society today comes out of four stages or societies and these are :
(a) Primitive ancient society or communism
(b) Ancient society.
(c) Feudal society
(d) Capitalist society
According to Marx, classes did not come into being in first type of society but in later societies two main classes came into being. In ancient society owner and servant, Feudal Lords and agricultural labourer in Feudal society and Capitalist and Labourer class in Capitalist society came into being. In every society labour was being done by second class. Labour class is more in number and capitalist class is less in number.
Marx has given two classes in every type of society but on this point his views were not the same. Marx was of the view that there are three classes in capitalist society and these are labour class, capitalist class and land owners. Marx has given difference in these three classes on the basis of means of income, profit and rent of land. But Marx’s this three classes system never came into being in England.
Marx has written that with the development of capitalism three classes system will change into two classes system and middle class will come to an end. About this he has written in Cfommunist Manifesto. Marx also wrote about other classes in specific society. He has divided the capitalist class into two sub groups and these are effective capitalists and smaller capitalists.
Effective capitalists are those capitalists which are bigger capitalists and industrialists which give work to thousands of labourers in their industries. Small capitalists are those small industrialists or shopkeepers whose business is at low level and they are not giving work to many labourers. They are doing most of their work themselves.
Here Marx again says that with the development of capitalism middle class and small capitalists will* come to an end and will join hands with labourer class. In this way, there will be two classes in society and that is capitalist class and labourer class. Relations between Classes. According to Marx, the capitalist class always exploits the labourer class and labourer class always fights for its rights.
That is why the relations between both the groups are of opposition. Yet this opposition between these groups will hide due to their mutual interests but this opposition is always there. It is not necessary that we can see this opposition directly or opposition never comes in front of us but they know about each other’s opposition.
According to Marx, the relations between the classes depend upon the mutual interdependence and conflict. We can take example of capitalist society in which two classes are there. First class is of capitalist class and second class is of labour class. These both classes depend upon each other for their existence. Labour class doesn’t have the ownership of forces of production.
It doesn’t have any other mean to earn its livelihood except selling its labour. Labourers sell their labour to the capitalist class and are dependent upon them. They give their labour to capitalist and for that capitalist gives money to labourers for their labour. With this money or rent of labour, labourer takes care of the needs of the family. Capitalist also depends upon the labour of labourer because without their work, production in his factory is not possible and accumulation of capital is also not possible.
In this way both these classes depend upon each other. But this dependency doesn’t mean that they have relations of equality. Capitalist class always exploits the labour class. They want to make things in their factory by giving less money so that they can earn more profit. Labourer wants more money so that he can take care of the needs of his family. Capitalist tries to sell his product with more value by paying less money so that he can earn more profit.
In this way conflict of interests is always there between both the classes. This conflict will give birth to communism later on in which there would be no opposition, there would be no exploitation and there would be no conflict of interests. This society will be classless society. Karl Marx has explained the conflict theory of stratification on historical basis.
Important things in the conflict theory of stratification of Marx are given below :
1. Two classes in Society. Marx was of the view that generally two types of classes exist in every type of society. First one is that which has all the means of production in its hands and this class is known as capitalist class.
Second class is that which doesn’t have any means of production and which earns money only by selling its labour. This class is known as labour class. First class exploits the other class. It means that capitalist exploits and labourer is being exploited by capitalist.
2. Right over means of production:
While explaining stratification on histrical basis Marx says that the stratification in society is based on the right over means of production. There exist two types of classes in every society on this base. First class is that which has the right over all the means of production. Second class is that which doesn’t have any right over means of production and which earns money by selling its labour.
3. Modes of production:
The nature of social stratification depends upon the modes of production. Position of that class is higher than other classes which has all the means of production. According to Marx, this class’ is known as capitalist or Bourgoisie. Second class is that which doesn’t have m^ans of production, which is not satisfied by its position and which wants to change its position. Marx has given it the name of labour class or proletariat class.
4. Human History-History of class struggle:
Marx was of the view that human history is the history of class struggle. We can take example of any society. Struggle in classs is going on, in every society, in one form or the other. In this way Marx was of the vew that two types of classes exist in all the societies- capitalist and labour class. Class struggle always goes on in both the classes.
There are many reasons of class struggle in both the classes for example too much economic differences between both the classes because of which class struggle is going on. Capitalist becomes rich even without doing any hard work and labourer becomes poor even after doing a lot of hard work.
With the passage of time, labour class makes its organization to meet its demands and this organisation does struggle with capitalist class to meet its demands. Result of this struggle between both the classes comes in the form of revolution which labour class does against the capitalist class.
After revolution, labourer class will eliminate the capitalist class and establishes its authority. Capitalist class tries to start anti-revolution movement against labourers but this movement will be suppressed and authority of the labourer class will be established. First of all communism and then the state of socialism will come in which every one will get according to his needs and ability.
There will be no class in society and this will be a classless society in which every one will get equal share. No one will be of higher or lower status and the authority of labour class will remain there. Marx was of the view that this state has not yet come but it will come very shortly and stratification in society will come to an end.
Max Weber gave the theory of stratification in which he explained class, status group and party differently. Weber’s theory of stratification is considered as practical and rational. That’s why his theory is given enough importance by American Sociologists.
Weber has explained stratification from three aspects and these are class, status and party. All these groups could be called as interest groups which not only can fight within themselves but they can fight even against each other. They tell us about a specific authority and are interrelated as well.
Now we will explain them one by one :
CLASS. Karl Marx has defined class on economic basis and in the same way Weber has also defined class on economic basis. According to Weber, “Class is a group of those people which are at equal status in structure of social economic opportunities and which live in same condition. These conditions depend upon their form and quantity of economic power.”
In this way Weber talks about a type of group in which a specific number of people have equal chances in life. Yet this concept of Weber is not very much different from Marx’s concept of class but Weber has imagined class as the group of people living in same economic conditions q,ot as a group of self-consciousness.
Weber has given three types of classes which are given below :
- A Property Class
- An Acquisition Class
- A Social Class.
1. A Property Class:
A property class is the group whose position depends upon the fact that how much property it has?
This class is again further divided into two parts :
(i) The Positively Privileged Property Class. This class owns a lot of property and it lives on the income generated from its property. This class can keep monopoly over selling or buying of consumer goods, by collecting property or on taking education.
(ii) The Negatively Privileged Property Class:
Illiterate, poor, property less and people under debt are major members of this group. But there is one another group between these two groups and that is Privileged Middle class in which members of both the given classes are included. According to Weber, Capitalist is member of this group due to his privileged position and Labourer is its member due to his negatively4 privileged position.
2. An Acquisition Class:
It is that type of group whose position is determined by taking advantage from opportunities of services available in the market.
This group is of three types :
(i) The Positively Privileged Acquisition Class. This class keeps monopoly over administration of producer manufacturers. These factory owners are bankers, industrialists, financiers etc. These people not only keep control over administrative system but they exert influence on government’s economic policies as well.
(ii) The Middle Privileged Acquisition Class. This class belongs to middle class people in which small professional people, artisans, independent farmers etc. are included.
(iii) The Negatively Privileged Acquisition Class. People of lower classes are part of this group which include trained, semi trained and untrained labourers.
3. Social Class:
Most numbers of people are included in this group. This class observes definite changes due to progress made by different generations. But Weber does not explain social class according to privileges. According to him, people of labour class, lower middle class, intellectual class, property owner class are included in it.
According to Weber, members of class work with each other under specific circumstances and to this protest of doing work is being given the name of class action by Weber. According to Weber, feeling of mutually related gives birth to class action. Weber has not believed that the thing like class action could take place all the times.
Weber, was of the view that there is no class consciousness in class but its nature is completely economic. There is no possibility among them that they would struggle collectively to achieve their common objectives. A class is only a group of people whose economic condition is same in the market.
They can feel changes in their lives while collecting those things which have some respect in society and there is a possibility that they would collectively perform s,ome action. Weber was of the view that if it does so then class can take the form of community.
Status Group:
Status group is generally considered as opposite to economic class stratification. Class is only based on economic assumption which is a group of same interests due to market conditions. These are not statistical classes but these are actually those groups whose life-style is common, outlook towards the society is common and which keep unity among them.
According to Weber, there is some difference between status group and class. Each has its own style and people can be unequal among them. For example, teacher of a school. Yet his income might be 8-10,000 per month which is quite less in today’s age but his status is quite high due to his sacred profession.
But on the other hand any smuggler or a prostitute could earn lakhs in a month but their status group will remain low because their profession is not sanctioned by society. In this way difference is there between both the groups. Any occupational group can be called as a status group because in each type of profession, people get equal opportunities to earn money.
This group also leads to same life-style of people. Members of one occupational group remain near to each other, wear same type of clothes and even have same type of values. That’s why its members have quite a wide circle.
Party:
According to Weber, Party represents the determined interests associated with class status or a status group. This party enrolls those members, in any condition, whose ideology matches with the ideology of party. But it is not necessary that the party could become status party for them. Weber was of the view that Parties always want to keep control over power.
It means power should remain in their hands. Weber was of the view that yet parties are a part of political authority but even then power could be gained through various means like wealth, influence, pressure, rights etc.
Parties want to obtain power of State and State is an organisation. Each activitiy of the party is concentrated on the fact that how the power could be obtained ? Weber analysed the state and from here he gave the theory of Bureaucracy. According to Weber, parties are of two types.
First one is Patronage party in which there are no class rules, concepts, ideology etc. These are made for special purposes and could be left after the completion of objective. Second type of party is party of Principles which has clear and strong rules. These parties are not made for specific purposes.
Weber was of the view that there is quite much difference between these three i.e. class, status group, and party but the mutual relationship is always there among them.
