This PSEB 11th Class Sociology Notes Chapter 10 Social Stratification will help you in revision during exams.
PSEB 11th Class Sociology Notes Chapter 10 Social Stratification
→ Inequality exists everywhere in society, Someone is black, white, poor, rich, thin, fat, literate, or illiterate. There are many other bases which we can find in our society.
→ Divison of society in different layers on different bases is known as social stratification.
→ We cannot find any society where stratification doesn’t exist.
→ It exists everywhere in ancient societies, medieval societies, and modern societies.
→ Stratification has many features such as is a universal process, is social in nature, its type is different in different societies, relations in it are based on superiority and inferiority.
→ Mainly four forms of stratification are available in our societies and these are caste, class, feudalism, and slavery.
→ Indian society is greatly influenced by the caste system.
→ A caste is an endogamous group that keeps certain restrictions on its members regarding relationships, social intercourse, etc. The caste of an individual was fixed according to his birth.
→ In modern societies, a new form of stratification has come forward and this is the class system.
→ Class is a group of people who are similar to each other on a particular basis.
→ For example, upper class, middle class, lower class, labour class, industrialist class, doctor class, etc.
→ Feudalism was one of the important aspects of medieval European society.
→ One individual was given a very large piece of land and was made feudal lord.
→ This land was transmitted to his children with which they remained rich.
→ During the 19th and 20th centuries, slavery prevailed in many parts of the world.
→ One person was purchased and sold as a slave and the owner kept unlimited rights over him.
→ G.S. Ghurye was one of the Indian sociologists who gave his views on the caste system.
→ According to him, the caste system is so complex that it is not possible to define it.
→ That’s why he gave six features of the caste system.
→ After the Indian independence, many changes came in the caste system and the changes are still going on.
→ Now caste system is declining day by day.
→ Caste restrictions no more prevail, caste privileges come to an end, constitutional provisions provide equality to all and all these factors have played a very important role in the decline of this system.
→ Many factors contributed to bringing changes in the caste system such as socio-reform movements, modern education, urbanisation, modernisation, industrialisation, development of means of transport and communication, constitutional provisions, etc.
→ Mainly three types of classes prevail in our society: Upper class, middle class, and lower class. The difference between these classes is mainly on the basis of wealth.
→ A caste is a closed group which cannot be changed in any case but a class is an open group that can be changed with an individual’s ability and hard work.
→ According to Karl Marx, in different ages, there prevailed two classes.
→ The first one is the capitalist class and the second one is labour class.
→ The conflict remained there, between them, all the time and this is known as class conflict.
→ New trends are also coming into the class system. During the last few decades, a new class has emerged and this is the middle class.
→ The upper class always exploited the lower class with the help of the middle class.
→ Varna: During ancient times, society was divided into many parts on the basis of Occupation, and each part was known as varna. There were four Varnas-Brahmin, Ksljatriya, Vaishya, and Shudra.
→ Caste: An endogamous group that keeps certain restrictions on its members regarding social intercourse.
→ Class: The economic group which can be differentiated from the other economic group on any basis.
→ Feudalism: During the medieval period, there prevailed a very powerful system in the medieval European society in which one person was made a feudal lord by giving a large piece of land. He was authorized to collect tax from the farmer.
→ Stratification: The process of dividing society into different layers on different bases is known as stratification.