Sociology Presentation

Group Members:

• Saad Ali Khan

• Ahsan Rsheed

• Aqib Zafar

• Waleed Farooqi

• Hamza Sarwar

Introduction (Definitions)

When differences lead to greater status, power or privilege for some groups over the other it is called social stratification.

Division of society into categories, ranks, or classes* can be based on either achieved or ascribed status

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There are four basic principles of stratification:

Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply

a function of individual differences.

Social stratification persists over generations.

However, most societies allow some social

mobility or changes in people’s position in a

system of social stratification.

Social mobility may be upward, downward, or

horizontal.

Social stratification is universal but variable.

Social stratification involves not just inequality but

beliefs.

History of Social Stratification

History of Social Stratification:

In early societies, people shared a common social standing. As societies evolved and became more complex, they began to elevate some members.

* Hunting and Gathering Societies* Horticultural, Pastoral, and Agricultural Societies* Industrialized Societies

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There are Four major stratification

systems:

slavery, caste, estate, and class

CASTE AND CLASS SYSTEM

BY

AHSAN RASHEED

CLASS SYSTEM

a system in which social status is largely

determined by the family into which a

person is born.

… OPEN AND CLOSED CLASS SYSTEM

An open class system is the stratification that facilitates social mobility, Social mobility (change in status) is defined as movement of individuals, families, households, or other categories of people within or between layers of social stratification

CLOSED CLASS of social stratification in which status is ascribed from birth. In a closed system, there is little to no social mobility,

Class system is ACHIEVED (EFFORT)

ASCRIBED (BY BIRTH) STATUS

… In class system Reward is determined by achieved

status. (INCOME, WEALTH, COMFORT etc)

Marx believe that throughout human history only

two classes have appeared, those are Lord -

Slave in ancient society, Landlords - Peasants in

feudal

Property, prestige, and power are important

(Weber)

CASTE SYSTEM

A caste system is a class structure that is

determined by birth.(ASCRIBED STATUS)

Loosely, it means that in some societies, if your

parents are poor, you’re going to be poor, too.

Same goes for being rich, if you’re a glass-half-full

person (Optimists).

…

CLOSED and LIFELONG

Caste system is based on Ascription

(ascribed status) No choice.

Birth alone determines a person’s entire

future. Allowing little or no mobility and is

lifelong or permanent.

IMMOBILITY AND INHERATED STATUS

Caste cannot be changed it’s inherited.

…

Based on SPECIFIC OCCUPATION

ASCRIBED

EXOGAMY (outside marriage) AND

ENDOGAMY (inside marriage)

INDIA IS THE BEST

EXAMPLE

CASTE AND CLASS

SYSTEM Caste System:

Closed and

lifelong

Immobility and

inherited status

Based on specific

occupations

Ascribed status

Class System:

Open and mobile.

Reward is

determined by

achieved status.

Property, prestige,

and power are

important.

Slavery

by Aqib Zafar

Slavery:

Slavery is a system of stratification in which

one person owns another, as he or she

would own property, and exploits the slave’s

labor for economic gain.

Slaves are one of the lowest categories in

any stratification system, as they possess

virtually no power or wealth of their own.

History of Slavery:

Many Americans view slavery as a phenomenon

that began with the colonization of the New

World and ended

with the Civil War, but slavery has existed for a

very long time.

Slavery appears in the Old Testament of the

Bible, as well as in the Qur’an. It was common

practice in ancient Greece and Rome .

Causes:

Racism was the primary cause of slavery. Reasons for slavery include debt, crime, war, and beliefs of inherent superiority.

Debt: Individuals who could not pay their way out of debt sometimes had to literally sell themselves. If a slave’s debt was not paid off before his or her death, the debt was often passed down to his or her children, enslaving several generations of the same family.

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Crime: Families against whom a crime had

been committed might enslave members of

the perpetrator’s family as compensation.

Prisoners of war: Slaves were often taken

during wartime, or when a new territory was

being invaded. When Rome was colonizing

much of the known world approximately

2,000 years ago, it routinely took slaves from

the lands it conquered.

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Beliefs of inherent superiority: Some

people believe that they have a right to

enslave those who they believe are

inherently inferior to them.

SLAVERY

* Slavery still exists today. In Mauritania, the

Sudan, Ghana, Benin slavery exists much as it

did 800 years ago. In other parts of the world

including Bangladesh, India, Nepal and

Pakistan debt slavery is common.

Estate System

by Waleed Farooqi

Estate System

An ancient stratification system that no

longer exists today was the estate system,

a three-tiered system composed of the

nobility, the clergy, and the commoners.

During the Middle Ages, much of Europe was

organized under this system.

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Nobility:

The noble class or the body of nobles in a

country.

Members of the nobility had great inherited

wealth and did little or no discernible work.

They occupied themselves in what we would

term leisure pursuits, such as hunting or

riding. Others cultivated interests in cultural

pursuits, such as art and music.

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Clergy:

The body of all people ordained for religious

duties, especially in the Christian Church.

The clergy was very powerful in European

society in the Middle Ages, and membership

offered long-term job security and a

comfortable living. The higher up the ladder

a priest went, the more power he had over

the masses.

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Commoners:

One of the ordinary or common people, as

opposed to the aristocracy or to royalty.

They spent their lives engaged in hard

physical labor, with virtually no chance of

moving up in society.

Composition of Social Class

by Hamza Sarwar

Social Class:

A group of people who share a common interest in the society.

The group of individuals who have similar status in the economic system of a society . They share same power, wealth and prestige.

Four common social classes informally recognized in many societies are: Upper class

Middle class

Working class

lower class

Upper Class

Upper Class (Elite Class):

The class occupying the highest position in the social hierarchy.

Has 25% of the nations wealth.

Only 1 to 3% in the society.

There are two types in the upper class

Upper – upper class (old money)

Lower – upper class (new money)

Middle Class

Middle Class:

The middle class is the “sandwich” class

The middle class mainly consists of White collar workers.

The middle class has following types

Upper middle

Lower middle

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Upper Middle Class:

according to Max Weber the upper middle

class consists of well-educated professionals

with comfortable income.

Have both good incomes and high social

prestige. Well-educated. But lower than the

upper class.

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Lower Middle Class:

Less educated with less income.

Provide support for professionals

Engage in data collection., record-keeping

Paralegals, bank tellers, sales

Working Class The working class is the group of people

which must work for someone else to make money for their survival.

This class has low income but they work stable.

Laborers in factories

Restaurant workers

Repair shops, garages

Lower class

They are the subject class.

They are blue collar workers

The are obsessed in the society.

They earn less then the minimum wage

Unemployed individuals are also included in the lower class

Unstable jobs, more work less income.

Significance of Social Class

by Waleed Farooqi

Significance of Social Class:

* Happiness and Social Class*Determining life chances*Cultivating class Ethnocenterism*Defining the conventional Morality*Explaining many other group differences*Shaping political attitudes and life-styles*Getting the “Dirty-Work” done*Fitting into the better spots