Social Stratification

What is social stratification? How is social class connected to social stratification? Summarize
the four systems of stratification (provide examples of each). Which stratification system(s) is
likely to be open and/or closed? Which systems reflect ascribed and/or achieved status? Explain.

Power, wealth, and prestige are used in social stratification. Social stratification is the
layering of people into layers according to those three criteria. Social stratification actually
determines one’s social strata, or which part of society one falls into relative to others. There are
four systems of social stratification: class, caste, estate, and slavery. The class category of social
stratification is based on the possession of assets; in the US, we operate on a class system where
we determine one’s class usually based on achievement, wealth, and power. The caste system
determines one’s strata based on which strata they were born into, and is lifelong; for example, in
India they operate on a caste system. The estate system takes into account how much land one
owns; this was widely used in the Middle Ages and as an example, the reigning monarch of a
kingdom would own the most land. The slavery system is one where the ownership of people
prevails. An example would be the time of the American slave trade before the Civil War
declared slavery illegal. The most open stratification systems are class and estate because one
can change how many assets or land they have with relative ease, while the most closed systems
are caste and slavery because they rely on criteria that are difficult to change. The only system
that operates on achieved status, or status that can be earned, is the class system. The rest are
ascribed, or systems based on traits beyond the individual’s control.

Means of Production
For Karl Marx, what is the means of production and who owns the means of production (explain
and give examples)? Distinguish among the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. What is their
relationship to the means of production? Finally, describe and explain the following terms: class
consciousness, dominant ideology and false consciousness.

According to Karl Marx, the means of production are the resources used to facilitate
economic production, or the things that go into the “input” category when making the “output”
or goods. This includes factories, labor forces, raw materials, etc. The ruling class that owns the
means of production are called the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie, besides owning the means of
production, also profit and thrive off society’s industrialization. On the other hand, the proletariat
is comprised of the working class majority who sells their labor for profit. In short, their
relationships to the means of production are: the bourgeoisie own the means of production and
the proletariat are part of the labor force, which is a means of production. Class consciousness is
the awareness of one’s own socioeconomic status, or when someone is aware of their status
relative to others’. An example of this could be when a lower-income shopper does not want to
step into luxury stores like Luis Vuitton because they are aware that those stores cater to people
with wealth statuses above their own. A dominant ideology is a set of beliefs and attitudes that is
shared by the majority of a society. For example, the United States’ dominant ideology is that
one can work their way up to a high position in a company or to a better life through hard work
and determination. False consciousness is a state of mind that prevents people from recognizing
the injustice of a situation. One example of this can be when one person, born into privilege,
cannot see the injustice of minimum wage being cut because it does not, never has, and never
will affect their life.

Weber's Definitions of Class, Status Group & Party

Distinguish among Weber’s usage of the following terms: class, status group and party. Provide
examples of each. Contrast Weber and Marx’s views of social class.

Weber defines classes as having to take into account three things: life chances, or the
opportunities that an individual has to improve their life, economic interest, or an individual’s
interest in the possession of goods, and markets, which is the conditions of a labor/commodity
market around an individual. Status groups are communities formed based on individuals’
similar status honors; for example, a status group can be defined on gender, musical tastes,
military ranks, or religious affiliations. Weber defines party as an organization formed by
members in order to achieve a specific end; an example could be a firefighters’ brigade. The
main difference between Marx and Weber’s views on social stratification is while Marx was
more “black and white,” where there were only two classes based on ownership – the proletariat
and the bourgeoisie – Weber takes into account many more factors and there is not just two
classes.

Cultural Capital
How is cultural capital linked to class differences? How is cultural capital linked to power
differences? Explain. Discuss cultural capital in relation to material, social and cultural
resources. How is cultural capital expressed in attire, housing, vacations, food and sport?

Cultural capital is linked to class differences as each class expresses them differently, but
is not linked to classes through financial measure. Cultural capital is the ability to have assets
which give us social mobility and it falls into three categories: objectified, embodied, and
institutionalized. Objectified cultural capital relates to our material goods, embodied cultural
capital relates to our personality and social skills interacting with others, and institutionalized
cultural capital relates to the education we receive. Cultural capital is linked to power differences
as those with more power tend to have higher levels of cultural capital. The assets that gauge an
individual’s cultural capital, such as material goods, ability to interact and socialize with others,
and level of education tend to push individuals to higher levels of power – there is a positive
correlation between the two. Material, social, and cultural resources all contribute to cultural
capital by increasing the latter with the gain of the first three. Cultural capital is expressed in
attire, housing, vacations, food, and sport generally through the expenditure on more expensive
goods with a higher level of cultural capital.