SOPY 3015 Individuals, State

and Society
Social inequalities , Social
Stratification and social censure
18 September, 2018

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1.The emergence of the concept

social equality
 The pursuit of social equality and the combat
of social inequalities has a long history since
the Age of Enlightenment in Europe in the
18th century.
 The Age of Enlightenment, in simple terms,
can be understood as a cultural movement
whereby the reason of man was upheld
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The relationship between the

Enlightenment and Social equality
 Enlightenment (Hamilton, 1992; Held,1992)

 human reasoning and rationality

 pursuit of knowledge and science
 pursuit of freedom (free will of man)
 free from political and other kinds of
oppression and coercion
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2.The Declaration of Independence

of the USA 1776
 “When in the Course of human events, it becomes
necessary for one people to dissolve the political
bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of
Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent
respect to the opinions of mankind requires that
they should declare the causes which impel them to
the separation.”
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The Declaration of Independence of

the USA 1776
 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”

 “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these

ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness.”
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3.The Declaration of the Rights of

Man and Citizens – France 1789
 Total 24 articles which defined the rights and duties of all
citizens and eliminated all the privileges of the nobility and
clergy.

 #1: Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social
distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.
 #4: Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no
one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no
limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the
enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by
law.
 #11: The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most
precious of the rights of man.
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4.Universal Declaration of Human

Rights(UDHR, 1948)
 Preamble:
 Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the
equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and
peace in the world,
 Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the
Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human
rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person
and in the equal rights of men and women and have
determined to promote social progress and better
standards of life in larger freedom,
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Universal Declaration of Human

Rights (UDHR, 1948)
 Article 1 :
 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and
should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
 Article 7:
 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are
entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in
violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to
such discrimination.
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Universal Declaration of Human

Rights(UDHR, 1948)
 Article 10
 Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by
an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his
rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
 Article 21
 1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
 (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his
country.
 (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of
government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall
be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
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Universal Declaration of Human

Rights (UDHR, 1948)
 Article 26
 (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education
shall be free, at least in the elementary and
fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory. Technical and professional education
shall be made generally available and higher
education shall be equally accessible to all on the
basis of merit.
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5. The concepts of social

inequality(Marger, 2011)
 Social inequality can be understood as a social
created / social perpetuated condition
 Individuals or social groups suffer from vast
differences such as: (power, ….)
 The result of these differences :
 Individuals and groups who suffer from social
inequalities would likely lose their
1. Freedom;
2. dignity;
3. life chances or gain unequal life chances
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Social inequality
 Social inequality is a product of unequal
distribution of:
 power:
 status:
 prestige:
 wealth:
 Itis often reproduced and sustained by social
policy of the state
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6.Forms of social inequalities (across

groups) (Ore, 2014; Sernau, Platt, 2011)
 Social inequality based on class
 Class inequality
 Power, prestige, wealth
 Social inequality based on race and ethnicity
 Racial/ethical inequality
 Power, prestige, wealth
 Social inequality based on gender and sexuality
 Gender/sexual inequality
 Power, prestige, wealth, __________
 Intersectionality: the interaction between gender, race and
other categories of difference in individual lives, social
practices, institution in terms of power (Davis, 2008; Romero,
2018)
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7.Social Inequality and Social

Stratification (Marger, 2011)
 Every society is marked by inequality, with
some people having significantly more
money, schooling, health, and power than
others.
 Social stratification is defined as a system by
which a society ranks categories of people in a
hierarchy , is based on four important
principles.
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Characteristics
1. it is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of
individual differences.
2. it carries over from generation to generation.
3. it is universal but variable
4. it involves not just inequality but beliefs as
well
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Example 1: Caste system

 It is social stratification based on ascription, or birth.
 A pure caste system is closed because birth alone
determines a person’s entire future, with little or no
social mobility based on individual effort.
 People live out their lives in the rigid categories into
which they were born, without the possibility for
change for the better or worse.
 Example: India
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2XktzecBYo
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 From birth, caste position determines the

direction of a person’s life.
 Work
 Marriage
 Socialization

Dalits
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Example 2:Class system

 The process of schooling and specialization gives
rise to a class system, social stratification based on
both birth and individual achievement
 Class system are more open than caste system, thus
people who gain schooling and skills may
experience social mobility
 Class system become blurred, and even blood
relatives may have different social standings.
 Work is no longer fixed by birth but involves some
personal choices.
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 Meritocracy: it refers to social stratification

based on personal merit.
 Because industrial societies need to develop a
broad range of abilities beyond framing,
stratification is based not just on the accident
of birth but also on merit, which includes a
person’s knowledge, abilities and effort.
 The measure of merit is the importance of a
person’s job and how well it is done.
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Explaining Stratification
 Structural-function theory
 Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore (1945,1948)
 Social stratification has beneficial consequence for
the operation of a society
 Certain jobs are fairly easy and can be performed by
almost anyone. Other jobs are very difficult and
demand the scarce talents of people with extensive
and expensive training.
 The greater the functional importance of a position,
the more rewards a society attaches to it.
 This strategy promotes productivity and efficient
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 Social conflict theory

 Rather than benefiting society as a whole, social
stratification benefits some people and also
disadvantages others at the same time.
 Karl Marx (1968) class conflict(modes of
production, means of production, relations of
production)
 Max Weber (1921, 1978): Class, status and
(party/power)
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 Symbolic interaction theory (Mead, 1934)

Stratification is a factor that guides people’s
interactions in everyday life
 The products ( coffee, dressing, bag,……) we
consume all or say something about social
position.
 At the micro-level analysis of social
stratification ; help people see patterns of social
inequality in our everyday lives.
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Other themes about social inequality and

social stratification
 Class formation: Upper class and middle
class; The formation of (super)rich
 Social mobility(upward or downward
mobility)
 Poverty ( the absolute/relative poverty;
working poor; homelessness)
 Social exclusion
 Social stigma/ labeling effect
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8. Dimensions of social equality

1. Opportunity as equality
 It is the freedom to pursue success,
achievement or individual goals unimpeded by
artificial constraints.
 Any resulting inequalities: natural and fair
 does not imply equality of society
 Example: opportunity of education and work
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Dimensions of social equality

2. Equality of process
 Emphasizes on the due process and procedural
justice (e.g. special examination arrangement
for SEN students)
 Everyone who go through the process will be
treated the same, disregard of the background
of the persons concerned
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3. Inequality of outcome
 The evaluation of fairness
 The disparities in outcome
 To reveal whether society is organized and has
established the systems of reward and
allocation
 E.g. opportunity of education
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Example: Social inequalities in Hong

Kong
 Hong Kong is commonly known as a free but unequal
society
 In the past many years, inequalities are either
suppressed or tolerated because of the belief that class
mobility existed
 Life chances were believed to be more available, and
opportunities of upward mobility opened
 In cases where upward mobility was not opened, the
ideology of “blaming the victims” prevailed.
 There are different forms of social inequality in Hong
Kong society.
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9. Social inequalities in Hong Kong(Census and

Statistics Department, 2011,2016)
Year Per capita GDP at current Gini-coefficient
market prices (HK$)
1981 33,369 0.451
1986 57,784 0.453
1991 120,015 0.478
1996 191,047 0.518
2001 193,600 0.525
2006 219,240 0.535
2011 273,549 0.537
2016 339,531 0.539
1. Gini Coefficient is a statistic commonly used by many economies to analyze income disparity.
2. The value of Gini Coefficient ranges from 0 to 1. The higher the Gini Coefficient, the more the disparity it
implies. (the source from Hong Kong Statistics and Census department, 2011)
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Gini coefficients in OECD countries

and Hong Kong
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Main employment income (Census

and Statistics Department, 2016)
198 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2014 2015 2016
1
Median 1,51 2,573 5,170 9,500 10,000 10,000 12,000 13,400 13,500 15,000
Income 6
(HK$)
Population 4.98 5.40 5.52 6.22 6.71 6.86 7.07 7.24 7.32 7.33
(Million)
Active 2.50 2.73 2.81 3.18 3.43 3.57 3.72 3.87 3.93 3.95
labor force
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Percentage Distribution of monthly income from main employment by

decile group of working population , 2001, 2006 and 2011
2001 年、 2006 年及 2011 年按十等分組別工作人口劃分
的每月主要職業收入百分比分布 (Census and Statistics Department,
2011,2016)

Median monthly income from main

employment (HK$) (%)
十等分組別 (at current prices)
Decile group Excluding foreign domestic helpers
2001 2006 2011 2016 2001 2006 2011 2016
1st （ lowest) 3,500 3,000 3,580 5,250 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.9
2nd 6,000 5,500 6,940 9,000 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.6
3rd 7,500 7,000 8,000 10,250 4.3 4.1 4.1 4.2
4th 9,000 8,000 9,900 12,250 5.1 4.9 4.7 5.0
5th 10,000 10,000 11,000 15,000 5.8 5.7 5.4 5.9
6th 12,000 11,000 13,500 17,000 6.8 6.6 6.7 6.8
7th 15,000 14,000 16,150 20,000 8.4 8.3 8.2 8.2
8th 18,500 18,000 20,000 26,250 10.6 10.6 10.5 10.7
9th 25,000 25,000 30,000 37,000 14.3 14.6 15.0 15.1
10th （ highes
45,000 45,000 55,000 68,000 39.6 40.4 40.3 38.5
t）
合計 11,000 10,000 12,000 15,500 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
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There are 1.52 million working population whose monthly income is below the median.
There are around 221,696 working poor – whose income is below 50% of the median
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The median income of the highest income group is ___ times of the lowest income
group.
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Social inequalities in Hong Kong

(Census and Statistics Department, 2017)
 As far as gender is concerned, the median
income of male and female is:

2001 2006 2011 2014 2015 2016

Male 12,000 11,000 13,000 15,000 16,700 17,000
Female 8,900 8,500 9,500 11,000 11,600 14,000
% 74 77 73 73 69.4% 82.3%
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Social inequalities in Hong Kong(Census

and Statistics Department, 2017)
 The percentage of working poor of male and
female (income less than 50% of the median
income) is:

2001 2006 2011 2014 2015 2016

Male 10% 9.1% 6.7% 8.55%(164) 10.5% 21.4%(734,9
(202.8) 66)
Female 29.8% 28.1% 26.4% 24.4%(448.6) 24.5%(454.4 23.15%(791,
) 848)
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Census and Statistics Department, 2016

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49.5% 52.7% 40% 4.97% 4.61% 7.65

%

4.39% 6.02% 14.25% 0.74% 0.85% 2.24

%
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Census and Statistic Department, 2014

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Census and Statistic Department, 2014

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10. Social inequalities and social

policy
 Social policy may help reproduce social inequalities by:
 Maintaining the ideology of economic supremacy
 Maintaining personal responsibility
 Supporting the belief of personal failure
 Restricting social mobility
 Strengthening gender and age structure
 Further ask or reflect how the above factors reproduce
social inequalities and how the impact affect the
relationship among individuals, state and society?