Chapter 8: Social Stratification and Class

Table of Contents

1. What Is Social Stratification?
2. Global Systems Of Stratification
3. Classical Perspectives On Social Class
4. Canadian Class Structure
5. Sociological Explanations Of Social Inequality
6. Inequality In Canada
7. Poverty
8. The Twenty-First Century And Social Stratification

I. What Is Social Stratification?

1. Social stratification is the hierarchical arrangement of large social groups based on their control over basic resources.
   
   
2. Max Weber's term life chances describes the extent to which persons have access to important scarce resources; people's life chances are intertwined with their class, race, gender, and age.

II. Global Systems Of Stratification

1. Systems of stratification may be open or closed based on the availability of social mobility-the movement of individuals or groups from one level in a stratification system to another.
   1. Intergenerational mobility is the social movement experienced by family members from one generation to the next.

2. Intragenerational mobility is the social movement of individuals within their own lifetime.
   
   
2. A caste system is a system of social inequality in which people's status is permanently determined at birth based on their parents' ascribed characteristics.
   1. In contemporary India, vestiges of the caste system are based in part upon occupation; families typically perform the same type of work from generation to generation.
      
      
   2. The South African system was based on racial classifications; the Afrikaners controlled the government, the police, and the military by enforcing apartheid-the separation of the races.

3. Caste systems grow weaker as societies industrialize; the values reinforcing the system break down, and people start to focus on the types of skills needed for industrialization.
   
   
3. The class system is a type of stratification based on the ownership and control of resources and on the type of work that people do.
   1. Class refers to the relative location of a person or group within a larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other valued resources.
      
      
   2. Status comes at least partly through achievement rather than entirely by ascription.
      
      
   3. People may become members of a class other than that of their parents through both intergenerational and intragenerational mobility.

4. People may experience horizontal mobility (a gain or loss in position and/or income which does not produce a change in their place in the class structure) or vertical mobility (a gain or loss in position that produces a change in their place in the class structure).

III. Classical Perspectives On Social Class

1. Karl Marx: Relation to Means of Production
   1. According to Marx, people's work situation, or relationship to the means of production, determines class position in capitalistic societies.
      1. The bourgeoisie, or capitalist class, consists of those who privately own the means of production; and the proletariat, or working class, consists of those who must sell their labour power to the owners in order to earn enough money to survive.
         
         
      2. Class relationships involve inequality and exploitation; workers are exploited as capitalists expropriate a surplus value from their labour.
         
         
      3. Exploitation results in worker alienation-a feeling of powerlessness and estrangement from other people and from the self.
         
         
      4. Mechanization reduced the cost of producing products but also contributed to widespread unemployment and the emergence of a "reserve army"-unemployed workers who constitute a readily available source of cheap labour.
         
         
      5. According to Marx, the exploitation of the workers by the capitalist class ultimately would lead to class conflict-the struggle between the capitalist class and the working class.
         
         
   2. The capitalist class maintained its position by control of the society's superstructure, which is composed of the government, schools, and other social institutions that produce and disseminate ideas perpetuating the existing system.
      
      
   3. Capitalism has changed significantly since Marx's time.
      1. Today, ownership and control of the means of production largely are separate.
         
         
      2. Certain workers have experienced as rising standard of living, possibly producing a feeling of complacency.
         
         
      3. Many people are engrossed in the process of consumption of material possessions.
         
         
      4. Workers have gained improved legal rights and benefits through activism and labour union activity.
         
         
   4. Marx contributed to our understanding of class by pointing out the economic basis of class systems, the relationship between people's location in the class structure and their values, beliefs, and behaviour, and the fact that classes may have opposing (rather than complementary) interests.
      
      
2. Max Weber: Wealth, Prestige, and Power
   1. Weber's multidimensional approach to stratification focused on the interplay among wealth, prestige, and power as being necessary in determining a person's class position.
      1. Weber placed people who have a similar level of wealth-the value of all of a person's or family's economic assets, including income, personal property, and income-producing property-and income in the same class.
         
         
      2. Prestige is the respect with which a person or status position is regarded by others, and those who share similar levels of social prestige belong to the same status group regardless of their level of wealth.
         
         
      3. Power-the ability of people or groups to carry out their own goals despite opposition from others-gives some people the ability to shape society in accordance with their own interests and to direct the actions of others.
         
         
   2. Wealth, prestige, and power are separate continuums on which people can be ranked from high to low; individuals may be high on one dimension while being low on another.

3. Weber contributed to our understanding of class by emphasizing that people behave according to both their economic interests and their values.

IV. Canadian Class Structure

1. Determining Placement in the Class Structure
   1. Three methods of measuring class include: the subjective approach-people are asked to locate themselves in the class structure; the reputational approach-people are asked to place other individuals in their community (based on their reputation) into social classes; and the objective approach-researchers assign individuals to social classes based on predetermined criteria (e.g., occupation, income, education).
      
      
   2. Socioeconomic status (SES)-a combined measure that attempts to classify individuals, families, or households in terms of indicators such as income, occupation, and education-is used to determine class location.
      
      
   3. Occupational prestige ratings are the foundation for status attainment research, a methodology that examines the process by which people ultimately reach their position in the class structure.
      
      
2. Social Class in Canada
   1. The upper (or capitalist) class is the wealthiest and most powerful class, composed of people who own substantial income-producing assets and operate on the national and international scene (approximately 3-5 percent of the Canadian population). Some models further subdivide this class into:
      1. The upper-upper class-people who come from prominent families, which possess great wealth that they have held for several generations.
         
         
      2. The lower-upper class-people who may be extremely wealthy through their own endeavours but who have not attained the same prestige as the upper-upper class.
         
         
   2. The middle class-characterized by a minimum of a high school diploma or a community college degree-has been threatened in recent years by escalating housing prices, occupational insecurity, blocked mobility on the job, and a cost-of-living squeeze that has penalized younger workers. This group is often divided further into the upper-middle class and the lower-middle class. The upper-middle class is characterized by a combination of three factors (university degrees, authority and independence on the job, and high income) and includes highly educated professionals such as physicians, stockbrokers, corporate managers, or those who derive their income from family-owned businesses (approximately 40-50 percent).
      
      
   3. The working class is composed of semiskilled machine operatives, clerks and salespeople in routine, mechanized jobs, and workers in pink-collar occupations-relatively low-paying, nonmanual, semiskilled positions primarily held by women (approximately 30 percent).
      
      
   4. The lower class is composed of the working poor and the underclass. The working poor live from just above to just below the poverty line; they hold unskilled jobs, seasonal migrant employment in agriculture, lower-paid factory jobs, and service jobs (such as counter help at restaurants). The underclass includes people who are poor, seldom employed, and caught in long-term deprivation; some are unable to work because of age or disability, others experience discrimination based on race or ethnicity (approximately 20 percent).

V. Sociological Explanations Of Social Inequality

1. Functionalist Perspectives
   1. According to the Davis-Moore thesis:
      1. All societies have important tasks that must be accomplished and certain positions that must be filled.
      2. Some positions are more important for the survival of society than others (e.g., physicians).
      3. The most qualified people must fill the most important positions.
      4. The positions that are the most important for society and require scarce talent, extensive training, or both, must be the most highly rewarded.
      5. The most highly rewarded positions should be those that are functionally unique (no other position can perform the same function), and those positions upon which others rely for expertise, direction, or financing.
         
         
   2. This thesis assumes that social stratification results in meritocracy-a hierarchy in which all positions are rewarded based on people's ability and credentials.

3. This thesis directs our attention to the distribution of social prestige based on occupation; however, it ignores inequalities brought about by inherited wealth; it assumes economic rewards and prestige are the only effective motivators for people; and it ignores macrolevel structural factors such as racial discrimination.

2. Conflict Perspectives
   1. Conflict theory is based on the assumption that social stratification is created and maintained by one group in order to protect and enhance its own economic interests. Social stratification exists because the rich and powerful are determined to have more than their share of scarce resources.
      
      
   2. From a conflict perspective, inequality does not serve as a source of motivation for people; powerful individuals and groups use ideology to maintain their favoured positions at the expense of others.

3. Core values, laws, and informal social norms support inequality in Canada (legalized discrimination produces higher levels of economic inequality).
   
   
3. The Evolutionary Approach
   1. Gerhard Lenski's evolutionary theory shows how the nature of social stratification is influenced by the complexity of a society and its mode of economic production.
      
      
   2. Hunting and gathering societies are the least stratified. In this nomadic society the few resources of the society are distributed on the basis of need.
      
      
   3. In simple horticultural societies it is possible to accumulate property. As a result there is increasing "division of labour" and the first specialists appear.
      
      
   4. Technological advancement, specifically the production of metal tools in agricultural societies, leads to larger, more specialized, richer, and more stratified societies. It is in these societies that slavery first appears and the significance of hereditary status rises dramatically. Agricultural societies have the first hereditary classes and marked inequalities of power, property, and prestige.

5. In industrial societies, the complex technology reverses the trend towards increasing inequality. This is as a result of the ruling elite no longer being able directly to control the production process and being forced to rely on managers and specialized workers. In addition, in these productive societies there is more wealth. Therefore, the ruling elite can divide the wealth while at the same time protecting their own interests.

VI. Inequality In Canada

1. Distribution of Income and Wealth
   1. Income and wealth are very unevenly distributed in Canada.
      1. Income is the economic gain derived from wages, salaries, income transfers (governmental aid such as CPP), or ownership of property (e.g., in 1992, the wealthiest 20 percent of households received over 40 percent of the total income "pie" while the poorest 20 percent of households received less than 5 percent of all income).
         
         
      2. Wealth includes not only income but also property such as buildings, land, farms, houses, factories, cars, and other assets. Recent figures indicate that while the wealthiest 10 percent own 50 percent of the nation's wealth, the bottom 10 percent of the population have no assets and considerable debt.
         
         
2. Consequences of Inequality
   1. Persons with a high income or wealth have a greater opportunity to control their own life and greater access to goods and services; persons with very low income spend their limited resources to acquire the basic necessities of life.
      
      
   2. Health and Nutrition: As people's economic status increases, so does their health status; the poor have shorter life expectancies and are at greater risk for chronic illnesses and infectious diseases.
      
      
   3. Education and life chances are directly linked; while functionalists view education as an "elevator" for social mobility, conflict theorists stress that schools are agencies for reproducing the capitalist class system and perpetuating inequality in society.

VII. Poverty

1. Although some people living in poverty are unemployed, many hardworking people with full-time jobs also live in poverty.
   1. Statistics Canada uses the term low-income cut-off to measure poverty. Any individual or family that spends more than 56.2 percent of their income on food, clothing, and shelter is considered to be living in poverty.
      
      
   2. Based on this definition, in 1994 there were nearly 4.8 million Canadians living in poverty.
      
      
2. Sociologists distinguish between absolute poverty (when people do not have the means to secure the most basic necessities of life) and relative poverty (when people may be able to afford basic necessities but still are unable to maintain an average standard of living).
   
   
3. Who Are the Poor?
   1. Age: Children are more likely to be poor than older persons; older women are twice as likely to be poor as older men.
      
      
   2. Gender: About two-thirds of all adults living in poverty are women; this problem is described as the feminization of poverty-the trend in which women are disproportionately represented among individuals living in poverty.
      
      
   3. Race and Ethnicity: A disproportionate percentage of the poverty population is made up of Native peoples and recent immigrants. Native peoples are among the most severely disadvantaged groups in Canada, with approximately one-half living below the poverty line.
      
      
   4. Persons with Disabilities: Discrimination against disabled persons continues to result in significantly higher rates of poverty for disabled persons, despite recent efforts to eliminate employment discrimination.
      
      
4. Economic and Structural Sources of Poverty
   1. An economic source of poverty is the low wages paid for many jobs; over half of all families living in poverty are headed by someone who is employed.
      
      
   2. Poverty also is exacerbated by structural problems such as (a) deindustrialization-millions of Canadian workers have lost jobs as corporations have disinvested here and opened facilities in other countries where "cheap labour" exists; and (b) job deskilling-a reduction in the proficiency needed to perform a specific job that leads to a corresponding reduction in the wages paid for that job.

VIII. The Twenty-First Century And Social Stratification

1. Canada has attempted to solve the poverty problem with social welfare programs; however, the primary beneficiaries have not always been the poor.
   
   
2. A lack of consensus exists regarding both the definition of the problem and the possible solutions for it.
   
   
3. According to some social scientists, social inequality will increase-real incomes have continued to stagnate or decline in their purchasing power since the early 1970s.
   
   
4. Wealth will become more concentrated at the top of the Canadian class structure; as the rich have grown richer, more people have found themselves among the ranks of the poor.
   
   
5. Structural sources of upward mobility are shrinking while the rate of downward mobility has increased; the persistence of economic inequality is related to profound global economic changes.
   
   
6. Some analysts suggest that Canada will become a better country if it finds a more effective way of attacking poverty.

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