W12.2 May 24 KimMinJeong(김민정)

1. Summary

I read some material that describes social stratification. Social stratification refers to the classification of people into groups in a society based on socioeconomic factors such as wealth, income, race, education, ethnicity, gender, occupation, social status, or derived power. It is a hierarchy within a group that grants different levels of authority. Therefore, stratification is the relative social position of an individual within a social group, category, geographic area, or social unit. In modern Western society, the social class is defined as the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. The classification of people by social class most clearly occurs in complex state-based, multicenter, or feudal societies, with the latter based on socioeconomic relationships between the aristocratic and peasant classes. Since determining social stratification arises from the status inequality between individuals, the social class of individuals is determined by the degree of social inequality. In general, the greater the social complexity of a society, the more social classes exist through social differentiation.

2. What I learned

Four principles underlying social stratification are presented. First, the social class is socially defined as the property of that society, not as an individual belonging to it. Second, the social class is reproduced from generation to generation. Third, the social class is universal, but it is variable. Fourth, social stratification includes qualitative beliefs and attitudes toward social status as well as quantitative inequality. Although stratification is not limited to complex societies, all complex societies exhibit the characteristics of stratification. In a complex society, the total amount of valuable goods is unequal, and the most privileged individuals and families enjoy the disproportionate share of income, power, and other valuable social resources. The term "stratification system" is sometimes used to refer to the complex social relationships and social structures that produce this observed inequality. Social mobility is the movement of categories of individuals, social groups, or people between classes or within a stratification system. This movement can be within or between generations. Open stratification systems are generally systems that allow mobility by giving value to the state characteristics achieved by an individual. Societies with the highest intergenerational mobility are considered the most open and flexible stratification systems. Systems with little or no intergenerational mobility are considered closed stratification systems.

3. Question

"Social stratification" is a concept used in social science to describe the relative social positions of people in a particular social group, category, geographic area, or other social unit. For example, it is divided in such a way as upper and lower classes, where the language is sometimes used as a word for social inequality in economic terms.

So is the concept of social stratification negative?