Social Stratification Essay

A. What is Social Stratification?
1. Social stratification is defined as a system by which society ranks classs of people in a hierarchy a. There are four cardinal rules of stratification: • Social stratification is a characteristic of society — non merely due to single differences • Social stratification persists over coevalss
• Yet. most societies allow some kind of societal mobility or alterations in people’s place in a system of societal stratification • Social mobility may be upward. downward. or horizontal • Social stratification is cosmopolitan but variable ( it changes ) • Social stratification involves both inequality and beliefs 2. Social Stratification is patterned societal inequality. It is besides the unequal distribution of social resources. Stating that inequality is patterned indicates that the differences occur: a. on a wide-scale footing

b. with regularity c. and along lines of certain specific. identifiable features ( race. category. and gender ) 3. Stratification is normally based on three major premises: a. Power: the ability to enforce one’s will on others
b. Prestige: the regard given by othersc. Property: signifiers of wealth