ipl-logo

Theories Of Social Stratification

937 Words4 Pages

Introduction
This essay will be based on the usage of sociological theories of stratification to discuss the extent to which contemporary South African society mirrors any one of the theories. Stratification is a system or formation of layers, classes or categories. Social stratification is described as the way which different groups of people as placed within society. In modern society, stratification is usually determined by income and other forms of wealth but no matter what may determine it, the society’s stratification has significant consequences to its members. The top theories that will be discussed in the essay are structural functionalism, social conflict and symbolic interaction. These theories will show the extent to which South African society mirrors them.

Sociological theories of stratification Structural functionalism
Structural functionalists argue that social inequality plays a vital role in the smooth operation of a society.
Davis-Moore thesis states that social stratification has beneficial consequences for the operation of society. Davis and Moore argue that the most difficult jobs in any society are the most necessary and require the highest rewards and compensation to sufficiently motivate individuals …show more content…

The bourgeoisie are the owners of means of production such as factories and other businesses. He believed that the wealth of the bourgeoisie depend on the work that the proletariat carried out, meaning that without the proletariats there won’t be wealth for the bourgeoisies. Marx refers to proletariats as laborers who do not get any piece of what they produce rather they are obliged to give everything they produce to the capitalist, the bourgeoisies. Both Weber and Marx believe that stratification results to inequality in a way that the rich will forever remain rich and the poor will remain poor. (Marx&

Show More
Related

The Wire Mcnulty: Chapter Summary And Analysis

599 Words | 3 Pages

In this episode of The Wire McNulty gets 30 more days for the wire tap. Judge Phelan was taking out of the race for judge because he helps McNulty. When listening to the wiretap the unit is able to find out where the stash house is located. They take the trash from the trash house and find drugs and other illegal items. Orlando is a gang member who owns the strip club and is caught by police for selling drugs.

Read More

Karl Marx And Samuel Smiles: A Comparative Analysis

812 Words | 4 Pages

Wealthy elites or the bourgeoisie continued to earn high profits while the poor proletarians continued to take part in labor intensive work in factories. Marx and Smiles both saw this as a major problem in their society. In Marx’s Communist Manifesto, he wrote, “ not only are they [the proletarians] slaves of the bourgeois class, and of the bourgeois state; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the machine, by the overlooker, and above all, by the individual bourgeois manufacturer himself…” What Marx means is that the bourgeoisie is looking down at the proletariats and using them as merely a way to earn profit. In contrast to Marx, Smiles said, “...they [the proletarians] resemble the savage tribes, who know no better, and do no worse.”

Read More

Nelson Mandela Dbq Essay

1091 Words | 5 Pages

From 1948-1994, apartheid raged across South Africa. The people of South Africa were split into four different social groups based on race. The top of the social hierarchy at the time were the white South Africans. They held control from the government and kept the other groups in a constant state of oppression. These other groups included Indian people, “colored” people, and black people.

Read More

What Is Reflected In 'Keeping Up With The Jones The Great Myth'

532 Words | 3 Pages

The Marx approach focuses on economic factors as the sole reason for conflict in society. He saw society divided into the Bourgeoisie, or the owners of the means of production, and the proletariat, or the workers. Tensions and conflicts occur when the resources, power, and status are unevenly distributed between these two groups, and the conflict can lead to social change. He believed the exploited people would bane together and attempt to bring about changes. The workers would develop a class consciousness and revolt demanding more changes in society, while those with the wealth, power and prestige will continue to try and promote their own interest usually at the expense of the weaker

Read More

Central Texan Sustainability

841 Words | 4 Pages

According to Marx society was divided into two classes that were in eternal conflict in the battle for resources, or as Marx coined; “the means of production”. The first class were the bourgeoisie, which Marx described as the sole owners of the means of production as well as the media. The bourgeoisie used their power and influence to exploit the second class, which Marx called the proletariat which consisted of all the workers of the world. Marx rejected the idea that the wealthy pulled themselves from their own bootstraps, which he called “false consciousness” and in return coined the term “class consciousness”, which referred to a persons awareness of their own social status, especially in terms of class conflict. Overall, Marx concluded that social order is created maintained by domination and power.

Read More

Karl Marx's Approach To Social Inequality

926 Words | 4 Pages

Social inequalities can be described as the differences in “income, resources, power and status” (Naidoo and Wills 2008, in Warwick-Booth 2013, 2) that advantage a social class, a group or an individual over another, and thereby establish social hierarchies. It also affects inequalities in regards to gender, race, access to health and education, and general living conditions. In sociology, the dichotomy between the conflict theory approach and the functionalist approach has led to a discordant opinion in regards to social inequalities. The conflict theory seems to admit that social inequalities needs to disappear in order to install a common and equal base for all individuals, whereas the functionalist approach believes that social inequalities

Read More

The Wire Chapter Summaries

715 Words | 3 Pages

The tenth episode of The Wire was about how they got an extension on the wire tap from Judge Phelan. Once leaving the office, McNulty finds out that the judge is not on the re-election ticket. Orlando was caught for trying to buy cocaine from an undercover officer. He gives Avon’s name in hoping that the police would let him go. Once the police looked of Avon, they realized that McNulty was looking for him.

Read More

The Communist Manifesto By Karl Marx And Frederick Engels

947 Words | 4 Pages

“In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild-masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all of these classes, again, subordinate gradations” (Manifesto, 1848). In the Communist manifesto, Marx discusses the class type of his time, bourgeois and proletariat. The bourgeois were the higher class who exploited the proletariats. They constantly strived to expand their power and wealth in society.

Read More

The History Of Class Conflicts In Karl Marx And Engels

764 Words | 4 Pages

The proletariats are the wage earners or the labour class, in a capitalist society the proletarians don’t have much wealth, and their main asset is their labour power. The bourgeoisie is the class that owns the means of production, their class interest lies in the value of property and the preservation of capital, and this ensures their perpetual economic supremacy in society. According to Marx, in the capitalist mode of production, a worker slowly loses the power to decide upon his or her life and destiny, they lose their Gattungswesen (“species-essence”), and this is a consequence of living in a socially stratified society, where human beings become a mechanistic part of a social class. Even though human beings are self-conscious and autonomous, in a capitalist society they are nothing but an economic entity whose acts are dictated by the bourgeoisie, with the aim

Read More

Karl Marx And Emile Durkheim Analysis

1277 Words | 6 Pages

Marx believed that the current capitalist society is separated into two classes, the Proletariat society, and Bourgeois society. The Proletarians, as perceived by Marx, are part of the working class that only possess one significant material value, that is the ability to work, or labour power. The Bourgeoise, on the other hand, is the societal class that owns the means of production and hence rule over the Proletarians. As I quote from Marx’s book, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1988, p. 473)

Read More

What Is Karl Marx Theory Of Exploitation

1074 Words | 5 Pages

According to Edwards et al. (2006) Marx thought that within capitalism there would be an increased divide between the bourgeoisie class and the proletariat class in the future. The proletariats are lower of the two classes, the people who have to work for wages in order to survive. The bourgeoisie are the people in society who controlled and owned the means of production in a capitalist system.

Read More

Compare And Contrast Marxism And Feminism

1143 Words | 5 Pages

Bourgeoisie, which gains the power, defines superstructure “including all social and legal institution, all political and educational systems, all religions and all art” (Bressler, 162), and articulate the ideology which is based on profits of bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie ideology leads to alienation of individuals, especially proletariats. This bourgeoisie ideology creates the clash between the two classes. Marx supported the working class and their victory over dominant class. Marxism believes in providing equal opportunity to the working class as that are available to the

Read More

The Father Of Capitalism And Marxism By Karl Marx

1140 Words | 5 Pages

Capitalism, according to Karl Marx is divided into two major social classes: the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie, which is the minority of the class system, own the means of production such as land, machinery, factories and raw materials whereas the Proletariat, which is the majority of the class system, having no means of their own production and have to work to earn wage for a living. Karl Marx has his own theory that history is made up by class struggle which he mentioned in his book – Manifesto of the Communist Party: “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.” (Marx and Engels, 1848) and had predicted that the Proletariat would lead a revolution to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. Karl Marx believed that there will be intrinsic conflict like exploitation, alienation of labour and commodity fetishism between both of the classes.

Read More

Playing In The Light Analysis

754 Words | 4 Pages

The survey states that four out of every ten South Africans believe that apartheid was not wrong in its oppressive actions, as well as one third of white South Africans believing that poverty in South Africa in the present day is not a result of apartheid (Wadvalla, 2013). Seeing that this data was gathered twenty years apart the first democratic election in South Africa,

Read More

Social Class And Social Inequality

1443 Words | 6 Pages

Social classes are a form of social stratification that refers to the existence of structured inequalities between individuals and groups in society. A social class is a group of people of comparable status, power and wealth which are usually classified as upper class, middle class, and lower class. For each class, there are some specific opportunities available that influence their social life. We can understand about the particularity of the chances through unequal distribution of these opportunities between individuals in social classes. In here belonging to a social class seems to be an obstacle for some individuals to obtain equal opportunity, unlike upper class people.

Read More

More about Theories Of Social Stratification

Related Topics

Open Document