In early societies, people shared a common social standing.
As societies evolved and became more complex, they began to elevate some
members. Today, stratification, a system by which society ranks its members in
a hierarchy, is the norm throughout the world. All societies stratify their
members. A stratified society is one in which there is an unequal distribution
of society’s rewards and in which people are arranged hierarchically into
layers according to how much of society’s rewards they possess. To understand
stratification, we must first understand its origins.
Hunting and Gathering Societies
Hunting and gathering societies had little stratification.
Men hunted for meat while women gathered edible plants, and the general welfare
of the society depended on all its members sharing what it had. The society as
a whole undertook the rearing and socialization of children and shared food and
other acquisitions more or less equally. Therefore, no group emerged as better
off than the others.
Horticultural, Pastoral, and Agricultural Societies
The emergence of horticultural and pastoral societies led to
social inequality. For the first time, groups had reliable sources of food:
horticultural societies cultivated plants, while pastoral societies
domesticated and bred animals. Societies grew larger, and not all members
needed to be involved in the production of food. Pastoral societies began to
produce more food than was needed for mere survival, which meant that people
could choose to do things other than hunt for or grow food.
Division of Labor and Job Specialization
Division of labor in agricultural societies led to job
specialization and stratification. People began to value certain jobs more
highly than others. The further someone was from actual agriculture work, the
more highly he or she was respected. Manual laborers became the least respected
members of society, while those engaged in “high culture,” such as art or
music, became the most respected.
As basic survival needs were met, people began trading goods
and services they could not provide for themselves and began accumulating
possessions. Some accumulated more than others and gained prestige in society
as a result. For some people, accumulating possessions became their primary goal.
These individuals passed on what they had to future generations, concentrating
wealth into the hands of a few groups.
Industrialized Societies
The Industrial Revolution began in Great Britain in the
mid-1700s, when the steam engine came into use as a means of running other
machines. The rise of industrialization led to increased social stratification.
Factory owners hired workers who had migrated from rural areas in search of
jobs and a better life. The owners exploited the workers to become wealthy, making
them work long hours in unsafe conditions for very low wages. The gap between
the “haves” and the “have-nots” widened.
The Improvement of Working Conditions
By the middle of the 1900s, workers had begun to secure
rights for themselves, and the workplace became safer. Wages rose, and workers
had something they had never had before: buying power. They could purchase
homes, automobiles, and a vast array of consumer goods. Though their financial
success was nothing compared to that of their bosses, the gap between the two
was narrowing, and the middle class grew stronger.
At the same time, new forms of inequality took hold. The
increasing sophistication and efficiency of factory machines led to the need
for a different kind of worker—one who could not only operate certain kinds of
equipment but could also read and write. The classification of the skilled
worker was born. A skilled worker is literate and has experience and expertise
in specific areas of production, or on specific kinds of machines. In contrast,
many unskilled workers could neither read nor write English and had no specific
training or expertise. The division arose between skilled and unskilled
workers, with the former receiving higher wages and, as some would say, greater
job security.
Postindustrial Societies
The rise of postindustrial societies, in which technology
supports an information-based economy, has created further social
stratification. Fewer people work in factories, while more work in service
industries. Education has become a more significant determinant of social
position. The Information Revolution has also increased global stratification.
Even though new technology allows for a more global economy, it also separates
more clearly those nations who have access to the new technology from those who
don’t.
Article Credit: http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/social-stratification-and-inequality/section1.rhtml
