Grouping by Class and Social Rank Caste Systems

1
Grouping by Class and Social Rank Caste Systems

• Caste A social class in which membership is
  determined by birth and fixed for life.
• Children automatically belong to their parents
  caste.
• Example, India?

Dalits, known as untouchables in Indias
traditional caste system, light 100 candles of
freedom at the 2004 World Social Forum held in
Mumbai.
2
Are we a stratified society?

• Homeless men sleeping on sidewalksone in India,
  one in the United States.
• Outcast groups such as Indias untouchables are a
  common feature of stratified societies.
• In the United States, 13 of the population is
  in poverty according to the 2004 U.S. Census. In
  the United States 70 of wealth is in the hands
  of 10 of the population.
• Our stratification may not be as explicit as
  Indias caste system, but do we have levels
  and.what are they?
• We have egalitarian ideals i.e. The American
  Dream, but reality is sometimes different.why?
  Do we have a type of Untouchables who would be
  barred from holding certain societal positions?
• Our actions and reactions towards others may hold
  the answer

3
Ways of Expressing Social Class

• What types of Class indicators do we find in U.S.
  language?
• Verbal evaluation
• What people say about other people in their
  society.
• Patterns of association
• Who interacts with whom, how, and in what
  context.
• Symbolic indicators
• Activities and possessions indicative of class
  position.
• Differences in life chances
• High-status people generally live longer and in
  better health than people of low status.
• But not all societies are stratified or
  egalitarian, some are open class societies...

4
Are we an open-class society?

• Open-class societies are those with the easiest
  social mobility.
• Degree of mobility is related to education or
  type of family organization that prevails in a
  society.
• Where the extended family is the norm, mobility
  tends to be severely limited.