1.Summary
Stratification means placing people hierarchically in society. Where they are placed depends on the resources they have. This resource can be economic, economic, political, or other. This stratification raises many inequalities. Let's see why stratification continues to cause inequality.
Modern sociologists define stratification in terms of socio-economic status based on Max Weber's ideas. There are three factors in this position: power, wealth, and prestige. Power refers to the ability to do one's own self regardless of whether or not the subject wants it. The power that is justified here is called authority. Property means economic resources. Finally, prestige refers to the reputation or respect of status in society. These three indicators can be located differently, but in reality they exist in a similar location.
In the United States, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased due to the depression. The top 1% has become disproportionate to earn a quarter of the national income. This inequality has existed since ancient times. Let's look at the origin of this inequality.
In the hunter / collecting society, people consumed their produce as they got it. There was no surplus product. However, society changed into a horticulture / cattle society, and living in one place, people had surplus property. This is the origin of personal property. The concept of private property began in Europe, spread all over the world, and flourished in the 15th century. Differences in private property naturally led to economic inequality.
This inequality has a property that is sustained by institutions and social structures. This unequal structure lasts for many reasons. First, the rich and the powerful try to protect the system of inequality. They do not want to change unequal structures because they are easy to maintain their power as unequal structures exist. Karl Marx said that they helped control the social aspects of the school, including the media, and helped maintain this structure. Second, culture teaches acceptance of inequality. Culture teaches people that inequality is natural. The poor are responsible for themselves. Third, they educate and inhabit them with inequality.
There are two main points of view of this inequality: functionalist viewpoint and conflictual viewpoint. In terms of functionalism, stratification is one of the factors that make society functionally. In this theory, it is said that more people need more training and responsibility for their position in order to become a higher-level person. Explain that there are few people who can replace them and that they should receive high compensation accordingly. However, people with lower positions are more likely to replace them. Therefore, they can accept low compensation. In other words, in order for society to function, there must be inequality.
But there is a clear problem with this theory. First, it is difficult to grasp the importance of the function. The importance of a position in the performance of a task is relative. In all cases, one position can not be the most important. Second, functionalism assumes that the distribution of positions will be reasonable. In reality, however, this assumption in society does not work perfectly. For example, there is an example of former President Bush. He is not a politically superior person, but by external conditions he has the title of president.
On the contrary, it argues that stratification is social dysfunctional. Layering is a structure for the strong. In this structure, the strong will benefit and the weak will suffer. They are competing, and the strong people are the winner and the weak people are loser. The winner keeps on this relationship. In other words, the stratified structure is not inevitable but an unequal structure created by the winners.
Stratification means placing people hierarchically in society. Where they are placed depends on the resources they have. This resource can be economic, economic, political, or other. This stratification raises many inequalities. Let's see why stratification continues to cause inequality.
Modern sociologists define stratification in terms of socio-economic status based on Max Weber's ideas. There are three factors in this position: power, wealth, and prestige. Power refers to the ability to do one's own self regardless of whether or not the subject wants it. The power that is justified here is called authority. Property means economic resources. Finally, prestige refers to the reputation or respect of status in society. These three indicators can be located differently, but in reality they exist in a similar location.
In the United States, the gap between the rich and the poor has increased due to the depression. The top 1% has become disproportionate to earn a quarter of the national income. This inequality has existed since ancient times. Let's look at the origin of this inequality.
In the hunter / collecting society, people consumed their produce as they got it. There was no surplus product. However, society changed into a horticulture / cattle society, and living in one place, people had surplus property. This is the origin of personal property. The concept of private property began in Europe, spread all over the world, and flourished in the 15th century. Differences in private property naturally led to economic inequality.
This inequality has a property that is sustained by institutions and social structures. This unequal structure lasts for many reasons. First, the rich and the powerful try to protect the system of inequality. They do not want to change unequal structures because they are easy to maintain their power as unequal structures exist. Karl Marx said that they helped control the social aspects of the school, including the media, and helped maintain this structure. Second, culture teaches acceptance of inequality. Culture teaches people that inequality is natural. The poor are responsible for themselves. Third, they educate and inhabit them with inequality.
There are two main points of view of this inequality: functionalist viewpoint and conflictual viewpoint. In terms of functionalism, stratification is one of the factors that make society functionally. In this theory, it is said that more people need more training and responsibility for their position in order to become a higher-level person. Explain that there are few people who can replace them and that they should receive high compensation accordingly. However, people with lower positions are more likely to replace them. Therefore, they can accept low compensation. In other words, in order for society to function, there must be inequality.
But there is a clear problem with this theory. First, it is difficult to grasp the importance of the function. The importance of a position in the performance of a task is relative. In all cases, one position can not be the most important. Second, functionalism assumes that the distribution of positions will be reasonable. In reality, however, this assumption in society does not work perfectly. For example, there is an example of former President Bush. He is not a politically superior person, but by external conditions he has the title of president.
On the contrary, it argues that stratification is social dysfunctional. Layering is a structure for the strong. In this structure, the strong will benefit and the weak will suffer. They are competing, and the strong people are the winner and the weak people are loser. The winner keeps on this relationship. In other words, the stratified structure is not inevitable but an unequal structure created by the winners.
The stratification also occurs according to race and sex. In addition, stratification is divided into three areas: micro, meso and macro. At the micro level, we analyze stratification by interpersonal differences. At the method level, we focus and analyze the stratificated system itself. At the macro level, the analysis is done at the global and very large macro level.
The problem of stratification appears as inequality. This inequality appears at a world level in the poorest countries. There are many points of view about this global inequality. First, at the point of development and modernization, it criticizes the traditional system of poor countries. They are poor because they maintain a traditional system. These theorists think that if we change it into a modern system and achieve economic growth, we can overcome inequality. Second, dependency theory blames colonialism and postcolonialism for world poverty. The colonized countries were colonized and produced only for the great powers. This includes farm products, minerals and metals for the great powers at the time. For a long time colonies are operated only by this means without any other means. However, after the liberation over time, they can not produce anything else. It was too dependent on it. This prevented the development of their country. This eventually led to the debt of nations and the vicious cycle in which the country became more difficult was repeated. The world system theory is similar to the previous one and discusses interdependence. The world is divided into a dominant superpower and the surrounding countries that depend on it. The neighboring countries depend on the great powers and their development is stagnated. Finally, there is a new theory of division of labor. This theory tells us that the great powers exploit them against the developing countries. The great powers use their inexpensive labor in underdeveloped countries to make their products. But their labor rights are not guaranteed. This makes it difficult for underdeveloped nations to escape poverty.
2.What was interested
It was interesting to be able to study various theories about layering. Common theories of each include discourses on inequality. But the view of inequality is very different. From a functionalist point of view, inequality plays a catalyst to help society return more functionally. On the other hand, in terms of conflicts, inequality is due to competition, and it is said that winners who have won the competition are encouraged. I think that each theory has a weak point, but ultimately it is an effort to solve the inequality of society or to realize an equal society. Therefore, in order to grasp and overcome the inequalities within society, I thought that we should seek to overcome inequality through objective thinking rather than being biased.
3.Discussion point
Most people view the inequality caused by stratification as conflictual. That is why we must look at inequality badly and remove it. As a solution, society usually uses the welfare system. The welfare system is based on the assumption that the state is responsible for the lowest living standards of all citizens. The purpose of the welfare system is to ensure that people are functionally functioning in society by ensuring minimum living standards. In reality, however, the problem of increasing reliance on the welfare system appeared. I do not want to try to get out of inequality, whether I want to work for myself or for myself. The welfare system has played a role in deepening inequality. How can the welfare system be implemented to solve the problem of inequality? I would like to discuss this.
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