Get summaries, questions, answers, solutions, notes, extras, PDF and guide of chapter 8, Social Stratification and Mobility: NBSE Class 11 Sociology textbook, which is part of the syllabus for students studying under the Nagaland Board. These solutions, however, should only be treated as references and can be modified/changed.
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Summary
Social stratification means that society is divided into different levels, like layers in a cake. People in these layers get unequal amounts of things like power, respect, and money. This happens in every society. Some people have more wealth, power, or prestige than others. This creates different levels or ‘strata’. Social stratification is this division of society into layers where people have unequal chances and rewards.
A key part of stratification is that society is split into these layers, with some seen as higher and others lower. It’s based on giving different roles to people, and these roles are ranked. Some roles are seen as better and come with more rewards or power. This system creates social inequalities in wealth, power, and respect. Stratification is found everywhere because societies always have differences and inequalities.
It’s good to know that just being different isn’t the same as being unequal. Men and women are different, but that doesn’t automatically mean one is ranked higher. Difference just shows variety. Inequality, however, means some people or groups get more privileges or resources than others, leading to a ranking. Social stratification deals with a specific kind of inequality where whole groups are ranked above or below each other based on power, wealth, and prestige. People in the same layer often share similar feelings, interests, and ways of life.
Stratification systems can be rigid or flexible. In a rigid or ‘closed’ system, like the traditional caste system in India, a person usually cannot move from one layer to another. Social movement is very limited. In a flexible or ‘open’ system, like the class system often seen in Western societies, people can move to a higher or lower layer. This movement is called social mobility.
Sociologists talk about four main types of stratification systems, but the caste system and the class system are very common. The caste system is very rigid. In India, it’s traditionally linked to the varna system, which divides society into four main groups: Brahmana (priests), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (merchants), and Sudra (laborers), ranked by religious purity. In daily life, the caste system works through ‘jatis’, which are smaller groups based on birth. You are born into a jati, usually marry within it, might have a traditional job linked to it, and it has a specific rank in the local area.
The class system divides society based on economic factors like income and wealth. A social class is a large group of people with similar economic situations. Unlike caste, class membership isn’t strictly decided by birth; people can move up or down. The lines between classes aren’t always clear. The main classes are often seen as upper, middle, working, and peasantry (farmers).
Social mobility is the movement of people or groups from one social position or layer to another. This is different from just moving from one town to another (spatial mobility). Mobility can be vertical (moving up or down the layers) or horizontal (moving between jobs at the same level). It can also happen between generations (like a child having a higher status job than their parent) or within one person’s life (like someone getting promoted). Even in the rigid caste system, some group mobility was possible through a process called Sanskritization, where a lower group adopted the ways of a higher group.
Textbook solutions
Very Short Answer Type Questions
1. What is meant by social stratification?
Answer: Social stratification refers to the unequal distribution of societal resources, i.e., unequal distribution of power, prestige and property. It is the division of society into strata or layers whose occupants have unequal access to social opportunities and rewards. Such a division of society into different levels or strata is known as social stratification.
2. What is social inequality?
Answer: Social inequality refers to the inequalities between people, such as the unequal distribution of wealth or property, power and prestige among members of a society. Such inequalities indicate inequalities in access to resources, opportunities and rewards. Inequality implies a distribution of privileges and resources, as a consequence of which some are more privileged than others, resulting in a ranking of people and their groups. Social stratification is a type of social inequality.
3. What is a social class?
Answer: Generally, a social class is a large group of people who share similar income, wealth and economic resources. Though based on economic factors, a social class is much more than an economic division because persons who belong to the same class exhibit common patterns of behaviour, life-styles and so on.
4. What is caste?
Answer: The caste is a social group based on birth. It entails hierarchy, hereditary occupation, and restrictions on inter-marriage and inter-dining.
5. What is Varna?
Answer: The varna system divides society into four varnas: Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra. These four varnas are hierarchically ordered categories based on the principle of ritual purity and pollution, giving the varna system a religious basis. The varna system has an all India relevance because it is understood all over India.
6. What is Jati?
Answer: In practice, the caste system operates in the form of the jati system, and the caste system may be equated with the jati system. There are many jatis within a varna, and a varna may embrace a large number of jati clusters. It is ultimately the jati that operates at the local level and in the daily life of an individual. The jati is a social group based on birth.
7. What is social mobility?
Answer: Social mobility can be defined as the movement of individuals or groups from one social status or position to another. It occurs when it is possible for an individual or group to improve or lose their status or position, moving to a higher or lower layer or stratum.
8. What are the two types of vertical mobility?
Answer: The two types of vertical mobility are upwards or downwards movement from one stratum or level to another.
9. What is spatial mobility?
Answer: Spatial mobility refers to movement from place to another as in the case of people moving from villages to towns.
10. What is Sanskritization?
Answer: According to Srinivas, Sanskritization is the process by which a low caste or tribal group changes its customs, rituals, ideology and way life in the direction of a higher caste. Sanskritization leads to upward social mobility for the caste or group as a whole and is a process of group mobility, not individual mobility.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. What is meant by social stratification? Give two examples of a stratified system. (07)
Answer: Social stratification refers to the unequal distribution of societal resources, i.e., unequal distribution of power, prestige and property. It is the division of society into strata or layers whose occupants have unequal access to social opportunities and rewards. Two examples of a stratified system are the caste system found in India and the class system found in Western societies.
10. What is Sanskritization?
Answer: According to Srinivas, Sanskritization is the process by which a low caste or tribal group changes its customs, rituals, ideology and way life in the direction of a higher caste. Sanskritization leads to upward social mobility for the caste or group as a whole and is a process of group mobility, not individual mobility.
Essay Type Questions
1. What is social stratification? Write the main attributes of social stratification. (’13)
Answer: Social stratification refers to the unequal distribution of societal resources, i.e., unequal distribution of power, prestige and property. In every society there are inequalities between people, such as unequal distribution of wealth or property, power and prestige among the members. Such inequalities indicate inequalities in access to resources, opportunities and rewards. These inequalities divide people in a society into different levels or strata. Such a division of society into different strata is known as social stratification.
The main attributes of social stratification are:
- Social stratification is the division of society into strata, some of which are considered higher and others lower.
- Social stratification is based on social differentiation or the assignment of different positions to individuals. Such positions are ranked, i.e., some are considered higher than others and enjoy greater rewards, power and prestige.
- Social stratification implies social inequalities. Such inequalities are with regard to wealth, power and prestige.
- Social stratification is universal because it is found in all societies. This is because in every society there are social differentiation and social inequalities.
10. Explain how social mobility takes place in the caste system.
Answer: The caste system is said to be rigid without any scope for social mobility. In theoretical terms, an individual cannot change his caste and his position is fixed forever. However, as M.N. Srinivas has pointed out, there was flexibility in the caste system in the form of Sanskritization. According to Srinivas, Sanskritization is the process by which a low caste or tribal group changes its customs, rituals, ideology and way of life in the direction of a higher caste. Sanskritization leads to upward social mobility for the caste or group as a whole. Thus Sanskritization is a process of not individual mobility but group mobility.
Problem Solving
There is a family in your neighbourhood which is rich. But others do not consider it an important family because the members of that family are cultivators and work in the fields. They have money but do not enjoy the respect of others. What can they do to improve their prestige?
Answer: Prestige is one aspect of social stratification, along with wealth and power. While this family has wealth, their occupation as cultivators might be associated with a lower position in the traditional hierarchy, affecting their prestige. Since social stratification involves ranking based on various factors, simply having money isn’t enough for high prestige in all cases.
To improve their prestige, the family might consider actions associated with higher-status groups. Although changing hereditary occupation is difficult in some systems like caste, they could potentially:
- Encourage younger generations to pursue education and enter professions considered higher status, like becoming doctors or lawyers (often associated with the middle or upper classes). This reflects inter-generational mobility.
- Adopt customs, rituals, and lifestyles associated with groups that are considered higher in the local hierarchy. This resembles the process of Sanskritization, where lower groups emulate higher ones to improve their standing, although Sanskritization is typically described as group mobility.
- Use their wealth to gain influence or power within the community, which can sometimes translate into prestige.
- Over time, if the family moves away from cultivation and into other economic activities or professions seen as more prestigious, their social standing might improve, reflecting aspects of the class system where mobility based on economic change and lifestyle is possible.
Think and Answer
In your village and neighbourhood, there are different types of families. Some are rich, influential and powerful, while others are not so rich, and still others are really poor. Can you apply the principle of social stratification in such a situation? Explain your answer.
Answer: Yes, the principle of social stratification can definitely be applied to this situation.
Social stratification refers to the division of society into different layers or strata based on inequalities in the distribution of societal resources like wealth (property), power, and prestige. The situation described shows exactly these kinds of inequalities:
- Unequal Distribution: There are clear differences in wealth (“rich,” “not so rich,” “really poor”) and power (“influential and powerful”).
- Hierarchy/Ranking: These differences place families into different positions relative to each other, creating a hierarchy where some families are higher (rich, powerful) and others are lower (poor).
- Unequal Access: This division implies that families in different strata likely have unequal access to social opportunities and rewards. The rich and powerful families probably have more opportunities than the poor ones.
Therefore, the existence of rich, powerful, less rich, and poor families in the village or neighbourhood is a clear example of social stratification in action, demonstrating how society is layered based on unequal access to resources.
Ron’e Dutta is a journalist, teacher, aspiring novelist, and blogger who manages Online Free Notes. An avid reader of Victorian literature, his favourite book is Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. He dreams of travelling the world. You can connect with him on social media. He does personal writing on ronism.
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