Stratification and social class

Question 1

social stratification

Answer 1

describes structured inequalities between social groups within societies. Often we think of stratification in terms of assets or property, but it can be based on other attributes, such as gender, age, religious affiliation or military rank

Question 2

four basic systems of stratification

Answer 2

slavery, caste, estates and class

Question 3

slavery

Answer 3

the most extreme form of stratification, some people are owned by other people

Question 4

caste

Answer 4

forms of stratification in which social position is given and all individuals remain at the social level of their birth

Question 5

estates

Answer 5

feudal estates consisted of social strata with differing obligations towards one another and unequal sets of rights, some of these established in law

Question 6

estates in europe rank

Answer 6

highest estate: aristocracy and gentry
middle: clergy
third: commoners or serfs

Question 7

class

Answer 7

a large-scale group of people who share common economic resources and social status, which strongly influence the type of lifestyles they are able to lead

Question 8

how do social classes differ from other forms of stratification

Answer 8

1. They are fluid, they can change
2. class positions are, at least partially, achieved
3. class is economically based
4. class systems are large scale and impersonal

Question 9

three dimensions of control over economic resources according to Erik Olin Wright

Answer 9

1. control over investments or money capital
2. control over the physical means of production - land or factories and offices
3. control over labour power

Question 10

intersectionality

Answer 10

the complex interweaving of diverse social inequalities which shapes individual lives and complicates the earlier, comparatively simple class analysis