STUDY UNIT 12:THEORIES OF STRATIFICATION

Question 1

discuss Marx’s theory of stratification

Answer 1

This
social stratification is, according to them, a result of large-scale exploitation of
one class by another. Marx argued that since feudal times society had been
divided between those that had property or wealth and others that did not

Capitalist societies reflect a huge gap between the rich (the haves) and those
who own less and have to work for small salaries (the have-nots). Marx argued
that the capitalist system was based on exploitation of the working class by
the rich capitalist upper classes. Workers were exploited because they had
to work to produce products for far lower pay than the produced goods were
worth. These goods (or commodities as Marx called them) are then sold at a
profit, which enables the upper classes or capitalists to invest their profits in
order to make more profit

The rich could control the means of production because they
had control over scarce resources such as machinery, factories, mines and
production houses. The other people had far less and they were forced to
work for the ruling class to earn salaries to live on. In this way the workers
themselves became part of the “means of production” owned by the rich

Question 2

what is commodification of labour

Answer 2

This process of workers as
commodities that in turn produce commodities at low salaries is referred to
as the commodification of labour

Question 3

comment on idea of alienation

Answer 3

Marx insisted that the labourer
becomes alienated from his own production. In earlier societies, people
produced goods for themselves and could barter their own products for other
goods that they need, but now they are reliant on other people’s products.
These products produced by other workers (who are paid less than what the
products are worth) can now only be obtained by buying them

alienation (or alienated labour) closely relates
to other terms such as commodities, commodification, labour power, labour
or worker exploitation, profit, the capitalist mode of production, low wages,
underpayment and class differences in Marx’s theory. These concepts all
relate to each other in explaining the effects of capitalism on society

Question 4

what is surplus value

Answer 4

Surplus value, in simple terms, is the source
of profit. If you think carefully you will see that surplus value is also related to
terminology such as workers’ labour, production, speeding up production, (low)
wages, underpayment, exploitation, profit, mass production or commodification.
All these concepts relate to each other in explaining Marx’s theory of capitalism.
These terms also relate to the terms class struggle and class conflict

Question 5

comment on Marx idea of class

Answer 5

Class as a concept is closely related to production (for profit). It relates
to the commodification of labour. It relates to the difference between those
controlling money and those who serve merely as workers. Class also relates
to class antagonism and class conflict. Therefore, class is a central term in
Marx’s theory. Because of this interrelatedness to other central concepts in
Marx’s thought, people refer to class as a relational concept

Question 6

discuss weber’s theory of stratification

Answer 6

according to Weber, class position does not only depend
on the ownership of the means of production. It also depends on the degree
of control people have over other economic resources such as skills, or other
kinds of property that are not used for production, such as residential property.
The class position of a medical doctor, for instance, does not depend on the
fact that he or she owns a means of production; instead, it depends on his or
her knowledge and skills. According to Weber, therefore, to explain economic
inequality we have to take these inequalities into account as well.

it is not only economic inequalities that determine social
stratification. Other inequalities, such as status and political power (Weber refers
to this as “party”), also play a role “Party”, in Weber’s theory, refers to the amount of access one has to political
power. Weber’s point is that political power plays an independent role in
determining one’s position in the stratification hierarchy, irrespective of one’s
class position or the status one has. Consequently, even though somebody
with political power (such as a politician of the ruling party) may not own the
means of production (in which case he or she is not a capitalist), or may not
possess essential skills, or necessarily have a high status, that person may
still be at the top of the stratification hierarchy.