Republic of the Philippines

PRESIDENT RAMON MAGSAYSAY STATE UNIVERSITY

(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales, Philippines

GRADUATE SCHOOL
MASTERS OF ARTS IN EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES
Third Trimester, A.Y. 2019-2020

MAEDSS-302
Selected Topics in the Social Science for Social Studies

TOPIC:
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL
INEQUALITY

Prepared by:

RABACA, RAMIL B.
LIMBAG, CRISTINE JOY A.
Student

Submitted to:

MARIE FE D. DE GUZMAN, Ed.D. (Professor V)

Facilitator
 Republic of the Philippines
PRESIDENT RAMON MAGSAYSAY STATE UNIVERSITY
(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales, Philippines

Name of Presenter/s: Mr. Ramil B. Rabaca and Ms. Cristine Joy A. Limbag
Professor: Dr. Marie Fe D. De Guzman
Topic: SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Objectives: 1. Deliberate on the evidences of Social Inequality and forms and implications of
Social Stratification in some countries of Asia.
2. Infer on the theoretical perspectives on social stratification

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
WHAT IS STRATIFICATION?

STRATIFICATION
 describes the way in which different groups of people are placed within society
 derives from the geological concept of strata - rock layers created by natural processes.
 The term most commonly relates to the socio-economic concept of class, involving the
classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions, a
relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."

WHAT IS SOCIAL STRATIFICATION?

LAYER

HEIRARCHY RANK

SOCIAL
STRATIFICA
TIONSSSIAL

CLASSIFICATION ORDER

CATEGORY

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: the layering of these social categories into higher and lower
position or respect.
 a society’s categorization of people into socio economic strata based on their occupation
and income, wealth and social status, or derived social and political power.

 A system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy (Machionis, 2007)

  Internal division into a hierarchy of distinct social groups, each having specific life
chances and a distinctive style of life (Panopio&Raymundo, 2004)

DIFFERENTIANTION: method of relating people in terms of certain social characteristics and

then classifying them into social categories based on these characteristics.
For example, we may describe people according to;
 Sex
 Age
 Occupation
 Education
 Religion
 Race
 Intelligence
 Wealth

Social stratification is a term used in the Social Sciences to describe:

 the relative social position of persons in a given social group, category, geographical
region or another social unit.
 It derives from the Latin stratum (plural strata; parallel, horizontal layers) referring to a
given society’s categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on
factors like wealth, income, social status, occupation and power.

ORIGIN OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION:

 Hunting and Gathering Societies
 Horticultural, Pastoral, and Agricultural Societies
 Division of Labor and Job Specialization
 Industrialized Societies
 The Improvement of Working Conditions
 Postindustrial Societies

FOUR BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Social stratification is based on four basic principles:

1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences.

 Refers to the distinct conditions of individuals which does not necessarily imply
unequal treatment or ranking in society.
2. Social stratification carries over from generation to generation;
3. Social stratification is universal but variable;
4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well.
 It is the condition of unequal access to what is valuable in a society
 The distinction of social rank is based on wealth, biological characteristics, social
skills, or money.
 This differentiation is inevitable
STATUS: the individual’s position in the social structure
 A person's prestige, social honor, or popularity in a society.
 (group) a set of people with similar social prestige or positive regard from
members of a society.
Examples: government officials (senators, congressmen, mayors, councilors, etc.)
Sales representatives, electricians, drivers, etc.
STATUSES: the higher and the lower positions that come about through social stratification.

 ASCRIBED AND ACHIEVED STATUSES

Ascribed Statuses: which are assigned or given by the society or group on

the basis of some fixed category, without regard to a person’s abilities of
performance.
Example: sex, family background, race and ethnic heritage

Achieved Statuses: are earned by the individual.

Example: Become an actor/actress singer because you won the search
You land a good job after graduation because the quality of
your
credentials and performance

 PRESTIGE AND ESTEEM

Prestige: the evaluation of statuses.

Example: being the president of the class or SPG/SSG (having the
prestige of being a president whether or not you perform or
carry out well the duties and responsibilities)

Esteem: refers to the assessment of our role behavior.

Example: if you perform well;
You will get an outstanding rating/grade, and awarded an
academic scholarship to college.

NOTE: Prestige is based on your status, and esteem is based on your role
behavior.

WHAT IS CLASS?

CLASS
 is large set of people regarded by themselves or others as sharing similar status with
regard to wealth, power and prestige.

HOW IS SOCIAL STRATIFICATION ARE DISTINGUISHED?

Social stratification is distinguished as three social classes.

 1. Upper Class: consist of elite families who are the most prolific and successful in their
respective areas.
 have great wealth, often going back for many generations; are recognized by
reputation and lifestyle; have an influence on the society’s basic economic and
political structures.
Examples: stockholders and investors

 2. Middle Class: is made up of successful business and professional people and their
 families; Have a college education, own property and have money savings;
live
comfortably in exclusive areas.
Examples: lawyers, doctors, managers, owners of small businesses, executives

 3. Lower Class
 are people at the bottom of the economic ladder. They have little in the way of
education or occupational skills and are consequently either unemployed or
underemployed.
Examples: office and clerical workers, skilled and unskilled craftsman, farm
employees, underemployed and indigent families.

OPEN CLASS SYSTEM: means that individuals can change their social class position in the
society. This clearly a manifestation if some individuals fall, while many
others go up.

Example: a classroom first honor during the first quarter then the second honor in
the first quarter became the first honor in the second quarter.

CLOSED-CLASS SYSTEM: means that individuals remain in the social rank of their parents.
Example: A learner who sustained being on the top from primary to secondary
school so as their parents during their school times.

MAJOR FORMS OF STRATIFICATION

 Primitive Communalism System
 characterized by a high degree of sharing and minimal social inequality.

 Slavery System
 involving great social inequality and the ownership of some persons by others.

 Caste System - A person’s location in the social strata is ascribed by birth rather
than based on individual accomplishment in which an individual is permanently
assigned to a status based on his or her parents' status.

This system of stratification is mostly prominent in India and the Hindu Religion.
1. The Brahmins (priests/teachers/healers) from the purest.
2. The Kshatriyas (soldiers/warriors)
3. The Vaishyas (traders/merchants)
4. The Shudras (servants/laborers)
5. The Untouchables (social outcastes/impure) To the least pure.

 Estate System (“The estate system is synonymous with Feudalism”.)

 in which peasants are required by law to work land owned by the noble class in
exchange for food and protection from outside attacks.
 estate had a status with legal rights and duties, privileges and obligations
 the estates represented a broad division of labor and were regarded as having definite
functions.
 The nobility was ordained to defend all, the clergy to pray for all and the commons to
provide food for all.
  the feudal estates were political groups. An assembly of estates possessed political
power.
Thus, the three estates clergy, nobility and commoners functioned like three political
groups.

TYPES OF SOCIAL MOBILITY

People may change their social class positions either in two ways.

 They can move from one position to another position within their social class.
 They can move into another class.

HORIZONTAL MOBILITY: is the movement of a person within a social class level.

Example: A School Principal become an Education Supervisor
(that person remains in the same social class and the two jobs have the same
occupational statues and require the same amount of trainings, etc.)
VERTICAL MOBILITY: is the movement of the person between social classes level. The
movement may be upward or downward. The person may rise or fall.

SOCIAL INEQUALITY AND FORMS AND IMPLICATIONS OF SOCIAL

STRATIFICATION IN SOME COUNTRIES OF ASIA
SOCIAL INEQUALITY

 The existence of uneven opportunities and rewards for a diverse social positions or
statuses within a group or society.
 Occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, generally through
norms of allocation, that bring about specific patterns along lines of socially defined
categories of person.
 Is shaped by a range of social factors, such as geographical location or citizenship status,
and are often underpinned by cultural discourses and significant identities.

There are two main ways to measure social inequality:

 Inequality of Conditions: refers to the unequal distribution of income, wealth, and

material goods.

Examples:

 Housing, for example, is inequality of conditions with the homeless and those
living in housing projects sitting at the bottom of the hierarchy while those living
in multi-million-dollar mansions sit at the top.
 the level of whole communities, where some are poor, unstable, and plagued by
violence, while others are invested in by businesses and government so that they
thrive and provide safe, secure, and happy conditions for their inhabitants.

 Inequality of Opportunities: rrefers to the unequal distribution of life chances across

individuals. This is reflected in measures such as level of education, health status, and
treatment by the criminal justice system.
 Examples:

Gender Inequality: sex and gender-based prejudice and discrimination (sexism).

Racism (Racial Discrimination)

The Philippines
Distinct social classes during precolonial times:
1. Datu/Raja or chief class
2. Maharlika or nobility class
3. Timawa or the common class
4. Alipin or the dependent classes (Aliping Namamahay and Alipin sa Gigilid)

Social Classes during Spanish Times

1. Upper class
2. Freemen
3. Peninsulares
4. Creoles, mestizos, insulares

Social Classes during the American Period

1. small cosmopolitan upper class
2. large, indigenous lower class

EDCOR (Economic Development Corps) of the Philippine Army

1. officers (landlords)
2. settlers (tenants)
3. enlisted men (police)

Industrial Corporations: Haciendas:

-stockholders -land owners
-executives -labor contractors
-laborers -laborers

The lower class is made up of 2 sub-classes:

 Cosmopolitan
 Provinciano

INDIA

The Brahmins
(priests/teachers/healers)

The Kshatriyas
(soldiers/warriors)

The Vaishyas
(traders/merchants)

The Shudras
(servants/laborers)
 The Untouchables
(social outcastes/impure)
Caste System

KOREA “LAND OF THE MORNING CALM”

- Rapid economic growth, industrialization and urbanization have caused a profound

transformation in the class structure of South Korean society since the end of the Korean
War.
- One of the most important changes has been the emergence of a “new” middle class.

SOCIAL HIERARCHY DURING THE JOSEON DYNASTY

YA
NG
BA
N
JUNGIN

COMMONERS/SANGMIN

CHEONMIN

 YANGBAN
 were part of the traditional ruling class or nobles during the Joseon Dynasty.

 CHUNGIN ALSO JUNGIN
 were the middle class of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. The name "chungin"
literally means "middle people".

 SANGMIN 
 were the common people of Joseon Dynasty. About 75% of all Koreans at that
time were sangmin. The sangmin consisted of peasants, laborers, fishermen,
some craftsmen and merchants. The sangmin were considered "clean workers"
but had little social status. Generally, they were poor. They paid most of
Korea's taxes and were subject to the military draft.

 CHEONMIN 
 were the lowest caste of commoners in dynastical Korea. This social class was
largely hereditary and based on certain professions considered "unclean" by
the upper classes.
  This list of unclean professions included slaves, butchers, shamans,
shoemakers, metalworkers, prostitutes, magicians, and performers like the
kisaeng

JAPAN “LAND OF THE RISING SUN”

The Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the Edo Bakufu, was the feudal military government
of Japan during the Edo period from 1600 to 1868.

 EMPEROR
 The Emperor of Japan was the official ruler of Japan at the very top of the
Tokugawa class hierarchy. However, the Emperor was only a de jure ruler,
functioning as a figurehead held up as the ultimate source of political sanction
for the Shōgun's authority.
The Emperor and his Imperial Court located in Kyoto, the official capital of
Japan, were given virtually no political power but their prestige was
invincible.

 SHŌGUN
 The Shōgun was the de facto ruler of Japan and third on the Tokugawa class
hierarchy. Officially, the Shōgun was a title for a prominent military general
of the samurai class appointed by the Emperor with the task of national
administration. In reality, the Shōgun was a military dictator with only
nominal appointment from the Emperor who held the ultimate political power
in Japan, controlling foreign policy, the military, and feudal patronage.
  DAIMYO
 The daimyō were samurai feudal lords and fourth on the Tokugawa class
hierarchy. The daimyō were high-ranking members of the samurai and,
similar to the Shōgun, held most of the real political power in Japan.
The daimyō were responsible for administration through their large personal
domains, the han, which served as unofficial administrative divisions in
tandem with the legal provinces.


 PEASANTS
 Peasants (heimin) were sixth on the Tokugawa class hierarchy and first of
the commoner classes. Life for rural peasants focused on farming in and
around their villages. Peasants rarely moved beyond their villages, and
journeys and pilgrimages required a permit, but young people occasionally
sought seasonal employment outside of their village. As a result, people were
highly suspicious of outsiders.

 ARTISANS
 Artisans were seventh on the Tokugawa class hierarchy and second of the
commoner classes. Artisans were placed below the peasants because they
were producers but they produced non-essential goods. Artisans typically
lived in urban areas, and by 1800, as much as 10% of the population of Japan
may have lived in large urban areas, one of the highest levels in the world at
the time.

 MERCHANTS
 Merchants were eighth on the Tokugawa class hierarchy and third of the
commoner classes. Merchants were placed at the very bottom of the official
system because they did not produce any goods, and due to their low status,
were forced to hustle trading local and regional goods.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

FUNCTIONALIST THEORY CONFLICT THEORY SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
THEORY
 In sociology, the functionalist
perspective examines how
society’s parts operate.
 It is a macroanalytical view
that focuses on the way that
all aspects of society are
integral to the continued
health and viability of the
whole. According to
functionalism, different
aspects of society exist
because they serve a needed
purpose.
 Conflict theorists are deeply
critical of social
stratification, asserting that
it benefits only some
people, not all of society.
 Conflict theorists try to
bring awareness to
inequalities, such as how a
rich society can have so
many poor members.
 Conflict theory focuses on
the creation and
reproduction of inequality.
Conflict theorists are deeply
critical of social
stratification, asserting that
it benefits only some
people, not all of society.
 Symbolic interactionism is
a theory that uses everyday
interactions of individuals
to explain society as a
whole.
 Symbolic interactionism
examines stratification
from a micro-level
perspective. This analysis
strives to explain how
people’s social standing
affects their everyday
interactions.

REFERENCES:
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https://www.slideshare.net/kimlain_0722/social-stratification-12277855
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