 Aspects of social structure

 Society:
self-contained, self-sufficient population united by social relationships, bounded from other

populations by geographic locations

Stratification: unequal distribution of valued goods or holdings in a population (i.e. class, status,

resources, grades, wealth, positional goods, etc.)

 Network:
pattern of relationships in a population of actors

Social structure variables: pattern of relationships, size of institution, income distribution, and

concurrency of social relationships Karl Marx developed a view of social structure as he argued

that society moves to the next stage when the dominant social class is displaced by a new

emerging class, resulting in a new social structure.

 Marx's approach includes several core assumptions that are not specific

to any period of history:

 Human beings are social creatures who live in complex societies.

 Human society consists of human beings collectively working to achieve the necessities

of life.

 Human society develops a complex division of labor.

 Over time, unlike ants or bees, human beings develop better methods of harnessing

nature through the development of science and technology.

 Human beings have the ability to reflect on their society and interaction with nature, but

their thinking and organization are always dependent on the state of development of their

society and of the power structures in their society.