Sociology 2021

B.A, L.L.B. (Hons.) /Second Semester

SOCIOLOGY RESEARCH PAPER (2020-2021)

RESERARCH PAPER TOPIC:-

CLASS CONFLICTS AND INEQUALITIES

SUBMITTED TO: Dr. Arina Bardhan

SUBMITTED BY: Mohnish Joshi

Roll No.: B047

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Introduction:

Society has been divided in various forms which can be seen since the ancient times to the
modern era as well. This division of society into groups of people is called social
stratification. Social stratification includes various systems like Caste system, Estate system,
Slavery system and Class system. In this paper we will discuss on how the society is divided
in various classes i.e. upper, middle and lower and it effect on the people.

Do we really have a need for a class system? , or it is just been followed as some parts of the
society gain certain benefits in the society for being differentiated from other people by the
system. The class system is the one of the stratification which is still followed in the modern
societies around the world and it causes both advantages and disadvantages to the people.
These are some areas that will be covered in the paper ahead.

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Chapter 1: What is Class?

Social class is one of the principles of the social stratification which can still be seen in the
modern day civilised societies around the world. Class systems are one of the essential parts of
the social stratification.

It is a group of people who have a definite status in the society which are divided into upper,
middle and lower class. The upper class includes the rich and the elite people who hold a power
and wealth in the society. The middle class are the people who earn to fulfil their basic needs and
requirements, and the lower class which is the poor section of the society.

P. Gisbert: A social class is ‘a category or group of people having a definite status in the society
which permanently determines their relations to other groups’.

A class system is basically a status group, which arise different statuses in a society as people so
different things. They involve themselves in different activities and follow their purpose. Having
a social status divides the individuals not only physically but mentally also. The class system is
an open system in which vertical mobility is possible. Individuals can easily move upwards or
downwards in social hierarchy as there is no or very mild restrictions imposed in the system.

The term class came in use in the early 19th century. Terms like rank and order describing the
main hierarchical grouping in the society was replaced by class. During the formation of the
European societies after the industrial and political revolution of the late 18 th century the usages
of class made changes in the society. The term class has been widely used in the social groups
including early empires, and caste or feudal societies.

The social class is different from the status groups as they focus primarily on economic interest
where as in later times the evaluation also includes prestige of occupation, cultural position, or
family descent.

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Criterion of class:

It’s right that society has been divided into totally (Different) categories at times. Classification
of social categories has been created on the concept of objective criterion or subjective criterion
or each.

Subjective criteria might embrace the class consciousness, category commonality and
sophistication identification. The subjective criteria area unit basically psychological. Members
who have common interest associated attributes have an actual sense of in group commonality.

They feel that their socio- economic opportunity area unit virtually equal. Warner and lunt in
their study of the yankee class system have ascertained the importance of subjective factors in
determinative a category. In according to them,(i) happiness. To the ‘right family’,(ii) doing the
‘right things’,(iii) knowing the thanks to ‘act right’, (iv) associating with the ‘right people’, (v)
living among the ‘right’ section of the town, (vi) one’s feeling and belief regarding sure things-
all have their impact on the status of an individual in line with that their category is set.

‘Wealth’ alone isn’t a sufficient qualification for being admitted to the property-owning they
maintained.

The lower class:

The socio-economic class is typified by poorness, condition, and state. individuals of this
category, few of whom have finished senior high , suffer from lack of treatment , adequate
housing and food, good article of clothing, safety, and education . The media usually stigmatize
the lower class as “the underprivileged,” inaccurately characterizing poor individuals as welfare
mothers United Nations agency abuse the system by having a lot of and a lot of babies, welfare
fathers United Nations agency ar have the power to figure however don't , drug abusers,
criminals, and social “trash.”

The working class:

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The socio-economic class with those minimally educated people who interact in “manua labor”
with or no status .Unskilled employees among the class—dishwashers, cashiers, maids, and
waitresses—usually ar underpaid and don't have any chance for career advancement. They’re
often referred to as the operating poor. Complete employees among this class—carpenters,
plumbers, and electricians—are usually referred to as blue collar employees. they will create
extra cash than employees among the middle class—secretaries, teachers, and laptop technicians;
but, their jobs ar sometimes more physically burdensome, and in some cases quite dangerous.

The middle category:

The middle category ar the “sandwich” category. These white collar employees have extra cash
than those below them on the “social ladder,” however less compared to those on top of them.
They divide into 2 levels in line with wealth, education, and status. The lower socio-economic
class is usually made up of less educated individuals with lower incomes, like managers, tiny
business owners, teachers, and secretaries. The higher socio-economic class is sometimes made
up of extremely educated business and skilled individuals with high incomes, like doctors,
lawyers, stockbrokers, and CEOs.

The Upper class:

The socio-economic class comprising only one to 3 % of the North American nation population,
the upper class holds quite twenty five % of the nation's wealth. This category divides into 2
groups: lower-upper and upper-upper. The lower-upper category includes those with “new cash,”
or cash created from investments, business ventures, then forth. The upper-upper category
includes those patrician and “high-society”families with “old money” United Nations agency ar
wealthy for generations. These very flush individuals live off the financial gain from their
transmissible wealth. The upper-upper category is a lot of prestigious than the lower-upper
category.

Wherever their cash comes from, each segments of the socio-economic class ar exceptionally
wealthy. Both groups have extra cash than they could probably pay, that leaves them with
abundant leisure for cultivating a selection of interests. They sleep in exclusive neighbourhoods,
gather at dear social clubs, and send their youngsters to the simplest faculties. As can be

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expected, they conjointly exercise an excellent deal of influence and power each across the
nation and globally.

Marxian Analysis of Class

Marx outlined a people as all those that share a regular relationship to the means that of
economic production. “People who own and management the means that of production (slave
homeowners, feudal landowners or homeowners of property like factories and capital) are the
dominant category. They exercise power thanks to their possession of means that of production.
In associated with degree of industrial society, means that of production embodies the factories,
and thus the machinery and raw materials used for manufacturing product.

Marx knew as them the category of 'Bourgeoisie' or capitalists or homeowners of property. All
people who work for the dominant category are - slaves, peasants, or industrial labourers. They
represent the subordinate category. Marx named this category - the 'proletariat' or the labour
category or labour or poor category. Members of the labour own solely their labour that they hire
out to the homeowners of business reciprocally for wages. The relationship between these 2
categories is not just one of dominance and subordination however conjointly of 'exploitation'.

The employees turn out a lot of wealth within the style of food, factory-made product and
services than is vital to satisfy their basic wants. It means that they turn out 'surplus wealth'.

However they really don't fancy the use of surplus they've created. On the contrary, people who
own the means that of production are able to grab this surplus wealth as 'profit' for his or her own
use. The capitalists are a non-producing class. They do not really turn out something. Still
abundant of the wealth created by the proletariats is removed by the capitalists. in line with
Marx, this sort of exploitation has been the foremost necessary supply of conflict between the
two categories throughout history.

Marx believed that the economic base of society influences the character of all alternative
aspects of culture and system, like law, religion, education, and government”. The dominant

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category is during a position to manage all of those establishments and to create certain that they
protect its own interests.

The laws, therefore, defend the made, not poor. “The established faith supports the social order
because it is 'not because it can be. Education teaches the virtues of the prevailing system not its
vices. Government upholds the established order rather than undermining it. -Ian Oscar Palmer
Robertson. Marx was of the opinion that as results of the exploitation of employees by the
capitalists the gap between the two goes on widening. Therefore the richer become richer and
thus the poor become poorer. This ends up in associate degree imbalance inside the assembly and
distribution. Product is reaching to be produced and flooded inside the market in pr quantities
and there will be solely a few of individuals to urge them. Majority of the individuals in society
United Nations agency largely belong to the labour sector cannot purchase the product due to
their poor buying capacity; Marx calls this instance ‘the anarchical character of production'. Thus
capitalist economy suffers from its own internal contradictions.

He has expected that capitalist economy would finish in failure. The prophecy of capitalism is
actually a prophecy of doom-Marx expressed decidedly. Marx believed that the members of the
labour would eventually realise that they were being exploited and burdened. they could then be
part of along to overthrow the social class either by force or by balloting their own
representatives into the government .

As a champion of the reason for the employees Marx known as upon the employees to hasten
the strategy of the destruction of the capitalist system. Marx has even foretold that a historic
revolution would mark the highest of capitalist economy and can ultimately result into an
egalitarian society.

When their successful revolution the employees would see a communist society that suggests
that the forces of production would be communally in hand, that is conjointly in hand by all
members of society”. Product created would be equally shared and everyone would work for him
and for the advantage of society as a whole.

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Social class and food consumptions

“ The act of consumption, whereas merely outlined because the consumption of food, has several
social and cultural factors tied thereto. These factors embody however societies outline what's
edible or not and by whom, however and once to eat, and the way the foods square measure no
inheritable, among different things. Therefore, whereas consumption is associate everyday action
necessary for survival, it needs a multidisciplinary approach for its understanding.

This entry explores the link between food, eating, and class. People refer to the class-conscious
organization of people in a very explicit society. It should seek advice from a class structure
supported family social standing, however most typically, nowadays, category is decided by the
quantity of wealth and financial gain one possesses. ”

Many studies indicate that kids in materialistic families have healthier intake habits than kids in
socio-economic class families. Category variations in food rules, which oldsters and particularly
mothers impose on their kids, might underlie these social inequalities in food consumption.

Studies say that using education as a classifying variable and analyses whether or not mothers
with education dictate additional "healthy" foodstuffs for his or her kids and whether or not they
prohibit additional "unhealthy" food things than less educated mothers.

Moreover, the study examines whether or not higher category mothers think about health aspects
additional usually and also the preferences of their relations less usually in their alternative of
food, and whether or not category variations in these issues make a case for category variations
in food rules. To answer these queries, a survey was done on people living in materialistic or
socio-economic class districts in Maastricht (the Netherlands), Liège (Belgium) and city
(Germany) were collected and analysed.

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The bulk of mothers in every town prescribed primarily foods that were served at dinner like
meat and vegetables, and most mothers restricted their children's consumption of sweet foods,
soft drinks and snacks. Higher category mothers restricted additional foods, however prescribed
as several food things as their socio-economic class counterparts. Category variations within the
range of restricted foods were part, however not fully, explained by category variations in health
and style issues. Despite national variations in dietary habits and probably within the education
of kids, category variations in food rules and also the instructive power of health and style issues
were comparable within the 3 cities. 1

How does social class Affect life chances?

“ In a popular western culture individuals endeavor to accomplish the things that region unit
labeled as intriguing, the easiest telephone, a tremendous house and a lovely auto. This territory
unit all alluded to as products on board instruction, wellbeing and lodging anyway these items
region unit awfully rarely dispersed similarly so truly accomplishing this stuff might be
problematic.

The adaptability and chance somebody must win these items is thought as an individual's life
probabilities. There are a unit shifted factors which will check an individual's life probabilities
just as hereditary legacy, class of fogeys, training, youth monetary condition, family, mentalities
and separation, and that's only the tip of the iceberg. An individual's life probabilities can as a
rule be controlled by their group at spans their general public.

Class is one among the most established and apparently one among the first steady disparities in
various society. Classes region unit groups of people that everybody shares a comparable goals,
openings and social convictions. These class frameworks might be laid out by accomplished or
credited standing. Accomplished standing will be standing that has been worked for, though
attributed standing is from birth. Some classification frameworks have social quality, which
supplies individuals the opportunity to move up or down classes."

1
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9783876/

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Since the beginning there are records of the numerous very surprising classification frameworks,
just as subjugation, the social association and furthermore the Hindu class structure. some of
these classification frameworks actually exist even in the present modernized world.

Regardless of a few adaptions occurring as life keeps on adjusting steady, there has been a few
organizations to make advancement in this space. There has been stacks of adjustment in the
course of the most recent twenty years that have so improved the existence prospects of many;
these progressions have limited the imbalances in income, sexual orientation and training for
ethnic minorities. The biggest distinction that might be seen would be with monetary profit, with
the main part of the abundance of a nations being claimed by exclusively low extent.

Social class and parenting style

With the different classes the parenting style also changes accordingly. A parent in the upper
class will give all the facilities and opportunities to his child than middle or the lower class
which can provide and afford limited resources to their child. So children of different class get
different opportunities according to which social class they belong.

“ Parenting style, a psychological science construct pertaining to the approach adopted by oldsters
to raising their youngsters, is informed by what reasonably skills, competencies and attributes
oldsters suppose are going to be needed by their offspring to reach life. The present analysis
additionally provided a lot of nuanced investigation by considering why individuals with higher
people might need larger friendships and skill larger social integration. We have a tendency to
projected that parenting vogue might facilitate to clarify this relation. ”

Parenting vogue refers to the ways that during which folks act with their youngsters. Two key
designs are contrasted within the literature: The authoritative vogue is characterised by high
degrees of heat and responsiveness by folks towards their youngsters. In distinction, the
authoritarian vogue is characterised by less heat and a lot of restrictive, disciplinary, and

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dominant approach. The parenting vogue that individuals practiced as youngsters might mediate
the relation between their people, friendly relationship and social integration, and mental state as
a result of it's associated with every of those variables.

First, parenting vogue is expounded to social class: Working-class folks tend to possess a less
authoritative and a lot of authoritarian parenting vogue than bourgeois folks. These people
variations might exist as a result of working-class folks have less autonomy in their jobs, fewer
money resources, and a lot of disorder in their neighbourhoods.

Consequently, they're less experienced and fewer able to adopt the lot of inventive and resource-
intensive authoritative parenting vogue. Additionally, working-class folks price conformity and
bourgeois folk’s price self-reliance, and these people variations in values order authoritarian and
authoritative parenting designs severally. Finally, working-class folks tend to measure in
neighbourhoods that expose them and their youngsters to larger threats and risks that activate
parental protection mechanisms that turn out less authoritative and a lot of authoritarian
parenting designs.

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Social class and education

“ Social class also affects the education of a person as an upper class student will get his education
done from a quality institutes while for the other classes it will be difficult to afford and send
their children in such expensive institutes.

Instruction could be a significant piece of class, each straightforwardly and by implication.

Straightforwardly, individuals from higher social classes are a ton of apparently to have the
implies that to go to a ton of renowned universities, and are hence a great deal of apparently to
get higher trainings. By implication, individuals who have the advantage of such guidance are a
great deal of apparently to find esteemed positions, and progressively, more significant
compensations. Indeed, even as schooling and class are firmly tangled, separation in instruction
adds to definition in class.

Instructive fulfillment eludes to the measure of tutoring an individual finishes — for instance,
secondary school, some staff, school, or an advanced education. Elite individuals ar apparently to
go to schools of upper quality and of bigger status than those went to by their group partners.
Because of individuals from high friendly classifications will in general be higher taught and
have higher earnings, they're ready to supply bigger instructional advantages, as non-public
tutoring, to their children too.

Privileged oldsters can send their children not exclusively to selective non-public schools,
anyway conjointly to public state-subsidized universities. Such universities are apparently to be
of upper quality in princely territories than in ruined ones, since they're subsidized by local
charges among the varsity region.

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Conclusion

In the paper we have covered the various aspects of social class on the society and the people.
Class system is basically a status group, which arise different statuses in a society as people so
different things. They involve themselves in different activities and follow their purpose. Having
a social status divides the individuals not only physically but mentally also. The class system is
an open system in which vertical mobility is possible. Individuals can easily move upwards or
downwards in social hierarchy as there is no or very mild restrictions imposed in the system.
This suggests that the information sets that square measure obtainable to us, and measures of
cultural consumption contained in that, don't seem to be as standardized as we might have liked.
As a result, we tend to couldn't have administered precisely the same analysis all told Iroquois
League. Instead, we've got sought-after to attain cross-national likeness by addressing constant
set of analysis queries, and to try and do thus among a shared abstract framework. We’ve got 2
main goals. Our initial goal is to more our information of the condition of cultural consumption
in up to date societies.

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