Social stratification

Key people

• Zsuzsa FergeHungarian sociologist, statistician (1931–2024)
• G. William DomhoffAmerican sociologist & psychologist (1936-)
• Jonathan R. ColeAmerican sociologist
• Sue SlipmanBritish consumer representative

Timeline

• 2012By contrast, for 2012, the World Bank reports that 21 percent of people worldwide, around 1.5 billion, live in extreme poverty, at or below $1.25 a day.

Read

• Class, status and powerReinhard Bendix · 1953Book
• Social Stratification and InequalityHarold R. Kerbo · 1983Book
• Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US SocietyChristopher B. Doob · 2012Book
• Social Stratification of English in New York CityWilliam Labov · 1964Book

Watch

• Is inequality inevitable?YouTube
• Social Stratification and Inequality | SociologyYouTube
• Class Inequality and types of capitalYouTube
• Sociology in 10 Minutes: Ep 39 - Stratification - Equality & Inequality | StudyIQ IAS | UPSCYouTube
• Communication and Social Inequality | By Karandeep Singh | Anthropology Optional | Level Up IASYouTube
• Social Stratification: Crash Course Sociology #21YouTube
• Race & Ethnicity: Crash Course Sociology #34YouTube
• Social Inequalities: Part 1 of 3YouTube
• Karl Marx & Conflict Theory: Crash Course Sociology #6YouTube
• The Effects of Inequality on Society | Anthropology OptionalYouTube

Listen

• Issues in Social Stratification (SOC3347)Jennifer ElgiePodcast

Voices to follow

• Phillip W. Magness@PhilWMagness · XEconomic historian
• Mireia Fernández Ardèvol@mireia · XResearcher
• Philip N. Cohen@familyunequal · XAmerican sociologist and demographer
• Tomáš Kostelecký@KosteleckyTomas · XCzech sociologist

By the numbers

• 8.2BWorld population — global, 2025 (World Bank)
• 57.8Urban (% of people) — global, 2025 (World Bank)

Debates

• Is social mobility increasing or decreasing in modern societies?One view: Proponents argue that increased access to education and globalization offer more opportunities for individuals to move up the social ladder. · Another: Critics contend that rising economic inequality and inherited wealth limit upward mobility, making it harder for those from lower strata to advance.Open question
• Is social class still the primary form of social stratification?One view: Many sociologists argue that economic divisions based on wealth and income continue to be the most fundamental determinant of life chances and power. · Another: Others assert that race, gender, religion, and other identity markers are equally or more significant in shaping an individual's social position and experiences.Open question
• Is social stratification functional for society or a source of conflict?One view: Functionalists suggest stratification is necessary to motivate individuals to fill important roles, ensuring societal stability and efficiency. · Another: Conflict theorists argue stratification results from power struggles, leading to exploitation, inequality, and inherent social instability.Open question

Glossary

• Social stratificationThe hierarchical arrangement of individuals and groups in societies based on factors like wealth, power, and prestige.
• Social classA group of people sharing a similar economic position, lifestyle, and life chances within a stratified society.
• Social mobilityThe movement of individuals or groups between different social positions within a stratification system.
• MeritocracyA system in which social status and advancement are based purely on individual ability, effort, and achievement.
• Socioeconomic status (SES)A composite measure of an individual's or family's social and economic position based on income, education, and occupation.
• Caste systemA rigid form of social stratification where status is ascribed at birth and permits little to no social mobility.

Careers

Roles this can lead toward

Student research

Published policy papers by One Young India delegates — every delegate leaves published under their own name.

• The Public Persona Trap: US College Admissions and Social MediaGunika Chaudhary
• Understanding misinformation in India: The case for a meaningful regulatory approach for social media platformsGandharv Dhruv Madan
• The Evolution of Social Media Marketing: From Engagement to CommerceHimanshi Bhutoria

Threads 8

Where this connects to other fields — and why it's worth knowing.

• Gene Editing Ethics Science

  If designing smarter, healthier babies costs a fortune, only rich families could buy the upgrade. Then today's gap between rich and poor wouldn't just be about money; it would be baked into people's genes and passed down forever. Inequality could become biological and permanent, locked into the family line.

• GIS and Spatial Analysis Geography

  Which few blocks you're born in can predict how your whole life goes, because being close to good schools and jobs matters that much. In some cities, crossing a single street changes average life expectancy by decades. Your zip code can shape your future more than your talent does.

• Aesthetics Arts

  Knowing which wine, film, or painting is 'good' feels like pure taste. But you mostly inherit that knowledge from the family and schools you grew up in. So taste works like a secret password: it quietly sorts people by class, gatekeeping just as hard as a fat bank account.

• Metabolic & Chronic Disease Health

  Scientists tracked thousands of British government workers, everyone employed, everyone with healthcare, and found that each step down the office ladder meant a higher chance of dying, even near the very top. It wasn't poverty. Being lower-ranked itself, with the constant low-grade stress it brings, floods the body with stress hormones that quietly wear it down. Your spot in the pecking order can be lethal.

• Civil & Structural Engineering Technology

  The same earthquake can leave rich neighborhoods standing and flatten poor ones. Whether a building survives depends on money spent on safe construction, so a building code quietly decides who lives and who dies by class. It's a life-expectancy map poured in concrete.

• NEP 2020 Education

  Hand the same new school reform to rich and poor classrooms at once, and the families with money and time grab the benefits first. The already-ahead pull further ahead. So a policy meant to level the field can quietly widen the gap it wanted to close.

• Terrorism and Violent Extremism Global Risks

  Terror recruiters don't mostly catch the poorest people; they catch the frustrated near-elite. It's not absolute poverty that radicalizes but relative deprivation: feeling humiliated and blocked when you expected more. Feeling left behind fuels recruitment far more reliably than simply being broke.

• Extreme Weather Environment

  After a flood or fire, aid money tends to follow expensive property. So the rich rebuild their damaged homes, while poorer families, whose cheaper places 'weren't worth as much,' often can't return at all. Each disaster quietly shifts wealth upward and pushes the poor out for good.