6

PowerPoint Presentation
prepared by
Terri Petkau, Mohawk College
CHAPTER SIX
Social Stratification
Harvey Krahn
INTRODUCTION
Will examine:
Types of stratification systems
Explanations of social stratification
Occupations, social class, and inequality in

Canada
Copyright 2011 by Nelson Education Ltd
Occupational mobility in Canada
Distribution of wealth in Canada
Material inequality and the poor in Canada*
6-3
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Social stratification:
Refers to persistent patterns of social

inequality in a society
Is perpetuated by the way wealth, power,
and prestige are distributed and passed
on from one generation to the next

Exists in all societies*
6-4
FEATURES OF SOCIAL
HIERARCHIES
Status: Rank or position in a social
hierarchy
Statuses may be:

i. Ascribed (assigned at birth), or

ii. Achieved (earned by performance)*
6-5
TYPES OF STRATIFICATION
SYSTEMS
1. Open stratification system:
Stratification system in which merit rather than
inheritance (ascribed characteristics) determines
social rank
Allows for social change
Is reflected in a meritocracy:
Positions are achieved, not ascribed

Characterized by equal opportunity and high social
mobility (movement up or down a social
hierarchy)*
6-6
TYPES OF STRATIFICATION
SYSTEMS
2. Closed stratification system
Stratification system in which inheritance rather
than merit determines social rank
Little social change possible
Reflected in a caste system:

Positions are ascribed, not achieved
Characterized by little social mobility
Although Canada is in principal a meritocracy,

ascribed statuses still play an important role*
6-7
CLASS AND CLASS
STRUCTURE
Class: Position in an economic hierarchy
occupied by individuals or families with similar
access to, or control over, material resources
(e.g., working class, professional class)
Class structure: Relatively permanent economic

hierarchy comprising different social classes
Socioeconomic status: Persons general status

within an economic hierarchy, based on income,
education, and occupation*
6-8
EXPLANATIONS OF
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Several theories or explanations of social
stratification
Accounts offered by Marx, Weber, Davis

and Moore, Lenski, Wright, and Parkin
Understandings are mediated by time and

place in which social theories developed*
6-9
MARX ON
STRATIFICATION
Writings focus particularly on 19th century
European world rapidly being changed by
industrial capitalism
Industrial Revolution: Tremendous increase in
level of economic production and degree of
inequality
Key concepts in Marxs theory:
Mode of production: Overall system of economic

activity (e.g., slavery, capitalism)*
6-
MARX ON
STRATIFICATION
Mode of production comprises:
i. Means of production: Technology,
capital investments, raw materials
used in production
ii. Social relations of production:

Relationships between main classes
involved in production*
6-
MARX: SOCIAL CLASSES
Two major classes within industrial capitalism:
i. The bourgeoisie: Owners of the means of

production
ii. The proletariat: Workers who exchange their

labour for a wages
Secondary class:
The petite bourgeoisie: Independent owners/
producers (e.g., farmers) and small business
owners*
6-
MARX: EXPLOITATION
Exploitation of wage labourers was
result of surplus value:
When proceeds from sale of goods
produced by wage-labourers far
exceed cost of wages, raw materials,
etc.
Surplus value then turned into profits

for owners (i.e., capitalists)*
6-
MARX: CLASS CONFLICT
Class conflict: Conflict between major classes
within a mode of production
Is driving force behind social change
Eventually leads to evolution of new mode of
production
Envisioned capitalism being replaced with

socialist mode of production (i.e., no private

property with its attendant exploitation and
inequality)*
6-
MARX: CLASS
CONSCIOUSNESS AND
REVOLUTION
Theorized workers would develop class-
consciousness:
Recognition by members of a class of their shared

interest in opposition to members of another class
Would lead to revolutionary upheaval and eventually

classes society based on collective ownership of
means of production (e.g., communism)*
6-
RESPONSES TO MARX
Criticized for predictions not finding support in:
i. Later capitalist societies, which were

characterized by absence of widespread class
conflict, growth of the middle class, and relative
decline in material inequality in 20th century
Example: Western Europe and North America
ii. Later socialist systems of government, which

were characterized by persistent inequality, and

new hierarchy that controls political and
bureaucratic apparatus
Example: Russia*
6-
WEBER ON
STRATIFICATION
Focused on determinants of power: Ability to
impose ones wishes on others
Structural basis of power:

i. Class (power derived from position in economic
hierarchy)
ii. Status (power derived from culturally and socially
defined position that person occupies in a group)

iii. Party (political power)
Power depends on ones location in these three

structures*
6-
WEBER: SOCIAL CLASS
AND LIFE CHANCES
Gave primary emphasis in social stratification to
economic underpinnings
Claimed there was larger variety of class

positions than found in Marxs theory
Emphasized life chances:

Opportunities (or lack thereof) for higher standard

of living and a better quality of life that are
available to members of a given class*
6-
DAVIS AND MOORE:
FUNCTIONAL THEORY OF
STRATIFICATION
Inequality exists in all societies Must be
necessary
All societies have occupational roles that need to be

filled, with some roles requiring more training than
others (e.g., the more important roles)
Greater rewards (e.g., money, prestige) necessary

to encourage people to undertake extended training
and fill these important roles
Social inequality is therefore necessary and

inevitable*
6-
CRITICISMS OF DAVIS
AND MOORE
Theory does not account for the following:
Huge income and wealth inequalities
Gender differences in income even if same type
of work undertaken
Inherited wealth
Arbitrariness of denoting most important roles
(e.g., movie stars, nurses, daycare workers)
Criticized as justification for large inequalities*
6-
LENSKI: TECHNOLOGY AND
STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS
Societys technological base largely determines
degree of inequality within it
Owners of means of production need to rely on
well-educated managerial and technical workers
Reliance gives rise to workers demands for
greater portion of the growing wealth in industrial
society
Employers give in to demands because they

cannot produce wealth without these workers
Envisioned movement towards more equal
distribution of wealth*
6-
WRIGHTS NEO-MARXIST
THEORY OF CLASS
Recognized that as industrial capitalism
matured, the middle class had grown and
become more diverse
Emphasized contradictory class
locations:
An occupational grouping with divided
loyalties
Also identified three classes of owners
and nine classes of wage labourers*
6-
ERIC OLIN WRIGHTS TYPOLOGY OF CLASS
LOCATION IN CAPITALIST SOCIETY
6-
WRIGHTS NEO-MARXIST
THEORY OF CLASS
Argued exploitation of one class by
another can occur through:
Control of property or means of production
(as Marx insisted)
Ownership of skill or credential assets,
and
Control of high positions within
organizations*
6-
PARKINS NEO-
WEBERIAN APPROACH
Developed Webers concept of social closure:
Methods used by more powerful groups to
maintain their unequal access to status and
resources, and to exclude others from such
access
Two types of closure strategies:
i. Exclusion: Organized effort of the privileged, more
powerful groups to maintain their advantaged

position (e.g., lawyers, members of trade unions)
ii. Usurpation: Effort of excluded groups to gain
advantages and power at expense of more
powerful groups (e.g., women)*
6-
OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL CLASS,
AND INEQUALITY IN CANADA
Most prominent occupational shift over 20th century

was decline in agricultural occupations
Also decline (albeit less) in other natural resource-
based occupations (e.g., forestry, fishing, mining)
Increase in white-collar occupations (e.g.,
managerial, professional, clerical [office jobs], sales,
and service categories)

Have come to greatly outnumber blue-collar
occupations (e.g., manufacturing, construction,
transportation, and resource-based operations)*
6-
OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL
CLASS, AND INEQUALITY
IN CANADA
Increase in proportion of occupations requiring
higher education
Rise in average incomes (until early 1980s)
Occupational shifts suggest:

Greater class diversity, not polarization of classes

Rising standard of living for Canadian workers,
not increasing poverty and exploitation*
6-
OCCUPATIONAL
DISTRIBUTION
OF LABOUR
FORCE
PARTICIPANTS,*
CANADA, 1911,
1951, 2006
6-
OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL
CLASS, AND INEQUALITY IN
CANADA
Gender-based labour market stratification has
continued:
Since middle of last century, proportion of women in
labour force has risen
But mostly in low-paid, low status pink-collar
sector (clerical, sales, and service occupations)
Large class of paid workers differentiated by:

Decision-making authority
Income status
Occupational power*
6-
OCCUPATIONS, SOCIAL
CLASS, AND INEQUALITY IN
CANADA
Dramatic decrease in proportion of self-employed
Canadians over past century
Increase in unemployment
Part-time and temporary work more common

Income growth has stopped
Increase in income and wealth inequality*
6-
OCCUPATIONAL
MOBILITY AND STATUS
ATTAINMENT
Occupational mobility: Moving up and down
occupational and income ladders
Intragenerational occupational mobility: Mobility

within an individuals lifetime
Intergenerational occupational mobility: Process

of reaching occupation location higher or lower

than location held by parents
Occupational status attainment: Main determinant

of status of a persons current job is status of first
job (dependent on educational attainment)*
6-
OCCUPATIONAL
MOBILITY IN CANADA
Globally, one of highest rates of upward mobility
More upward than downward intergenerational

mobility
Relatively open stratification system (especially

during 1970s and 1980s)
Yet intergenerational transfer of advantage

persists*
6-
THE DISTRIBUTION OF
WEALTH IN CANADA
Limited number of people continue to own or
control very large portion of wealth
Concentration of ownership and wealth inequality

continue to increase:
Wealthiest 10% of families holds almost half of all

wealth in Canada
CEOs multimillion dollar compensation packages

versus 11% of Canadian families with no net
worth*
6-
INCOME DISTRIBUTION: HIGH-
PAYING AND LOW-PAYING
OCCUPATIONS
Upper middle class: Those with well-paid managerial
and professional occupations (e.g., lawyers, dentists)
Lower working class: Retail workers and those

employed in service occupations (e.g., childcare and
home support services)
Gender differences hidden in occupational earning

patterns:
Females earn less than males in all occupations but
earnings ratio varies considerably by occupation*
6-
AVERAGE EARNINGS IN SIX OCCUPATIONS
MOST COMMONLY HELD BY 15- TO 24-YEAR-
OLDS WITH A UNIVERSITY DEGREE/
DIPLOMA AND WORKING FULL-TIME, FULL
YEAR BY SEX, CANADA, 2006
6-
INCOME INEQUALITY
Since mid-20th century, little change in distribution of
total income across households
But increase in income inequality

Decline in share of total income received by the
three middle quintiles
Immigrants significantly overrepresented among

Canadas working poor despite higher education
and training
Since 1990, average family income increased by

1%, versus 40% increase in average family debt*
6-
THE POOR: DEFINING AND
MEASURING POVERTY
Various ways of defining poverty:

Absolute poverty: Those with so little income that
survival is difficult
Relative poverty: Those with significantly less

income than others in their society
Canadas low-income cut-off (LICO) or poverty line:

Those who spend more than 55% of gross income
on basic necessities*
6-
WHO ARE THE POOR?
Proportion of poor Canadians in 2001: 14.4%
Only minority unemployed or out of labour force
Working poor (those employed in low wage jobs)

make up large proportion of the poor
Aboriginal Canadians among poorest citizens

Poverty rate for single-parent families and seniors

(aged 65+) living alone: Both 42% in 2001
Poverty not a static status: Sizable number move in

and out of poverty each year*
6-
INCIDENCE OF LOW INCOME
FOR SELECTED FAMILY UNIT
TYPES, CANADA, 1980, 1990,
2004
6-
SOCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR
THE POOR
Misconception that level of social assistance
provides disincentive to work
Ontario social assistance provides:
Income of only 34% of poverty line for single

employable adults
Income of only 56% of poverty line for single parents
Income of only 59% of poverty line for those with

disabilities*
6-
TOTAL WELFARE INCOME ($), AS
PERCENTAGE OF (PRETAX) POVERTY
LINE AND OF MEDIAN INCOME
6-
MATERIAL INEQUALITY IN
CANADA: A SUMMARY
Level of material inequality is relatively low compared
with many other countries and with a century ago
But have witnessed increases in:

Corporate concentration
Wealth inequality
Income inequality
Number of working poor

Unemployment rates (long-term trend)
Part-time and temporary employment
Inequality in earnings (re: polarization in hours
worked)*
6-
MATERIAL INEQUALITY IN
CANADA: A SUMMARY
Reduction in employment opportunities
More competitive economic environment (due to

globalization)
Routine layoffs and downsizing
Replacement of full-time permanent jobs with part-

time and temporary positions

Weakened labour movement
Decrease in state efforts to reduce material

inequalities*
6-
CONSEQUENCES OF
MATERIAL INEQUALITY
Position in class structure has effect on belief
systems, behaviours, voting patterns, lifestyles,
and, most importantly, life chances (e.g., health,
longevity, educational attainment, criminality)
Increasing inequality may mean more social

unrest among the poor
But more opposition today from better-organized,

better-funded middle class*
6-
RESPONDING TO
INEQUALITY
Two views:
1. Inequality is inevitable and need not be addressed
(tends to be espoused by the well-off)
2. Inequality is unjust and needs to be addressed
(tends to be espoused by the poor):
i. Socialist response: Overthrow capitalism
ii. Reformist response: Government redistribution of

wealth to the poor (e.g., through pensions,
minimum-wage legislation, unemployment
insurance, etc.)*
6-
RESPONDING TO
INEQUALITY: CANADAS
RESPONSE?
Canadas liberal welfare policies espouse faith in
power of free market to produce wealth and
improve condition of poor (despite little evidence
of success)
Priority today given to deficit-reducing initiatives

rather than reduction of material inequality
Responding to inequality effectively will require

willingness on part of many to accept less so that
others can have more**
6-

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PowerPoint Presentation

Types of stratification systems

Explanations of social stratification

Occupations, social class, and inequality in

Occupational mobility in Canada

Distribution of wealth in Canada

Material inequality and the poor in Canada*

Refers to persistent patterns of social

on from one generation to the next

Statuses may be:

i. Ascribed (assigned at birth), or

Positions are achieved, not ascribed

Reflected in a caste system:

Characterized by little social mobility

Although Canada is in principal a meritocracy,

Class structure: Relatively permanent economic

Socioeconomic status: Persons general status

Accounts offered by Marx, Weber, Davis

Understandings are mediated by time and

Key concepts in Marxs theory:

Mode of production: Overall system of economic

ii. Social relations of production:

i. The bourgeoisie: Owners of the means of

ii. The proletariat: Workers who exchange their

Surplus value then turned into profits

Envisioned capitalism being replaced with

socialist mode of production (i.e., no private

Recognition by members of a class of their shared

Would lead to revolutionary upheaval and eventually

i. Later capitalist societies, which were

ii. Later socialist systems of government, which

were characterized by persistent inequality, and

Structural basis of power:

defined position that person occupies in a group)

Power depends on ones location in these three

Claimed there was larger variety of class

Emphasized life chances:

Opportunities (or lack thereof) for higher standard

All societies have occupational roles that need to be

Greater rewards (e.g., money, prestige) necessary

Social inequality is therefore necessary and

(e.g., movie stars, nurses, daycare workers)

Criticized as justification for large inequalities*

Employers give in to demands because they

powerful groups to maintain their advantaged

Most prominent occupational shift over 20th century

and service categories)

Rise in average incomes (until early 1980s)

Occupational shifts suggest:

Greater class diversity, not polarization of classes

Large class of paid workers differentiated by:

Part-time and temporary work more common

Income growth has stopped

Increase in income and wealth inequality*

Intragenerational occupational mobility: Mobility

Intergenerational occupational mobility: Process

of reaching occupation location higher or lower

Occupational status attainment: Main determinant

More upward than downward intergenerational

Relatively open stratification system (especially

Yet intergenerational transfer of advantage

Concentration of ownership and wealth inequality

Wealthiest 10% of families holds almost half of all

CEOs multimillion dollar compensation packages