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Topic 7 of 8 · Form 6

Social stratification and inequality

The hierarchical ranking of groups in society by class, status, power, gender, ethnicity and age. Systems include slavery, caste, estate and class systems.

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Stratification

The hierarchical ranking of groups in society by class, status, power, gender, ethnicity and age. Systems include slavery, caste, estate and class systems.

Theories

  • Functionalist (Davis and Moore): stratification motivates talented people to fill important roles – criticised by Tumin.
  • Marxist: class is based on ownership of the means of production; inequality is exploitation.
  • Weberian: class (market situation), status and party (power) are separate dimensions.
  • Feminist and intersectional: gender, race and class interact.

Social mobility

Intergenerational and intragenerational mobility; open and closed societies. Education is a key route to mobility but is affected by inequality.

Inequality in Zimbabwe

Colonial racial stratification (land and job reservation laws), post-independence changes, the informal economy, urban–rural inequality, poverty, and gender inequality in land, employment and political representation. Measures include the Gini coefficient and poverty lines.

Poverty

Absolute and relative poverty; explanations: individual (culture of poverty), structural (unemployment, economic crisis), and policy responses (social protection, cash transfers, education assistance through BEAM).

Exam tip: Apply theories to Zimbabwean evidence – e.g. the effect of the informal economy on class structure.

Check yourself

  1. Name Weber's three dimensions of stratification.
  2. Distinguish between absolute and relative poverty.
  3. What is intergenerational mobility?
Show answers
  1. Class, status and party (power).
  2. Absolute poverty is lacking basic needs for survival; relative poverty is being poor compared with the general living standards of a society.
  3. A change in social position between generations (e.g. a farmer's child becoming a doctor).
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