Social stratification entails the ranking of society into groups or classes of people according to wealth, power, status and or prestige. This involves a great deal of bias as it may associate these attributes in alignment with a particular race or color. Though social stratification is viewed on a wide scale as being an agent of conflict in many societies it also provides a unified balance as ironically enough it serves as an equalizer.
Social stratification is based on four major principles
1. It is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences.
2. It persists over generations
3. It is universal but variable
4. It involves not only inequalities but beliefs as well (inequality is deeply rooted in an individuals’ cultural …show more content…
However in today's Caribbean society this is not always the case. Education is a requirement in order for one to move up the social ladder in society because without education it is very difficult to gain employment in the very competitive world of work. In the Caribbean education was not always accessible to all but it is now free for all today however the question is posed as to at what extent is education 'free’. Education is freely accessible however it is attained with great difficulty. The school system is plagued with fees that are not easily available to the vast majority. With limited resources selected individuals who can't afford the fees to go to school won't be able to move up the social ladder and become a contribution to society instead they become a burden to it. Students are also placed in classes based on their performance in school. In light of these conditions Karl Marx argued that modern capitalist societies are not open societies, he posits that capitalism can only survive if there is a large mass of poor persons with labour to be exploited thus the capitalists society limits the movements of the lower classes ensuring that they never move up the social ladder. This is done through the use of the education system which through the hidden curriculum ensures that the lower class students fail or ensure that they cannot afford to success. Also using his argument it can be said that in the work system is very rigid because even though there are job opportunities it is not available to all. A person may have all the right qualifications but due to their geographical location they might be turned down. For example in Jamaica a person who lives in Tivoli might be turned down for a job even though he/she
Social stratification is based on four major principles
1. It is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences.
2. It persists over generations
3. It is universal but variable
4. It involves not only inequalities but beliefs as well (inequality is deeply rooted in an individuals’ cultural …show more content…
However in today's Caribbean society this is not always the case. Education is a requirement in order for one to move up the social ladder in society because without education it is very difficult to gain employment in the very competitive world of work. In the Caribbean education was not always accessible to all but it is now free for all today however the question is posed as to at what extent is education 'free’. Education is freely accessible however it is attained with great difficulty. The school system is plagued with fees that are not easily available to the vast majority. With limited resources selected individuals who can't afford the fees to go to school won't be able to move up the social ladder and become a contribution to society instead they become a burden to it. Students are also placed in classes based on their performance in school. In light of these conditions Karl Marx argued that modern capitalist societies are not open societies, he posits that capitalism can only survive if there is a large mass of poor persons with labour to be exploited thus the capitalists society limits the movements of the lower classes ensuring that they never move up the social ladder. This is done through the use of the education system which through the hidden curriculum ensures that the lower class students fail or ensure that they cannot afford to success. Also using his argument it can be said that in the work system is very rigid because even though there are job opportunities it is not available to all. A person may have all the right qualifications but due to their geographical location they might be turned down. For example in Jamaica a person who lives in Tivoli might be turned down for a job even though he/she