Dimensions of Stratification — Class and Status

Class and Status are two principal dimensions of social stratification that determine people’s life chances, power and prestige. While class derives from economic relations, status derives from social honor and prestige. Together they explain the complex pattern of hierarchy in modern and traditional societies.

1️⃣ The Concept of Class

The idea of class refers to groups differentiated by their relationship to production, property and market position. Classes are not merely income groups but structural positions in the economic order that influence power, prestige, and mobility.

Karl Marx — Class and Exploitation

• Class is defined by one’s relationship to the means of production — owners (bourgeoisie) and workers (proletariat).
• Exploitation occurs through appropriation of surplus value created by labour.
• Class conflict drives historical change; revolution leads to abolition of class society.
• Mobility is structural (collective), not individual — achieved by transforming the mode of production.

Max Weber — Class as Market Situation

• Classes arise from people’s economic interests in the market.
• They share similar life chances based on their ability to sell skills or property.
• Unlike Marx, Weber saw multiple classes and gradations based on skills and qualifications.
• Upward mobility is possible through education and market success.

Ralf Dahrendorf — Authority and Conflict

Dahrendorf modernized Marx by emphasizing authority relations rather than ownership. Every organization has those who command and those who obey. Conflict is institutionalized and managed through law and negotiation in industrial societies.

Erik Olin Wright — Contradictory Class Locations

Wright argued that many people occupy intermediate positions (e.g., managers, technicians) who both exploit and are exploited. This makes class structure complex and creates mixed class interests — explaining partial mobility and fragmented class consciousness.

Pierre Bourdieu — Forms of Capital and Reproduction

• Bourdieu linked economic, social, and cultural capital to class reproduction.
• Schools and institutions validate dominant class culture as “merit.”
• Habitus = internalized dispositions that make inequality seem natural.

2️⃣ The Concept of Status

Status denotes a position within the social hierarchy based on prestige, honor, or esteem accorded by others. Unlike class, status is a form of social evaluation and symbolic recognition rather than economic ownership.

Max Weber — Status Groups

• Status groups are communities of people who share a sense of honor and a common style of life.
• They maintain boundaries through social closure (endogamy, dress, rituals).
• They can exist independently of economic class (e.g., caste in India, aristocracy in Europe).
• Each status group monopolizes prestige and excludes outsiders from equal recognition.

Frank Parkin — Social Closure Theory

Parkin (1979) combined Weberian status analysis with Marxist power theory. Dominant groups use exclusionary strategies (laws, credentials) to monopolize privileges; subordinate groups use usurpation strategies to gain entry. This explains how status barriers persist even after economic changes.

Ralf Dahrendorf & John Goldthorpe

Later Weberians like Goldthorpe classified status occupations into service classes, intermediate and working classes based on employment relations and career prospects — forming the basis of modern class mobility studies in Britain and India.

3️⃣ Class–Status Interrelation

While class and status often coincide (e.g., industrialists having high status), they may also diverge (e.g., aristocrats with high status but less wealth). The interaction of these dimensions explains complex patterns of mobility and inequality.

4️⃣ Social Mobility in Class and Status Systems

• Class Mobility: Open system based on education, occupation, skills (industrial society).
• Status Mobility: More rigid and closed (e.g., caste, ethnic communities).
• Intergenerational mobility: Children achieve different class/status positions from parents through education and urbanization.
• Intragenerational mobility: Movement within a lifetime through career progression.

5️⃣ Indian Context and Illustrations

In India, the interaction of class and status is visible in the caste–class nexus:

• Andre Béteille: Indian villages show overlap between ritual status (caste) and economic class (land ownership).
• M. N. Srinivas: Concept of Sanskritization explains status mobility without economic change.
• Yogendra Singh: Modernization creates new classes and status hierarchies in urban India.
• A. R. Desai: Class relations in agrarian India reflect capitalist penetration within traditional status structures.

6️⃣ Summary Table — Class vs Status

UPSC Summary Pointers

• Class = economic dimension of inequality; Status = social dimension of prestige.
• Marx → conflict & exploitation; Weber → market and honor.
• Bourdieu → cultural capital and habitus reproduce class and status.
• In India, caste illustrates status hierarchy interacting with economic class.
• Always compare class mobility (industrial) with status rigidity (traditional) in answers.