Social stratification is the structured ranking of entire groups of people that

perpetuates unequal economic rewards and power in a society. In a stratified

system the groups of people are given unequal statuses and is arranged
hierarchically. There are certain groups that are higher in social rankings than
others. In a social class groups of people are ranked on their economic position.
Class standing depends on ascribed characteristics. One can move from one class to
another. Slavery is considered a system of stratification where individuals are
owned by others and have to obey them at all means. Slavery has been going on
since many years ago and in some areas in the world is still happening. Another
stratification is the caste system ,which is the rankings of individuals past down
from their families past and is unchangeable. The third type of stratification is the
Estates system and is also called feudalism. In this system individuals of different
statuses have certain obligations and privileges. The last system is the class system
in which social statuses is based on economic positions. The group members can
move to one class level to another. Caste system is a closed status due to the
members believing they cannot change statuses. The class system is more of an
open state where its possible to change statuses. Ascribed statuses is chosen by
society and includes slavery. An achieved statues is when a person achieves their
statues by their own efforts.
To Karl Marx control over production was important to social relations during any
time and depends on the means of production. The groups that own the means of
production is the groups that dominate the most power in a society. The bourgeoisie
is the high class that owns the means of production and controls over the
production. The proletariat is the working class and has no power over the society.
Both the bourgeoisie and the proletariat play important roles in the means of
production. The bourgeoisie is the capitalist class owns factories and machinery. The
proletariat is the low class working for the capitalists. Class consciousness is the
working class fighting for social change between them and the capitalists to make
more equal distribution in socialism. Dominant ideology is the practices and beliefs
that maintain powerful social, economic, and political interest. The term false
consciousness is described as when members of capitalists mislead the proletariats.
Weber referred to the term class by a group of people who are in the same level in
economic resources and is about how much you own. The two core elements of
class are material resources and skill knowledge in the market place. The term for
social resource is status group. Status group refers to the people who share
common level of prestige and is judged by the views of others. I t could be either
positive or negative. Webers term party is the function to fulfill a particular goal.
Party was a potential resource of webers and is available to any individual who
seized it. Max Weber agreed with Marx that social class plays a role in shaping
outcomes, but disagreed on the narrowness of Marxs conception of power , where
Weber believed that power was multidimensional.

Cultural capital is the differences in the classes cultures and tastes in a society. The
working class differs from those from the upper-class. Cultural capital is also
considered to be cultural inequality. Individual is taught the patterns and culture of
what their parents background. We can see that class differs by what people wear,
what music they like to listen to, where they live, or where they go on vacations. For
example people in a high class goes somewhere over seas while a family in a lower
class goes somewhere not that far from where they live for vacation.