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SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: A CASTE PERSPECTIVE

Submitted To

Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda,

Faculty, Deptt. Of Sociology

Submitted by:

Shikhar Shrivastava

Roll No.- 142

Section B

Semester- V | B.A.L.LB. (Hons.)

Hidayatullah National Law University, Post Uparwara, Abhanpur, New Raipur

– 493661 (Chhattisgarh)

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DECLARATION

I, Shikhar Shrivastava, have undergone research of the project work titled ―Social Stratification: A

Caste Perspective” as a student of Sociology hereby declare that- this Research Project has been

prepared by the student for academic purpose only, and is the outcome of the investigation done by me

and also prepared by myself under the supervision of Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda, Hidayatullah National

Law University, Raipur. The views expressed in the report are personal to the student and do not reflect

the views of any authority or any other person, and do not bind the statute in any manner.

I also declare that this Research Paper or any part thereof has not been or is not being submitted

elsewhere for the award of any degree or Diploma. This report is the intellectual property of the on the

part of student research work, and the same or any part thereof may not be used in any manner

whatsoever in writing.

Shikhar Shrivastava

Roll. No. 142

Section B

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Shikhar Shrivastava, Roll Number-142, student of Semester- V of

B.A.LL.B.(Hons.), Hidayatullah National Law University, New Raipur (Chhattisgarh) has undergone

research of the project work titled ―Social Stratification: A Caste Perspective” in partial fulfillment of

the subject of Sociology. His performance in research work is up to the level.

Place: New Raipur ………………………… ……………………………

Date: 09.11.2015 Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda

(Faculty- Sociology)

Hidayatullah National Law University, New Raipur, Chhattisgarh

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I feel highly elated to work on the project ―Social Stratification: A Caste Perspective” The practical

realization of the project has obligated the assistance of many persons. Firstly I express my deepest

gratitude towards Dr. Uttam Kumar Panda, Faculty of Sociology, to provide me with the opportunity to

work on this project. His able guidance ship and supervision in terms of his lectures were of extreme help

in understanding and carrying out the nuances of this project.

I would also like to thank The University and the Vice Chancellor for providing extensive database

resources in the library and for the internet facilities provided by the University.

Some typography or printing errors might have crept in, which are deeply regretted. I would be grateful

to receive comments and suggestions to further improve this project.

Shikhar Shrivastava

Roll No. 142

Section B

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CONTENTS

Declaration

Certificate

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1

1.1 Objectives of the study.......................................................................................................4

1.2 Scope of the study................................................................................................................ 4

1.3 Research Methodology of the study .................................................................................... 4

1.4 Organization of the study ....................................................................................................4

1.5 Review of Literature……………………………………………………………………. 5

2. Definition ..................................................................................................................................6

3. Characteristics of Social Stratification ………………………………………. 12

4. History…………………………………………………………………………………… 9

5. Caste as Basis social stratification around world and in India ………………………… 14

6. Bibliography/Reference…………………………………………………………… 19

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1.1 INTRODUCTION

In all societies people differ from each other on the basis of their age, sex and personal

characteristics. Human society is not homogeneous but heterogeneous. Apart from the natural

differences, human beings are also differentiated according to socially approved criteria. So

socially differentiated men are treated as socially unequal from the point of view of enjoyment of

social rewards like status, power, income etc. That may be called social inequality. The term

social inequality simply refers to the existence of socially created inequalities.

Social stratification is a particular form of social inequality. All societies arrange their members

in terms of superiority, inferiority and equality. Stratification is a process of interaction or

differentiation whereby some people come to rank higher than others.

In one word, when individuals and groups are ranked, according to some commonly accepted

basis of valuation in a hierarchy of status levels based upon the inequality of social positions,

social stratification occurs. Social stratification means division of society into different strata or

layers. It involves a hierarchy of social groups. Members of a particular layer have a common

identity. They have a similar life style

The Indian Caste system provides an example of stratification system. The society in which

divisions of social classes exist is known as a stratified society. Modern stratification

fundamentally differs from stratification of primitive societies. Social stratification involves two

phenomena

(i) Differentiation of individuals or groups on the basis of possession of certain

characteristics whereby some individuals or groups come to rank higher than others,

(ii) The ranking of individuals according to some basis of evaluation.

Sociologists are concerned not merely with the facts of social differences but also with their social

evaluation. Social stratification is a society's categorization of people into socioeconomic strata,

based upon their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or derived power (social and

political). As such, stratification is the relative social position of persons within a social group,

category, geographic region, or social unit. In modern Western societies, social stratification

typically is distinguished as three social classes: (i) the upper class, (ii) the middle class, and (iii)

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the lower class; in turn, each class can be subdivided into strata, e.g. the upper-stratum, the

middle-stratum, and the lower stratum. Moreover, a social stratum can be formed upon the bases

of kinship or caste, or both.

The categorization of people by social strata occurs in all societies, ranging from the complex,

state-based societies to tribal and feudal societies, which are based upon socio-economic relations

among classes of nobility and classes of peasants.

Historically, whether or not hunter-gatherer societies can be defined as socially stratified or if

social stratification began with agriculture and common acts of social exchange, remains a

debated matter in the social sciences. Determining the structures of social stratification arises

from inequalities of status among persons; therefore, the degree of social inequality determines a

person's social stratum.1

Generally, the greater the social complexity of a society, the more social strata exist, by way of

social differentiation

Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy, non-commensality and

hereditary occupations. According to Human Rights Watch and UNICEF, caste discrimination

affects an estimated 250 million people worldwide.

A paradigmatic, ethnographic example is the division of Indian society into social

groups. Historically, the caste system in India has consisted of thousands of endogamous groups called Jatis or Quoms and Biradaris (among Muslims). The Nepalese caste system

resembles the Indian Jāti system with numerous Jāti divisions with the theoretical Varna system

superimposed for a rough equivalence. Religious, historical and sociocultural factors have also

helped define the bounds of endogamy for Muslims in India and Pakistan. The Caste system in

Sri Lanka is a division of society into strata, similar to the Jāti system found in India.

1 William H. Newell (December 1961). "The Comparative Study of Caste in India and Japan". Asian Survey 1 (10):

3–10. doi:10.1525/as.1961.1.10.01p15082.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PROBLEM

The project research deals with the concept of Caste as a basis of Social Stratification.

RATIONALE

The rationale behind this research is to study the idea of Caste as a basis of Social Stratification.

OBJECTIVE

The main objectives of project are -

1. To study the objects of stratification.

2. To study the history of stratification.

3. To study caste as basis of stratification.

NATURE OF STUDY

The nature of the study in this project is doctrinal and is primarily descriptive and analytical.

SOURCES OF DATA

This project is largely based on primary sources of data, however secondary & electronic sources

of data have been referred to a great extent. Books, case laws, journals & other reference as

guided by faculty of Jurisprudence are primarily helpful for the completion of this project.

CHAPTERISATION

This project is categorized into four parts. Chapter I discusses what actually a stratification is,

and how it affects society. Second chapter deals with the definitions of stratification followed

by third chapter which is the history of stratification and chapter four mentions caste as basis of

stratification. Characteristics of social stratification has also been mentioned.

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REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Definitions -: 1. Ogburn and Nimkoff : ‗The process by which individuals and groups are ranked in more or less enduring hierarchy of

status is known as stratification‖ 2. Lundberg: ―A stratified society is one marked by inequality, by differences among people that are evaluated

by them as being ―lower‖ and ―higher‖. 3. Gisbert: ―Social stratification is the division of society into permanent groups of categories linked with

each other by the relationship of superiority and subordinations‖. Quotes by Authors -: I cannot believe there is caste system in society; I cannot believe people are judged on the basis of their prosperity.

Saina Nehwal

But in view of the constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here.

John Marshall

Harlan If education does not create a need for the best in life, then we are stuck in an undemocratic, rigid caste society. Sargent Shriver

Books -:

1. Cast system in India Ekta Singh

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2. Ambedkar and cast system Lalit .k Sahay

3. Cast and democratic politics in India Ghanshyam Shah

DEFINITIONS

Social stratification is a term used in the social sciences to describe the relative social position of

persons in a given social group, category, geographical region or other social unit. It derives from the Latin strātum (plural strata; parallel, horizontal layers) referring to a given society‘s

categorization of its people into rankings of socioeconomic tiers based on factors like wealth, income, social status, occupation and power. In modern Western societies,

stratification is often broadly classified into three major divisions of social class:upper class,

middle class, and lower class. Each of these classes can be further subdivided into smaller classes

(e.g. "upper middle"). Social strata may also be delineated on the basis of kinship ties or caste

relations.2

The concept of social stratification is often used and interpreted differently within specific

theories. In sociology, for example, proponents of action theory have suggested that social

stratification is commonly found in developed societies, wherein a dominance hierarchy may be

necessary in order to maintain social order and provide a stable social structure. So-called conflict

theories, such as Marxism, point to the inaccessibility of resources and lack of social mobility

found in stratified societies. Many sociological theorists have criticized the extent to which the

working classes are unlikely to advance socioeconomically while the wealthy tend to hold

political power which they use to exploit the proletariat (laboring class). Talcott Parsons, an

American sociologist, asserted that stability and social order are regulated, in part, by universal

values. Such values are not identical with "consensus" but can as well be an impetus for ardent

social conflict as it has been multiple times through history. Parsons never claimed that universal

values, in and by themselves, "satisfied" the functional prerequisites of a society. Indeed, the

constitution of society is a much more complicated codification of emerging historical factors.

Theorists such as Ralf Dahrendorf alternately note the tendency toward an enlarged middle-class

in modern Western societies due to the necessity of an educated workforce in technological

2 Global Caste Discrimination Human Rights Watch

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economies.

Various social and political perspectives concerning globalization, such as dependency theory,

suggest that these effects are due to change in the status of workers to the third world.

Definitions by different sociologists : 1. Ogburn and Nimkoff : ‗The process by which individuals and groups are ranked in more or less enduring hierarchy of

status is known as stratification‖

2. Lundberg: ―A stratified society is one marked by inequality, by differences among people that are evaluated

by them as being ―lower‖ and ―higher‖.

3. Gisbert: ―Social stratification is the division of society into permanent groups of categories linked with

each other by the relationship of superiority and subordinations‖.

4. Williams: Social Stratification refers to ―The ranking of individuals on a scale of superiority-inferiority-

equality, according to some commonly accepted basis of valuation.

5. Raymond W. Murray: Social stratification is horizontal division of society into ―higher‖ and ―lower‖ social units.‖

Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a

hierarchy. In the United States, it is perfectly clear that some groups have greater status, power,

and wealth than other groups. These differences are what lead to social stratification. Social

stratification is based on four major principles:

1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences

2. Social stratification persists over generations

3. Social stratification is universal (it happens everywhere) but variable (it takes different

forms across different societies)

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4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well (inequality is rooted in

a society's philosophy)

Why does social stratification exist, and why are some countries more stratified than others? To

analyze this question, we can look at social stratification through three major perspectives:

structural functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interaction.

CHARACTERSTICS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

On the basis of the analysis of the different definitions given by eminent scholars, social

stratification may have the following characteristics.

(a) Social stratification is universal:

There is no society on this world which is free from stratification. Modern stratification differs

from stratification of primitive societies. It is a worldwide phenomenon. According to Sorokin

―all permanently organized groups are stratified.‖

(b) Stratification is social:

It is true that biological qualities do not determine one‘s superiority and inferiority. Factors like

age, sex, intelligence as well as strength often contribute as the basis on which statues are

distinguished. But one‘s education, property, power, experience, character, personality etc. are

found to be more important than biological qualities. Hence, stratification is social by nature.

(c) It is ancient:

Stratification system is very old. It was present even in the small wondering bonds. In almost all

the ancient civilizations, the differences between the rich and poor, humble andpowerful existed.

During the period of Plato and Kautilya even emphasis was given to political, social and

economic inequalities.

(d) It is in diverse forms:

The forms of stratification is not uniform in all the societies. In the modern world class, caste and

estate are the general forms of stratification. In India a special type of stratification in the form of

caste is found. The ancient Aryas were divided into four varnas: the Brahmins, Kshatriyas,

Vaishyas and Sudras. The ancient Greeks were divided into freemen and slaves and the ancient

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Romans were divided into the particians and the plebians. So every society, past or present, big or

small is characterized by diversed forms of social stratification.

(e) Social stratification is Consequential:

Social stratification has two important consequences one is ―life chances‖ and the other one is

―life style‖. A class system not only affects the ―life- chances‖ of the individuals but also their

―life style‖.

The members of a class have similar social chances but the social chances vary in every society. It

includes chances of survival and of good physical and mental health, opportunities for education,

chances of obtaining justice, marital conflict, separation and divorce etc.

HISTORY

Regarding the origin of stratification many views have been given.

3

(i) According to Davis, social stratification has come into being due to the functional necessity of

the social system.

(ii) Professor Sorokin attributed social stratification mainly to inherited difference in

environmental conditions.

(iii) According to Karl Mrax, social factors are responsible for the emergence of different social

strata, i.e. social stratification.

(iv) Gumplowioz and other contended that the origin of social stratification is to be found in the

conquest of one group by another.

1. 3 "For 15 million in India, a childhood of slavery". The New York Times.

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(v) According to Spengler, social stratification is founded upon scarcity which is created

whenever society differentiates positive in terms of functions and powers.

(vi) Racial differences accompanied by dissimilarity also leads to stratification. Complex societies are always stratified. The development of complex societies follows a few

thousand years after the development of plant and animal cultivation. By ―complex societies‖

anthropologists mean those with many full-time specialized roles. In hunting and gathering and

simpler horticultural societies, recall that everyone engages in primary food gathering activities

and related tasks.4

Typically the most significant division of labor was by sex, and almost all adults of the same sex

had the same day-to-day tasks. In complex societies, the division of labor includes many full-time

specialists, for example potters, weavers, traders, merchants, blacksmiths and so forth, in addition

to farmer. This social complexity is universally accompanied by political specialization, such that

formal leaders and their full time agents—soldiers, bureaucrats and (typically) priests—manage

the collective affairs of the society. States are thus accompanied by a tremendous increase in the

division of labor, by the suppression of small-scale violence, provision of public facilities such as

roads, and by expanded redistributive functions to move products from the farm to the full-time

specialists, and to move (some of) the products of the specialists to the farmers.

In complex societies, there is usually a system of formal, ascribed (assignment by birth) ranks,

and sharply differing access to prestige and prestige goods. Even subsistence goods are typically

maldistributed. Even in more open societies such as our own with lots of achieved roles, some

roles are accompanied by far greater rewards than others. And birth still counts for a lot5. Greater

rewards are usually associated with roles in governance and high state officials are typically an

elite, though there may be other elites as well.

4 "Class, Ethnicity and Nationality: India Finds Plenty of Space for Discrimination". Hrdc.net. 2001-06-18.

Retrieved 2013-11-3 5 Ibid

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CASTE AS A BASIS OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION

Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy, non-commensality and

hereditary occupations. According to Human Rights Watch and UNICEF, caste discrimination

affects an estimated 250 million people worldwide.

A paradigmatic, ethnographic example is the division of Indian society into social

groups. Historically, the caste system in India has consisted of thousands of endogamous groups called Jatis or Quoms and Biradaris (among Muslims). The Nepalese caste system

resembles the Indian Jāti system with numerous Jāti divisions with the theoretical Varna system

superimposed for a rough equivalence.6

Religious, historical and sociocultural factors have also helped define the bounds of endogamy for

Muslims in India and Pakistan. The Caste system in Sri Lanka is a division of society into strata,

similar to the Jāti system found in India. The English word "caste" derives from the Spanish and

Portuguese casta, which the Oxford English Dictionary quotes John Minsheu's Spanish dictionary

(1599) to mean, "race, lineage, or breed".

When the Spanish colonized the New World, they used the word to mean a "clan or lineage." However, it was the Portuguese who employed casta in the primary modern sense when they

applied it to the thousands of in-marrying hereditary Indian social groups they encountered upon

their arrival in India in 1498. The use of the spelling "caste," with this latter meaning, is first

attested to in English in 1613. Historically, the caste system in India has consisted of thousands of

endogamous groups called Jatis or Quoms (among Muslims). Starting with the British colonial

Census of 1901 led by Herbert Hope Risley, all the Jatis were grouped under the theoretical

varnas categories. According to political scientist Lloyd Rudolph, Risley believed that varna,

however ancient, could be applied to all the modern castes found in India, and "[he] meant to

identify and place several hundred million Indians within it." The terms varna (conceptual

classification based on occupation) and jāti (caste) are two distinct concepts: while varna is the

idealised four-part division envisaged by the Twice-Borns, jāti (community) refers to the

thousands of actual endogamous groups prevalent across the subcontinent. The classical authors

scarcely speak of anything other than the varnas, as it provided a convenient shorthand; but a

problem arises when even Indologists sometimes confuse the two.7

6 http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/social-stratification-and-inequality/section3.rhtml

7 http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/social-stratification-meaning-types-and-characteristics-sociology-

2446-words/6199/

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Independent India has witnessed caste-related violence. In 2005 government statistics recorded

approximately 110,000 cases of reported violent acts, including rape and murder, committed

against Dalits [15]

( A more recent data of year 2012 may be used to replace outdated 2007 data.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) records crimes against scheduled castes and

scheduled tribes - the most disadvantaged groups - in a separate category. These crimes are

grievously under-reported, but even so the figures for 2012 are revealing: 651 cases of murder,

3,855 cases where people were hurt, 1,576 cases of rape, 490 cases of kidnapping and abduction,

and 214 cases of arson.

The economic significance of the caste system in India has been declining as a result of

urbanization and positive discrimination programs.

Upon independence from the British rule, the Indian Constitution listed 1,108 castes across the

country as Scheduled Castes in 1950, for positive discrimination. The Untouchable communities

are sometimes called Dalit or Harijan in contemporary literature. In 2001, the proportion of Dalit

population was 16.2 percent of India's total population. The majority of the 15 million bonded

child workers in India are from the lowest castes.

The caste system in India is a system of social stratification which has pre-modern origins, was

transformed by the British Raj, and is today the basis of reservation in India. It consists of two

different concepts, varna and jāti, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this

system. Varna may be translated as "class," and refers to the four social classes which existed in

the Vedic society, namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas,Vaishyas and Shudras. Certain groups, now

known as Dalits, were historically excluded from the varna system altogether, and are still

ostracised as untouchables. Jāti may be translated as caste, and refers to birth. The names of jātis

are usually derived from occupations, and considered to be hereditary and endogamous, but this

may not always have been the case.8

The jātis developed in post-Vedic times, possibly from crystallisation of guilds during its feudal

era. The jātis are often thought of as belonging to one of the four varnas. Although the varnas and

jatis have pre-modern origins, the caste system as it exists today is the result of developments

during the collapse of Mughal era and the British colonial regime in India. The collapse of

Mughal era saw the rise of powerful men who associated themselves with kings, priests and

ascetics, affirming the regal and martial form of the caste ideal, and it also reshaped many

apparently casteless social groups into differentiated caste communities.

The British Raj furthered this development, making rigid caste organisation a central mechanism

8 http://www.sociologyguide.com/social-stratification/caste-system.php

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of administration. Between 1860 and 1920, the British segregated Indians by caste, granting

administrative jobs and senior appointments only to the upper castes. Social unrest during 1920s

led to a change in this policy. From then on, the colonial administration began a policy of positive

discrimination by reserving a certain percentage of government jobs for the lower castes.

New developments took place after India achieved independence, when the policy of caste-based

reservation of jobs was formalised with lists of Scheduled Castes (Dalit) andScheduled Tribes

(Adivasi). Since 1950, the country has enacted many laws and social initiatives to protect and

improve the socioeconomic conditions of its lower caste population. These caste classifications

for college admission quotas, job reservations and other affirmative action initiatives, according

to the Supreme Court of India, are based on heredity and are not changeable.[16][a]

Discrimination

against lower castes is illegal in India under Article 15 of its constitution, and India tracks

violence against Dalits nation wide.

Though caste is considered as dominant feature of Hinduism, in Indian context, it has influenced

other religions too like Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism in the Indian subcontinent.

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CONCLUSION

The process by which individuals and groups are ranked in a more or less enduring hierarchy of

status is known as stratification. Even the most primitive societies had some form of social

stratification. As Sorokin pointed out stratified society with real equality of its members is a myth

that has never been realized in the history of the mankind. Social stratification means the

differentiation of a given population into hierarchically superimposed classes. It is manifested in

the existence of upper and lower social layer. Its basis and very essence consists in an unequal

distribution of rights and privileges, duties and responsibilities, social values and privations,

social power and influences among the members of a society. No society is unstratified.

Stratification involves the distribution of unequal rights and privileges among the members of a

society. Social stratification is the division of society into permanent groups or categories linked

with each other by the relationship of superiority and subordination.

Caste as basis of Stratification is closely connected with the Hindu philosophy and religion,

custom and tradition .It is believed to have had a divine origin and sanction. It is deeply rooted

social institution in India. There are more than 2800 castes and sub-castes with all their

peculiarities. The term caste is derived from the Spanish word caste meaning breed or lineage.

The word caste also signifies race or kind. The Sanskrit word for caste is varna which means

colour.The caste stratification of the Indian society had its origin in the chaturvarna system.

According to this doctrine the Hindu society was divided into four main varnas - Brahmins,

Kashtriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras.The Varna system prevalent during the Vedic period was

mainly based on division of labour and occupation. The caste system owns its origin to the Varna

system. Ghurye says any attempt to define caste is bound to fail because of the complexity of the

phenomenon.

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REFERENCES

BOOK:

Sociology: Principles of Sociology with an Introduction to Social Thoughts

(English) 7th Revised Edition 2015 Edition

WEBSITES:

http://adaniel.tripod.com/modernindia.htm

https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless

-sociology-textbook/global-stratification-and-inequality-

8/global-stratification-68/global-stratification-and-

inequality-401-10459/

http://study.com/academy/lesson/social-status-caste-vs-

class-and-social-stratification.html