Social Class and Social Stratum: Differences with Summary and Schemes

Ever since humanity is grouped into societies, there has been an innate need to group ourselves into different groups, depending on different factors, such as wealth, power, influence, the color of our skin or our inheritance. There have been numerous ways of dividing us, some continue to exist and others have been abolished, as society evolves.

Therefore, in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to comment on some of them, talking about social class and social stratum and their differences.

Stratum is a word that comes from the Latin term “stratus”, This being a word that refers to the set of elements that share common characteristics and that form an entity of its own and different from the rest.

The social strata they can be differentiated for very different reasons, be it their economic power, the occupation they carry out, their power, their descent or their status. All this may vary depending on the companies, not existing the same social differentiation between, for example, a classic society based on war, one based on which religion is the most important, or a current one where money becomes the most relevant.

The strata serve to, among other things, realize the great inequalities that exist in all societies, since generally the higher strata have a series of benefits that the lower ones cannot have.

To better understand the concept of social stratum, it is necessary to see a series of examples of the existence of these in certain societies throughout history. It should be taken into account that societies historically have had three main production models, being the capitalism, Feudalism and slavery, and causing a series of great social divisions due to its operation. Examples of social strata would be the following.

Social stratum in slavery

During the Ancient Age the vast majority of societies based their economy on the slavery and, therefore, there were two main social strata in these societies, being those of roles of slave and master. The slave had to do whatever the master decided, the second having greater social and economic power. This lasted much longer than the Old Age.

We recommend that, if you want to learn more about this topic, consult this other lesson on Slavery in America: Summary.

Castes

Castes are a series of very specific and special social strata, based on a social division determined by birth, being a very rigid and immobile system, without the possibility of varying between the different layers. Some examples of castes are those of certain medieval nobles, some empires of the Modern Age, and especially those established in India.

The estates

Possibly the best known social strata, being defined by their social function in a society generally feudal or Old Regime. They were somewhat closed strata, generally entering them by your birth, but unlike castes there were certain possibilities of passing between one and the other. As a general rule the estates were three, the nobility, the clergy and the third estate, the first two being much more privileged than the third.

Social classes

One of the most important social strata are social classes, being generally confused with strata and this is the reason for this article. Due to its importance, it is possible to talk about social classes in its own section.

Social classes are a type of social strata in which a group of individuals are united by a series of common characteristics, being generally economic or social.

Social classes are the most open strata of all, since although it is still difficult to go from one group to group, there is a much easier access, being able to pass an individual from one to another without problems.

The birth of social classes took place after the first liberal revolutions, since it is the transition from feudalism to capitalism that that brought with it the birth of social classes, breaking the birthright and prioritizing wealth, just as they wanted the bourgeois who supported the revolutions.

Social classes are the social stratum of our time, so it is easy to see examples of the different classes around us. The three social and economic classes are as follows:

• Lower class: It is the social class characterized by having less wealth than the rest, having more difficult access to certain goods. Some examples of the lower class are domestic servants and workers in certain countries.
• Middle class: the most common in most developed states, having a good social and economic level but not reaching the levels of the upper class.
• Upper classes: those with much greater wealth than the average in the societies in which they live. Some examples are the big businessmen and the biggest celebrities.

To conclude this lesson on social class and social stratum and their differences, we must briefly comment on the reasons why both terms are often confused, and the reasons why they are not the same.

The social stratum It is the way in which the different social groups are called, that is, the groups in which a society is grouped for certain reasons such as the economy or birth. Therefore all social divisions are social strata, whether they are castes or estates.

On the other hand, social classes are the predominant social strata in contemporary societies, although sometimes it is often confuse its meaning, calling social classes to certain social strata such as the estates.

Therefore, we can say that social classes are just one more type of social stratum, while the stratum refers to all social groups.