SOC 100 - Global Stratification Assignment

Okay, we had a video with this assignment as with most of our assignments, but I'm not able to post the video because it's not mine to post. We're reading the chapter on Global Stratification in Essentials of Sociology, A Down to Earth Approach, Henslin, 9th Edition. Here's the assignment: In the video lecture it was discussed how the concepts we studied in Culture strongly influenced social stratification in different countries. In other words how does the definition of each of the three concepts that sociologists use to measure social stratification influence the strata in a society? (Power, Property, and Prestige). Here's my paper:

The Three Elements: Property, Power and Prestige

Property, power and prestige normally occur together in a society. Yet they are not always evenly distributed. Property is all the wealth, investments, deeded and titled properties, and other tangible sources of income. Power is the ability to get one's way even in the face of opposition to one's goals. Prestige is the degree of social honor attached with your position in society (Cheney, 2009). How do these influence the strata in society? In our country and in other industrialized nations wealth or income is the major determining factor of a person’s social status.  However, in the least industrialized nations they are less dependent upon income as a means of stratifying the society. They have a stratification system based more on power and prestige.  For instance, in Sudan the number of cattle a family owns is a sign of wealth and status. In some countries a shaman or medicine man ranks high in status and little importance is placed on material possessions or income.

Max Weber said that three elements determine social class: property, power and prestige (the three Ps). So let’s look at our country and how the three Ps occur together but aren’t always evenly distributed.  In our country people who are wealthy and in the upper class tend to also have power and prestige. Yet this is not always the case. Plumbers may make more money than college professors, but holding a professorship is more prestigious than being a “blue collar worker” (Cliffnotes.com, 2011). Normally people who have very powerful positions also tend to have more wealth and prestige. Again, this is not always the case. Look at the President of the United States. This is a very powerful position. President Obama wields a lot of power, but in fact doesn’t make that much money in comparison to the tremendous power his position holds.  Firefighters are viewed by 61% of the public as having “very great prestige,” and rightly so – with an occupation that puts them decisively in harm’s way in order to save lives and properties, it’s of little wonder why firefighters stand firmly at the top of the occupation prestige list (Tu, 2009). However, the salary for firefighters on the average is only around $41,000 per year. Given all of the prestige of a firefighter one would think they would have more power and wealth, but they don’t. 

In the least industrialized countries income isn’t a major determining factor of social class. In those countries stratification is based more on power and prestige.  In our society wealth and income play an important role in determining social class, but as we’ve seen, even though power, property and prestige normally occur together, they aren’t always evenly distributed.

 

References

Cheney, P. (2009). Stratification and the three p's. Retrieved from 
http://freebooks.uvu.edu/SOC1010/index.php/09.html

CliffsNotes.com. What Divides Us: Stratification. 28 Oct 2011
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26879.html

Tu, D. (2009, August 02). Top 10 most (& least) prestigious jobs in america: How much they earn and     how to land them [Web log message]. Retrieved from         
http://www.billshrink.com/blog/4556/best-worst-jobs-america/