THE CLASS SYSTEM
A social class is ‘a category or group of persons having a definite status in society which permanently determines their relations to other groups.’
The growth and nature of classes:
It is a status group:
Class is also related to status dimension. Status groups are composed of persons having the same lifestyle and joining similar social honour. Thus, status consciousness separates individuals both physically and psychologically.
It is achieved not ascribed:
In the class system, status is achieved, not ascribed. Class is open and elastic and mobility is possible. By his effort and initiative, a man can change his class and thereby rise in social status.
It is universal:
A class is a universal phenomenon. The class system is found in almost all the modern complex societies of the world.
Classification of classes:
There is a classification of classes namely, upper class, middle class and lower class which are further classified in six other classes, i.e. the upper upper class, lower upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, the upper lower class and the lower lower class.
There is class consciousness:
A feeling of class consciousness is experienced among the members of a particular class at three levels. First, the members feel a sense of equality within their own class. Secondly, the feeling of inferiority inheres in the minds of those who occupy the lower status in the socio-economic hierarchy. Thirdly, the members of a class experience a feeling of superiority in relation to those who are placed in the lower range in the hierarchy.
It is an open economic group:
Social classes are determined by their relation to means of production. Social class also includes wealth, property, income, etc.
Social class mobility:
A class system can easily become entrenched, and it can be hard to move between classes. Moving between classes can be done through education, marriage, or acquiring wealth. This is known as social mobility. Social mobility can be upward (moving into a ‘higher’ class) or downward (moving ‘down’ through the strata of society).
Thus, classes are majorly based on the wealth of an individual.
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