Lesson 8 - Caste and class systems

Social strata

The word strata means layer, and is often used in geology to talk about layers of rock which build up over millions of years. We talk of social strata, or social hierarchy, to describe the different levels of society. These levels are usually determined by how much power, money or respect different groups of people have (very often these three things come together!)

All societies have some kind of stratification, even those who say they do not. For example, communism is a political belief that everyone should be equal. However, in every communist country (such as the USSR) there is still a hierarchy, with political leaders and party members above non-party members, and farmers considered better than business people and academics.

Usually the higher up the social hierarchy you go, the fewer people there are at each level, which is why you often see hierarchies shown as a pyramid.

Types of social hierarchy

The two most common types of social hierarchy are caste and class systems. The main difference between these two systems is that caste systems are more fixed, in a class system there is more social mobility.

Caste systems

In a caste system a social stratum is for life. People are born and die in the same caste. They are only allowed to marry people in their own caste, and most often your caste determines the jobs you can do. Although South Asian countries such as India still have a form of caste system in place, caste systems are mostly historical. The social systems throughout Europe in the middle ages were caste systems, as was Japan during the Edo period.

 European Caste System













Class systems

Most countries in the modern world have class, rather than caste, systems. A class system is usually divided into upper, middle and lower, often called working, class. These classes are mostly based on money, although in the UK the upper class are people who have inherited their money and have titles such as Lord or Sir in their names. The middle class is often divided into upper middle class and lower middle class, the upper middle class being truly rich, company presidents etc., while lower middle class are normal business people, doctors, teachers etc. Another division often used in modern societies is between "blue collar" and "white collar" jobs. Blue collar workers are people doing manual labour other than farming. Jobs such as construction, manufacturing and car maintenance are typical blue collar jobs. White collar jobs are low level office jobs, such as sales, call center work and administration.

Although in class systems it is possible to move between one class and another, it is not necessarily easy. In general, the children of people with more money live longer, are healthier, do better at school and earn more money when they are older. In the US, the biggest predictor of whether or not a child will graduate from collage is their parents' income.

Lesson 9 reading

Article 9a - Japan racism survey reveals one in three foreigners experience discrimination
Article 9b - Can Language Save Communities Under Threat From A Globalised World?
Article 9c - Picturing Okinawa: The black and white of cultural identity
Article 9d - Why Japan should consider banning blackface
Article 9e - Japan’s resident Koreans endure a climate of hate