Social stratification is the subject of study by sociologists, political scientists, and partially social psychologists and specialists in the field of management and marketing. Social stratification as a sociological aspect reveals the causes and internal mechanisms of socio-economic differences between representatives of individual population groups.
The basis of social stratification as a sociological aspect is the division of society into social groups in a horizontal hierarchy according to a number of criteria: income inequality, power, educational level, prescribed and achieved status, professional prestige, authority and others. From this point of view, social stratification is a special case of social differentiation.
The main parameters of social stratification as a sociological aspect, experts call the openness of the social system and the key dimensions of social stratification - power, authority, social status and economic status. Societies are considered open in which a change in the status obtained at birth due to social mobility is possible. Closed are societies where it is forbidden to change the prescribed socio-economic status, for example, the caste system of India until 1900.
Among the systems of social stratification, four are distinguished: slavery, clans, castes and classes. Sometimes gender inequality, which also exists within each of the four systems, is considered as a separate system. Sociologists agree that civilization at the present stage is a class system of three levels - the upper class, middle and lower, and the identification of social classes is carried out in three ways - objective, reputational and subjective (self-assessment method).
The basic concepts of social stratification as a sociological aspect are social mobility, prescribed and achieved status, class affiliation, inequality and deprivation.
Many of the observed manifestations of social stratification are based on unspoken social contracts, whose roots go back to the archetypes of rituals of power and submission. It is common for a person to show increased courtesy and respect in communicating with others, if they surpass him in economic or professional competence, even if this opinion is erroneous, and the high status is in fact imaginary. Some manage to significantly increase the initially prescribed status precisely thanks to the ability to "give oneself correctly", to create the image of a socially and economically successful person in order to enlist the location of really successful people.
In the framework of social stratification as a sociological aspect, two main theories of social inequality are studied - functionalist and conflictological. The first is based on a conservative tradition and argues that social inequality is necessary for the successful implementation of the basic functions of any society. The second represents a radical trend and calls social inequality an instrument of exploitation.
