Since civilization can be calculated, man has been divided in social groups. The categorization has been due to various reasons, including wealth status and power, but they have been there for as long as man has documented history. Hardly ever has been a time, when the society was in a social harmony, whereby they were living in a state where there was total equilibrium of classes. There always has been disparity among the human race, due to the differing social constructs that we have. They of course have been modifying their shape and existence throughout the millennia, but they have never ceased to exist. More recently, in the past century or so, man has been a victim of this disparity within the social spectrum.
The world at large was in the fundamental stage of globalization, and soon started to realize how different people were from each other, simply in developmental terms. Colonization internationally worsened this effect, and then polarization of societies and cultures started to emerge. This meant, that those who had the powder of science, technology and military, would be able to govern those who lacked in it. But this is the macro level. Even in the micro level, within a small society, the divide has been there, between the rich and poor, the literate and the less informed the powerful and the meek. Interestingly, though man has ‘ progressed’ through these 100 years, and the development in the past 1 decade alone is more than mankind has ever achieved, yet no positive impact has been achieved upon the social divide structure.
If anything, it has further increased. Capitalism and democracy bring with them in a package, the intrinsic drive of materialism – people have started to become more and more desirous of worldly goods. What this has resulted in, is a class difference that has been created due to this rate race for materialism. In essence, there is not much difference in social disparity of what was there in the past century. Another viewpoint by Giddens reiterates this fact, “ Changes in the occupational structure and the global economy have also contributed to the trend towards social polarization in Britain, the United States and elsewhere” (2001).
A few important points have to be considered here in this realm. The world today may seem a lot more advance, which no doubt it is, but it has weaken the social structure more than ever. With every man being responsible for his own sake, families disintegrating into individuals, empowerment of women resulting in their coming out to work, all combined has resulted into a mechanical society where every body is working for his own sake without any concern for extraneous factors. Where this gives and overall boost to the cumulative productivity of the society, it comes at the cost of a lot of social disintegration. This is because obviously, not everybody ends up achieving what he/she intends to. Henceforth, those who do have a larger share of the cake, also end up enjoying a greater sense of social recognition.
The case is opposite for the less successful. The differences in class are a result of the clash that is prevalent amongst social relationships between members or groups of different social classes and the underlying tensions that are present in society. This conflict in turn has been the consequence of many revolutions and wars in the past century. Many theorists and revisionists have come along the way, trying to give various solutions and explain different ways in which one may be able to demolish this disparity. The sad reality however remains that this has not been possible to date.
And from the way the present times are unfolding, it is unlikely that the same might happen in the next 100 years! Class conflicts only emerge when the recessive class can no longer yield to the pressures of the upper class. This is not only in the sense of money of status, but also in terms of fashion or food or education. Whenever people have been suppressed at the undeclared plea of class difference, there has been turmoil in the world. This largely has been a product of communism in the past, whereby people were told that the only way to their actual freedom is by breaking away from the shackles of the ruling class. After all these years, and the seeming defeat of communism, capitalism has its say in the world.
With the benefits that democracy might have, there are negative influences as well. The same freedom of expression has given the right to people to from pressure groups and come out with their opinions. While this is inherently a good thing, the reality is that it actually is signifying that there a community whose say is not being considered by a certain class. Also, classes vary from country to country. And within countries, they vary from community to community. The Masai Mara in Africa cannot be expected to have the same class system as in Manhattan.
However, the disparity is there where ever one can find a group pf people living together. They will always struggle to be different in any way that they can. Differences in terms of occupation, education, income, power and owner have lead to a struggle that is vicious, and has lead to a greater divide in the human race at large. The class difference is still there, as it has always been, but it has changed its form.
While previously it was in terms of creed, color or race, today it is more in terms of money, fame and power. The causal factors might have changed, but nothing much has happened to the fact that this is all causing a divide among the people. Social inequality has always existed; its nature, cause and importance are open to broad debate. A country’s social structure or system (such as capitalism, socialism and everything in between), ongoing or past wars, and individuals’ different abilities to create wealth are all involved in the creation of social inequality.
Lindsay (2003) believes that “ the twentieth century was a period of great change. In some cases, these were trends that had started in the previous century, for example in terms of industrial change and the continuing improvements in technology.” He thus elucidates progress in terms of industrial development, supporting the case for changing environmental factors. However, the resultant problems due to the same industrial regime are still pretty much the same in many regimes of the world even today.
Numerical indexes measuring social inequality among individuals compares the lifestyles of the rich with the poor. There are numerous statistical data that display the amount of disparity that exists in social preferences. Social inequality among different individuals or social groups is best measured within a single country. This is due to the fact that country-specific factors tend to obscure inter-country comparisons of individuals’ social status. A single nation is likely to have more or less inequality depending on the social and social structure of that country. At any given time, a diverse culture can be ruled or dominated by one group or class, and this will over all define the orientation of the society.
Societies tend to create cultural innovations such as compulsory schooling, mass media, and popular society to which every one else has to conform with. Instead of working towards a direction that would truly serve their collective needs. The meager groups in the society come in the awe of those who are better than what they are, or who claim to be better that their adversaries. Hence comes the concept of “ war of position” and a “ war of movement”. The war of position is a society war in which the masses seek to gain a dominant voice in mass media, mass organizations, and educational institutions to heighten class consciousness, teach revolutionary analysis and theory, and inspire revolutionary organization. Following the success of the war of position, the larger groups would be empowered to begin the war of movement, the actual insurrection against the dominating leaders, in whatever type of social problem that might arise.
It is improper to consider the prevailing cultural norms as “ natural” or “ inevitable”. Rather, cultural norms – including institutions, practices, and beliefs – should be sought for in their roots; where exactly did they spring up from. Nothing can be a true representative of the society if only the upper class have adopted it. Actually, the true customs and traditions always come out of the masses. It is not that the concept of divide is to be fought against. Inherently, yes, all human beings shall be treated equally, but then again it is a total utopia concept.
Such type of uniformity is even non-existent in the case of machines. Subsequently, a certain amount of social imbalance or inequality is bound to be there. What only needs to be analyzed is, that whether this is happening at the cost of universal values or not. As an individual, he will always see the collective result of individual actions as a form of displaying our behaviors onto other people as a whole. This in other words can be called the study of sociology. Here, we come to know that the man is essentially driven by many social factors, and thus has to conform to whatever his environment has to offer him.
The problem arises when he comes to a point where he cannot achieve all that is asked f him by his society. This is similar to what happens to people in teenage. Everything is changing in side and outside, and there is hardly a soul who is able to deal with the situation a hundred percent with ease. This is the point where the conflict arises.
Now as teenagers tend to identify with peer pressure and make friends with similar habits, similarly in the social context, people with the same type of social class inferiorities tend to group together. This in turn forms the concentrated disparity within societies. In all, the social stratification of humans is no new thing. Ever since man has known, he has been divided on the social front. Though times are changing dramatically with the advancement in science and technology and with the coming of the new world order, yet the social disparity is only on the increase.
This is because day by day, variables are increasing upon which humans may like to qualify themselves and others in their sight. Social classification is psychological function of the society, and it can not be fought against; this is only to be understood appropriately.;
