Lecture 5

Theme: STRATIFICATION IN BRITISH AND AMERICAN SOCIETIES

Outline

1. Classification the People of Britain into Classes

2. Social stratification in the American society.

1. Classification of the people of britain into classes

In any society people are divided into different social groups (strata) and they are awarded unequal amount of prestige, economic rewards and power.

The following factors are considered important in identifying social status of a person:

• how much a person earns,

• what job one does,

• how a person speaks,

• how a person thinks,

• how well mannered a person is,

• what school a person or his children attend,

• where one lives.

Social differentiation in British society is the following:

Upper Class

Aristocracy and the top rich people in Britain (the royal family, the surviving titled families from feudal system and old landowning families with aristocratic background (dukes, earls, barons) and the entrepreneurial rich enjoy special status in Britain, the status of the upper classes who are a very small minority of the country’s population (not more than 1% of it). They are treated with great difference in Britain, though not by all the people.

Most of the people are classified according to their occupation:

Middle Class / “White Collar”

CLASS 1: Professional occupations, including higher-grade professionals and higher administrators, lawyers, architects, doctors, managers, university teachers

CLASS 2 :Intermediate occupations, including intermediate professionals and administrators, e.g. lower-grade professionals, administrators and managers, supervisors and higher-grade technicians, shopkeepers, farmers, actors, musicians, teachers

CLASS 3 N (a): Skilled occupations (Non-manual), including non-manual workers, e.g. clerks, sales and rank-and-file workers, small proprietors and self-employed artisans, draughtsmen, lower-grade technicians and foremen, etc.

Working Class/ “Blue Collar”

CLASS 3 M (b): Skilled occupations (Manual), including skilled manual workers in industry, e.g. electricians, coalminers, etc.

CLASS 4: Partly skilled occupations, including semi-skilled workers, e.g. milk rounds men, telephone operators, fishermen, farm workers, semi-skilled workers in industry, etc.

CLASS 5: Unskilled occupations, including unskilled workers, e.g. night watchers, collectors, cleaners, labourers

Occupation as a class distinction is related to differences in incomes, social prestige (British people rank MPs, lawyers, doctors and university teachers higher than non-manual workers and manual workers), in education, life style, and speech.

2. Social stratification in american society

Social stratification in American Society is not clearly defined or determined; nevertheless social scientist has developed a socio -economic stratification of the American society. Americans believe in a three class society: rich, poor and middle class and most Americans consider themselves as middle class. In reality the American society is more diverse and incongruent and there is an extensive difference among people. The basic determinants that make social class are wealth, education, income and occupation. Some sociologists have divided the American society in six distinct categories including: rich or the upper class, upper middle class, lower middle class, lower class and poor and under class.

It is believed that the people who belong to the same social class share the similar social positions, similar ways of thinking and life styles; others oppose this idea and believe that we cannot generalize characteristic of the people to one another. Social class creates a hierarchy and identity for the people of each class.

One of the indications of the social class in America is income in terms of either individual or household and is one of the most important indicators of social class. Those families who have two income earners are in a better position. Per capita income which means the amount of money allocated to each individual member is also anther important determinant in social stratification. It can be said the families who have fewer members are in a better position.

Another indication in social stratification is education which has a relation with the occupation and income. Higher education itself needs money and paying tuition, so it is clear that most of the time the families who are better off can afford a better education for their children: they can pay for better schools and private schools, colleges and universities. As the result there is an interrelation between money and education.

One of the most prominent features of social class is culture: people of the same social class tend to have similar ways of behavior; though this behavior and culture is not some thing fix and changes with social mobility: people who move upward or downward in their social stratification will acquire the behavior of that social group. But there is diversity inside the same social group as well. One of the important terms in American culture and literature is the concept of "Class Ascendancy": based on this concept each successive generation will have a higher standard of living than its predecessors. Another important characteristic of American social class is achieved status rather than described statues; it means that regardless of his or her original statues, one can become rich and successful and climb the social ladder. But in reality this idealistic view can not be completely true: many people of color are still suffering the racial prejudices and as a result they can not have the proper education and a good occupation which is perhaps the most important class component. These people have lower income and the cycle will continue to the later generations. Despite the existing injustice and inequalities, America is considered land of opportunity, the land which its streets are paved with gold. Thought this belief is exaggerated, Americans have improved their economic situation with their hard working and persistence.

Suggested Assignments on Lecture

1. Explain factors that are considered important in identifying social status of a person.

2. Describe stratification in the British society today.

3. How different is the classification in the American society as compared with the British one?

4. Discuss the importance of belonging to this or that class in Britain and America.

5. Give comments on the privileges of belonging to the upper class in Britain and the USA.

REFERENCES

1. Веклич Ю.І. Країнознавство. Курс лекцій. – К.: КМПУ ім. Б.Д. Грінченка, 2004. – С. 102-107.

2. Веклич Ю.І. Англомовні країни (English-speaking Countries): навч.-метод. Посібн. З країнознавства для студентів вищ.навч.закл./Ю.І. Веклич, С.В. Соколовська. – К.: ун-т імені Бориса Грінченка, 2011. – С. 27-31.