Anthropoligical Look at Stratfication

In differing societies, social structures vary greatly. One may define social stratification as social groups such as classes or ethnicities that have unequal access to economic resources, power, and prestige. Stratification refers to the layers in which a society is made up. This could vary anywhere from a person living in a hut, sharing everything husbands have brought home from the hunt to the class system in Plato’s The Republic that was based on three different classes (bronze, silver, and gold) led by a philosopher king in order to reach a perfect society. It is natural to set up a system where someone is leading and the rest are following and contributing to his or her society. However with stratification inequality grows within the society. In different societies the stratification changes to meet different criteria. In Egalitarian societies, there is no stratification, everyone remains equal. However, in Class societies, there is a noticeable strata difference throughout; however, those born into a class of lower standing may rise to the top of the strata. A famous example of this is Andrew Carnegie of U.S Steel. However, there is still a more socially stratified group known as a Caste Society; where a person is born into a class where he or she will remain for the entirety of his or her life with no opportunity to move up. As the stratification grows so does inequality.

Most people theorize that stratification grew from an Egalitarian society. The belief of why a socially stratified society formed has been a topic of debate. Some theorize that stratification happened to benefit all. The people pay taxes in exchange for the central power to provide infrastructure, military security, and to keep order among civilians. This view is extremely mutual in that the poor and the rich work together to improve on the society. The opposing view theorizes that stratification began as a result of those greedy for power. This is based on the idea...