Class+readings

__**Class Readings**__ Class readings primarily deal with notions of social stratification. Where people fit within their society.

What is social stratification?
Stratification is a hierarchy of positions with regard to the production of wealth which influences the social rewards to those in different positions.media type="custom" key="23329712" align="right"

What is class?
Class is large set of people regarded by themselves or others as sharing similar status with regard to wealth, power and prestige.

The major forms of stratification
//Communalism:// with a high degree of sharing and equality//.// //Slavery:// involving great social inequality and the ownership of some persons by others.//Caste:// in which a person is permanently assigned to a status based on his or her parents' status. //Estate//: in which peasants are required by law to work land owned by a higher class in exchange for food and protection.

Different stratification systems
Openness is the opportunity for individuals to change their status. Caste stratification systems are closed whereas class stratification systems are more open. The degree of equality is the degree to which the social structure approaches an equal distribution of resources. Hunting and gathering societies are typically very equal with inequality developing in later stages of agriculture and industrialization.

The three dimensions of stratification
Class or a set of people with similar amounts of income and wealth. Party or a set of people with similar amounts of power. Status group or a set of people with similar social prestige or positive regard from members of a society.

Structural mobility
Structural mobility is mobility brought about by changes in the stratification hierarchy for instance as society becomes more technologically advanced.

**Handouts and worksheets**
How to approach a Class reading:

How to approach a Close reading:

**Video links:**
The Two Ronnies explain the class system:[|The Frost Report] John Cleese shows attitudes to class:[|Faulty Towers - Lord Melbury]