The definition of social stratification is the division of people into layers according to their relative power, property, and prestige. All nations practice social stratification, and always, the men are put before the women.

There are three major systems of social stratification. They are slavery, caste, and class. Slavery, in the beginning, was based on debt, punishment, or defeat in battle. However, in North America, it became based on race. The white race was superior to the black and should have ownership over them. The caste system, which still exists in India today, is a system that determines a persons worth by birth and lasts a lifetime. There is no moving from one caste to another. In the Hindu religion, it is believed that how you live one life determines which caste you will be born into the next. If you live a good life you will be born into a higher caste until you eventually reach the top where you do not have to be reincarnated anymore. If you live a life of sin, you will be born into a lower caste, such as the “untouchables”, which are worst than slaves. People usually always marry within their own caste. A social class is more open than the others and is

Power is the ability to carry out your wishes even if there is resistance, because what you want matters enough to break free from any resistance because of who you are. If you are wealthy, you will more than likely have power and if you are very wealthy you will have even more power.

Most people are status consistent, meaning that they meet all what is considered the norm for their class. Others are called status inconsistent. An example of status inconsistency is a college professor. The college professor has a very prestigious but low paying job. His or her prestige puts them in an upper class but their income puts them in another.

usually determined by wealth and material possessions. The upper class is the very wealthy, the middle class is the average of the society, and the lower class is the poorer people of the society. These classes can also be broken into several sub-classes. Unlike slavery and the caste system, an individual can move either way in the class system.

The world system theory is about how all nations came to rely on what are called the core nations. The core nations were the first nations to industrialize. They are Britain, France, Holland, and Germany. The next group of nations was called the semi periphery. They were the nations located around the Mediterranean. They were not able to grow and prosper as much as the core nations because they became to rely only on trade with the core nations. The third group is the fringe nations. They are the countries of Eastern Europe. They developed even less that the semi periphery group because they relied on being able to sell cash crops to the industrialized nations. The last groups of nations were called the external area and were left out all together. This was mainly Africa and Asia.

Some topics in this essay:
Kenneth Galbraith, North America, Dennis Gilbert, Ivy League, Social Class, Holland Germany, Africa Asia, Erik Wright, Eastern Europe, social class, industrialized nations, social stratification, middle class, core nations, upper class, social mobility, system theory, percent population, live life, world system theory, nations industrialized nations, industrialized nations industrialized, consists mainly people, class consists mainly,