Social Stratification and Inequality

Social Stratification is the system through which the society uses to rank the categories of people in the hierarchy. It is a fundamental principle in the society that some communities are preferred in terms of the status, power and wealth than some other communities. These are the differences that lead to the social stratification. There are certain differences among the hunter-gatherer and the horticultural societies considering the social stratification. The hunter-gatherer society is the one in which all the food is gatherer by foraging i-e gathering through the plants and pursuing the wild animals. On the other hand, the horticultural society is the one that is devoted to the study of cultivated plants. These are the organizations that can be regional, international and local. “The Horticultural society is always preferred over the hunter-gatherer society because of their status considering the social stratification”.

Body   

I believe that this also correlates with the subsistence strategy and economic distribution system. First of all, considering the subsistence strategy, it is the method through which the society acquires the food. The gathering of food is different in the hunter-gatherer and horticultural societies. The hunter-gatherer society acquires the food by foraging i-e gathering through the plants and pursuing the wild animals. The horticultural society gathers food by cultivating the plants. These are the two different methods of acquiring food. Secondly, considering the economic distribution system, it is the method through which the total output, income, and wealth are distributed to the individuals and the production factors including land, labor and capital.

The distribution of wealth and income takes place differently in the horticultural and hunter-gatherer societies. This is because of the different adoption methods for the wealth distribution. The hunter-gatherer societies were quite egalitarian. In the hunter-gatherer societies were quite strongly tied to their structure of families. The hunting-gatherer societies were small bands consisting of an extended family or two. As a result of this, the hunter-gatherer societies maintained their egalitarian culture as they had little social stratification and this social stratification reflected in their economic status. The hunter-gatherer societies are actually famous because of their culture of egalitarian ethos. However, they were peaceful egalitarians.

The way of life of the hunter-gatherer was unlike the agricultural way of life which followed it and depended upon the intense sharing and cooperation backed up by the egalitarian ethos. Hence, the hunter-gatherers maintained their egalitarian culture. They maintained the egalitarian culture through the cultivation of playful side of their human nature. They suppressed the tendency to promote the egalitarian as to fulfill the purpose of fostering and sharing the playful attitude in all of their social activities.

Conclusion   

In conclusion, the hunter-gatherer societies were quite different from the horticultural societies and they were known to gather the food through foraging. The social stratification was dominant in the two societies. The hunter-gatherer societies maintained the culture of egalitarian. This is because they wanted to cultivate the playful side of their human nature. They used to depend upon the intense sharing and cooperation backed up by the egalitarian ethos.

                                                                     References

Kerbo, H. (2012). Social stratification and inequality (8th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13: 9780078111655.

Lenski, G. E. (1984). Power and privilege: A theory of social stratification. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN-13: 9780807841198