Social inequality characterizes the relative position of individual parts. Types of statuses. Their characteristics and differences. How to solve the problem of social inequality

Part 1

Choose the correct judgments about social stratification and write down digital R s, under which they are indicated.

1) The concept of “social stratification” denotes a system of signs and criteria of social stratification.

2) The division of society into strata allows for the presence of privileges among representatives of some strata.

3) The criteria for social stratification include the amount of power.

4) One of the criteria for social stratification is the individual psychological traits of a person.

5) Scientists distinguish two types of social stratification: progressive and regressive.

Are the following statements about social stratification correct?

A. The concept of “social stratification” means a system of social stratification of society.

B. The criteria for social stratification include the amount of income, the amount of power, and the level of education.

1) only A is correct

2) only B is correct

3) both judgments are correct

4) both judgments are wrong

Choose the correct statements about social mobility and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1) Intergenerational mobility - a comparative change in social status among different generations.

2) Organized mobility refers to state-controlled movements of a person or entire groups up, down or horizontally: with the consent of the people themselves, or without their consent.

3) The horizontal type of mobility includes receiving an extraordinary military rank.

4) Vertical mobility refers to a person’s transition to a lower social stratum.

5) Social mobility is the division of society into groups occupying different positions.

Select from the list provided the words that need to be inserted in place of the gaps.

“Social inequality characterizes the relative position of individuals and social (A). Specific group or individual ____ (B) are recognized as members of society, and are assigned some importance in public opinion.

Social inequality in modern society is most often understood as ____ (B) distribution of social groups in hierarchical order. And the concept of “middle class” precisely describes such a socially comfortable position: economic well-being, possession of property valued in society ____ (D), civil rights.

Social inequality is determined primarily by the importance and ____ (D) functions performed for society. In modern society, profession is becoming a determining factor ____ (E) social status.”

List of terms:

1) status

2) group

3) criterion

4) stratification

5) socialization

6) profession

9) mobility

Part 2

With the emergence of the “class of intellectuals,” non-materialistic goals become the driver of social progress, and that part of society that is not able to assimilate them objectively loses its significance in public life more than any other class in agricultural or industrial societies. Intellectual stratification, reaching unprecedented proportions today, is gradually becoming the basis of any other social stratification...

The development of a modern economy based on the production and use of knowledge presupposes the formation of a new principle of social stratification, much more stringent than anything known to history. In agrarian societies, the power of the feudal lord over the peasants gave birthright; in industrial society, the power of the capitalist was based on the right of property, and the influence of a civil servant was determined by his place in the political system; all these status factors were not determined by the natural and irreducible qualities of people - any member of society, finding himself in the place of representatives of the ruling class, could perform the corresponding social functions with greater or lesser success...

In modern conditions, it is not social status that serves as a condition for a person to belong to the elite of a post-industrial society; on the contrary, he himself forms in himself the qualities that make him a representative of the highest social stratum. It is widely believed that information is the most democratic source of power, because everyone has access to it, and a monopoly on it is impossible; however, it is also important that information is also the least democratic factor of production, since access to it does not mean possession of it...

Test on the topic “Social sphere”

Option 1.

A 1. Society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion, is called

1) value 2) adaptation 3) prestige 4) sanction

A 2. There are a huge number of examples in history when commoners became generals. In this case, the army acts as

1) social adaptation 3) social determinants

2) social elevator 4) social control

A 3. After graduating from university, K. got a job as a manager in a small private company. After some time, he moved to work as a top manager at the largest holding company in the south of Russia. This situation can be seen as an example

1) horizontal social mobility 2) vertical social mobility

3) social stratification 4) professional differentiation

A 4. Relations between people (or groups of people) that are carried out in accordance with the laws of social organization of society are called

1) social relations 2) social structures

3) social integration 4) social differentiation

A 5. The distribution of social groups in a hierarchically ordered sequence is called

1) adaptation 2) stratification 3) mobility 4) socialization

A 6. A democratic (partnership) family, in contrast to a patriarchal (traditional) one, is characterized by

1) cohabitation of at least three generations

2) fair division of household responsibilities

3) the economic dependence of a woman on a man

4) the dominant role of men in the family

A 7. Family functions include

1) education of law-abiding behavior in children

2) determining the amount of utility bills

3) establishing school education standards

4) determination of the minimum wage

A 8. Social control is a special mechanism for maintaining social order and includes two main elements:

1) power and actions 2) norms and sanctions

3) expectations and motives 4) statuses and roles

A 9. There are rules for ending a telephone conversation:

The person who called hangs up first. The man who called the woman waits for the woman to hang up first.

If the boss called his subordinate, then the latter waits for the boss to hang up. What type of social norms can they be classified as?

1) etiquette norms 2) customs 3) legal norms 4) traditions

A 10. Social conditions under which people have different access to social benefits are called

1) social mobility 3) social inequality

2) social status 4) social relationships

A 11. Which judgment is correct?

A.R. and P. got married, formed a family, and began to live separately from their parents - this is an example of horizontal mobility.

B. An example of horizontal social mobility is a worker obtaining a leadership position at an enterprise in connection with graduation from a university.

A 12. Which judgment is correct?

A. Behavior that deviates from the values, norms, attitudes and expectations of society or a social group is called deviant.

B. Any manifestation of deviant behavior is a crime.

1) only A is true 3) both judgments are true

2) only B is true 4) both judgments are incorrect

IN 1. Analyze the data presented in the table of a social survey reflecting the answer to the question “What is success?” What conclusion can be drawn based on these data?

Age

Be the best

Respect for others

Material self-sufficiency, independence

Career

Family Children

14~18 years old

24%

25%

26%

18%

18-25 years old

11%

19%

45%

28%

25-30 years

10%

44%

32%

11%

1) young people in all age groups identified economic independence, independence from others as the main criterion for success

2) young people under the age of 25 consider the creation of a strong family to be the most important thing in life

3) to be the best - a criterion characteristic of young people aged 18 to 25 years. This is due to their typical teenage maximalism.

4) the number of people who believe that the most important thing in life is career growth decreases with age

Q 2. Read the text below, each position indicated by a letter.

A. The development of interethnic relations in the modern world is associated with two trends - interethnic integration and national differentiation. B. In our opinion, they act constantly, but not without conflict. B. The aggravation of the national question is associated with the contradictions between the growing scientific and technological revolution, which requires maximum cooperation, the international division of labor, and the national identity of states and peoples. D. Contradictions arise between the national states themselves due to the presence of specific interests: the use of natural resources, transport communications. D. The reasons for the aggravation of conflicts are political, economic, and demographic in nature.

Determine which provisions are

1) factual nature 2) nature of value judgments

Write down a number under the letter of the position indicating its character.

Q 3. Read the text below, in which a number of words are missing. Select from the list provided the words that need to be inserted in place of the spaces.

Social inequality characterizes the relative position of individuals and social ***(A). Specific group or individual ***(B) are recognized as members of society and are assigned some significance in public opinion. Social inequality in modern society is most often understood as ***(B) - the distribution of social groups in a hierarchical order. The concept of “middle class” describes such a socially comfortable position as economic well-being, the presence of property valued in society *** (G), and civil rights. Social inequality is determined primarily by the significance and ***(D) functions performed for society. In modern society, profession becomes the determining criterion of social *** (E)

The words in the list are given in the nominative case. Each word can only be used once. Choose the words one by one, filling in each blank. Please note that there are more words in the list than you will need to fill in the blanks.

1) status 2) group 3) criterion

4) stratification 5) profession 6) prestige

Part 3 (level C tasks)

1.What is the meaning of social scientists in the concept of “social mobility”? Using your social science course knowledge, write two sentences containing information about the factors affecting social mobility

Additional task for the profile level:

2. To speak at a seminar lesson, you need to prepare a detailed answer on the topic “Interethnic relations”. Make a plan according to which you will perform.

3. Text. Modern migration processes in Russia

External migration processes in Russia are characterized by qualitative features in relation to the emigrating contingent. Let us remember that the country has lost at least 100 thousand people annually over the past 15 years. The most educated, professionally trained people are leaving Russia, on whose training enormous capital has been spent. “Brain drain” is an indicator characterizing the socio-economic and political situation of the country. First of all, scientists, doctors, technical and creative intelligentsia, and highly qualified workers are leaving Russia. Our citizens, leaving the country, significantly contribute to the growth of the scientific, technical and intellectual potential of Germany, Israel, the USA and a number of other countries.

“Brain drain” has a pronounced forward-looking character. According to the results of surveys of graduate students of leading natural and technical universities (MSU, MIPT, MEPhI, MAI, etc.), more than 50% of them would like to emigrate, and 10-12% already have specific offers to work abroad. Today, every fifth emigrant has a higher education, including 30% among those who left for Israel, and more than 40% in the USA (the share of people with higher education in Russia is only 13.3%). The departure of a highly qualified specialist is equivalent to a loss of 300 thousand dollars a year for Russia. The damage caused by the departure of one specialist with a doctorate degree in some cases reaches $2 million. According to the most conservative estimates of population migration experts, in the coming years Russia will suffer annual losses of $30-35 billion due to the departure of specialists with a high level of training.

The paradoxical nature of the qualitative side of the immigration-emigration balance is determined by the fact that, while giving away its most highly qualified personnel to a number of countries, Russia acquires very low-skilled personnel from part of the excess labor potential of neighboring and even distant countries. There is no exact determination of the number of immigrants to Russia; according to many experts, there are at least 1 million illegal immigrants. In a number of regions of the country, illegal immigration has a significant impact on the socio-economic, and often even on the state and political situation. For example, immigrants from Southeast Asian countries (mainly China) focus on the Far East. Taking into account the growing outflow of the Russian-speaking population from the regions of the Far East, the increase in the proportion of Chinese among the total population creates not only ethnic and cultural problems, but also far-reaching economic, military-strategic and political difficulties.

Illegal immigrants occupy the most low-prestige jobs for the local population. A significant part of them agree to work outside their specialty and without formalizing their employment relationship with the employer. This situation creates special social and economic consequences. Employers are becoming less interested in improving working conditions and introducing new, more advanced technology; favorable conditions are created for the development of the shadow economy; The level of injuries and illnesses among migrants is growing.

Russia today is unable to avoid both legal and illegal immigration. Its inevitability is predetermined by the demographic situation in the country. In order to preserve the territory, the state will have to open its doors wide to immigrants. It is already extremely difficult to contain illegal migration; we will have to respond by expanding legal opportunities for immigration. It is necessary, without delay, to develop new migration legislation that takes into account the current and future interests of Russia. But changing laws alone is not enough. There is an urgent need for a different attitude towards nation and citizenship, and it is necessary to control the structure of immigration. At the same time, new management schemes and aspirations should be aimed at optimizing the demographic situation of the people of Russia; it is necessary not tomorrow, but today in reality to take care of their well-being and health.

P. D. Pavlenok, L. I. Savinov. "Sociology"

C1. What is “brain drain”? Why does the author consider it an indicator characterizing the socio-economic situation in the country?

C2. Name at least three consequences of brain drain.

NW. What are the qualitative characteristics of illegal immigration? What social and economic problems arise in connection with it? (Name at least three.)

Answers to tasks:

Option 1.

Part A

Part B.

AT 11

AT 2.

AT 3.

Part 3 (C).

C 1. Social mobility is a change in the place occupied by a person or group of people in the social structure.

Sentences reflecting factors: subjective - a person’s awareness of his social origin, state policy.

Test "Man and Society" Profile

Option #1

1. Definition: “The set of ideas, views, theories, as well as feelings, habits and mores of a certain social community or group” refers to the concept

A) public consciousnessB) society

C) ordinary consciousness D) ideology

2. Ivan is tall, thin, with beautiful features, courageous, calculating, slow and careful. All this characterizes Ivan as

A) personality B) citizen C) individuality D) professional

3. Automation of production is widespread in Russian society, and computerization is being successfully carried out. What additional information will allow us to conclude that R.'s society is post-industrial?

A) the main product of production is industrial products

B) the main factor of production is knowledge

B) widespread use of mechanisms and technologies

D) class division of society

4. What feature characterizes a traditional society?

A) intensive urbanization B) predominance of ascribed social status

C) high social mobility D) increasing consumption levels

5. Meaningful drivers of human activity include

A) habits B) drives C) motives D) emotions

6. Are the following judgments about the similarities and differences between humans and animals true?

A. Ants and other “social” animals work in the same way as people.

B. All animal species, unlike humans, always act according to a genetic program.

1) only A is true 2) only B is true 3) both judgments are correct 4) both judgments are incorrect

7. The basis of human existence is

A) friendship B) love C) consumerism D) activity

8. Write down the word missing in the diagram.

Types ……………………….

traditional

industrial

post-industrial

9. Which characteristic is not suitable for a traditional society:

A) low level of social mobility

B) the dominance of religion, customs and traditions

B) the agricultural nature of the economy

D) globalization of life

10. A person’s need for anything is:

A) abilities B) activities C) needs D) interest E) values

11. A characteristic feature of post-industrial society is:

A) expansion of industrial production

B) slowdown in development

B) the creation of mass culture

D) use of computer technology

12. The emergence of transnational corporations in modern society and the development of international trade are a manifestation of the trend:

A) modernization B) globalization C) democratization D) informatization

13. The transition to a post-industrial society is characterized by:

A) the formation of a market economy

B) restriction of social mobility

B) the development of mass communication

D) organization of factory production

14. Are the following judgments about the process of globalization true?

A) the development of mass communications makes the modern world more holistic

B) all global problems are a consequence of economic integration

1) only A is true 2) only B is true 3) both judgments are correct 4) both judgments are incorrect

15. Social progress is expressed in:

A) progressive development of society B) connections between society and nature

C) stability of forms of social life D) systemic structure of society

16. During the transition from a traditional society to an industrial one:

A) the dominance of agriculture over industry has strengthened

B) the importance of science and education has increased

B) class differences increased

D) the importance of collectivist values has increased as opposed to the values of individual freedom

17. Which of the following characterizes modern Western society?

A) agricultural type of society

B) underdevelopment of private property institutions

C) the special value of human individuality

D) the predominance of collective forms of consciousness

18. The basis of the civilizational approach to the study of society:

A) highlighting the general B) highlighting the special

C) development of the mind D) development of morality.

19. Below are a number of terms. All of them, with the exception of two, belong to an industrial society. Find two terms that fall out of the general series and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1. Mass culture, 2. Technology, 3. Community, 4. Private property, 5 . Castes , 6. Law, 7. Classes, 8. Environmental crisis, 9. Human rights and freedoms.

KEY to the Test "Man and Society" 10th grade. Profile

Option #1

1- A 2- C 3- B 4- B 5- C 6- 2 7- D 8- Societies 9- D 10- C

11- G 12- B 13- B 14- 1 15- A 16- B 17- B 18- B 19- 3.5

Test on the topic “Social sphere”

Teacher: Taran Elena Alexandrovna

Municipal educational institution secondary school No. 1, Gryazovets, Vologda region

Position: history teacher, social studies

Note: The test can be used both in a basic level class and in a specialized one.

Option 1.

A 1. Society’s assessment of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion, is called

1) value 2) adaptation 3) prestige 4) sanction

A 2. There are a huge number of examples in history when commoners became generals. In this case, the army acts as

1) social adaptation 3) social determinants

2) social elevator 4) social control

1) horizontal social mobility2) vertical social mobility

3) social stratification4) professional differentiation

A 4. Relations between people (or groups of people) that are carried out in accordance with the laws of social organization of society are called

1) social relations2) social structures

3) social integration4) social differentiation

A 5. The distribution of social groups in a hierarchically ordered sequence is called

1) adaptation 2) stratification 3) mobility 4) socialization

A 6. A democratic (partnership) family, in contrast to a patriarchal (traditional) one, is characterized by

1) cohabitation of at least three generations

2) fair division of household responsibilities

3) the economic dependence of a woman on a man

4) the dominant role of men in the family

A 7. Family functions include

1) education of law-abiding behavior in children

2) determining the amount of utility bills

3) establishing school education standards

4) determination of the minimum wage

A 8. Social control is a special mechanism for maintaining social order and includes two main elements:

1) power and actions 2) norms and sanctions

3) expectations and motives 4) statuses and roles

A 9. There are rules for ending a telephone conversation:

The person who called hangs up first. The man who called the woman waits for the woman to hang up first.

If the boss called his subordinate, then the latter waits for the boss to hang up. What type of social norms can they be classified as?

1) etiquette norms 2) customs 3) legal norms 4) traditions

A 10. Social conditions under which people have different access to social benefits are called

1) social mobility 3) social inequality

2) social status 4) social relationships

A.R. and P. got married, formed a family, and began to live separately from their parents - this is an example of horizontal mobility.

B. An example of horizontal social mobility is a worker obtaining a leadership position at an enterprise in connection with graduation from a university.

A 12. Which judgment is correct?

A. Behavior that deviates from the values, norms, attitudes and expectations of society or a social group is called deviant.

B. Any manifestation of deviant behavior is a crime.

1) only A is true 3) both judgments are true

2) only B is true 4) both judgments are incorrect

IN 1. Analyze the data presented in the table of a social survey reflecting the answer to the question “What is success?” What conclusion can be drawn based on these data?

1) young people in all age groups identified economic independence, independence from others as the main criterion for success

2) young people under the age of 25 consider the creation of a strong family to be the most important thing in life

3) to be the best - a criterion characteristic of young people aged 18 to 25 years. This is due to their typical teenage maximalism.

4) the number of people who believe that the most important thing in life is career growth decreases with age

Determine which provisions are

1) status 2) group 3) criterion

4) stratification 5) profession 6) prestige

Part 3 (level C tasks)

Option 2.

A 1. The profession of a programmer is especially in demand today. The degree of its prestige is determined

1) higher educational institutions2) the administration of the enterprise

3) society 4) laws

A 2. The action of which social elevator was limited by the “Circular on Cook's Children”, adopted in Russia in 1886?

1) army 2) church 3) school 4) marriage

A 3. An example of horizontal social mobility is

1) obtaining the next officer rank

2) transfer to a new, better paid position

3) retirement

4) moving to another city

A 4. The collision of opposing goals, opinions and views of the subjects of interaction is

1) social control 3) social integration

2) social adaptation 4) social conflict

A 5. Indicate a feature that is characteristic of all types of social norms.

1) enshrinement in relevant regulations, laws

2) transmission from generation to generation in the form of unwritten norms and rules

3) acting as a regulator of people’s behavior

4) provision with the power of state coercion

A 6. What sign must be indicated in order to confirm that the Vasilyev family is extended?

1) Vasiliev N. and M. have been living in a registered marriage for more than 15 years

2) Vasiliev N. and M. have two minor children

3) The Vasiliev family consists of the Vasiliev spouses, their children, as well as the parents of the wife N.

4) The Vasilyevs have their own business

A 7. A small group based on marriage or consanguinity, whose members are connected by a common life and mutual responsibility, is...

1) clan 2) family 3) class 4) elite

A 8. The activity of a society in prescribing and encouraging the proper behavior of its members and applying sanctions to violators of accepted norms is called

1) social control

2) social differentiation

3) social stratification

4) social progress

A 9. “When greeting a woman or a senior official, a man should stand up. A woman in a business setting also greets an incoming employee by standing up, if he is higher in position.” What type of social norms does this norm belong to?

1) custom 2) rule of law 3) tradition 4) etiquette

A 10. Trends in the development of nations and interethnic relations are

1) centralization and decentralization2) bureaucratization and democratization

3) integration and differentiation4) collectivization and individualization

A 11. Which judgment is correct?

A. A radical change or loss of a person’s profession always entails changes in his social status.

B. As a result of changes in social status, a person’s social roles change.

1) only A is true 3) both judgments are true

2) only B is true 4) both judgments are incorrect

A 12. Are the following judgments about deviant behavior true?

A. Deviant behavior can be useful for society.

B. A manifestation of positive deviant behavior in society is scientific and inventive activity.

1) only A is true 3) both judgments are true

2) only B is true 4) both judgments are incorrect

Q 1. Analyze data from a social survey on the topic “How often do you trust people?” What conclusion can be drawn based on these data?

18-24

25-34

15-44

45-59

1) the older people are, the less they trust others

2) most people don't trust each other

3) the most distrustful are people whose generation graduated from school in the late 70s - first half of the 80s of the twentieth century

4) youth from 18 to 24 years old are characterized by an absolute lack of trust in people

Q 2. Read the text below, each position indicated by a letter.

A. In our opinion, deviant behavior is very different from the requirements of social norms. B. It entails the application of sanctions - from the desire to improve to punishment and isolation of the offender from society. B. The assessment of a person’s behavior as “deviant” extremely depends on the era, norms and values established in society: what is deviant today may become the norm tomorrow. D. In sociology, there are several reasons for deviant behavior: biological (the innate predisposition of some people to alcoholism, drug addiction, crime); psychological (related to mental disorders of the individual); social (impossibility of positive self-realization of the individual)..

Determine which provisions of the text are

1) factual nature 2) nature of value judgments

Write down a number under the letter of the position indicating its character.

" IN

Q 3. Read the text below, in which a number of words are missing. Select from the list provided the words that need to be inserted in place of the spaces.

The aggravation of national relations results in ***(A). This is a form of conflict in which groups with opposing interests differ on ***(B) grounds. Their most common causes are violation of ***(B) by representatives of a particular nation, violation of justice and ***(D) in interethnic relations. Interethnic conflicts can be resolved only by means of ***(D) - a system of measures carried out by the state aimed at taking into account, combining and realizing national interests and resolving contradictions in the sphere of national relations. Its strategy in the Russian Federation was developed and justified in the Concept of National Policy and the State Program for National Revival and Interethnic Cooperation of the Peoples of Russia. The strategic goal is to strengthen the unity and cohesion of all peoples on the basis of national revival and interethnic cooperation, strengthening ***(E) and ties, the formation of a state-political and interethnic community ~~ Russians.

The words (phrases) in the list are given in the nominative case. Remember that there are more words in the list than you will need to fill in the blanks. Choose one word after another, mentally filling in each gap.

1) unitary state 2) interethnic conflicts.

3) human rights 4) national policy

5) ethnic 6) federal relations

7) state 8) administrative-command methods

9) tolerance

Part 3 (level C tasks)

1.What is the meaning of social scientists in the concept of “youth”? Write two sentences that reveal the essence of the problems of modern youth.

Additional task for the profile level:

2. To speak at a seminar lesson, you need to prepare a detailed answer on the topic “Interethnic relations”. Make a plan according to which you will perform.

3. Text. Modern migration processes in Russia

P. D. Pavlenok, L. I. Savinov. "Sociology"

C1. What is “brain drain”? Why does the author consider it an indicator characterizing the socio-economic situation in the country?

C2. Name at least three consequences of brain drain.

NW. What are the qualitative characteristics of illegal immigration? What social and economic problems arise in connection with it? (Name at least three.)

Even a superficial look at the people around us gives reason to talk about their dissimilarity. People are different by gender, age, temperament, height, hair color, level of intelligence and many other characteristics. Nature endowed one with musical abilities, another with strength, a third with beauty, and for someone she prepared the fate of a frail and disabled person. Differences between people, due to their physiological and mental characteristics, are called natural.

Natural differences are far from harmless; they can become the basis for the emergence of unequal relationships between individuals. The strong force the weak, the cunning prevail over the simpletons. Inequality arising from natural differences is the first form of inequality, which appears in one form or another in some animal species. However, in the main human thing is social inequality, inextricably linked with social differences, social differentiation.

Social are called those differences, which generated by social factors: way of life (urban and rural population), division of labor (mental and manual workers), social roles (father, doctor, politician), etc., which leads to differences in the degree of ownership of property, income received, power, achievement , prestige, education.

Different levels of social development are basis for social inequality, the emergence of rich and poor, stratification of society, its stratification (a stratum that includes people with the same income, power, education, prestige).

Income- the amount of cash receipts received by an individual per unit of time. This may be labor, or it may be the ownership of property that “works.”

Education— a complex of knowledge acquired in educational institutions. Its level is measured by the number of years of education. Let's say, junior high school is 9 years. The professor has more than 20 years of education behind him.

Power- the ability to impose your will on other people regardless of their wishes. It is measured by the number of people to whom it applies.

Prestige- this is an assessment of the position of an individual in society, established in public opinion.

Causes of social inequality

Can a society exist without social inequality?? Apparently, in order to answer the question posed, it is necessary to understand the reasons that give rise to the unequal position of people in society. In sociology there is no single universal explanation for this phenomenon. Various scientific and methodological schools and directions interpret it differently. Let us highlight the most interesting and noteworthy approaches.

Functionalism explains inequality based on the differentiation of social functions, performed by various layers, classes, communities. The functioning and development of society are possible only thanks to the division of labor, when each social group solves the corresponding tasks that are vital for the entire integrity: some are engaged in the production of material goods, others create spiritual values, others manage, etc. For the normal functioning of society an optimal combination of all types of human activity is necessary. Some of them are more important, others less so. So, based on the hierarchy of social functions, a corresponding hierarchy of classes and layers is formed executing them. Those who exercise general leadership and management of the country are invariably placed at the top of the social ladder, because only they can support and ensure the unity of society and create the necessary conditions for the successful performance of other functions.

The explanation of social inequality by the principle of functional utility is fraught with a serious danger of subjectivist interpretation. Indeed, why is this or that function considered more significant if society as an integral organism cannot exist without functional diversity? This approach does not allow us to explain such realities as the recognition of an individual as belonging to a higher stratum in the absence of his direct participation in management. That is why T. Parsons, considering social hierarchy as a necessary factor ensuring the viability of a social system, links its configuration with the system of dominant values in society. In his understanding, the location of social layers on the hierarchical ladder is determined by the ideas formed in society about the importance of each of them.

Observations of the actions and behavior of specific individuals gave impetus to the development status explanation of social inequality. Each person, occupying a certain place in society, acquires his own status. - this is inequality of status, arising both from the ability of individuals to fulfill one or another social role (for example, to be competent to manage, to have the appropriate knowledge and skills to be a doctor, lawyer, etc.), and from the capabilities that allow a person to achieve one or another position in society (ownership of property, capital, origin, membership in influential political forces).

Let's consider economic view to the problem. In accordance with this point of view, the root cause of social inequality lies in unequal treatment of property and distribution of material goods. Most brightly this approach manifested itself in Marxism. According to his version, it was the emergence of private property led to social stratification of society, the formation antagonistic classes. The exaggeration of the role of private property in the social stratification of society led Marx and his followers to the conclusion that it was possible to eliminate social inequality by establishing public ownership of the means of production.

The lack of a unified approach to explaining the origins of social inequality is due to the fact that it is always perceived at at least two levels. Firstly, as a property of society. Written history does not know societies without social inequality. The struggle of people, parties, groups, classes is a struggle for the possession of greater social opportunities, advantages and privileges. If inequality is an inherent property of society, therefore, it carries a positive functional load. Society reproduces inequality because it needs it as a source of life support and development.

Secondly, inequality always perceived as unequal relationships between people, groups. Therefore, it becomes natural to strive to find the origins of this unequal position in the characteristics of a person’s position in society: in the possession of property, power, in the personal qualities of individuals. This approach is now widespread.

Inequality has many faces and manifests itself in various parts of a single social organism: in the family, in an institution, in an enterprise, in small and large social groups. It is a necessary condition organization of social life. Parents, having an advantage in experience, skills, and financial resources over their young children, have the opportunity to influence the latter, facilitating their socialization. The functioning of any enterprise is carried out on the basis of the division of labor into managerial and subordinate-executive. The appearance of a leader in a team helps to unite it and transform it into a sustainable entity, but at the same time it is accompanied by the provision leader of special rights.

Any organization strives to preserve inequalities seeing in him ordering principle, without which it is impossible reproduction of social connections and integration of the new. This is the same property inherent in society as a whole.

Ideas about social stratification

All societies known to history were organized in such a way that some social groups always had a privileged position over others, which was expressed in the unequal distribution of social benefits and powers. In other words, all societies without exception are characterized by social inequality. Even the ancient philosopher Plato argued that any city, no matter how small it may be, is actually divided into two halves - one for the poor, the other for the rich, and they are at enmity with each other.

Therefore, one of the basic concepts of modern sociology is “social stratification” (from the Latin stratum - layer + facio - I do). Thus, the Italian economist and sociologist V. Pareto believed that social stratification, changing in form, existed in all societies. At the same time, as the famous sociologist of the 20th century believed. P. Sorokin, in any society, at any time, there is a struggle between the forces of stratification and the forces of equalization.

The concept of “stratification” came to sociology from geology, where it refers to the arrangement of the Earth’s layers along a vertical line.

Under social stratification We will understand a vertical slice of the arrangement of individuals and groups along horizontal layers (strata) based on such characteristics as income inequality, access to education, amount of power and influence, and professional prestige.

In Russian, the analogue of this recognized concept is social stratification.

The basis of stratification is social differentiation - the process of emergence of functionally specialized institutions and division of labor. A highly developed society is characterized by a complex and differentiated structure, a diverse and rich status-role system. At the same time, inevitably some social statuses and roles are preferable and more productive for individuals, as a result of which they are more prestigious and desirable for them, while some are considered by the majority as somewhat humiliating, associated with a lack of social prestige and a low standard of living in general. It does not follow from this that all statuses that have arisen as a product of social differentiation are located in a hierarchical order; Some of them, for example those based on age, do not contain grounds for social inequality. Thus, the status of a young child and the status of an infant are not unequal, they are simply different.

Inequality between people exists in any society. This is quite natural and logical, given that people differ in their abilities, interests, life preferences, value orientations, etc. In every society there are poor and rich, educated and uneducated, enterprising and non-entrepreneurial, those with power and those without it. In this regard, the problem of the origin of social inequality, attitudes towards it and ways to eliminate it has always aroused increased interest, not only among thinkers and politicians, but also among ordinary people who view social inequality as injustice.

In the history of social thought, the inequality of people has been explained in different ways: by the original inequality of souls, by divine providence, by the imperfection of human nature, by functional necessity by analogy with the organism.

German economist K. Marx connected social inequality with the emergence of private property and the struggle of interests of different classes and social groups.

German sociologist R. Dahrendorf also believed that economic and status inequality, which underlies the ongoing conflict of groups and classes and the struggle for the redistribution of power and status, is formed as a result of the action of the market mechanism for regulating supply and demand.

Russian-American sociologist P. Sorokin explained the inevitability of social inequality by the following factors: internal biopsychic differences of people; the environment (natural and social), which objectively puts individuals in an unequal position; the joint collective life of individuals, which requires the organization of relationships and behavior, which leads to the stratification of society into the governed and the managers.

American sociologist T. Pearson explained the existence of social inequality in every society by the presence of a hierarchized system of values. For example, in American society, success in business and career is considered the main social value, therefore technological scientists, plant directors, etc. have higher status and income, while in Europe the dominant value is “preservation of cultural patterns”, due to what society gives special prestige to intellectuals in the humanities, clergy, and university professors.

Social inequality, being inevitable and necessary, manifests itself in all societies at all stages of historical development; Only the forms and degrees of social inequality change historically. Otherwise, individuals would lose the incentive to engage in complex and labor-intensive, dangerous or uninteresting activities and improve their skills. With the help of inequality in income and prestige, society encourages individuals to engage in necessary but difficult and unpleasant professions, rewards the more educated and talented, etc.

The problem of social inequality is one of the most acute and pressing in modern Russia. A feature of the social structure of Russian society is strong social polarization - the division of the population into poor and rich in the absence of a significant middle layer, which serves as the basis of an economically stable and developed state. The strong social stratification characteristic of modern Russian society reproduces a system of inequality and injustice, in which the opportunities for independent self-realization and improvement of social status are limited for a fairly large part of the Russian population.

Inequality characterizes the uneven distribution of society's scarce resources - money, power, education and prestige - between different strata or segments of the population. On the inequality scale, the rich will be at the top and the poor at the bottom.

If wealth is a sign of the upper class, then income - the flow of cash receipts for a certain calendar period, say, a month or a year - characterizes all layers of society. Income is any amount of money received in the form of wages, pensions, rent, benefits, alimony, fees, etc. Even the alms of beggars, obtained by begging and expressed in monetary terms, represents a type of income.

On this basis, the following population groups can be distinguished: (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 - Units of measurement of economic inequality by population group

From Figure 1.1 it follows that the population is divided into 4 groups:

1. Rich

2. Middle class

The fact is that along with a broad understanding of income, there is a narrow one. In a statistical sense, income is the amount of money that people earn due to belonging to a certain profession (type of occupation) or due to the legal disposal of property. However, beggars, even if they regularly earn a living by begging, do not provide any valuable services to society. And statistics take into account only those sources of income that are associated with the provision of valuable, socially significant services or with the production of goods. Beggars are included in the so-called underclass, i.e. literally not a class, or a layer below all classes. Thus, beggars fall out of the official income pyramid.

The essence of social inequality lies in the unequal access of different categories of the population to socially significant benefits, scarce resources, and liquid values. The essence of economic inequality is that a narrow layer of society owns most of the national wealth. The income of the majority may be distributed differently. For example, in the United States, the income level of the majority allows us to speak of the presence of a large middle class, while in Russia the income level of the majority of the population is often below the subsistence level. Accordingly, the income pyramid, its distribution between population groups, in other words, inequality, can be depicted in the first case as a rhombus, and in the second as a cone. As a result, we get a stratification profile, or an inequality profile.

The essence of social inequality

The diversity of relationships, roles, and positions lead to differences between people in each particular society. The problem comes down to somehow ordering these relationships between categories of people that differ in many aspects.

What is inequality? In its most general form, inequality means that people live in conditions in which they have unequal access to limited resources for material and spiritual consumption. To describe the system of inequality between groups of people in sociology, the concept of “social stratification” is widely used.

When considering the problem of social inequality, it is quite justified to proceed from the theory of socio-economic heterogeneity of labor. Performing qualitatively unequal types of labor, satisfying social needs to varying degrees, people sometimes find themselves engaged in economically heterogeneous labor, because such types of labor have different assessments of their social utility.

The essence of social inequality, as we have already said, lies in the unequal access of different categories of the population to socially significant benefits, scarce resources, and liquid values. The essence of economic inequality is that a minority of the population always owns the majority of national wealth. In other words, the highest incomes are received by the smallest part of society, and the average and lowest incomes are received by the majority of the population. The latter can be distributed in different ways. In the United States, the lowest incomes (as well as the highest) are received by a minority of the population, and the average income is received by the majority. In Russia today, the lowest incomes are received by the majority, the average incomes by a relatively large group, and the highest incomes by a minority of the population.

It is the socio-economic heterogeneity of labor that is not only a consequence, but also the reason for the appropriation of power, property, prestige by some people and the lack of all these advantages in the social hierarchy by others. Each group develops its own values and norms and relies on them. If representatives of such groups are located according to a hierarchical principle, then these groups are social layers.

In social stratification there is a tendency to inherit positions. The principle of inheritance of positions leads to the fact that not all capable and educated individuals have equal chances to occupy positions of power, high principles and well-paid positions. There are two selection mechanisms at work here: unequal access to truly high-quality education and unequal opportunities for equally qualified individuals to obtain positions.

Social stratification has a traditional character: the inequality of position of different groups of people persists throughout the history of civilization. Even in primitive societies, age and sex, combined with physical strength, were important criteria for stratification.

Let us imagine a situation where there are numerous social strata in society, the social distance between which is small, the level of mobility is high, the lower strata constitute a minority of members of society, rapid technological growth constantly raises the “bar” of meaningful work at the lower tiers of production positions, social protection of the weak, among other things, guarantees the strong and advanced peace of mind and the realization of potentialities. It is difficult to deny that such a society, such interlayer interaction, is more likely an ideal model in its own way than an everyday reality.

Most modern societies are far from this model. They are characterized by the concentration of power and resources among a numerically small elite. The concentration of such status attributes among the elite as power, property and education impedes social interaction between the elite and other strata and leads to excessive social distance between it and the majority. This means that the middle class is small and the upper class is deprived of communication with other groups. It is obvious that such a social order contributes to destructive conflicts.