SOC-436-Global Stratification System Essay PDF

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Global Stratification System Essay Emma Lambrecht Grand Canyon University SOC-436 Professor McDonald September 19, 2021

2 Social Stratification in Australia Global stratification compares countries' power, status, economic stability, and wealth worldwide, highlighting social inequality patterns. Social stratification is the standing or ranking of individuals based on power, status, income, or wealth in the social setting. The social stratification system infers some form of legitimation of people's ranking and the unequal distribution of valued resources. According to Lancaster (2017), "stratification defines both a structure of unequal social positions, or statuses, differing in their degree of access to, and control over, the resources that a society values, and also the restrictive processes by which some, but not others, are allocated to positions in that structure." Social division and inequality are the primary sources of conflict and exploitation among people and groups in society. The paper explores Australia's current social stratification and historical changes that have occurred to alter the stratification system, examining the functions and social benefits of the current social stratification system. Australian society is hugely grounded on the notion of an achieved form of social stratification. Australians believe that socioeconomic class determines the life chances of a person. Social class's hierarchy determines the groups most likely to gain access to financial resources and forms of privilege (Redden, 2019). In Australian society, the affluent class has more access to resources while the established working class has little access, putting them at a distinct disadvantage. Some of how social inequalities manifest throughout the Australian society are through housing, education, and health. There is a five-level social structure in Australia: "affluent class, an emergent affluent class, a mobile middle class, an established middle class, and an established working-class" (Chesters, 2019). In Australian society, the affluent class gets a tremendous amount of society's intermittent and valued things and has more power than others.

3 The current social stratification system has a comprehensive integrative function in Australian society, coordinating and harmonizing units within the social structure. Australian society is divided into five categories: affluent class, an emergent affluent class, a mobile middle class, an established middle class, and an established working-class (Lancaster, 2017). The Australian social stratification offers numerous benefits that aid the wellness and progress of Australian society. For society's practical and appropriate running, it has to work out some mechanism by which individuals in different jobs get different recognition. The achieved form of social stratification in Australian society motivates individuals to work hard to progress upon their social status, creating competition and encouraging people for improvement and advancement. Despite the function and social benefits of the current Australian stratification system, it also serves as the primary reason for the widening gap of political, social, and economic inequalities. Inequality fosters stratification when opportunities, resources, and privileges are unevenly distributed according to a person's status or position in the social hierarchy (Chesters, 2019). It has fostered the development of social disparity, creating emotional stress for Australians who belong to a lower social stratum. Similarly, social stratification has created a wide gap between social classes regarding access to health, education, and housing. In many cases, such disparity can lead to chaos in social setting, turning to become the tentative hindrances in the development and progress of the country. Inequality in Australian society is mainly evident in housing opportunities for different social classes. Thus, vast employment opportunities and easy resources access exist for those in affluent classes compared to individuals and families in low social classes (Chesters, 2019). Homeownership is an extensively apprehended ambition in Australian society because it guarantees the security of lasting economic benefits. The household variations and differences between the average incomes of the affluent class, an emergent

4 affluent class, a mobile middle class, an established middle class, and an established workingclass in Australia are significant (Redden, 2019). Due to social inequalities, individuals are ranked in a social hierarchy system, positioning them into categories based on social class and wealth variables. One can move from one hierarchy to another depending on the financial muscle that distinguishes the hierarchy levels. Social status, class, and power are all connected to cultural and social capital in strengthening inequality. Affluent individuals and families in Australian society take high social status and enjoy privileged resources in society. Intersectionality theory demands that race, gender, and class inequalities be considered in tandem rather than distinctly. Class, race, and gender represent the three most potent organizing principles in developing cultural ideology. Although each culture has different views regarding class, race, and gender, the construction of class, gender, and race always results in structured inequality (Churchill et al., 2014). Based on intersection theory, an individual's identity based on class, gender, and race accompany them in all social interaction aspects. Aboriginal Australians are an example of a population affected by class, race, and gender intersections impacted by the current Australian social stratification system. Although the country is primarily considered a multicultural nation, embracing diversity and tolerance, racism and geographic segregation, and economic instability. Fueled by the social stratification system, Aboriginals experience vast disadvantages on socioeconomic indicators such as low income, lack of education, unemployment, and household overcrowding (Churchill et al., 2014). Similarly, Australians of White European descent and affluent social classes rarely share Aboriginal employment spaces, schools, and neighborhoods. Not only are these economic and social problems not shared, but Aboriginal Australians are often positioned in 'disadvantaged outer zones' on the periphery of towns and cities.

5 References Chesters, J. (2019). Egalitarian Australia? Associations between family wealth and outcomes in young adulthood. Journal of Sociology, 55(1), 72-89. Churchill, B., Baltra-Ulloa, J., & Moore, R. (2014). Diffi cult conversations: race, class and gender in White Australia. In Routledge International Handbook of Race, Class, and Gender (pp. 39-46). Routledge. Lancaster Jones, F. (2017). Social stratification in Australia: An overview of a research program. Social Science Information, 13(1), 99-118. Redden, G. (2019). John Howard’s investor state: Neoliberalism and the rise of inequality in Australia. Critical Sociology, 45(4-5), 713-728....