The key features of social stratification are
(i) Social stratification is a characteristics of society, not simply a function of individual differences. It is society-wide system that unequally distributes social resources among categories of people. For example: In the most technologically primitive societies-hunting and gathering societies, little was produced, so only rudimentary social stratification could exist. In more technologically advanced societies, where people produce a surplus over and above their basic needs, however, social resources are unequally distributed to various social categories regardless of people’s innate individual abilities.
(ii) Social stratification persists over generations: It is closely linked to the family and to the inheritance of social resources from one generation to the next. A person’s social position is ascribed, i.e., a child assumes the social position of its parents. Births dictate occupation e.g. a Dalit is likely to ‘ be confined to traditional occupation such as agricultural labours, scavenging or leather work, with little chance of being able to get high paying white-collar or professional work. The ascribed aspect of social inequality is reinforced by the practice of endogamy, i.e., marriage is usually restricted to members of the same caste, ruling out the potential for breaking caste line through intercaste marriages.
(iii) Social stratification is supported by patterns of beliefs and ideology: No system of social stratification is likely to persist over generations unless it is widely viewed as being either fair or inevitable. For example, Caste system is justified in terms of the opposition of purity and pollution, with Brahmans designated as the most superior and Dalits as the most inferior by virtue of their birth and occupation. Not everyone, thinks of a system of inequality as legitimate. Typically, people with the greatest social privileges express the strongest support, while those who have experienced exploitation and humiliation of being at the bottom of the hierarchy are most likely to challenge it.
