Social inequality is evident in. Social inequality. Manifestation of social inequality

Social inequality appeared in primitive tribes and intensified in subsequent stages of the development of society.

In modern society, large social groups are distinguished, differing in the amount of income (wealth), in the level of education, in the profession and in the nature of work. They are called classes, social strata.

In society, there is a social division into groups of the rich (upper class), wealthy (middle class), and poor (lower class).

The rich, the upper class include those who own a lot of property, money. They are at the top of the social “ladder”, receive large incomes, and have large property ( oil companies, commercial banks, etc.). A person can become rich thanks to talent and hard work, inheritance, and a successful career.

Between the rich and the poor, there is a middle class of people who are wealthy and well off with money. They maintain a decent standard of living that allows them to satisfy all reasonable needs (to buy quality food, expensive clothing, housing).

The poor - the lower class - receive the minimum income in the form wages, pensions, scholarships, social benefits. With this money you can buy only the smallest amount of the means of subsistence necessary to maintain the health and life of a person (food, clothing, etc.).

Let's imagine that all people are socially equal. Universal equality deprives people of the incentive to move forward, the desire to exert maximum effort and ability to fulfill their responsibilities (people will assume that they receive no more for their work than they would get if they did nothing all day).

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 the poor and the rich, the educated and the uneducated, the entrepreneurial and the unacceptable, the powerless and the powerless.

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 was explained in different ways: the initial inequality of souls, divine providence, the imperfection of human nature, functional necessity by analogy with the body.

German economist Karl Marx linked social inequality with the emergence of private property and the struggle between the interests of various 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 statuses, 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 between people; environment(natural and social), objectively placing individuals in an unequal position; joint collective life of individuals, which requires the organization of relations and behavior, which leads to the stratification of society into controlled and governed.

The American sociologist T. Pearson explained the existence of social inequality in every society by the presence of a hierarchical system of values. For example, in American society, success in business and career is considered the main social value, therefore, scientists of technological specialties, plant directors, etc. have a higher status and income, while in Europe the dominant value is "preservation of cultural samples", in connection with what society gives special prestige to humanities intellectuals, clergymen, university professors.

Social inequality, being inevitable and necessary, manifests itself in all societies at all stages of historical development; only the forms and degree of social inequality change historically. Otherwise, individuals would have lost the incentive to engage in complex and laborious, dangerous or uninteresting activities, to improve their qualifications. With the help of inequality in income and prestige, society encourages individuals to engage in necessary, but difficult and unpleasant professions, encourages more educated and talented, etc.

The problem of social inequality is one of the most acute and topical in modern Russia... Feature social structure Russian society there is a strong social polarization - the division of the population into poor and rich in the absence of a significant middle stratum, which is the basis of an economically stable and developed state. Strong social stratification, characteristic of modern Russian society, reproduces a system of inequality and injustice, in which the possibilities of independent life self-realization and raising social status are limited for a fairly large part of the population of Russia.

“Even in a prosperous society, the unequal position of people remains an important enduring phenomenon ... Of course, these differences are no longer based on the direct violence and legal norms that supported the system of privileges in caste or estate society. Nevertheless, in addition to the more crude divisions according to the size of property and income, prestige and power, our society is characterized by many rank differences - so subtle and at the same time so deeply rooted that statements about the disappearance of all forms of inequality as a result of equalization processes can be perceived. but less skeptical. "

Dahrendorf R.

Inequality is an integral part of every society. We are talking about social inequality, which is reproduced in fairly stable forms, as a reflection of the political, economic, cultural and normative structure of society. Anthropological research suggests that inequality existed already in primitive societies and was determined by strength, dexterity, courage, religious awareness, etc. Inequality is generated even by natural differences between people, but it manifests itself most deeply as a consequence of social factors. As a result, some individuals, groups or strata have greater capabilities or resources (financial, power, etc.) than others. The existence of social inequality can be taken as an axiom. However, the explanation of its nature, the foundations of historical evolution, the relationship of specific forms remains one of the key problems of any sociological research.

Inequality in modern sociological theory.

There are various definitions of inequality: “Inequality is a condition under which people have unequal access to social goods such as money, power and prestige”; “Social inequality is a specific form of social differentiation, in which individual individuals, social boundaries, strata, classes are at different levels of the vertical social hierarchy, have unequal life chances and opportunities to meet needs”; “In the general view inequality means that people live in conditions in which they have unequal access to limited resources of material and spiritual consumption ”. All these definitions reflect different aspects of social inequality.

In sociology, one of the first explanations of inequality was given by E. Durkheim in his work "On the Division of Social Labor". The author's conclusion is that different types of activity are valued differently in society. Accordingly, they form a certain hierarchy. In addition, people themselves have different measures of talent, skill, etc. Society must ensure that the most capable and competent perform the most important functions; this in turn determines various rewards.

Within the framework of structural functionalism, the concept of stratification was developed by American sociologists K. Davis and W. Moore. At the same time, inequality acts as a natural way of self-regulation and survival of society, its organization, as an incentive to advance. Thus, society is not just differentiated, but hierarchically structured, according to the principle "above" - "below".

The analysis of the vertical stratification of society is reflected in the theory of stratification. The very concept of "stratification" came to sociology from geology, where "stratum" means a geological layer. This concept quite accurately conveys the content of social differentiation when social groups are lined up in social space into a hierarchically organized vertically sequential series along some dimension of inequality.

The criteria for organizing inequality can be different. This serves as the basis for a multidimensional approach to the study of social stratification in Western sociology. As you know, for many years the class theory dominated in our country, based on a one-dimensional approach to the analysis of social differentiation, where the defining criterion is the attitude to property, to the means of production. Hence, at various stages of the development of society, the main classes of the haves and have-nots were distinguished: slaves and slave owners, peasants and feudal lords, proletarians and bourgeois.

However, the "isolation" on the economy could not explain the diversity and volume that in real life characterize the social differentiation of society. M. Weber expands the range of criteria, including the attitude to power and social prestige, which allows one to occupy a particular place on the social ladder in accordance with the status held.

P. A. Sorokin singles out various forms of social differentiation. Property inequality gives rise to economic differentiation, inequality in the possession of power testifies to political differentiation, division according to the type of activity that differs in the level of prestige, gives reason to speak of professional differentiation.

In modern Western sociology, on the basis of a multidimensional approach, different dimensions of stratification are distinguished: by sex, age, race, property status, education, etc.

However, social differentiation is only one component of social stratification. Another, no less important, is social assessment.

The American sociologist T. Parsons emphasized that social hierarchy is due to the prevailing cultural standards and values in society. Accordingly, in different societies with the change of eras, the criteria that determine the status of an individual or a group changed.

What is social inequality? Where did this concept come from? What are the prerequisites for its appearance and how to deal with it? Sociologists and economists from all over the world have been thinking about these questions for a very long time. The topic of inequality has taken a special place in the thoughts of Russians.

The problem of social inequality is associated with the appearance of the first signs of social differentiation (differentiation is the allocation of a certain part of common objects or knowledge according to some criteria), which subsequently created more and more complex problems that are associated with this.

Inequality holds a special place in any sociological study, but the explanation of this concept, his character, relationship individual forms remains one of the most important problems of any sociological research.

In any textbook of sociology, the concept of social inequality is defined in different ways. In order to better understand this issue, we need to define the concept of social inequality.

Social inequality is a form of differentiation in which individual individuals, social groups, strata, classes are at different levels of the vertical social hierarchy, and have unequal life chances and opportunities to satisfy needs.

Social inequality is a condition under which people have unequal access to social benefits: money, services, power.

In general, social inequality means that people live in unequal social conditions and they have uneven access to both material and spiritual resources.

Social differences are those differences that are generated social factors: urban or rural population, knowledge worker or physical worker, as well as social role in society, and so on, which leads to differences in income, power and social status, as well as education.

To describe the system of inequality between groups (communities) of people in sociology, the concept of "social stratification" is widely used. The very word "stratification" is taken from geologists. V English language it came to be understood as a layer, a formation in geology, a stratum of society (in social science). Stratification assumes that social differences between people acquire the character of a hierarchical ranking.

Inequality between people exists in any society. And this is quite normal, since people differ in mental abilities, physical abilities, interests and preferences, values in life. In absolutely any society there are rich and poor, people who have power, and people who do not have it, educated people and uneducated people. In this regard, the problem of social inequality has always arisen, which aroused increased interest only among economists, politicians, but also among ordinary citizens who were worried about this problem.

German economist Karl Marx linked social inequality with the emergence of private property and the struggle between the interests of various classes and social groups.

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

Social inequality can only be understood by considering the differences between people. These differences can be congenital or acquired, they can be of a natural or social nature, they can also be material or spiritual, physiological, mental, intellectual.

Mark Weber, a classic of world sociological theory, expressed his decisive importance for the formation of modern ideas about the essence, forms and functions of social inequality. The idea is that a person is the subject of social action.

In contrast to Marx, Weber, apart from the economic nuance of stratification, took these nuances into account as power and authority. Weber viewed property, power, and authority as 3 separate interacting factors that underlie hierarchies in any society. Differences in property give rise to economic classes; differences related to power give rise to political parties, and special differences are provided by status groups or strata. From this he defined the concept of "3 independent dimensions of stratification." He emphasized that "classes", "status groups", "parties" - refer to the sphere of the distribution of power within society.

The main difference between Weber and Marx is that, as Weber argued, the class has no opportunity to exist as a subject of action, since it is not considered a community. Unlike Marx, Weber associated the definition of class only with the capitalist community, where the market is one of the most important regulators of relations. With the help of it, a person is able to satisfy his material needs.

But in the market, people occupy different positions or are in different "class situations." Here everyone sells and purchases. Some sell products, services, while others sell labor. The difference here is that if they have property, while the others do not. Weber does not have a definite structure of capitalist society, so his works provide mismatched lists of classes.

At the very beginning, inequality is based on natural differentiation - the differences between people due to their physical, mental, intellectual traits. They can be both congenital (gender, race, intelligence, physical health), and acquired character (obtained in the process of learning, training).

One of the main differences, due to which the unequal attitudes of people and further social inequality develop, are natural differences. These differences form the basis of inequality in primitive times, but they have not lost their significance to this day. The differences lie in the fact that there is a shift from one emphasis to another. This concept fits such phenomena as racism, Nazism, and in most cases in modern world and in many countries, social inequality is influenced by: race, skin color, nationality. The weakening of these factors is a concern for political forces. For example, the creation of decent working conditions and full-fledged living, the fight against racial prejudices.

There is another level of differentiation of individuals - social. Social differences are differences that are created by social factors, the main ones being:

1) The division of social labor, after which new different types of occupations and professions of a person are created
2) A person's occupation is determined only by the content of his activity
3) The standard of living is associated with external conditions in relation to a person. Physical conditions: nature, climate, landscape, population. Cultural conditions are determined by the environment in which a person lives (language, norms, religion, traditions, and so on)
4) The way of life of a person is his characteristic feature. It depends on the person's age, gender, education, and occupation.

Modern culture admits the existence of inequality in income or in positions, which does not cause any objection from people, in contrast to inequality on a national basis.

The essence of social inequality is that it is a universal characteristic of a society in which people have unequal chances in life for the moral and spiritual benefits of society.

The phenomenon of the concept of poverty became the subject of research in modern Russian sociology in the 90s. In Soviet times, the concept of poverty did not exist at all; it was replaced by the concept of poverty, which is revealed in the theory of welfare.

Max Weber, a classic of world theory in the field of sociology, expressed his point of view, which was decisive for the formation of advanced ideas about the essence, forms and functions of inequality in society. The main ideas of this thought are that a person is considered the subject of social action.

Hence, he formulated the concept of "three autonomous dimensions of stratification."

He emphasized that "classes", "status groups", "parties" are phenomena that relate to the distribution of power within society.

The main contradiction between Weber and Marx is that Weber associated the definition of class only with a capitalist society, where the market is the regulator of relationships. With the help of it, a person satisfies his own material needs. But in the market, people occupy different positions and are in different "class situations." Everybody buys and sells here. Some sell goods and services, while others sell labor.

The difference is that some have property, while others do not. Weber does not have a clear definition of the class structure of capitalist society, so various interpreters of his work provide inconsistent class lists.

If we take into account his methodological views, and generalize his historical, socio-economic works, then we can reconstruct Weber's typology of classes under capitalism:

1. Working class
2. Petty bourgeoisie
3. "White collars"
4. Administrators and managers
5. Owners

Social inequality is almost impossible to avoid; appears in all types of society and at all stages of historical development; only the forms and degree of social inequality change historically. On the other hand, a person would then have no incentive to engage in complex, dangerous or even uninteresting activities, to improve their qualifications. Due to inequality of income, society encourages people (individuals) to the necessary occupations, but rather difficult ones, encourages the most talented.

The problem of social inequality is one of the most acute and urgent problems. The individuality of the social structure of Russian society is a strong social polarization - the division of society into poor and rich in the absence of an average system, which is the basis of an economically stable and developed country. Strong social division reproduces a system of inequality and injustice, in which the ability of independent life self-realization and an increase in social status for a fairly large share of the Russian population of the country.

12. Stratification of society

Inequality between people exists in any society. This is quite natural, considering that all people have differences, and making them equal is just as impossible as it is impossible to make everyone the same externally and internally. Even with the same income, some live frugally, while others experience a constant lack of funds. Absolute equality is a dream that allows one to hope that someday a society of complete social justice will be built.

People have repeatedly made attempts to build a socially just society. Almost constantly, with varying intensity, there is a struggle between the rich and the poor. The strata with low and middle incomes do not want to put up with the fact that a significant part of public wealth belongs to a narrow circle of people, therefore they are trying to eliminate the existing injustice.

The greed of the rich, their unwillingness to share funds with the rest of society - this is one of the reasons leading to unrestrained stratification. Bloody revolutions, changes in political regimes are the consequences of the “elite's” indifference to ordinary people, to those who actually create all material wealth, receiving little in return.

At the moment, it has not been possible to achieve social justice in society. Not a single revolution was able to eliminate inequality, and after any of them, stratification arose again, the spiral of the class hierarchy began to spiral along a new one, accumulating energy for the next social upheavals.

Significant inequality polarizes society, perpetuates social injustice, making some masters of life and eternal executors (slaves) of others. Inequality is accompanied by poverty, which creates a fertile ground for the marginalization of the population, inciting people to join criminal communities, extremist and terrorist organizations. It is because of poverty that people often fall under the bad influence, follow where they promise quick earnings and a good life.

It seems that the easiest way to eliminate inequality is to take and evenly share all the public wealth. But how then to evaluate the work of a slacker and a hardworking person, how to encourage the best? There is no need to look for simple solutions to this question. Achieving equality among people is not easy, if only because there are too many reasons for stratification among people. The civilized approach is not about trying to completely eradicate the causes of inequality, but about preventing it from becoming overwhelming and depressing.

The emergence of inequality in society can be explained by:

natural differences between people;
social and social factors;
features of the social and state structure.

1. Natural differences between people (differences due to the natural data of a person)

All people differ in their possession:

mental abilities, talents;
entrepreneurial ability;
knowledge and experience;
moral, value guidelines;
physical, external data.

Mental capacity help a person in any activity. They allow you to acquire knowledge, help solve problems, find non-standard solutions, make discoveries, and develop the correct strategy of behavior. All this contributes to the material well-being of a person and the emergence of inequality.

Talented people have unequal opportunities compared to others. If their unique natural talents are claimed by society, and not wasted, then they achieve success and recognition.

Entrepreneurial ability include a set of qualities, skills that allow a person to find opportunities for making a profit when engaging in any kind of activity, make reasonable consistent decisions, create and apply innovations, take an acceptable, justified risk. Entrepreneurial ability is to some extent related to mental ability, but there are still some differences. These additionally include the ability to communicate, build connections, establish contacts with people and maintain relationships with them. There is also an entrepreneurial flair that allows a person to intuitively make the right decisions.

Knowledge and experience important in any business. An experienced person has undeniable advantages over a person who for the first time decides on a new business for himself. Without experience and knowledge, it is easy to make mistakes. It takes time to gain experience, and during this period a person often acts recklessly, acting "at random." However, it is much more rational to study the knowledge gained by other people. This will avoid many wrong actions.

In the modern world, moral attitudes do not help, but, on the contrary, interfere with earning big money. Positive moral qualities do not allow using dishonest methods for enrichment. Those who use such techniques usually win. However, in order to create an equal competitive environment, where everyone achieves success with their skills and abilities, and not by cunning and deception, compliance moral rules- a necessary condition.

External data play a significant role in life. It is easier for a beautiful person to achieve better success with the opposite sex, it is easier to successfully marry, get married, and also get a job where external data matters.

Physical data allow a person to feel good, to work without significant stress. Lack of physical data can become a limitation to work in some areas. It can be hard for a person with poor health or a disabled person to work, even in the lightest job.

Alas, in modern society there are frequent cases showing that the advantages described above do not work. So, in collectives situations arise when, in the general mass of employees, the most intelligent, talented person is "overwritten", they do not give him the opportunity to reveal himself, to show himself to the fullest. Often, management fears smart, responsible employees, assuming they can take their place.

2. Inequality due to social and social factors:

having unequal opportunities at birth;
different levels of education;
gender inequality;
age inequality;
inequality in nationality, race;
inequality in place of residence;
inequality due to family composition;
possession profitable profession, position;
a successful combination of circumstances contributing to the enrichment of a person.

Having unequal opportunities at birth

A child born into a family of wealthy parents has more opportunities. His parents can afford to hire tutors for individual lessons, pay for classes in circles, sports clubs, take care of the child's leisure time. Financial resources are a guarantee of good education and full-fledged development. Of course, all this is true if parents really care about their children and their future, and not concerned with demonstrating their own superiority, turning the child into a mandatory attribute of expressing personal success.

Material opportunities dictate the way of life, create the illusion that if you just wish, everything will be fulfilled. In wealthy families, a problem associated with a lack of love and attention is very common. People busy with work, satisfaction of personal ambitions, deprive children of the most necessary things - communication in the family. A child locked in a "golden cage" narrows his social circle, he becomes a stranger to his peers from less wealthy families.

In low-income families, children, at times, are deprived of the most necessary things: adequate nutrition, high-quality clothing, and normal living conditions. But it happens that difficulties do not always act negatively, sometimes, they temper, teach to fight, to defend their own position. As a result, a person adapts better to life conditions, gets used to achieve everything on his own, not relying on anyone.

Dividing people into classes based on their origins is wrong. A person from a poor family, educated, industrious and passed several stages of social hierarchy, can be much better than a person with wealth from birth, devoid of understanding how difficult it is to achieve a high social position.

Different levels of education

Lack of education in modern society is seen as a serious disadvantage that creates obstacles to employment. Even for unskilled positions, the employer prefers to hire a person with education, because it increases labor discipline and cultural level. People without education are more likely to work in less profitable sectors of the economy and are almost always in lower positions, which leads to low incomes.

Continuing penetration into all spheres of life of informatics, electronics, technology makes new demands on modern workers, increases the demand for qualified, educated professionals. Now a person is required to have a high level of knowledge, the ability to learn quickly, to assimilate new information etc.

Gender inequality

Biological differences between men and women create an insurmountable barrier to eliminating gender inequality. To completely overcome the differences, a woman, for example, will have to become as strong as a man, and a man will have to learn to bear children. The differences between the sexes are manifested in thinking, temperament, perception, psyche, etc.

A woman will not be able to work in many male professions, especially where physical strength is required, and a man - in female ones. The division of professions by gender is quite natural. So, it is rare to find a woman seeking to work as a loader, bricklayer, security guard or driver. It is also difficult to find a male educator, nanny, nurse, seamstress, etc.

Society values women's and men's labor differently. For some reason, it is women's professions that are usually low-paid; even for the same job as a man, a woman often receives a lower salary. Perhaps this is because a woman's low wages are not seen as serious problem, since it is assumed that most of them should be supported by the funds of the spouse. But this deprives women of independence and does not take into account the fact that, in fact, most of them do not receive any support from men.

The birth of a child by a woman is a barrier to career development. A woman for some period falls out of labor activity taking on a significant amount of unpaid, invaluable homework. Burdened with children, she is simply forced to devote a significant part of her time to the house.

Structure modern society is still very patriarchal: high-paying and prestigious work, as a rule, is done by men. In countries with low living standards, low literacy and education, the most important source of employment for women remains Agriculture or other works with a predominance manual labor... In developed countries, women have the opportunity to study and work. They are more involved in healthcare, education, and other areas related to intellectual activity.

The double standard for women is determined by traditions, customs, family values, existing ethics and morality. Gender inequality damages the whole of society and negatively affects economic development. Countries where women enjoy equal rights are more developed and wealthy.

Age-related inequalities

At every age, a person has different learning abilities, different creative and physical activity. It is not necessary to expect from an elderly person that he will be the same as a young one. Due to physiological changes with age, it becomes harder to assimilate and memorize information, it is harder to work. This is largely due to the negative attitude of employers towards people of pre-retirement age.

Young people also have problems with finding a job. It is difficult for a young person, a recent graduate of an educational institution, to find a job due to a lack of experience. It turns out a vicious circle when there is no experience and nowhere to acquire it. Some employers discriminate against young people, pay lower wages compared to older employees, believing that first you need to earn equal treatment. If society is aimed at the future, at development, then young people should integrate as quickly as possible into adult working life on equal terms. A person at a young age wants to earn money, live well, start a family, this requires significant funds.

Inequality by nationality, race

Apparently, it has not yet been completely possible to eliminate the remnants of the slave system, if people of a different nationality, races find themselves limited in their choice of work and are forced to go to low-paid, hard work, change their place of residence, the country in search of better life... Integration into normal life in another country may take more than one decade, and all this time there will be obstacles for equal membership in society, especially if there are external differences, poor knowledge of local traditions and language.

But not only newcomers face difficulties. Modern migration flows are gaining such strength that in an unequal position, the population historically living in a given territory may be in a minority. National diasporas and clans defend their interests, ignoring the laws adopted in society, create the necessary environment for themselves, openly displacing the indigenous population from some spheres of activity.

An employer who hires a migrant willing to work for "pennies" harms, first of all, his fellow citizens, depriving them of employment opportunities. The excess number of migrants leads to a drop in wages in some sectors of the economy. When cheap labor is available, there is no need to improve production processes, increase labor productivity.

Inequality in the place of residence

Discrimination at the place of residence is associated with unequal access to educational, medical and other services, with the inability to find a job in the specialty. This is clearly seen in cities where there is only one city-forming enterprise, or in countryside where the range of occupations is limited to agriculture.

An obstacle to moving a person to more prosperous regions can be a lack of funds, lack of housing, unwillingness to part with loved ones. If a person decides to change his country of residence, then additional difficulties will arise in obtaining citizenship.

An ordinary person is not to blame that he was born, raised and lives in a depressed region or country, that his social status is predetermined by unequal territorial opportunities.

The state itself differentiates the regions, establishing the differences between them. People for equal work, depending on the region, receive different wages. Such differences can be justified only if there is an urgent need to attract missing specialists, or as compensation for difficult climatic conditions. In all other cases, discrimination against people based on their place of residence cannot be justified in any way.

Possession of a profitable profession, position

Usually young people want to learn and get one of the prestigious professions in order to be in demand, highly paid specialists in the future. But this is not always possible to achieve for various reasons, one of them is unequal access to educational services. A person who is naturally capable can study in school with "weak" teachers. As a result, his abilities will remain undiscovered by anyone.

The large difference in wages for individual professions generates social inequality. The overestimation of some of them leads to a significant difference in wages tens of times, in relation to the average earnings of all other workers. The criteria for such differentiation are unclear. Indeed, with the appropriate organization of training, it is possible to fill the deficit of any specialists within several years, or even months. Only a person with unique abilities and talents really deserves a high assessment of society, including in material terms. However, such people are relatively few.

Most high salaries today at the managers. A manager, even a middle-level manager, can receive a salary equal to the salary of a small team. Is his contribution to the work so significant? Most likely no. It is just that a system has emerged in which the appropriation of the results of social labor has become quite legal, commonplace, which manifests itself in the form of overstated payments to the administrative apparatus. This state of affairs cannot be called otherwise than legalized theft. A life-saving physician or a scientist doing important research receives a paltry monetary remuneration compared to directors large companies, on whose salaries entire organizations can be supported. The benefits of management's activities are incomparable with their income, and it should be taken into account that the appointment to management positions does not always take place in an honest, open way.

Inequality due to family composition

Take a family of two for example. They are successful, they make good money together. They can be easily attributed to the notorious middle class. At some point, they decide to give birth to a child. After a certain period of time, the woman goes on maternity leave, family income decreases. With the advent of a child, costs increase, which further reduces the standard of living of the family. As a result, a middle-class family will move closer to less well-off segments of the population. But what if there are already several children in the family?

To ensure the average per capita income of the middle class for a family of four or five people, the head of the family will have to work hard, losing health, sacrificing personal time and life. Yet worse situation develops when a woman is a single mother without support. Her social position is very precarious and almost always borders on poverty.

A lucky coincidence that contributes to the enrichment of a person

Rarely, who wins the lottery, but still it happens. A person can become a millionaire in an instant. Chance plays a big role in our life. Even many scientific discoveries were made completely by accident.

Some people are always in search of their soul mate and cannot find it in any way, they change their place of work all their lives in search of more earnings and cannot earn anything. In contrast, others immediately settle on a good place, earn decent money, get married and live with one person all their lives. A good combination of circumstances and chance play a significant role here. Winning the lottery, receiving an inheritance, unexpected success in business - all these events are of a random nature and have a noticeable impact on a person's life.

An active life position will help to increase the likelihood of a successful combination of circumstances, because, as you know, water does not flow under a lying stone.

3. Inequality generated by the characteristics of the social and state structure

The inequality associated with the existence of the state is expressed:

the need to maintain a hierarchy;
in possession material assets, property;
in belonging to a certain group of persons, party, diaspora, sect, etc. ;

Hierarchy in the state

In any control system there is a certain hierarchy, there are control centers and transmission links through which the management of a separate object or objects is carried out. When the hierarchy is eliminated, the system will be destroyed as a single integral structure.

In the state, the hierarchy is expressed in the form of the presence of branches of power and structures that perform the functions of management, execution and control in society. Power by its very existence creates inequality between those who have it and those who do not have it. It is not possible to eliminate such inequality, otherwise, the state itself will have to be destroyed.

The need to maintain governance in society gives rise to the division of people into classes:

managers, directly to whom the power belongs;
people close to power, i.e. officials called to control and fulfill the will of the authorities;
people defending the authorities: the police, other power structures;
people who occupy a privileged position in society, thanks to their position, wealth;
ordinary people: workers, employees, the intelligentsia, performing the main work of maintaining and servicing the entire state system.

People invested with state power have special powers through which they can influence any organization, which puts them in the hierarchy above any head of a commercial company. Realizing this, big business tries to bring the people it needs to the power structures, organizes the defense of its interests. The merging of business and government is a problem of modern society, leading to the fact that a relatively small stratum of the richest people begins to possess full power, acting in purely personal interests, not paying attention to the opinion of the majority, putting property interests above state interests.

Possession of material values, property

The possession of the means of production, financial assets, and other types of property is one of the sources of social inequality between people. Property can be obtained by inheritance, donation, acquired with personal or borrowed funds, seized by force or through financial fraud.

Property, if properly managed, is capable of generating profit for its owners. The money that is in circulation creates new money and makes the one who possesses it even richer, increasing social stratification.

Under the capitalist system, capital tends to concentrate in a relatively small stratum of society - the financial elite. The concentration of significant resources in one hand creates an obstacle to the realization of the abilities of other people. Most of the society is forced to be hired to work for previously successful people. Simple people are partially deprived of opportunities to realize their professional preferences, because for the organization own business they may not have enough funds, and it is very difficult to break into the already occupied market niches. And yet, sometimes, an ordinary person manages to start his own business and develop it successfully.

In any field of activity, several factors help success, among which the personal qualities of a person and a successful combination of external circumstances are especially significant. Having accumulated some funds, the owner of his own business seeks to expand it in order to feel more confident. Having reached a certain level in business, he joins a special privileged part of society. People with financial means, have significant opportunities, carry out management functions... They can set up businesses, hire workers, set wages. The owners of large commercial companies have a significant impact on the economy, on the lives of ordinary people.

The class of owners is trying to fix its exclusive position in society, creating special living conditions for itself. Accumulated wealth is passed from generation to generation, creating inequality regardless of human ability.

Belonging to a certain group of persons

A group of people united by some common interests is able to accumulate forces and means to maintain their existence. A person's adherence to a group promises him certain benefits. In case of life problems, there will be someone to turn to for help. The simplest and most famous example of a group of people is the family. It is in her, most often, that a person finds spiritual and material support.

Belonging to a political party, a religious sect, or even a criminal structure are all examples of groups that people usually belong to. They help their members advance in career ladder, assist in business. This is done with the expectation that, in the future, from a successful person it will be possible to receive any dividends for the rest of the group.

Ways to tackle inequality

1. It is impossible to eliminate the causes of inequality due to internal and external differences between people. It is unfair to reduce everything to a simple "leveling", not paying attention to personal achievements and results. People who work better should earn more, this is quite logical. But it should be understood, no matter how unique talents a person has, he is in demand only because he lives in society. Without society, none of us could prove ourselves, realize our abilities.

What would a person with his talents do if he suddenly found himself alone in a deep forest or on a desert island? Surely I would be in a constant struggle for my existence, trying to survive elementary. The usual comfort will disappear from his life, there will be no things that people use every day without thinking too much. Any disease will become extremely dangerous when there are no doctors and medicines nearby. In such a situation, the maximum that a person can achieve is to build a modest housing and create tools similar to those used in the Stone Age. No matter how hard he tries, he alone cannot do what people want, living in society.

The above example shows the existence of a person's dependence on society and suggests that the merits of individuals should not be overestimated. Everything that modern civilization has achieved is a product co-creation many people, over several generations, and even very capable people should not be allowed to live in luxury, since they would not be able to prove themselves outside of society.

Money has never played a decisive role in the development of society. Many scientists and researchers were driven forward, first of all, by curiosity and a desire to understand the truth, and not by the desire to get profit. Not money and the size of a salary are incentives to study, to get something new, but a person's natural interest in everything unknown, a desire for knowledge, for understanding the world around him.

2. In a civilized society, there must be a system that ensures the control of people's incomes and expenses. This should be done so that there is an understanding of the origin of the funds, the confidence that they are not obtained in any dishonest way. The excess of expenses over income indicates the receipt of money from unaccounted sources, and their origin should be explained. In principle, total control is not needed, it is quite enough to check for what funds large purchases are made, especially luxury items.

Control over income will allow avoiding the existence of a shadow, unofficial labor market in the state, in which the relationship between employer and employee is not regulated by law, and, where it is impossible to determine a person's employment, his income. Such a phenomenon as a salary "in an envelope" is an example of an unfair distribution of money and deception of the state. Additionally, monitoring will help to identify leaders who use their official position for personal gain.

The desire of a person to make money is beneficial to society, since it constantly needs active people interested in their own well-being. Monetary reward helps to further motivate a person to achieve high performance at work. When money is earned by honest labor, and not acquired by deception, then it is beneficial to the person and society.

3. The state is obliged to smooth out the difference in income between the lowest paid and the highest paid strata of the population. It is unacceptable when some make ends meet, while others do not know where else to spend their money. In no case should the difference in income reach a significant size, otherwise, it negatively affects the entire society. When a significant difference between the incomes of citizens is reached, the problem of inequality arises. The state is obliged to provide support to the socially unprotected layers of the population, people with low incomes, and, even better, so that it acts proactively and does not allow the emergence of a category of needy citizens.

Today money began to define the face of power. The richest are people who are in power, close to her or serving her interests. Social justice will not be achieved in the state until it ceases to act in accordance with the will of people with big money, does not begin to make and implement decisions that are beneficial to the whole society.

4. Equal access to educational services regardless of social origin, place of residence, etc., will enable a person to reveal his abilities. Lack of equal access actually means the perpetuation of economic, social and cultural inequalities.

A prerequisite for maintaining equality in education is the availability of free education at all its levels, the creation of a sufficient number of places in educational institutions so that everyone who wants to learn can realize their preferences. The only obstacle to getting an education can be an incorrect assessment of one's own capabilities by a person himself, his lack of sufficient physical and mental data necessary for training in the chosen profession. However, in a high-quality education system, abilities are identified, and training in accordance with them is recommended.

The state that invests in education invests in human capital, makes society more cultured and developed.

5. It is very difficult to eliminate social inequality as long as the society maintains laws that allow inheriting material values without any restrictions. Due to inheritance, a person from a wealthy family will have clear advantages from birth.

To eliminate this cause of inequality, it is necessary to work out measures that limit the size of the inherited property and Money... The motive for the accumulation of wealth for children and grandchildren, as an incentive to increase savings, must gradually be destroyed. Such measures will ensure social justice and an equal start for young people, regardless of who their parents were.

6. The structure of the economic structure in any country is heterogeneous. There are highly profitable industries related to mining, trade, IT, etc., and there are industries that, by definition, can never be profitable (education, medicine, science). Without the redistribution of financial resources in the state, organizations performing social functions will not be able to exist. The work of a teacher or doctor is no less important than the work of an oilman, gasman or programmer. To avoid injustice, the state should monitor the size of wages in different sectors of the economy and equalize it as much as possible.

7. Fair pay means people get paid for the same job. equal pay... This is possible if the organization has adopted a transparent, open system reflecting the income of each employee. However, today it is not customary to declare one's own income, which is explained by the existing unfairness in the distribution of funds. If everything were without deception, then there would be nothing to hide. Today, quite often people, working in the same team, performing the same work, receive different salaries.

Employers help maintain inequality by creating an atmosphere of secrecy. The real purpose of this behavior is to save on employees, to maximize the benefits for yourself. They take into account the psychology of people, realizing that someone may agree to work for less money.

The civilized approach is that all people working in the same team know the income of their colleagues. Then it will become clear how fair the wages are made, and whether it corresponds to the real return from each specific person.

Of course, the work of people who make a greater contribution to the common cause should be evaluated higher, but this difference should not differ significantly. It should be borne in mind that the result of work in a team has a social nature.

To prevent stratification of people, it is necessary to ensure a fair distribution of the profits received in the organization, and to eliminate the significant differences in income between managers and subordinates.

8. If uncontrolled migration processes take place in any country, it means that there are internal sources of instability in it, contributing to the uncontrolled movement of people. Usually people do not leave their homeland because of a good life. For most of them, migration is a forced necessity, an attempt to escape from wars, violence, hunger, poverty, etc.

Countries receiving migrants are responsible for the integration of migrants into society. The provision of housing, language training, professions are costly activities. Funds for all this are taken from the budget, which means they are taken from local residents. The manifestation of humanism is certainly a good thing, but not a single economically developed country will be able to accept everyone who wants to come to it, to shelter disadvantaged people from all over the world. Mass migration is a negative phenomenon, and one should fight not with the consequences, but with its causes.

To reduce migration flows, it is required to prevent military conflicts, overcome backwardness in the cultural and educational spheres, and eliminate economic inequality between countries.

9. In any organization there are always people who perform managerial functions. They occupy a special position in society, because of this inequality arises. To eliminate it, there is one universal recipe, you need to provide a periodic change of leaders.

The principle of leadership turnover may well be applied on a national scale. The changeability of the management staff creates conditions for ensuring social mobility and implies the movement of people from one social group to another.

At work, bosses must periodically replace each other, in the state - politicians, and all this must be taken as a mandatory rule to maintain public justice. To prevent incapable or selfish people from falling into leadership positions, it is necessary to conduct a careful selection, first of all, according to the moral and mental qualities of a person.

10. It is very difficult to eliminate inequality completely. Therefore, people need to educate an adequate perception of it. Condemn extreme inequalities, flaunting wealth, luxury. You should not measure a person's success solely by the possession of material values and wealth. The real wealth of a person is his intellect and moral qualities... People should be aware of the exceptional value of human life, and that nothing can compare with it in value.

Diary

Capital deception

Money in the morning, chairs in the evening. This option still seems acceptable, in comparison with what modern officials offer us: money - today, and service - in a few years. Doesn't this sound like a fraudulent scheme?

About housing and communal services

In Russia, it has already become commonplace to raise tariffs for housing and communal services annually. The need for this is due to the fact that service companies and resource suppliers need to compensate for losses from inflation.

Even a cursory glance at the people around us gives grounds to talk about their dissimilarity. People are different by gender, age, temperament, height, hair color, intelligence and many other characteristics. Nature has endowed one with musical abilities, another with strength, a third with beauty, and for someone she has prepared the fate of a weak invalid. 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 relations between individuals. The strong force the weak, the cunning triumphs over the simpletons. Inequality arising from natural differences is the first form of inequality, in one form or another, manifested in some species of animals. However, in the main human is social inequality, inextricably linked with social differences, social differentiation.

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

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

Income- the amount of money receipts received by an individual per unit of time. It may be labor, or it may be the ownership of property that "works".

Education- a complex of knowledge obtained in educational institutions. His level is measured by the number of years of study. Let's say an incomplete high school is 9 years old. The professor has over 20 years of education behind him.

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

Prestige- This is an assessment of the position of an individual in society, which has developed 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 in different ways. Let's highlight the most interesting and noteworthy approaches.

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

Explaining 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 as more significant if society as an integral organism cannot exist without functional diversity? This approach does not allow explaining 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 the social hierarchy as a necessary factor ensuring the viability social system, links its configuration with the system of dominant values in society. In his understanding, the location of social strata on the hierarchical ladder is determined by the ideas formed in society about the importance of each of them.

Observations of the actions, 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. is the inequality of statuses, arising both from the ability of individuals to perform 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 a particular position in society (ownership of property, capital, origin, affiliation to influential political forces).

Consider economic view to the problem. In accordance with this point of view, the root cause of social inequality lies in the unequal attitude towards property, the distribution of material wealth. Most vividly this approach manifested itself in Marxism... According to his version, namely the emergence of private property led to social stratification of society, education 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. First, as a property of society. Written history knows no societies without social inequality. The struggle of people, parties, groups, classes is a struggle for the possession of great social opportunities, advantages and privileges. If inequality is an inherent property of society, then it carries a positive functional load. Society reproduces inequality because it needs it as a source of livelihood 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 peculiarities 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 is multifaceted and manifests itself in various parts of a single social organism: in the family, in an institution, at an enterprise, in small and large social groups. It is necessary condition organization of social life... Parents, having an advantage in experience, skills, at disposal financial resources in comparison with their young children, they 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 emergence of a leader in the team helps its cohesion, transformation into a sustainable education, but at the same time it is accompanied by the provision of leader of special rights.

Any organization strive to preserve inequalities seeing in him ordering start, without which it is impossible reproduction social connections and the integration of the new. 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 an unequal distribution of social benefits and powers. In other words, social inequality is inherent in all societies without exception. 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 XX century believed. P. Sorokin, in any society, at any time, there is a struggle between the forces of stratification and the forces of alignment.

The concept of "stratification" came to sociology from geology, where it refers to the location of the layers of the Earth along a vertical line.

Under social stratification we will understand the vertical section of the location of individuals and groups in horizontal layers (strata) in terms of such characteristics as income inequality, access to education, the amount of power and influence, and professional prestige.

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

The stratification is based on social differentiation - the process of the emergence of functionally specialized institutions and the 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, and 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 arranged in a hierarchical order; some of them, for example age groups, do not contain grounds for social inequality. Thus, the status of a young child and the status of a nursing 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 the poor and the rich, the educated and the uneducated, the entrepreneurial and the unacceptable, the powerless and the powerless. 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.

German economist K. Marx linked social inequality with the emergence of private property and the struggle between the interests of various classes and social groups.

German sociologist R. Dahrendorf also believed that economic and status inequality underlying the ongoing conflict of groups and classes and the struggle for the redistribution of power and statuses 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), objectively placing individuals in an unequal position; joint collective life of individuals, which requires the organization of relations and behavior, which leads to the stratification of society into controlled and governed.

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, scientists of technological specialties, plant directors, etc. have a higher status and income, while in Europe the dominant value is "preservation of cultural samples", in connection with what society gives special prestige to humanities intellectuals, clergymen, university professors.

The problem of social inequality is one of the most acute and topical in modern Russia. A feature of the social structure of Russian society is a strong social polarization - the division of the population into poor and rich in the absence of a significant middle stratum, which is 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 possibilities for independent life self-realization and social status increase are limited for a fairly large part of the population of Russia.