Social stratification and the class system of modern societies. Stratification system The form of social stratification inherent in open societies

Character social stratification, the ways of its determination and reproduction in their unity form what sociologists call stratification system. Historically, there are four main types of stratification systems: slavery, castes, estates and classes. The first three characterize closed societies and the fourth type is an open society. In this context, a closed society is considered a society where social movements from one stratum to another are either completely prohibited or significantly limited. An open society is a society where transitions from lower strata to higher strata are not officially limited in any way (6 . 7).

1. Slavery - the form of the most rigid fixation of people in the lower strata. This is the only form in history social relations when one person acts as the property of another, deprived of all rights and freedoms.
2. Caste system - a stratification system that presupposes a person's lifelong attachment to a certain stratum on an ethnic, religious or economic basis. The caste is a closed group, which was assigned to the system a certain place in the social hierarchy. This place was determined by the special function of each caste in the system of the division of labor. In India, where the caste system was most widespread, there was a detailed regulation of activities for each caste. Since belonging to the caste system was inherited, the possibilities social mobility here were limited.
3. Estates system - a stratification system that implies the legal assignment of a person to a particular stratum. The rights and obligations of each class were determined by law and sanctified by religion. Belonging to the estate was mainly inherited, but in the saw of an exception it could be acquired for money or granted by the authorities. In general, the estate system was characterized by a ramified hierarchy, which was expressed in the inequality of social status and the presence of numerous privileges.

The estate organization of the European feudal society provided for the division into two upper classes (nobility and clergy) and an unprivileged third estate (merchants, artisans, peasants). Since the inter-class barriers were quite tough, social mobility existed mainly within the estates, which included many ranks, ranks, professions, strata, etc. However, in contrast to the caste system, inter-social marriages and individual transitions from one stratum to another were sometimes allowed.

4. Class system - an open-type stratification system that does not imply a legal or any other way of securing an individual for a certain stratum. Unlike previous closed stratification systems, class membership is not regulated by the authorities, is not established by law, and is not inherited. It is determined, first of all, by the place in the system social production, property ownership; and income levels.

The class system is characteristic of the modern industrial society, where I exist! opportunities for free transition from one stratum to another. Thus, the accumulation of property and wealth, successful entrepreneurial activity allow you to automatically take a higher social position.

The allocation of slave, caste, estate and class stratification systems is generally recognized, but not the only classification. It is supplemented by a description of such types of stratification systems, a combination of which is found in any society. Among them are the following:

physical and genetic stratification system, which is based on the ranking of people according to natural characteristics: gender, age, the presence of certain physical qualities- strength, agility, beauty, etc .;
etacratic stratification system, in which differentiation between groups is carried out according to their position in the power-state hierarchies (political, military, administrative and economic), according to the possibilities for mobilizing and distributing resources, as well as according to the privileges that these groups have depending on their rank in the structures of power;
social and professional stratification system, according to which the groups are divided according to the content and working conditions; ranking here is carried out using certificates (diplomas, grades, licenses, patents, etc.) that record the level of qualifications and the ability to perform certain types of activities (grade grid in the public sector of industry, the system of certificates and diplomas of education, the system of awarding scientific degrees and titles, etc.);
cultural and symbolic stratification system, arising from differences in access to socially significant information.

unequal opportunities to select, save and interpret this information (theocratic manipulation of information is typical for pre-industrial societies, partocratic for industrial societies, technocratic for post-industrial societies);

cultural and normative stratification system, in which differentiation is based on differences in respect and prestige arising from the comparison of existing norms and lifestyles inherent in certain social groups (attitudes towards the physical and mental labor, consumer standards, tastes, communication methods, professional terminology, local dialect - all this can serve as the basis for ranking social groups);
socio-territorial stratification system, formed due to unequal distribution of resources between regions, differences in access to jobs, housing, quality goods and services, educational and cultural institutions, etc.

In reality, all these stratification systems are closely intertwined, complement each other. Thus, the social and professional hierarchy in the form of an officially enshrined division of labor not only performs important independent functions to maintain the life of society, but also has a significant impact on the structure of any stratification system. Therefore, the study of the stratification of modern society cannot be reduced only to the analysis of any one type of stratification system.

Social stratification is based on social differentiation- the division of people into groups, correlated with each other both on a horizontal and on a vertical scale. The most common is the social stratification of society based on the following criteria:

1) income - the amount of money that a family or a certain individual received over a certain period of time;
2) wealth - movable and immovable property, as well as the presence of accumulated income in the form of money savings;
3) power - the ability and ability to govern other people;
4) prestige - the degree of respect in society for a particular profession.

History knows various systems of social stratification.

IN open systems it is enough for individuals to simply change their social status. The openness of the system means the ability for any member of society to climb (descend) the social ladder in accordance with their abilities and efforts. In such systems, the achieved status means no less than the one assigned to a person from birth. In modern society, any individual, regardless of gender and origin, can, at the cost of more or less efforts, significantly increase his original status, for example, starting from scratch, become the president of the country.

Closed systems stratification, on the other hand, presupposes the unconditional primacy of the assigned status. Here it is almost impossible for an individual to change the status acquired by origin. Such systems are common in traditional societies, especially in the past. For example, the caste system, which functioned in India until 1950, prescribed strict boundaries between four castes, the belonging of individuals to which was determined by origin. At the same time, members of each caste were prescribed a strictly defined occupation, their own rituals, food system, rules for dealing with each other and with a woman, and a way of life. The veneration of the representatives of the higher castes and contempt for the lower ones were enshrined in religious institutions and traditions. There were cases of transition from caste to caste, but as isolated exceptions to the rule.

There are four main systems of social stratification: slavery, castes, estates and classes.

Slavery characterized by the possession of some people by others. Slavery was most widespread in agrarian societies, and slavery was least typical for nomadic peoples, especially hunters and gatherers.

The conditions of slavery and slavery varied significantly in different regions of the world. In ancient Greece, slaves were engaged in manual labor, giving free citizens the opportunity to express themselves in politics and the arts. In some countries, slavery was a temporary condition of a person: having worked for his master for the allotted time, the slave became free and had the right to return to his homeland. The Israelites freed their slaves in the jubilee year - every 50 years. In ancient Rome, slaves generally had the opportunity to buy freedom; in order to raise the amount necessary for the ransom, they made a deal with the owner and sold their services to other people (this is exactly what some educated Greeks who fell into slavery to the Romans did). Stories are known of cases when a rich slave began to lend money to his master and in the end the master fell into slavery to his former slave. In many cases, slavery was for life; in particular, criminals sentenced to hard labor were turned into slaves and worked in Roman galleys as rowers until their death.

Slave status was not always inherited. In ancient Mexico, the children of slaves were always free people. But in most countries, the children of slaves also automatically became slaves. In some cases, the child of a slave who served all his life in a wealthy family was adopted by this family, he received the surname of his masters and could become one of the heirs along with the other children of the masters.

Castes. In the caste system, status is determined by birth and is lifelong; in other words, the basis of the caste system is the prescribed status. The achieved status is not able to change the place of the individual in this system. Those who belong to a low-status group by birth will always have that status no matter what they have personally achieved in life.

Societies that are characterized by this form of stratification strive to clearly preserve the boundaries between castes, therefore endogamy is practiced here (marriages within one's own group) and intergroup marriages are prohibited, complex rules have been developed according to which communication with representatives of lower castes defiles the higher caste.

Estates system received the greatest distribution in feudal Europe and some traditional societies of Asia, for example, in Japan. Its main characteristic is the presence of several (usually three) stable social strata, to which individuals belong by origin and the transition between which is very difficult, although in exceptional cases it is possible. The basis of the estate system was the legal organization of society, which provided for the inheritance of titles and statuses, so marriages were usually concluded within the same class. The fundamental difference between estates was not so much economic well-being, but rather access to political and social power and socially significant knowledge. Each class possessed a monopoly on certain types of occupations and professions. The estate system is a closed system, although occasionally an individual change of status was allowed: as a result of inter-estates marriages, at the behest of a monarch or feudal lord - as a reward for special merit, when taking monastic vows or receiving the dignity of a clergyman.

Checkout system much more open than systems of stratification based on slavery, castes and estates, where the boundaries dividing people are so clear and firm that they do not leave people the opportunity to move from one group to another, except for marriages between members of different clans. The class system is primarily based on money or tangible property... Although belonging to a class is also determined at birth - the individual receives the status of his parents, however social class an individual during his life can change depending on what he has managed (or failed) to achieve in life. In addition, there are no laws that define an individual's occupation or profession according to birth or prohibit marriage with members of other social classes. Consequently, this system of social stratification is characterized by the relative flexibility of its boundaries. The class system leaves room for social mobility, i.e. to move up (down) the social ladder. Having the potential for social advancement, or class, is one of the main driving forces that motivate people to study well and work hard. Of course, the marital status inherited by a person from birth can determine extremely disadvantageous conditions that will not leave him a chance to rise too high in life, or provide him with such privileges that it will be almost impossible for him to “slide down” the class ladder.

Test on the topic:

TYPES OF STRATIFICATION SYSTEMS.

There are many stratification criteria by which any society can be divided.

There are nine types of stratification systems.,

which can be used to describe any social organism, namely:

1. Physico-genetic

2. Slave

3. Caste

4. Estates

5. Etakratic

6. Socio-professional

7. Class

8. Cultural and symbolic

9. Cultural normative

1. Physico-genetic stratification system

It is based on the differentiation of social groups according to "natural", socio-demographic characteristics. Here, the attitude towards a person or a group is determined by gender, age and the presence of certain physical qualities - strength, beauty, dexterity.

Accordingly, the weaker, with physical disabilities are considered flawed and occupy a degraded social position. Inequality is affirmed in this case by the existence of the threat of physical violence or its actual use, and then fixed in customs and rituals.

2. Slave-owning stratification system

This system is also based on direct violence. But inequality here is determined not by physical, but by military-legal coercion. Social groups differ in the presence or absence of civil and property rights. Certain social groups are completely deprived of these rights and, moreover,, along with things, are turned into an object of private property. Moreover, this position is most often inherited and thus fixed in generations.

Examples of slave systems are very diverse. This is ancient slavery, where the number of slaves sometimes exceeded the number of free citizens, and slavery in Russia during the "Russian Truth", this is plantation slavery in the south of the North American United States before the Civil War of 1861-1865.

3. Caste stratification system

It is based on ethnic differences, which, in turn, are reinforced by religious order and religious rituals. Each caste is a closed, as far as possible, endogamous group, which is assigned a strictly defined place in the social hierarchy. This place appears as a result of the isolation of the special functions of each caste in the system of the division of labor. There is a clear list of occupations that members of this caste can engage in: priestly, military, agricultural. Since the position in the caste system is inherited, the possibilities for social mobility here are extremely limited. And the more pronounced caste, the more closed this society turns out to be.

4. Estates stratification system

In this system, groups differ in legal rights, which, in turn, are rigidly linked to their responsibilities and are directly dependent on these responsibilities. Moreover, the latter imply obligations to the state, enshrined in legislation. Some estates are obliged to carry out military or bureaucratic service, others - "tax" in the form of taxes or labor duties.

5. Etakratic stratification system

In it, differentiation between groups occurs, first of all, according to their position in the power-state hierarchies (political, military, economic), according to the possibilities for mobilizing and distributing resources, as well as according to the privileges that these groups are able to extract from their positions of power. The degree of material well-being, the lifestyle of social groups, as well as the prestige they feel, are connected here with the formal ranks that these groups occupy in the corresponding power hierarchies. All other differences - demographic and religious-ethnic, economic and cultural - play a derivative role.

The etakratic system is revealed with the greater force, the more authoritarian the state rule takes.

6. Social and professional stratification system

Here the groups are divided according to the content and conditions of their work. A special role is played by qualification requirements presented to a particular professional role - possession of relevant experience, skills and abilities. The approval and maintenance of hierarchical orders in this system is carried out with the help of certificates (diplomas, ranks, licenses, patents), which fix the level of qualifications and the ability to perform certain types of activities. The effectiveness of qualification certificates is supported by the power of the state or some other sufficiently powerful corporation (professional workshop). Moreover, these certificates are most often not inherited, although there are exceptions in history.

Social and professional division is one of the basic stratification systems, various examples of which can be found in any society with any developed division of labor.

This is the construction of the craft workshops of the medieval city and the discharge grid and modern state industry, a system of certificates and diplomas of education received, a system of scientific degrees and titles that open the way to more prestigious jobs.

7. Class stratification system

The class approach is often opposed to the stratification one.

But for us, class division is only a special case of social stratification. Of the many interpretations of the concept of "class", we will dwell in this case on the more traditional - socio-economic. In this interpretation, classes represent social groups of citizens who are free in political and legal relations. Differences between groups primarily in the nature and size of ownership of the means of production and the product produced, as well as in the level of income received and personal material well-being.

Unlike many previous types, belonging to classes - bourgeois, proletarians, independent farmers, etc. - is not regulated by the highest authorities, is not established by law and is not inherited (property and capital are transferred, but not the status itself). In its pure form, the class system does not contain any internal formal barriers at all (economic prosperity automatically transfers you to a higher group).

Economically egalitarian communities, where class differentiation is completely absent, is a rather rare and unstable phenomenon.

But throughout most of human history, class divisions are still subordinate in nature. They come to the fore, perhaps, only in bourgeois Western societies. And the class system reaches its greatest heights in the United States of America, imbued with a liberal spirit.

8. Cultural and symbolic stratification system.

Differentiation arises here from differences in access to socially significant information, unequal opportunities to filter and interpret this information, the ability to be a carrier of sacred knowledge (mystical or scientific). In ancient times, this role was assigned to priests, magicians and shamans, in the Middle Ages - to the ministers of the church, who make up the bulk of the literate population, interpreters of sacred texts, in modern times - to scientists, technocrats and party ideologists.

Claims for communication with divine forces, for possession of scientific truth, for the expression of state interests existed always and everywhere. And a higher position in this respect is occupied by those who have the best opportunities to manipulate the consciousness and actions of other members of society, who can prove their rights to true understanding better than others, and who own the best symbolic capital.

Simplifying the picture somewhat, we can say that theocratic manipulation is more characteristic of pre-industrial societies; for industrialists - partocratic; and for the post-industrial it is technocratic.

9. Cultural normative stratification system.

Isolation of the elite, differentiation of all middle and lower strata.

In the peasant community, where formally everyone is equal to each other, there are "serviceable owners" who live "according to custom", "according to conscience", and idlers, renegades, "tumbleweeds".

Its own normative culture, its own patterns of behavior and its own "aristocracy" are at the very "bottom", within the underworld. The emergence of countercultures and the so-called antisocial behavior, by the way, is also largely a product of moral regulation and ideological control exercised in this community.

Conclusion.

Higher groups in all stratification systems strive to consolidate their position, to make it not only monopoly, but also inherited. IN class system such inheritance is ensured by the principle of entitlement (transfer of the main property to the senior heir), characteristic, say, for ancient India, Western Europe of the XI-XIII centuries or Russia up to 1917 (the rest of the relatives in this case actually go down the class ladder).

IN etacratic To the system, an official does not formally have the right to transfer his chair and powers to his own children, but he is able, through protection, to provide them with an equally enviable place in an institution of a similar rank.

The situation in social and professional , cultural and symbolic and cultural normative systems often transmitted in reality through education and upbringing, the transfer of experience and secrets of skill, the authorization of certain codes of conduct (professional dynasties are not the only, but a striking example).

As for physico-genetic system , then it stands somewhat apart, because inheritance occurs here often, but not as a result of any social mechanisms, but purely biologically.

History knows various systems of social stratification.

IN open systems it is enough for individuals to simply change their social status. The openness of the system means the ability for any member of society to climb (descend) the social ladder in accordance with their abilities and efforts. In such systems, the achieved status means no less than the one assigned to a person from birth. In modern society, any individual, regardless of gender and origin, can, at the cost of more or less efforts, significantly increase his original status, for example, starting from scratch, become the president of the country.

Closed systems stratification, on the other hand, presupposes the unconditional primacy of the assigned status. Here it is almost impossible for an individual to change the status acquired by origin. Such systems are common in traditional societies, especially in the past. For example, the caste system, which functioned in India until 1950, prescribed strict boundaries between four castes, the belonging of individuals to which was determined by origin. At the same time, members of each caste were prescribed a strictly defined occupation, their own rituals, food system, rules for dealing with each other and with a woman, and a way of life. The veneration of the representatives of the higher castes and contempt for the lower ones were enshrined in religious institutions and traditions. There were cases of transition from caste to caste, but as isolated exceptions to the rule.

Known four main systems of social stratification: slavery, castes, estates and classes.

Slavery characterized by the possession of some people by others. Slavery was most widespread in agrarian societies, and slavery was least typical for nomadic peoples, especially hunters and gatherers.

Castes most often associated with the culture of the Indian subcontinent. The term "caste" is of Portuguese origin, meaning "genus" and "pure genus". Indians themselves do not have a term to describe the class system as a whole; different words reveal different aspects of it. Among them there are two main ones - varna and jati. Varna includes four categories, ranked by social prestige. Jati define groups within which caste ranks are organized. The highest varna, the brahmanas, represent the most high level purity, untouchable - the lowest. Brahmanas should avoid certain types of contact with the untouchable, and only the untouchable are allowed physical contact with animals or with a substance identified as impure. The caste system was initially rigidly associated with the Hindu religion. Individuals are convinced that if someone does not remain faithful to the rituals and duties of their caste, then he will face the lowest position in the next incarnation.

The concept of castes was sometimes applied outside the Indian context when two or more ethnic groups were segregated and the concept of racial purity dominated (southern US, South Africa).

In the caste system, status is determined by birth and is lifelong; in other words, the basis of the caste system is the prescribed status. The achieved status is not able to change the place of the individual in this system. Those who by birth belong to a low-status group will always have this status regardless of what they have personally achieved in life.

Estates system received the greatest distribution in feudal Europe and some traditional societies of Asia, for example, in Japan. Its main characteristic is the presence of several (usually three) stable social strata, to which individuals belong by origin and the transition between which is very difficult, although in exceptional cases it is possible. The basis of the estate system is the legal organization of society, which provided for the inheritance of titles and statuses, therefore marriages were usually concluded within the same class. The fundamental difference between estates was not so much economic well-being, but rather access to political and social power and socially significant knowledge. Each class possessed a monopoly on certain types of occupations and professions. The estate system is a closed system, although occasionally an individual change of status was allowed: as a result of inter-estates marriages, at the behest of a monarch or feudal lord - as a reward for special merit, when taking monastic vows or receiving the dignity of a clergyman.

Estates were part of European feudalism, but were also found in many other traditional societies. Feudal estates include strata with different responsibilities and rights; some of these differences are established by law. In Europe, the estates included the aristocracy and the nobility. The clergy constituted a different class, with a lower status, but with different privileges. The so-called "third estate" included servants, free peasants, merchants and artists. In contrast to castes, intermarriage and individual mobility were tolerated.

Estates tended to develop when there was a traditional aristocracy based on the nobility of origin. In feudal systems like those that existed in medieval Europe, estates were closed on estates and localized, forming a local rather than a national system of stratification. In more centralized and traditional empires such as China or Japan, they were organized on a more pronounced national basis.

Class system much more open than systems of stratification based on slavery, castes and estates, where the boundaries dividing people are so clear and firm that they do not leave people the opportunity to move from one group to another, except for marriages between members of different clans. The class system is based primarily on money or material property. Although belonging to a class is also determined at birth - an individual receives the status of his parents, however, the social class of an individual during his life can change depending on what he has managed (or failed) to achieve in life. In addition, there are no laws that define an individual's occupation or profession according to birth or prohibit marriage with members of other social classes. Consequently, this system of social stratification is characterized by the relative flexibility of its boundaries. The class system leaves room for social mobility, i.e. to move up (down) the social ladder. Having the potential for social advancement, or class, is one of the main driving forces that motivate people to study well and work hard. Of course, the marital status inherited by a person from birth can determine extremely disadvantageous conditions that will not leave him a chance to rise too high in life, or provide him with such privileges that it will be almost impossible for him to “slide down” the class ladder.

Class systems differ in many ways from slavery, caste and estates. Four points in particular should be noted:

1. Classes are not created based on legal and religious norms; membership in them is not based on hereditary status and customs. Class systems are more fluid than other systems of stratification, and the boundaries between classes are never clearly delineated.

2. The belonging of an individual to a class must be "achieved" by himself, and not simply be "given" from birth, as in other types of stratification systems.

Social mobility - movement up and down in the class structure - is much easier than in other types (in the caste system, individual mobility, the transition from one caste to another is impossible).

3. Classes depend on economic differences between groups of people associated with inequality in the ownership and control of material resources.

In other types of stratification systems, inequality is expressed primarily at the level of interpersonal relations concerning the duties between servant and master, slave and master, representatives of the higher and lower castes. Class systems, on the other hand, mainly carry out connections of an impersonal nature. "

3. Social structure and stratification of modern Belarusian society (do not forget to watch the corresponding slides of the presentation !!!)

The peculiarity of the stratification dynamics in Belarus is predetermined by a number of circumstances, the most important of which is that the Republic of Belarus is an integral part of the Eastern European region. Analysis of the stable cultural and historical features of the development of this region will determine the specifics social development of Belarus itself.

In the scientific literature, there are several points of view regarding the nature of the East European society:

This is a backward Europe facing the problem of modernization and achieving the European level of development ("catching up development");

A special cultural and historical type in the mainstream of the common European civilization, the main problem is the "return" to Europe;

Slavic societies bear the features and consequences of the "ugly synthesis" of the civilizational foundations of the West and the East, and today they make the final "civilizational choice";

A special intermediate civilization has developed here, which is a combination of liberal and traditional values;

This is a special, distinctive civilization, problem solver not “civilizational choice”, but social transformation - “revaluation of values”, renewal of structures and values;

In contrast to the countries of “catch-up modernization”, two transitional processes have been superimposed here - the global process of transition from industrial to post-industrial society and the process of transition to the market reflecting the tasks of “catch-up development”.

The last two hypotheses are more popular than the others. Taking into account the specifics of the civilizational conditions of life in Eastern Europe, a number of the most important characteristics of the organization of social life in this region can be identified.

First, the civilizational feature of Eastern European societies is the inorganic nature of culture - the presence of mutually opposing value systems. This was manifested in the coexistence of subcultures in it, reflecting not only different ethno-national cultures, but also different historical and cultural types. This refers to the European liberal culture, which was promoted by the upper strata of Slavic societies, and the traditional one, based on the archaic mechanisms of collectivist and egalitarian mass consciousness, the foundations of a patriarchal-authoritarian way of life.

Secondly, the special role of the state in the organization of public life, the domination of state property, the underdevelopment of the institution of private property.

Thirdly, a kind of model for regulating social relations was formed here, in which developed civil structures did not take shape, and the state acted as an arbiter in relations between social groups. The social structure was based on a rigid social hierarchy with a clear distribution of the rights, privileges and duties of social groups, on the decisive role of not class, but status and prestige differences.

Fourth, historical features social organization Eastern Slavs influenced public consciousness, giving rise to two characteristic attitudes of thinking and behavior. On the one hand, the irrational authority of the authorities, on the other, legal nihilism, an orientation towards conflict behavior and unauthorized forms of protest.

Fifth, this is the special position and place of the individual in relation to the state and society as a whole, which manifested itself in the following:

1) the predominance of the state principle over the personal;

2) the primacy of sociality (communality, conciliarity, collectivism) over individualism;

3) the primacy of spirituality over commercialism, utilitarianism;

4) rather a contemplative than an active, life position, orientation not to personal activity, but to state paternalism.

These retrospective features of social development were especially clearly manifested in the formation of social structure modern Belarusian society.

The main thing that should be paid special attention to is that the network of criteria of stratification dynamics is significantly expanding in the modern Belarusian society. Along with economic, political, sociocultural factors, “shadow” and marginalization factors acquire a criterion status. While the first of them push individuals who are successful in the respective spheres of activity to the upper rungs of the property and social status ladder, the latter, on the contrary, push people who have not adapted to the new socio-economic conditions to the social “bottom”.

Marginal (from the Latin margo - edge) is a person who is on the border of various social groups, systems, cultures and is influenced by their conflicting norms, values, etc.

Marginal strata are a stable mass of people who do not participate in the social division of labor, do not perform social functions and do not have social status.

Marginality (Late Latin marginalis located on the edge) is a concept denoting intermediateness, "borderline" of a person's position between any social groups, which leaves a certain imprint on his psyche. This concept appeared in American sociology in the 1920s. to indicate the situation of non-adaptation of immigrants to new social conditions.

Historical experience indicates that social stratification can have a different internal structure caused by differences in the intensity and universality of horizontal and vertical mobility, and the latter depend on the type of society. In societies of the so-called "closed" type, social stratification and its dynamic embodiment in social mobility have a pyramidal shape. In this type of society, at the top of the stratification hierarchy is a narrow social stratum (say, the party state nomenklatura in the USSR), and the overwhelming majority of social groups - workers, peasants, and civil servants - make up the lower, much more extensive floors of the social pyramid.

Societies of the "open" type, or democratic, have a different form of diamond-shaped social stratification. This is due to the sharp increase in the number of the so-called "middle class" in them. In the United States, the "middle class" is about 60% of the population.

The middle class is a social group that occupies an intermediate position between the elite and the class of employees in the structure of modern society.

At this stage, the form of social stratification of the Republic of Belarus cannot be definitely attributed to either pyramidal or diamond-shaped. One can only indicate the growing tendency for the stratification model to acquire a diamond-shaped contour. This is largely due to the fact that the process of class formation in the republic has not yet been completed, which is convincingly evidenced by the fact that the “middle class” in our country, according to EM Babosov's estimates, is 18-20%.

Many researchers believe that the Belarusian middle class is in its infancy. The relatively middle-income strata make up 30% of the population. But only about 10% of Belarusians in terms of objective parameters (income, education, prestige of the profession) can be attributed to the middle class, although more than two-thirds of the population subjectively classifies themselves as the middle class. According to V. Chernov and S. Nikolyuk, over 50% of the population is the so-called middle proto-class, or "periphery" of the emerging middle class.

In the mid-2000s. Belarusian sociologist EAT. Babosov singled out 7 levels of hierarchical structure Belarusian society based on social status criteria:

1) at the top of the stratification pyramid is the upper layer of the new elite, which includes wealthy entrepreneurs (owners of banks, private large firms, etc.), senior officials with the rank of minister and above. It is, in fact, the new bourgeoisie and the highest state bureaucracy;

2) the upper middle stratum - medium and small entrepreneurs, directors, popular artists, actors, TV commentators, prominent scientists, owners of private hospitals, dental offices, etc .;

3) the middle middle stratum - professors, doctors and lawyers who have private practice, heads of departments (services) of large, efficiently operating enterprises, senior officers, etc .;

4) the lower middle stratum - teachers, line (rank-and-file) engineers, employees of cultural institutions, junior officers, skilled workers, etc .;

5) the lowest stratum - low-skilled workers, peasants, civil servants, sergeants of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, etc .;

7) marginal strata - those who have sunk to the social bottom from various social groups, beggars, homeless people, refugees, internally displaced persons, street adolescents, etc.

In most cases, the upper levels of the social-property hierarchy coincide with the upper levels of social-status stratification (rich people, as a rule, belong to the upper social stratum), and the lower, poor and poor - with the lower social-status strata, marginal. However, such a coincidence does not always occur, as a result of which the selected seven steps in each of the matrices under consideration do not fully correlate with the corresponding levels of the other matrix, and this further complicates the dynamics of the social structure of modern post-Soviet society, introduces elements of nonlinearity, chaos, and unpredictability into it. ...

In addition to these criteria of stratification dynamics in modern society, socio-cultural indicators of social structure are also important. The most important sociocultural criteria for structural differentiation in modern society include:

1) ethno-national (differentiation into Belarusians, Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, Tatars, etc.);

2) ideological (believers, unbelievers, hesitating between faith and unbelief, atheists);

3) religious and confessional (Orthodox, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, etc.);

4) educational (persons with higher, secondary, incomplete secondary education, etc.);

5) spiritual and cultural (advocates of the popular, elite, mass culture, subcultures, pseudocultures, countercultures);

6) ideological and political (adherents of liberal-democratic, communist, right-wing radical ideology, etc.);

7) value-oriented (adherents of religious, non-religious morality, moral relativism, amoralism, etc.).

The economic structure of the Belarusian society. According to the research results of I.F. Ivashevich (2010), in the economic structure of the Belarusian society, depending on the level of security, the following layers can be distinguished:

- top(secured above average). This includes a small group of people whose income allows them to make any, even the most expensive purchases (real estate, cars), to relax in prestigious world resorts. The share of this stratum is only 10.8% of the population;

- average(middle-income, 41.8%) - people who have enough money to buy enough expensive durable goods (TV, refrigerator), but they are not able to purchase a car or apartment.

- basic(low-income, 33.3%) - those whose income is only enough for food and the purchase of essential goods (clothes, shoes, hygiene products)

- bottom(poor, about 14.1%) - people who do not have enough money even for normal food.

The researcher notes that representatives of the upper and middle strata are mainly concentrated in the capital and large cities (most often they are young and middle-aged men). The base stratum is dominated by women over 45, residents of small towns and urban settlements. bottom layer are mainly pensioners, residents of small settlements (small towns, villages), as well as unemployed and low-skilled workers.

According to the data given in the statistical collection “Social Situation and Living Standards of the Population”, in 2014 the population of Belarus was distributed according to the level of per capita disposable resources as follows:

Ethno-national structure of the Belarusian society. According to the 2009 census, representatives of more than 130 nations and nationalities lived in Belarus. The majority of the population (83.7%) are representatives of the indigenous Belarusian nationality, both in the republic as a whole, and in cities and rural areas all areas. Of the non-indigenous people in the republic, most of all are Russians (in 2009 there were 8.3%), Poles (3.1%), Ukrainians (1.7%). In addition, representatives of such ethnic groups as Jews, Armenians, Tatars, Gypsies, Azerbaijanis, Lithuanians, etc. live in Belarus.

Territorial structure of the Belarusian society. Features of the territorial structure of the Belarusian society in the present stage due to the process of urbanization, which has acquired particular intensity since the second half of the twentieth century. So, if in 1970 the rural population still prevailed in the BSSR (57%), then already in 1975 the ratio of the urban and rural population was practically the same (49.9% and 50.1%, respectively), and according to data for 1980 it was the urban population in Belarus begins to prevail (61%). According to the results of the 2009 census, the urban population of Belarus was already 74.5%, the rural population, respectively, 25.5%. According to the National Statistical Committee, in 2015, the percentage of urban and rural population was 77.3% and 22.7%, respectively.

Age and sex structure of the Belarusian society. According to the National Statistical Committee, at the beginning of 2015, men accounted for 46.5% of the population of Belarus, women - 53.5%. Accordingly, there are 1150 women per 1000 men.

The distribution by age groups is as follows.

Social structure(from lat. structure- structure, location, order) of society - the structure of society as a whole, a set of interrelated and interacting social groups, as well as the relationship between them.

The social structure is based on the social division of labor, the presence of specific needs and interests, values, norms and roles, lifestyle and other signs of various social groups.

The role of social structure:

1) organizes the society into a single whole;

2) contributes to the preservation of the integrity and stability of society.

Social relationships - these are certain stable ties between people as representatives of social groups.

Two characters of social relations

Cooperation

Rivalry

1) Expressed in mutual interest, the benefits of relations for both parties.

2) Aimed at achieving an emerging common goal, which also contributes to the strengthening of mutual understanding, partnership, friendship.

3) Associated with qualities such as loyalty, appreciation, respect, support, etc.

1) Expressed in the desire to get ahead, remove, subdue or destroy the opponent.

2) Due to the lack of common, common goals; each side considers the opponent, his social position, and actions to be an obstacle on the way to achieving the goal.

Social rivalry often leads to social conflicts.

Depending on the composition of the participants, social relations are divided into the following types:

1) Social group - relations between classes, social strata, etc.

2) Socio-demographic - relations between men, women, children, youth, pensioners, etc.

3) Socio-ethnic - relations between nations, nationalities, national and ethnographic groups, etc.

4) Social and professional - relations between labor collectives, professional associations.

5) Interpersonal - a person's relationship with the people around him.

Social stratification (from lat. stratum- layer, flooring and facere- do) - it is a system that includes many social entities, representatives of which differ among themselves in an unequal amount of power and material wealth, rights and obligations, privileges and prestige.

Strata - it is a real, empirically fixed community, a social stratum, a group of people united by some common social attribute (property, professional, educational level, power, prestige, etc.).

Social differentiation (from lat differentia- difference) - it is the division of society into various social groups that occupy different positions in it.

According to the theory of stratification, modern society is layered, multi-level, outwardly resembling geological layers.

Stratification has two essential characteristics:

1) the upper layers are in a more privileged position (in relation to the possession of resources or opportunities for receiving rewards) in relation to the lower layers;

2) the upper strata are much smaller than the lower ones in terms of the number of members of society included in them.

Different social groups have different positions in society, which are determined by different rights and privileges, responsibilities and duties, property and income, attitudes towards power and influence among members of their community.

Historical types of stratification systems

Name systems	Her essence
Slavery	Slavery - this is the only form of social relations in history when one person acts as the property of another, deprived of all rights and freedoms. The form of the most rigid fixation of people in the lower strata.
Caste system	Caste - a social group, membership in which a person owes exclusively to his birth. There are detailed regulations in the activities of each caste.
Estates system	Estate - social group with rights and responsibilities, fixed by custom or legal law and inherited. The rights and obligations of each class are determined by law and sanctified by religion.
Class system	Class - a large social group, differing in its role in all spheres of society, which is formed and functions on the basis of fundamental social interests. Class membership is not regulated by the authorities, is not established by law, and is not inherited.

Historical types of stratification

Social group name	Her essence		Emergence
Caste (from lat. castus- clean)	A social group that has a religious rule fixed for life from birth and inherited rights and obligations.	Brahmanas (priests), kshatriyas (warriors), vaisyas (farmers), sudras (servants).	Ancient india
Estate	A social group that has established by custom or law and inherited rights and obligations.	Upper classes (nobility, clergy), unprivileged third estate (artisans, merchants, peasants). In Russia since the second half of the 18th century: nobility, clergy, merchants, peasants, philistines (middle urban strata).	Medieval
	A social group that differs in its role in all spheres of the life of society, which is formed and functions on the basis of fundamental social interests.	Slaves and slave owners; feudal lords and dependent peasants; bourgeoisie and wage workers.	Class the society

The most common approaches to the analysis of the social structure of society - stratification and class, which are based on the concepts of "stratum" and "class".

The main difference between the stratification and class approaches: within the framework of the latter, economic factors are of paramount importance, all other criteria are their derivatives. The stratification approach proceeds from taking into account not only economic, but also political, proper social, as well as socio-psychological factors. At the same time, it is implied that a rigid connection does not always arise between them: a high position in one position can be combined with a low position in another.

Social stratification:

1) is a method of identifying the social strata of a given society;

2) forms an idea of the social portrait of this society.

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Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin (1889−1968) - Russian-American sociologist and culturologist, one of the founders of the theories of social stratification and social mobility.

Member of the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (SRs) (1906), was engaged in the propaganda of revolutionary ideas. Editor of the newspaper "Narodnaya Mysl" (1915), assistant professor (1916). Condemned the October Revolution, in 1918 he renounced political activities and membership in the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, was engaged in scientific and teaching activities... Exiled abroad (1922, "Philosophical Steamship"). Acquired American citizenship (1930), founded and directed the Department of Sociology at Harvard University (1931), President of the American Sociological Association (1965).

He supported the ideas of the psychological school of law. For example, he qualified a criminal act on the basis of the experiences of the individual who committed it, that is, his awareness of his own act as criminal. He was engaged in the study of patterns of behavior adopted in society, the sanctions applied to those who violate the rules and regulations.

Defined law as generally binding rules of conduct, introduced and controlled by the state, in which the freedom of one person is consistent with the freedom of others in order to delimit and protect human interests. He considered law as a constituent principle of any social group.

He noted the underdevelopment and unstructuredness of sociological knowledge, believed that sociology should become a metatheory that summarizes all humanitarian knowledge in unified system... He considered society as a sociocultural system.

The basis of his sociological analysis is the theory of social stratification. He studied social groups, classified them. He identified two types of social mobility (horizontal and vertical).

We still know so little about the "mysterious" world of social events that any real approximate knowledge is of great value. Theories of progress, with their assessments of good and bad, progressive and regressive, can only express the subjective tastes of their authors, and nothing else. If sociology wants to be an exact science, it must free itself from such value judgments.

Any long and brutal war, like any revolution, degrades people in moral and legal terms.