Inequality characterizes the uneven distribution of society's scarce resources - money, power, education and prestige - between different strata or segments of the population. On the inequality scale, the rich will be at the top and the poor at the bottom.
If wealth is a sign upper class, then income - the flow of cash receipts for a certain calendar period, say, a month or a year - characterizes all layers of society. Income is any amount of money received in the form of wages, pensions, rent, benefits, alimony, fees, etc. Even the alms of beggars, obtained by begging and expressed in monetary terms, represents a type of income.
On this basis, the following population groups can be distinguished: (Figure 1.1).
Figure 1.1 - Units of measurement of economic inequality by population group
From Figure 1.1 it follows that the population is divided into 4 groups:
1. Rich
2. Middle class
The fact is that along with a broad understanding of income, there is a narrow one. In a statistical sense, income is the amount of money that people earn due to belonging to a certain profession (type of occupation) or due to the legal disposal of property. However, beggars, even if they regularly earn a living by begging, do not provide any valuable services to society. And statistics take into account only those sources of income that are associated with the provision of valuable, socially significant services or with the production of goods. Beggars are included in the so-called underclass, i.e. literally not a class, or a layer below all classes. Thus, beggars fall out of the official income pyramid.
The essence of social inequality lies in unequal access various categories population to socially significant benefits, scarce resources, liquid values. The essence of economic inequality is that a narrow layer of society owns most of the national wealth. The income of the majority may be distributed differently. For example, in the United States, the income level of the majority allows us to speak of the presence of a large middle class, while in Russia the income level of the majority of the population is often below the subsistence level. Accordingly, the income pyramid, its distribution between population groups, in other words, inequality, can be depicted in the first case as a rhombus, and in the second as a cone. As a result, we get a stratification profile, or an inequality profile.
The essence of social inequality
The diversity of relationships, roles, and positions lead to differences between people in each particular society. The problem comes down to somehow ordering these relationships between categories of people that differ in many aspects.
What is inequality? In the very general view inequality means that people live in conditions in which they have unequal access to limited resources for material and spiritual consumption. To describe the system of inequality between groups of people in sociology, the concept of “social stratification” is widely used.
When considering the problem of social inequality, it is quite justified to proceed from the theory of socio-economic heterogeneity of labor. Performing qualitatively unequal types of labor, satisfying social needs to varying degrees, people sometimes find themselves engaged in economically heterogeneous labor, because such types of labor have different assessment their social usefulness.
The essence of social inequality, as we have already said, lies in the unequal access of different categories of the population to socially significant benefits, scarce resources, and liquid values. The essence of economic inequality is that a minority of the population always owns the majority of national wealth. In other words, the highest incomes are received by the smallest part of society, and the average and lowest incomes are received by the majority of the population. The latter can be distributed in different ways. In the United States, the lowest incomes (as well as the highest) are received by a minority of the population, and the average income is received by the majority. In Russia today, the lowest incomes are received by the majority, the average incomes by a relatively large group, and the highest incomes by a minority of the population.
It is the socio-economic heterogeneity of labor that is not only a consequence, but also the cause of the appropriation of power, property, prestige by some people and the lack of all these advantages in the social hierarchy by others. Each group develops its own values and norms and relies on them. If representatives of such groups are located according to a hierarchical principle, then these groups are social layers.
In social stratification there is a tendency to inherit positions. The principle of inheritance of positions leads to the fact that not all capable and educated individuals have equal chances to occupy positions of power, high principles and well-paid positions. There are two selection mechanisms at work here: unequal access to truly high-quality education and unequal opportunities for equally qualified individuals to obtain positions.
Social stratification has a traditional character: inequality of status different groups people has been preserved throughout the history of civilization. Even in primitive societies, age and sex, combined with physical strength, were important criterion stratification.
Let us imagine a situation where there are numerous social strata in society, the social distance between which is small, the level of mobility is high, the lower strata constitute a minority of members of society, rapid technological growth constantly raises the “bar” of meaningful work at the lower tiers of production positions, social protection of the weak, among other things, guarantees the strong and advanced peace of mind and the realization of potentialities. It is difficult to deny that such a society, such interlayer interaction, is more likely an ideal model in its own way than an everyday reality.
Majority modern societies far from this model. They are characterized by the concentration of power and resources among a numerically small elite. The concentration among the elite of such status attributes as power, property and education prevents social interaction between the elite and other strata, leads to excessive social distance between it and the majority. This means that the middle class is small and the upper class is deprived of communication with other groups. It is obvious that such a social order contributes to destructive conflicts.
And they have unequal life chances and opportunities to meet their needs.
In its most general form, inequality means that people live in conditions in which they have unequal access to limited resources for material and spiritual consumption.
Fulfilling qualitatively unequal working conditions and satisfying social needs to varying degrees, people sometimes find themselves engaged in economically heterogeneous labor, because these types of labor have different assessments of their social usefulness.
The main mechanisms of social inequality are relations of property, power (dominance and subordination), social (that is, socially assigned and hierarchized) division of labor, as well as uncontrolled, spontaneous social differentiation. These mechanisms are mainly associated with the characteristics market economy, with inevitable competition (including in the labor market) and unemployment. Social inequality is perceived and experienced by many people (primarily the unemployed, economic migrants, those who find themselves at or below the poverty line) as a manifestation of injustice. Social inequality and wealth stratification in society, as a rule, lead to increased social tension, especially during the transition period.
The main principles of social policy are:
- protecting living standards by introducing different forms compensation for price increases and indexation;
- providing assistance to the poorest families;
- issuance of assistance in case of unemployment;
- ensuring a social insurance policy, establishing a minimum wage for workers;
- development of education, health care, environment mainly at the expense of the state;
- pursuing an active policy aimed at ensuring qualifications.
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✪ Inequality and social stratification. Video lesson on social studies 11th grade
✪ Social studies. Lesson 12. Social inequality. Social stratification. Family and marriage
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Liberal perspective on the causes of inequality
Causes of inequality
From the point of view of conflict theory, the cause of inequality is the protection of the privileges of power; whoever controls society and power has the opportunity to benefit personally for himself; inequality is the result of the tricks of influential groups seeking to maintain their status. Robert Michels deduced the iron law of oligarchy: an oligarchy always develops when the size of an organization exceeds a certain size, because 10 thousand people cannot discuss an issue before each case; they entrust the discussion of the issue to the leaders.
According to experts from the international humanitarian organization Oxfam, the reasons for the growth of social inequality in the world since 2010 are as follows:
- evasion of wealthy people from paying taxes by withdrawing funds to offshore companies,
- reduction in workers' wages,
- increasing the difference between the minimum and maximum wage levels.
Changes in the degree of social inequality throughout history
Vilfredo Pareto believed that the degree of economic inequality, the share of rich people in the population, is a constant thing. Karl Marx believed that in modern world a process of economic differentiation is taking place - the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is disappearing. Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin refuted these hypotheses with facts in hand and proved that the level of economic inequality fluctuates over time around one constant value. Too strong an increase in the degree of inequality or equality is equally fraught with national catastrophe and upheaval. Too much inequality makes it easy for a small group of millionaires to be overthrown or destroyed. As experience has shown South America, oligarchic regimes are very unstable. The experience of the policy of war communism in Russia showed that after the decree of 1918, when the difference in income was limited to the ratio of 175:100
Max Weber identified three criteria for inequality:
Using the first criterion, the degree of inequality can be measured by differences in income. Using the second criterion - the difference in honor and respect. Using the third criterion - by the number of subordinates. Sometimes there is a contradiction between the criteria, for example, a professor and a priest today have a low income, but enjoy great prestige. The mafia leader is rich, but his prestige in society is minimal. According to statistics, rich people live longer and get sick less. A person's career is influenced by wealth, race, education, parental occupation, and personal ability to lead people. Higher education makes it easier to move up the career ladder in large companies than in small ones.
Figures of inequality
The horizontal width of the figure means the number of people with a given income. At the top of the figure is the elite. Over the past hundred years, Western society has evolved from a pyramidal structure to a diamond-shaped structure. In the pyramidal structure there is a huge majority of the poor population and a small handful of oligarchs. The diamond structure has a large share of the middle class. The diamond-shaped structure is more preferable than the pyramidal one, since in the first case the large middle class will not allow a handful of poor people to arrange civil war. And in the second case, the vast majority, consisting of the poor, can easily overturn the social system.
One of the central places in sociology is occupied by the problem of social inequality. The uneven distribution of sociocultural goods and values depending on social status individual or social groups is understood as social inequality. Social
inequality refers to people's unequal access to economic
resources, social benefits and political power. The most common way to measure inequality is to compare the highest and lowest levels of income in a given society.
There are several approaches to assessing the problem of social inequality. Conservatives argued that the unequal distribution of social benefits serves as a tool for solving the main problems of society. Supporters of the radical approach sharply criticize the existing social order and believe that social inequality is a mechanism of exploitation and is associated with the struggle for valuable and scarce goods and services. Modern theories inequalities in in a broad sense belong either to the first or second direction. Theories based on the conservative tradition are called functionalist; those that are rooted in radicalism, are called conflict theories.
According to functionalist theory, social inequality is a necessary property of any normally developing social system. Wilbert Moore and Kingsley Davis argue that social stratification is necessary; society cannot do without stratification and classes. A system of stratification is required to provide individuals with incentives to perform the responsibilities associated with their position.
Social inequality- a system of relations emerging in society, which characterizes the uneven distribution of scarce resources of society (money, power, education and prestige) between different strata or segments of the population. The main measures of inequality are money.
Conflict theorists believe that stratification in society exists because it benefits individuals and groups who have power over others. From the point of view of conflictology, society is an arena where people fight for privileges, prestige and power, and groups with advantages secure it through coercion.
Conflict theory is largely based on the ideas of Karl Marx. Karl Marx believed that the basis of the social system are economic interests and related production relations, which form the basis of society. Since the fundamental interests of the main subjects of capitalist society (workers and capitalists) are diametrically opposed and irreconcilable, conflict in this society is inevitable. At a certain stage of their development, material productive forces, K. Marx believed, come into a state of conflict with existing production relations, primarily with property relations. This leads to social revolution and the overthrow of capitalism.
According to Marx, ownership of the means of production is one of the sources of power. Another source is control over people, possession of controls. This point can be illustrated with the example Soviet Union. The elite was the party bureaucracy, which formally controlled both nationalized and socialized property and the entire life of society. The role of bureaucracy in society, i.e. monopoly control of national income and national wealth puts it in a special privileged position.
Inequality can be represented by the relationship of concepts "rich", " poor". Poverty is the economic and sociocultural state of people who have minimal amount liquid assets and limited access to social benefits. Poverty is a special image and lifestyle, norms of behavior and psychology passed on from generation to generation. Therefore, sociologists talk about poverty as a special subculture. The most common and easiest to calculate way to measure inequality– comparison of the lowest and highest incomes in a given country. Another way - analysis of the share of family income, spent on food.
Economic inequality is that a minority of the population always owns the majority of national wealth. The highest incomes are received by the smallest part of society, and the average and lowest incomes are received by the majority of the population. Respectively, geometric figure, illustrating the stratification profile Russian society, will resemble a cone; in the US, the shape will resemble a diamond.
Poverty threshold – This is the amount of money officially established as the minimum income, which is enough for an individual or family only to purchase food, clothing and pay for housing - the subsistence level. Each region has its own cost of living and, accordingly, its own poverty line.
In sociology, a distinction is made between absolute and relative poverty. Under absolute poverty is understood as a state in which an individual, with his income, is not able to satisfy even the basic needs for food, housing, clothing, or is able to satisfy only minimal needs. Under relative poverty the impossibility of maintaining a decent standard of living is understood. Relative poverty measures how poor a particular individual or family is compared to other people. Working poor- Russian phenomenon. Today, their low incomes are due, first of all, to the unreasonably low level of wages and pensions.
Poverty, unemployment, economic and social instability in society contribute to the emergence of a social bottom: beggars begging for alms; "homeless"; street children; street prostitutes. These are people deprived of social resources, stable connections, who have lost basic social skills and dominant values of society.
Let us characterize six social strata modern Russia :
1) upper- economic, political and security elite;
2) upper middle- medium and large entrepreneurs;
3) average- small entrepreneurs, managers production sector, the highest intelligentsia, the working elite, career military personnel;
4) base- the mass intelligentsia, the bulk of the working class, peasants, trade and service workers;
5) lower- unskilled workers, long-term unemployed, single pensioners;
6) "social bottom"- homeless people released from prison.
Social inequality causes social protest and confrontation. The entire history of the class structure of society is accompanied by ideological and political struggle for social equality.
Egalitarianism(French - equality) is an ideological and theoretical movement that advocates universal equality, up to the equal distribution of material and sociocultural values. Manifestations of egalitarianism can be found in social movements Ancient Greece and Rome, in the text of the Bible. The ideas of egalitarianism found their support among the Jacobins during the Great french revolution, among the Bolsheviks in Russia on turn of the 19th century and XX centuries, among the leaders of national liberation movements in third world countries - in the XX century. Egalitarianism can be classified as a radical ideological and political movement.
Related information.
It is known that all people differ in their qualities that nature has endowed them with. Differences due to physiological and psychological characteristics people are called natural differentiation or natural inequality. Under certain social conditions, these differences can become the basis of unequal relationships. However, the main feature of human society is social inequality associated with social differentiation. It is generated by social factors, among which the most significant are the division of labor, way of life, social status and social roles. In society there are many social groups that are differentiated and hierarchized. The question arises whether inequality is inevitable or whether a society of social equality is possible. This problem has interested people at all times; many thinkers have tried to give a reasoned answer. Some came to the conclusion that inequality has always been and will always be, while for others it is a blatant injustice.
In modern sociology there is also no single explanation for the reasons for the different positions of people in society. Thus, functionalism tries to explain inequality based on the differences in the functions that different layers, classes, and groups perform. Each group, functionalists argue, performs its own specific tasks, which together ensure the functioning of society as a single organism. But among all the functions there are more and less important ones, on the basis of which a hierarchy of classes and layers is formed. At the top of the pyramid are those whose activities are related to the management and leadership of the country. This explanation is subject to criticism. First, if society cannot do without functional diversity, then why are some functions considered more important? Secondly, it is not clear why some people treat upper strata, although they do not perform management functions. Based on such objections, T. Parsons (by the way, also a representative of functionalism) came to the conclusion that inequality is indeed a necessary factor in the life of society, but it should be linked to the value system. As soon as the value system changes in society, layers begin to move on the hierarchical ladder.
There is also a widespread view that inequality is associated with attitudes towards property. This position was consistently substantiated by Marxism. K. Marx argued that all the ills in society come from private property. Replacing it with public property will lead to the establishment of social equality. Moreover, he declared that the real history of society would begin with the victory of public ownership.
Thus, some argue that inequality fulfills positive function, so society constantly reproduces it. And others argue that inequality is the result of unequal relations between people in society and it can and should be overcome.
3. Theory of social stratification
The theory of social stratification is designed to identify the basic principles of the hierarchical structure of society.
A stratum is a group of people that differ in their position in the social structure of society. The basis of the stratification structure is natural and social inequality - this is the criterion by which some groups are placed higher and others lower. Therefore, social stratification is understood as a set of layers arranged in a vertical order.
Many sociologists have tried to answer the question of what is the basis for the vertical stratification of society. K. Marx, as already noted, considered the possession of property to be the only basis for the vertical stratification of society. Private property divided society into classes of owners who did not have property or had limited rights to property. The disadvantages of this economic approach became obvious already in the 19th century. That is why M. Weber, in addition to the economic criterion, introduced another one - social prestige. By prestige, he understands social status acquired from birth (prescribed) or acquired through personal qualities. The value of such status is ingrained in mass consciousness thanks to traditions, customs, laws.
To these criteria P. Sorokin adds political and professional. As a result, he identified three independent stratification structures in society: economic, political and professional.
Currently, there are four stratification structures. Their reasons are income, power, prestige, education. Thus, if social structure is formed in connection with the social division of labor, then social stratification is related to the social distribution of public goods.
Stratification can be measured; accordingly, there are four measuring rulers. Income is measured in money; education - the number of years spent; power – the number of people affected by decisions; prestige - respect for status. Each status can be measured by prestige, by income, by power. In the USA, for example, the National Center has been determining the prestige of professions since 1947 (90 professions on a 5-point system). Physicist - 82 points, college professor - 78, judge and lawyer - 76, doctor and dentist - 72, pilot - 70, minister - 69, etc.
So, every society has its own stratification structure and there are mechanisms that support the hierarchy and consistently reproduce it. If people feel injustice, they will destroy everything that they associate with infringement of interests. In traditional society, such a mechanism was the class organization, which strictly regulated social relations. Each class was assigned certain rights and responsibilities, which were practically impossible to overstep.
In an industrial society, all citizens have equal rights, but this does not mean that inequality disappears. K. Marx argued that as society develops, wealth will accumulate on one side, and poverty, poverty - on the other. As a result, the revolution will become inevitable, with its help there will be a redistribution of income.
However, P. Sorokin conceptualized the process of social development differently. Inequality is an important source of development. Equalization of income deprives people of incentives to act. But on the other hand, it is dangerous to lead to the situation that Marx spoke about. Society must use a mechanism to curb this process. To do this, Sorokin believes, it is necessary to carry out reforms to redistribute wealth through changing the taxation system.
Another fruitful idea was expressed by G. Simmel. He believes that the stability of society and its hierarchical structure depends on the relative weight and role of the middle layer or class. The middle layer is a layer between the poles of poverty and wealth, and the larger it is, the more opportunities it has to influence state policy and the formation of a fundamental system of values in society, avoiding extremes. This allows society to remain resilient even as tensions rise below. The middle class seems to show the lower classes that with perseverance and some effort, you can change your lifestyle and move into the middle stratum. And the layers with wealth, if they go bankrupt, have the opportunity to remain in the middle layer. Therefore, concern for the stability of the middle class is the key to stability for society.
Hello everyone! This article is dedicated to the most hot topic— social inequality in modern Russia. Who among us has not wondered why some people are rich and others are poor; Why do some people subsist from water to compote, while others drive Bentleys and don’t care about anything? I am sure that this topic worried you, dear reader! It doesn't matter how old you are. There is always a peer who is luckier, happier, richer, better dressed…. etc. What is the reason? What is the scale of social inequality in modern Russia? Read on and find out.
Concept of social inequality
Social inequality is unequal access of people to social, economic and other benefits. By good we mean that (things, services, etc.) that a person considers useful for himself (purely economic definition). You must understand that this concept is closely related to the term that we wrote about earlier.
Society is structured in such a way that people have unequal access to goods. The reasons for this state of affairs are varied. One of them is the limited resources for the production of goods. There are over 6 billion people on Earth today, and everyone wants to eat deliciously and sleep sweetly. And in the end, food and land become increasingly scarce.
It is clear that geographical factor also plays a role. Russia, despite its entire territory, is home to only 140 million people, and the population is rapidly declining. But for example in Japan - 120 million - that's on four islands. With wildly limited resources, the Japanese live well: they build artificial land. China, with a population of over a billion people, also lives well in principle. Such examples seem to refute the thesis that what more people, the less goods and inequality should be greater.
In fact, it is influenced by many other factors: the culture of a given society, work ethic, social responsibility of the state, industrial development, development of monetary relations and financial institutions, etc.
In addition, social inequality is strongly influenced by natural inequality. For example, a person was born without legs. Or lost legs and arms. For example, like this individual:
Of course, he lives abroad - and, in principle, I think he lives well. But in Russia, I think, he would not have survived. Here, people with arms and legs are dying of hunger, and social services don’t need anyone at all. So the social responsibility of the state is extremely important in smoothing out inequality.
Very often in my classes I heard from people that if they get more or less seriously ill, the company they work for asks them to quit. And they can't do anything. They don’t even know how to protect their rights. And if they knew, then these companies would “get” a decent amount of money and next time they would think a hundred times whether it is worth doing this to their employees. That is, legal illiteracy of the population can be a factor of social inequality.
It is important to understand that when studying this phenomenon, sociologists use so-called multidimensional models: they evaluate people according to several criteria. These include: income, education, power, prestige, etc.
Thus, this concept covers many different aspects. And if you are writing a social studies essay on this topic, then reveal these aspects!
Social inequality in Russia
Our country is one of those in which social inequality manifests itself in highest degree. There is a very big difference between the rich and the poor. For example, when I was still a volunteer, a volunteer from Germany came to us in Perm. For those who don’t know, in Germany, instead of serving in the army, you can volunteer for a year in any country. So, they arranged for him to live with a family for a year. A day later, the German volunteer left there. Because, according to him, even by German standards, this is a luxurious life: a luxurious apartment, etc. He cannot live in such luxurious conditions when he sees homeless people and beggars begging on the streets of the city.
Plus, in our country, social inequality manifests itself in an extremely large form in relation to different professions. School teacher- God forbid, he receives 25,000 rubles for one and a half rates, and some painter can receive all 60,000 rubles, the salary of a crane operator starts from 80,000 rubles, a gas welder - from 50,000 rubles.
Most scientists see the reason for such social inequality in the fact that our country is experiencing a transformation of the social system. It broke down in 1991, overnight, along with the state. But no new one has been built. That is why we are dealing with such social inequality.
You can find other examples of social inequality. That’s all for today - until new publications! Don't forget to like!
Best regards, Andrey Puchkov