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Subject: Stratification and Diversification

Title : Tom Bottomore: Classes in Modern Britain

I - The Nature of Social Class

Bottomore defines social stratification to be “any hierarchical ordering of social groups or strata in a society.” The older forms of social stratification are based on slavery, caste or estate; newer forms are based on social class (that is, economic class) or status group.

He takes the view that social stratification does not rest on biological difference. He also quotes T.H. Marshall (1950) who wrote, “the institution of class teaches the members of a society to notice some differences and to ignore others when arranging persons in order of social merit.” Class is maintained through inheritance: “... inequalities of incomes depends very largely upon the unequal distribution of property through inheritance, and not primarily upon the differences in earned income..”

Class differences do not arise out of differences in abilities – we do not live in a meritocracy: “... intellectual ability ... is by no means always rewarded with high income or high social status, nor lack of ability with the opposite.”
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