Study Notes on Some Principles of Stratification by Davis and Moore

SOME PRINCIPLES OF STRATIFICATION

Overview

  • Authors: Kingsley Davis and Wilbert E. Moore

  • Published in: American Sociological Review, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1944

  • The paper presents concepts related to social stratification and its functional significance in society.

Introduction

  • Previous work presented concepts for analyzing social inequality.

  • This paper builds on stratification theory, emphasizing the relationship between stratification and social order.

  • Key Proposition: No society is “classless” or unstratified.

  • Objective: Explain the universal necessity for stratification in all social systems while considering the variable nature of stratification across different societies.

Key Concepts

  • Stratification: The structure of social positions and the inequalities that arise from them.

  • Distinction made between:

    • Positions: The social roles individuals occupy.

    • Individuals: The people who occupy those roles.

The Functional Necessity of Stratification

  • Social Structure Function: Society must assign and motivate individuals for various roles. The two motivations are:

    • Desire to occupy certain social positions.

    • Desire to fulfill the duties of those positions effectively.

  • Metabolism: Continuous integration of new individuals into the social structure.

  • Importance of stratification:

    • Not all duties are equally rewarding or critical for survival.

    • Some roles are more desirable or require specialized abilities.

    • Society must offer rewards (incentives) to attract individuals into necessary roles.

Types of Rewards in Society

  • Three primary rewards categories:

    1. Sustenance and Comfort: Basic needs and comforts for life (economic stability).

    2. Humor and Diversion: Entertainment and leisure activities.

    3. Self-respect and Ego Expansion: Social recognition and prestige derived from societal opinion.

  • Rewards are often linked to the position itself, influencing who aspires to which roles based on their attractiveness.

Inequality as a Mechanism for Social Functioning

  • Institutionalized Inequality: Societal differentiation ensures essential positions are filled competently.

  • Both prestige and esteem vary according to position within the social hierarchy, resulting in unequal distribution.

Determinants of Positional Rank

  1. Functional Importance: The significance of a role in contributing to societal function. Society rewards positions based on their importance.

    • Sufficient rewards are necessary to maintain a functional hierarchy.

  2. Scarcity of Personnel: The relationship between required skills and the available individuals.

    • Rare skills lead to higher prestige for those positions.

    • Example: While many can potentially be doctors, the cost and time of training create a barrier.

Major Societal Functions and Their Relationship to Stratification

  • Examination of major societal functions and how they contribute to stratification:

    1. Religion:

    • Provides societal unity through shared values and beliefs.

    • Religious roles often enjoy higher rewards due to their perceived connection with the sacred.

    • Potential competition and challenges to the priestly role can affect the stratification dynamic.

    1. Government:

    • Organizes society through laws and authority, enforcing norms and resolving conflicts.

    • Political roles inherently possess stratification due to the distribution of power and authority.

    • Limitations to government power based on the number of people in office and the need for representation.

    1. Wealth, Property, and Labor:

    • Economic rewards serve as a significant indicator of social status yet do not directly generate power.

    • Ownership of productive property grants power, illustrating that high income is often a result of a position's functional importance rather than a cause.

    1. Technical Knowledge:

    • High rewards correlate with technical skills needed for certain roles, although societal positions of high prestige often involve strategic integration of functions, wherein technical roles may be subordinate to political or religious roles.

Variation in Stratified Systems

  • Degree of Specialization: Influences the structure of power and prestige.

  • Nature of Functional Emphasis: Can lead to rigidity in roles focused on sacred matters, impacting social mobility and bureaucratic development.

  • Magnitude of Invidious Differences: Quantitative measurements can be applied to assess social distance between positions.

  • Degree of Opportunity: Mobility can vary independently from the nature of rewards in a society, with implications for equality.

  • Degree of Stratum Solidarity: Class solidarity and organization may independently impact the stratification system.

External Conditions Influencing Stratification

  • Several external factors influence the stratification system:

    1. Cultural Development Stage: Expanding culture necessitates increased specialization.

    2. Inter-Societal Relations: Interaction with other societies through warfare or trade affects stratification.

    3. Size of Society: Limits on specialization and stratification depth based on societal size.

Composite Types of Stratification

  • Caution against simplistic classification of societies; stratified systems are composites involving multiple variations.

  • Each society should be analyzed in the context of its unique stratification system rather than fitting it into pre-defined categories such as caste or class structures.

Conclusion

  • The exploration of societal stratification should be approached with an analytic framework adapted to the complexities and variabilities present within social systems, accounting for various factors affecting stratification across cultures and societal developments.