We explain what social classes are, how they originated and their classification. Also, what are its characteristics and examples.
What are social classes?
Social classes are called the different steps into which society can be stratifiedtaking into account different classification principles, such as purchasing or economic power, position within a bureaucracy or institution, or productive function within the framework of society.
Each of the social classes is usually distinguished from the others based on specific characteristics that define their level and quality of lifetheir role in the hierarchy of society, among other things, which does not mean that they are isolated layers, but rather they are usually considered interdependent strata, which need each other organically.
Ideally, Individuals can move between one class and another (social ascent or descent), since these are not closed strata or castes, as they were in ancient times.
This is called class mobility, and it is usually determined by the distribution of wealth and power quotas within the structure of society. Thus, those who have the most wealth and/or power occupy the top position in the social pyramid, while the lower classes have to live with less.
See also: Socialism and capitalism.
Origin of social classes
Social classes have accompanied man since his primitive societiesalthough they do not operate in the same way.
in ancient times there were more or less immovable stratadetermined by birth or by the result of wars, such as nobility and slavery, for example.
Thus, the aristocracy ruled on the basis of direct inheritance and succession in power, like the kings of medieval Europe, while Slaves were captured as spoils of war in military defeatsor were born to slave mothers, like African slaves in the Spanish-American colonial era.
Contemporary class society
The idea of social classes as we understand it today dates back to the beginning of contemporary industrial societyin which feudal concepts such as slavery or aristocracy no longer exist, but rather a division of society determined by its insertion into the logic of mercantile and capitalist production.
In these modern societies Individuals are born into a social classbut they can climb through various mechanisms to the higher ones or descend to the lower ones, unlike the old systems in which birth determined
Upper social classes
The upper social classes, in general terms, They have incomes well above average of society, therefore enjoying a safer, more comfortable lifestyle and greater opportunities, given that their basic needs for food, sustenance, housing and studies are more than satisfied.
It is the social class that waste is often allowed and that enjoys the model of life that constitutes the desire of the lower classes, often supported by family fortunes or advantageous opportunities for growth, training and employment.
Middle social classes
The middle classes are usually a diverse conglomerate between the upper or wealthy classes and the poor or disadvantaged onesThey are not a uniform stratum, but can be divided into upper middle class, middle class and lower middle class, which reflects the possible differences with respect to themselves.
In the middle class they would be from the highest-income workerssmall salaried owners and sectors that aspire to rise to the upper and wealthy classes, while fearing a fall to the lower and impoverished strata.
In general satisfy their own needs through self-managementoften the result of family business initiatives and university professional training.
Low social classes
The lower social classes are those who require system protection and other social classes to satisfy their own needs. There are lower classes and, below them, poor and unproductive classes.
The first occupy the lowest rung of the social pyramid, they are usually massive and your aspirations cost much more effort than that of the rest of the classes, since they must first ensure the satisfaction of their basic needs, which otherwise would not be covered.
The unproductive classes are those that do not even have the protection of society and are not part of its productive apparatus, whose survival is constantly threatened and whose basic needs are not even met.
Social classes according to Marx
In the 20th century, Karl Marx postulated a philosophical and sociological doctrine of society that is based on “class struggle,” that is, an undeclared conflict between classes who traditionally control the means of production: the land, the factories, the large industries and the large businesses, and the wage workers who own nothing except their ability to work.
According to Marx, society is essentially composed of two social classes:
- The upper bourgeoisie. The owners of the means of production, who survive from the exploitation of their workers and the use of surplus value, that is, an amount of money added to the cost of production of the objects or services produced.
- The proletariat. The proletarians are workers who have nothing else to offer to society except their ability to work, their effort. Thus, they are exploited by the bourgeoisie in exchange for a salary, which serves to cover their needs, but they have no part in the destiny of what they produced with that effort.
Social classes according to Weber
Max Weber’s theories made it possible to make Marx’s postulates more complex in order to understand the more complex social reality of the West, starting with the emergence of the middle classes and bureaucracy. To do so, proposes to distinguish between social classes, status groups and political partieswhich would be the strata into which society is organized economically, socially and politically. Each stratum would have a way of life and a mode of consumption, as well as tensions and negotiations with the others.
Thus, the middle class would appear conceptually as a class in perpetual transit between the lower and the upper, whose role would be to mediate the tensions between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Finally, Weber would propose understanding social classes in the following way:
- Proprietary classes. Defined by their ability to provide themselves with goods and decide their personal destiny.
- Lucrative classes. Defined based on the value that the goods they produce acquire in the market.
- Social classes. That combine the previous characteristics but designed based on their recurrence over time.
Social classes in current sociology
Since contemporary society in the 21st century is even more complex than it was before, Many Marxist and Weberian positions are reconsideredto try to provide a theoretical response to current phenomena such as the transformation of work based on the modifying presence of new information technologies in everyday life, or the creation of corporate or business classes.
Social class mobility
Class mobility It is a more or less observed phenomenon within society., to the extent that the lower class has possible opportunities for improvement to rise, at least, to the middle class, and the latter to the upper class. The high, usually, can go down to the average; rarely down.
Examples of social classes
Some examples of social classes are:
- High social class. Large businessmen and owners of international distribution or marketing chains, such as the CEOs of transnational companies or large agricultural producers.
- Middle class. Small merchants, store owners or family businesses, professionals and mid-level bureaucrats.
- Low social class. Construction workers, street vendors and impoverished farmers who do not own their own land.