What is the difference between caste and class

Caste systems promote beliefs in fate, destiny, and the will of a higher power, rather than promoting individual freedom as a value. A person who lived in a caste society was socialized to accept his or her social standing. Although the caste system in India has been officially dismantled, its residual presence in Indian society is deeply embedded. In rural areas, aspects of the tradition are more likely to remain, while urban centers show less evidence of this past. As a global center of employment, corporations have introduced merit-based hiring and employment to the nation.

A class system is based on both social factors and individual achievement. A class consists of a set of people who share similar status with regard to factors like wealth, income, education, and occupation. Unlike caste systems, class systems are open.

People are free to gain a different level of education or employment than their parents. They can also socialize with and marry members of other classes, which allows people to move from one class to another. In a class system, occupation is not fixed at birth.

Though family and other societal models help guide a person toward a career, personal choice plays a role. In class systems, people have the option to form exogamous marriages , unions of spouses from different social categories. Marriage in these circumstances is based on values such as love and compatibility rather than on social standing or economics.

Though social conformities still exist that encourage people to choose partners within their own class, people are not as pressured to choose marriage partners based solely on those elements. Marriage to a partner from the same social background is an endogamous union. Meritocracy is an ideal system based on the belief that social stratification is the result of personal effort—or merit—that determines social standing. High levels of effort will lead to a high social position, and vice versa.

The concept of meritocracy is an ideal—because a society has never existed where social rank was based purely on merit. Because of the complex structure of societies, processes like socialization, and the realities of economic systems, social standing is influenced by multiple factors—not merit alone. Inheritance and pressure to conform to norms, for instance, disrupt the notion of a pure meritocracy.

While a meritocracy has never existed, sociologists see aspects of meritocracies in modern societies when they study the role of academic and job performance and the systems in place for evaluating and rewarding achievement in these areas. Social stratification systems determine social position based on factors like income, education, and occupation.

Caste systems correlate with high status consistency, whereas the more flexible class system has lower status consistency. Susan earned her high school degree but did not go to college. That factor is a trait of the lower-middle class. She began doing landscaping work, which, as manual labor, is also a trait of lower-middle class or even lower class. However, over time, Susan started her own company.

She hired employees. She won larger contracts. She became a business owner and earned a lot of money. Those traits represent the upper-middle class. In a class system, a person can work hard and have little education and still be in middle or upper class, whereas in a caste system that would not be possible.

In a class system, low status consistency correlates with having more choices and opportunities. Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, who is in line to be king of England, married Catherine Middleton, a so-called commoner, meaning she does not have royal ancestry.

There is little or no chance of social mobility. How do we make sense of the divergent stories? Canada is supposed to be a country in which individuals can work hard to get ahead. A caste is a form of social stratification determined by one single factor i.

Class of a person is based on multiple factors like economic status, education, power, achievements etc. An increasing body of research demonstrates that negative family relationships can cause stress, impact mental health and even cause physical symptoms. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search.

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