Global Stratification

It is no surprise that the world is a diverse place - so much so that no two countries are the same. Each nation has its own culture, people, and economy.

However, what happens when the difference between nations is so stark that it puts one at a major disadvantage, completely dependent on some other wealthier nation?

• In this explanation, we will examine the definition of global stratification and how this leads to inequality in the global economy.
• In doing so, we will look at the various dimensions and typologies associated with global stratification
• Finally, we will explore the various theories behind the causes of global inequality.

Global stratification definition

Let's understand and examine what we mean by global economic stratification.

What is global stratification?

To study global stratification, we must first understand the definition of stratification.

Classical sociologists considered three dimensions of stratification: class, status, and party (Weber, 1947). However, modern sociologists generally consider stratification in terms of one's socio-economic status (SES). True to its name, the SES of a person is determined by their social and economic background and takes into consideration factors such as income, family wealth, and level of education, among others.

Accordingly, global stratification refers to the distribution of wealth, power, prestige, resources, and influence among the world's nations. In terms of the economy, global stratification refers to the distribution of wealth among the world’s nations.

The nature of stratification

Global stratification is not a fixed concept. This means that the distribution of wealth and resources among nations does not remain constant at all. With the liberalisation of trade, international transactions, travel, and migration, the composition of nations is changing every second. Let us understand the impact of some of these factors on stratification.

Movement of capital and stratification

The movement of capital between countries, either by individuals or companies, can have an impact on stratification. Capital is nothing but wealth - it can be in the form of money, assets, shares, or any other thing of value.

Economic stratification is a subset of global stratification that is concerned with how wealth is distributed among nations. It also has a major impact on factors such as job opportunities, availability of facilities, and the predominance of certain ethnicities and cultures, among others. Thus, the movement of capital from one place to another makes a huge difference in global stratification.

Free movement of capital can lead to substantial inflows of foreign direct investment in any country, enabling them to have a higher rate of economic growth and making them more economically developed. On the other hand, countries with debts may have to pay more amounts to borrow - leading to an outflow of their capital and making them struggle economically.

Migration and stratification

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another.

Migration and stratification are related concepts since they both focus on what Weber (1922) called 'life chances'. Stratification is about 'who gets what life chances and why', while migration is concerned with the life chances one already has. Moreover, the long reach of stratification is visible in migration. Concomitantly, migration effects are visible in structures of stratification at both origin and destination locations.

When someone migrates from one place to another in search of a better job or lifestyle, they change the composition of the society they leave as well as the new society they enter. This directly affects economic and social stratification in both locations. Additionally, the composition of the origin society often forces people to migrate to a place whose society composition is more favourable for them. Migration and stratification are interdependent in this respect.

Immigration and stratification

Immigration is the action of moving to another country with the intention of living there permanently.

Similar to migration, immigration leads to people moving from one place to another for purposes such as jobs, a better lifestyle, or in the case of illegal immigrants, fleeing the situation in their home country. When these people move to the destination country, they will likely seek jobs, education, and amenities such as a home. This is likely to increase the number of working-class people in the destination country, while it leads to a decrease in the same in the home country.

Some effects of immigration on stratification for the destination country are:

• It may increase the number of people in the working class.
• It may increase the number of people seeking jobs (unemployed).
• It may change the cultural composition of society - the number of people belonging to a particular religion or faith may increase.

The reverse will be true for the home country.

What is global inequality?

Global inequality is a state where stratification is unequal. Thus, when resources are unequally distributed among nations, we see inequality among nations. Put more simply; there is an extreme difference between the richest and poorest nations. Inequality is even more important to understand in today's world, where it is not just a cause for concern for the poor, but the rich too. Savage (2021) argues that inequality now bothers the wealthy much more since they cannot use wealth to guarantee their security in a world they can ‘no longer predict and control’.

This inequality has two dimensions: gaps between nations, and gaps within nations (Neckerman & Torche, 2007).

Displays of global inequality as a phenomenon are all around us, and statistics are the best way to understand this.

A recent Oxfam (2020) report suggested the 2,153 richest people in the world are worth more than the poorest 4.6 billion combined. This is while 10% of the world’s population, or about 700 million people, still lives in extreme poverty (United Nations, 2018).

Fig. 1 - Global inequality occurs when resources are distributed unevenly among the world's nations and people. This leads to a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

Global stratification issues

There are a number of dimensions, typologies and defintions that are important to examine in global stratification.

Dimensions of global stratification

When we discuss stratification and inequality, most of us are accustomed to thinking of economic inequality. However, that is a narrow aspect of stratification, which also includes other issues such as social inequality and gender inequality. Let us understand these in a more detailed manner.

Social stratification

Historical examples of social stratification include slavery, caste systems and apartheid, though these still exist in some form today.

Classification of people into social hierarchies due to factors such as race, ethnicity, and religion is often the root cause of prejudice and discrimination. It can create and deeply aggravate conditions of economic inequality. Thus, social inequality is just as harmful as economic discrepancies.

Global stratification examples

There are a couple of important examples to take note of when it comes to global stratification.

Stratification based on gender and sexual orientation

Yet another dimension of global stratification is gender and sexual orientation. Individuals are categorised based on their gender and sexuality for multiple reasons, but this becomes a problem when a particular category is targeted and discriminated against for no apparent reason. Inequity arising from such stratification has become a cause of major concern.

For example, a number of crimes are committed against individuals who do not conform to 'traditional' genders or sexual orientations. This can range from 'everyday' street harassment to serious human rights violations such as culturally sanctioned rape and state-sanctioned executions. These abuses exist everywhere to different degrees, not only in poorer nations such as Somalia and Tibet, but also in wealthier countries such as the United States (Amnesty International, 2012).

Global stratification vs social stratification

Global stratification examines a variety of different types of distribution among individuals and nations, including economic and social distribution. On the other hand, social stratification only covers the social class and standing of individuals.

(Myrdal, 1970) pointed out that, when it comes to global inequality, both economic inequality and social inequality may concentrate the burden of poverty among certain segments of the earth's population. Thus, social stratification can be said to be a subset of global stratification, which has a much broader spectrum.

Fig. 2 - Classification of people into social hierarchies due to factors such as race, ethnicity, and religion is often the root cause of prejudice and discrimination. This causes social inequality and economic inequality among people and nations as well.

Typologies associated with global stratification

Key to our understanding of global stratification is how we categorise and measure it. Typologies are fundamental to this.

The evolution of global stratification typologies

In order to understand global inequality better, sociologists initially employed three broad categories to denote global stratification: most industrialised nations, industrialising nations, and least industrialised nations.

Replacement definitions and typologies placed nations into developed, developing, and undeveloped categories respectively. Although this typology was initially popular, critics said that calling some nations 'developed' made them sound superior, while calling others 'undeveloped' made them sound inferior. Although this classification scheme is still used, it too has begun to fall out of favour.

Today, a popular typology simply ranks nations into groups called wealthy (or high-income) nations, middle-income nations, and poor (or low-income) nations, based on measures such as gross domestic product per capita (GDP; the total value of a nation’s goods and services divided by its population). This typology has the advantage of emphasising the most important variable in global stratification: how much wealth a nation has.

Global stratification theories

Various theories attempt to explain the causes behind global inequality. Let us understand three important ones.

Modernisation theory

Modernisation theory argues that poor nations remain poor because they hold on to traditional (and therefore incorrect) attitudes, beliefs, technologies, and institutions (McClelland, 1967; Rostow, 1990). According to the theory, rich nations adopted the 'correct' beliefs, attitudes, and technologies early on, which in turn allowed them to adapt to trade and industrialisation, ultimately leading to economic growth.

Rich nations had a culture of willingness to work hard, adopted new ways of thinking and doing things, and focused on the future. This was in opposition to holding on to traditional beliefs, which were more predominant in the mindset and attitude of poorer nations.

Dependency theory

The assumptions of modernisation theory were heavily criticised by many sociologists, including Packenham (1992) who instead proposed what is known as dependency theory.

Wealthy colonising nations stole the resources of poorer countries, enslaved their people and used them as mere pawns to enhance their own economic conditions. They methodically installed their own governments, divided the population, and ruled the people. There was a lack of adequate education in these colonised territories, which prevented them from developing a robust and competent workforce. Colonies' resources were used to fuel the economic growth of colonisers, which accumulated massive debt for colonised nations, part of which still affects them.

Dependency theory is not limited to the colonisation of nations in the past. In today’s world, it can be seen in the way sophisticated multinational corporations continue to exploit the cheap labour and resources of the poorest nations. These corporations run sweatshops in many nations, where workers toil in inhumane conditions at extremely low wages because their own economy does not accommodate their needs (Sluiter, 2009).

World systems theory

Immanuel Wallerstein’s world systems approach (1979) uses an economic basis to understand global inequality.

The theory asserts that all nations are part of a complex and interdependent economic and political system, where an unequal allocation of resources puts countries in unequal positions of power. The countries are accordingly divided into three categories - core nations, semi-peripheral nations, and peripheral nations.

Core nations are dominant capitalist countries that are highly industrialised, with advanced technology and infrastructure. The general standard of living in these countries is higher because people have more access to resources, facilities, and education. For example, Western nations such as the USA, UK, Germany, Italy, and France.

Peripheral nations are the opposite - they have very little industrialisation and lack the necessary infrastructure and technology to grow economically. The little infrastructure they do possess is often means of production owned by organisations from core nations. They typically have unstable governments, and inadequate social programs, and are economically dependent on core nations for jobs and aid. Examples are Vietnam and Cuba.

Semi-peripheral nations are in-between nations. They are not powerful enough to dictate policy but act as a major source of raw material and an expanding middle-class marketplace for core nations, while also exploiting peripheral nations. For instance, Mexico provides abundant cheap agricultural labour to the USA and supplies the same goods to their market at a rate dictated by the USA, all without any of the constitutional protections offered to American workers.