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Caste systems in Africa are a form of social stratification found in numerous ethnic groups, found in over fifteen countries, particularly in the Sahel, West Africa, and North Africa. [1] These caste systems feature endogamy , hierarchical status, inherited occupation, membership by birth, pollution concepts and restraints on commensality.
This form of social organization has also been called "segmentary lineage model", and prevailed mostly among Semitic peoples, such as Arabs or ancient Israelites, but also among Iranian societies, Slavic societies, Tai societies and some societies from East Africa such as the Nuer, whom Evans-Pritchard studied extensively.
The social status variables underlying social stratification are based in social perceptions and attitudes about various characteristics of persons and peoples. While many such variables cut across time and place, the relative weight placed on each variable and specific combinations of these variables will differ from place to place over time.
In a review of social stratification systems in Africa, Richter reports that the term caste has been used by French and American scholars to many groups of West African artisans. These groups have been described as inferior, deprived of all political power, have a specific occupation, are hereditary and sometimes despised by others.
A Marxist, Mafeje as a social theorist was known for his critiques of colonialism, apartheid, and other forms of oppression in Africa. A prominent member of the African left, he was critical of Western academic traditions and argued for developing an African-centered approach to social theory and anthropology. Mafeje's Marxist perspective and ...
The sociological analysis of race and ethnicity frequently interacts with postcolonial theory and other areas of sociology such as stratification and social psychology. At the level of political policy, ethnic relations is discussed in terms of either assimilationism or multiculturalism .
The German sociologist Max Weber argued stratification is based on three factors: property, status, and power. He claimed that social stratification is a result of the interaction of wealth (class), prestige status (or in German Stand) and power (party). [41] Property refers to one's material possessions. If someone has control of property ...
Status groups, social classes, and political parties are the constituent concepts of the three-component theory of stratification. Discussion of the relationships among status groups, social class, and political parties occurs in Weber's essay "Class, Status, Party", written before the First World War (1914–18); the first translation into ...