Income groups, the rich and the poor, and the ruling class and subjects are achievement-based divisions in a society. The occupants of these status categories can move in or out of these through their efforts, or they could be pushed in or out by others. It is of course the case that children born in these groups do inherit the status of their parents, which serves as their launching pad. Societies are distinguished on the basis of whether they allow such mobility or not. The demand for social equality or for democratic rule can be seen as the demand for according primacy to achievement over ascription. Nevertheless, birth status does provide the launching pad for such upward or downward mobility. And as long as there is this up and down distinction, one can talk of these as strata.
The distinction between ascription and achievement is thus analytical; in actual social life, these two overlap. Where there is an over-emphasis on ascription and severe curbs on mobility, the system is generally defined as inegalitarian. But where mobility is not only permitted but encouraged, the system is seen to be closer to the ideals of equality. The socialist model of a classless society is a utopia, and the experiment did not succeed.
We shall discuss the key groups used as strata—Race, Tribe, Caste and Class. In subsequent we shall also discuss the concept of poverty, which defines the poor as a class.
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