Question

Read statements (1) and (2). Choose the correct answer:

Statement (1): Class represents one’s achieved social status

Statement (2): Caste represents one’s ascribed social status

1. Both statements (1) and (2) are correct.
2. Both statements (1) and (2) are false.
3. Statement (1) is correct but (2) is false.
4. Statement (2) is correct but (1) is false.

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Both statements (1) and (2) are correct.

• In Max Weber’s phraseology, caste and class are both status groups.
• While castes are perceived as hereditary groups with a fixed ritual status, social classes are defined in terms of the relations of production.
• A social class is a category of people who have a similar socio-economic status in relation to other classes in society.
• The individuals and families who are classified as part of the same social class have similar life chances, prestige, style of life, attitudes, etc.
• In the caste system, the status of a caste is determined not by economic and political privileges but by the ritualistic legitimation of authority.
• In the class system, ritual norms have no importance at all but power and wealth alone determine one’s status (Dumont, 1958).
• The class system differs in many respects from other forms of stratification—slavery, estate, and caste system.
• In earlier textbooks such as those written by Maclver, Davis, and Bottomore, it was observed that caste and class are polar opposites.
• They are antithetical to each other.
• While ‘class’ represents a ‘democratic society’ having equality of opportunity, ‘caste’ is obverse to it.

Hence, both statements (1) and (2) are correct.