Social Class

In the modern context, society is divided on the basis of social class and social status. It is essentially a status class, birth is not only the basis of status, the achievement of an individual mostly decides his status, such as income, education, occupation.

Definitions of Social Class:

• Karl Marx,” The Social Class is all those people who share a common relationship to means of economic production”
• MacIver and Page, “A social class is a portion of community marked off from rest by social status.”
• Dictionary of Anthropology, ” The world-class refers to a group within a society that is distinguished by its social and economic level from another group.”

Class system

• provides scope for changing or improving one’s status.(income, occupation, wealth, education)
• Some groups have more access to means and resources While the others have less.
• Class is some extent stable, The case of class may undergo Slow/Gradual changes in some circumstances i.e (wars, revolutions, economic, political and social crisis)
• Economic stratification is vertical stratification in which more exploitation, discrimination, and inequalities prevail.

Karl Marx has propounded the concept of social class and explained that society itself is an example of class division.

Historical Findings:

• By,1998, There seems a big gap between the income and distribution system of the world. Less than 20% of people have ruled over more than 80% of people in the world, such inequality prevails in every nation. Even in the context of Nepal, there seems too high economic inequality.
• According to census 2001, more than 31% of people are below the poverty line.
• Poverty is high even on the basis of geographical regions and castes.
• The rate of land –ownership is also unequal. Thus, the gap between rich and poor is getting wider and wider.
• Even poverty is high even on the basis of Geographical regions and Castes,

The world is divided into the 1st world,2nd world, and 3rd world on the basis of the economy. (GDP, Per Capital Income, Literacy, etc)

• 1st world-USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, Australia, etc
• 2nd World-China, Poland, Russia, Hungary, etc
• 3rd World – Nepal, North Korea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Somalia, etc

Class-Based Stratification in Nepal:

• Our Nepali society is divided into High, Middle, and Lower classes on the basis of the economy.
• Although the lower class people are more in number, they have no access to means and resources, opportunities.
• Higher class people are few in number but still, they have better access to means and resources., opportunities, politics, and capital in Nepalese society.

Types of Classes:

There is also a division on the basis of class such as “Upper class, Middle Class and Lower Class”. Higher class people have more access everywhere in education, entertainment, politics, jobs, professions, and occupations. On the other hand, The poor /Lower class has no access to these sectors.

Upper Class

• High-level politician, Landlords, Businessman, Brokers, Royal Families, High-level Bureaucrats, Ranas, The lawmaker (luxurious life, Exploitation to lower-class, easy access of opportunities)

The Middle Class

• It is always struggling for an opportunity(different Professional group includes in this group, such as Occupational Groups of Doctors, Farmer, lower Bureaucrats, Engineers, Managers.

Lower Class

• Small Farmer, worker, Landless, rural occupational groups, etc.(large in number, very rare representation in politics, or decision-making sector, Very much essential part of Society). The lower class people have access to industries, businesses, share markets, housing, land, and vehicles. Many Nepalese people are deprived of basic facilities like health, accommodation, food, etc.

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