In four pages this paper examines social mobility and its limitations in a consideration of caste systems and class differences and the prejudice, bias, and racism that can exist in them. There are no sources cited.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPcaste.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Social stratification is reflected in all aspects of society. The various categories which we use to organize our various social classifications are not relicts of any sort of
natural order of the natural world but rather they express cultural values (student-provided source 1). Some social organization schemata are less hierarchical than others. Most often, however, we
tend to organize groups in a hierarchical pattern, a pattern which compares them to us and orders them from worst to best with our own cultural group most often being
perceived as the best. Societal pressures can, however, sometimes lead to the perception of our own group as inferior as well. Societal ranking typically leads to the presumption
that some groups are, by nature, entitled to more privileges than other groups (student-provided source 1). It should be noted that societal stratification may be either just or unjust
(student-provided source 2). Indeed: "By conferring income, prestige, power, and leisure time on those
who perform vital tasks a society encourages the discovery and development of human resources...a system of differential rewards motivates individuals to engage in the most significant activities possible (student-provided source
2, 254). Societal classification, however, can manifest in either class or caste differences.
There are significant differences between these two systems. While social mobility is possible within and between classes it is often perceived as impossible within or between castes (student-provided
source 1). The class system is in place throughout the world. In the United States, for example, we tend to classify ourselves as either lower, middle or upper