What is social inequality?
Social inequality means that things people value (money, respect, power, links) are shared unequally between groups. It is not only about one clever or lazy person. It is about patterns that repeat for whole groups.
Three kinds of resources (capital)
- Economic capital: money, land, property, income.
- Cultural capital: education, skills, the 'right' way of speaking and behaving.
- Social capital: networks of friends and contacts who can help you.
These three help each other. A rich family can pay for good schools (money → culture), and good schools give useful friends (culture → contacts).
Social stratification
Stratification means society is arranged in layers, like rock layers. Its key features:
- It belongs to society, not just to individuals.
- It passes from generation to generation.
- It is supported by beliefs that make it look fair or natural.
Prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination
Prejudice is a fixed opinion about a group, made before knowing the facts. It is usually negative.
A stereotype is one simple label stuck on every member of a group, for example 'people from that region are lazy'. It ignores that every person is different.
Discrimination is action: treating people unfairly because of their group, for example refusing a house to rent or a job. It can be hidden, so it is hard to prove.
Social exclusion
Social exclusion means a group is blocked from taking full part in society: schools, jobs, health care, public places, decisions.
- It is not accidental; it comes from how society is arranged.
- It is not voluntary. Sometimes the excluded group stops trying after years of insults, but that is a result of exclusion, not a choice.
- It is about groups, and it often lasts a long time.
Caste, untouchability and Dalits
The caste system puts people into groups at birth and ranks them. Two features matter most: caste was once linked to a fixed job, and castes were arranged in a ladder of purity and pollution.
Caste and money usually go together: higher castes on average own more land and hold better jobs; lower castes on average are poorer. There are exceptions, but the pattern is strong.
Untouchability
Untouchability was an extreme practice where people of the lowest castes were treated as 'polluting'. It had three sides:
- Exclusion: kept out of wells, temples, schools, shared food.
- Humiliation: forced to show 'respect' by removing footwear, bowing, standing aside.
- Exploitation: made to do dirty work like manual scavenging for little or no pay.
Over time these groups used names like Harijan (given by Gandhi) and, later, Dalit, meaning 'broken down / oppressed', chosen by the people themselves as a name of pride and protest.
What the state did
- The Constitution (Article 17) abolished untouchability.
- Reservations: seats kept for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in legislatures, government jobs and colleges.
- Laws such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) and the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act (1989).
What people did (non-state action)
Dalit leaders and movements, like those led by Jyotiba Phule, Periyar and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, fought for dignity. Dalit writers wrote poems and stories about their own lives, which gave the community a voice.
Other Backward Classes (OBCs)
OBCs are castes that were not treated as 'untouchable' but were still behind in education, jobs and power. Most are service and craft castes (farmers, potters, weavers, barbers, etc.).
- The first Backward Classes Commission (Kaka Kalelkar, 1953) made a list but its report was not acted on.
- The Mandal Commission (report 1980) found OBCs were a large share of the population and suggested 27% reservation in central government jobs; this was put in place from 1990.
- Southern states had OBC movements and reservations much earlier.
OBCs are a mixed group: some are rich land-owning farmers, others are very poor.
Adivasi (tribal) struggles
Adivasi means 'original inhabitant'. Scheduled Tribes are listed by the government for protection. Many live in forests and hills of central and north-east India.
Why they struggled
- Loss of forests: colonial and later forest laws made the forest 'state property', so Adivasis lost what fed them.
- Dams, mines and factories took their land. Many were displaced and got little compensation.
- Outsiders like money-lenders and contractors took over land.
How they fought
- Movements for separate states led to Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh (2000).
- Protests against big dams, such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
- Laws such as the Forest Rights Act (2006) now recognise forest rights.
Adivasi struggles are about land, forests, identity and self-rule, not only about money.
The struggle for women's equality
Women form about half of society, yet they have faced inequality at home, at work and in public life. This is not 'natural'; it was made by society.
19th-century reformers
Reformers like Raja Rammohun Roy (against sati), Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (widow remarriage), Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule (girls' schools) and Pandita Ramabai worked for women's rights. Women writers like Tarabai Shinde and Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain questioned male rule in their writing.
Freedom movement and after
- Women joined the national movement in large numbers.
- The Karachi Session (1931) of the Congress promised equal rights for women.
- The Constitution gave equal votes and equal rights to all adults.
The women's movement from the 1970s
It raised issues like dowry deaths, rape laws, domestic violence, unequal wages and the falling child sex ratio (fewer girls than boys born, due to sex-selective abortion). Laws followed, like the Domestic Violence Act (2005).
Rights of differently abled people
Society usually treats disability as a personal problem. Sociologists say disability is often created by society: stairs with no ramp, books with no Braille, and attitudes that pity or mock.
Common features of how disability is seen
- It is seen as a biological problem only.
- The person is seen as a victim.
- Disability is linked to the person's self-image.
- People think the person needs help all the time.
In India, disability is also tied to poverty: poor families get less health care, and disability can make a family poorer.
Rights, not charity
The disability rights movement says: change the world, not the person. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 promises equal access, education and reserved jobs. The words 'differently abled' or 'persons with disabilities' are preferred over insulting labels.
Try it: map exclusion around you
Try it (at home, 15 minutes): Walk around your school or street. Make a table with three columns: place, who can easily use it, who may be left out. Check for ramps, toilets for girls, signs only in one language, and who does cleaning work. Then in the 3D free-play step, raise the 'support' slider and see how many people can enter.
Key formulas and definitions
- Social inequality: unequal access to valued things (money, respect, power) between groups.
- Social exclusion: being blocked from full participation in society; involuntary and group-based.
- Economic, cultural and social capital: money, education/manners, and useful contacts.
- Prejudice: fixed opinion formed before knowing facts.
- Stereotype: one fixed label for a whole group.
- Discrimination: unfair action against a person because of their group.
- Untouchability: exclusion, humiliation and exploitation of the lowest castes; abolished by Article 17.
- Dalit: 'oppressed', a name chosen by the community itself.
- OBC: Other Backward Classes; Mandal Commission, 27% central job reservation.
- Adivasi: original inhabitant; Scheduled Tribes; struggles for land and forest.
- Child sex ratio: number of girls per 1000 boys aged 0-6.
Worked examples
1. A company rejects every job seeker from one community, saying 'they are not hard-working'. Name the stereotype and the discrimination.
Stereotype: the label 'not hard-working' stuck on the whole community. Discrimination: the action of rejecting them. The result, if it happens widely, is social exclusion from jobs.
2. A child of a doctor gets books, coaching and a family friend who helps with an internship. Which three capitals are at work?
Money for coaching = economic capital. Books and good schooling = cultural capital. The family friend = social capital.
3. A dam floods 40 villages of an Adivasi area. Families get a small cash payment but no land. Why do Adivasis resist this?
Land and forest give them food, work and identity. Cash runs out, and they lose their community. So the struggle is about land, forest rights and a say in decisions.
4. A state's child sex ratio falls from 945 to 900 girls per 1000 boys. What does it show?
45 fewer girls per 1000 boys. It points to son preference and sex-selective abortion, an issue raised by the women's movement.
Common mistakes
- Thinking exclusion is a choice. It is involuntary; giving up after years of insults is a result of exclusion.
- Mixing up prejudice (opinion) and discrimination (action).
- Thinking OBCs are the same as SCs. OBCs were not 'untouchable' but were still behind.
- Seeing disability only as a body problem. Society's barriers create much of it.