Revision summary
Natural inequality is physical difference; social inequality is instituted rank. Rousseau drew the classic cut. Caste rank is endogamy and occupation, not nature. Class is property and market chance, not a talent queue. Davis-Moore naturalises class; Tumin and Marx refuse that.
Model answer
Introduction
Natural inequality refers to differences of body, age, or innate capacity that no society invents. Social inequality is the ranking of those differences, and of invented ranks, into honour, property, and power. Caste and class show the social production of rank.
Body
The cut
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau separated natural or physical inequality from moral or political inequality.
- Sociology studies the second: rules of marriage, property, and office.
Caste dimension
- Skin, strength, or intelligence do not map onto varna–jati rank.
- Louis Dumont stressed hierarchical holism; M. N. Srinivas showed mobility of style, not a natural ladder.
- Endogamy and occupation closure are social facts, as Emile Durkheim would name them.
Class dimension
- Karl Marx: class is a relation to means of production, not a natural talent queue.
- Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore claimed unequal reward sorts natural talent. Melvin Tumin answered that blocked schooling wastes talent and naturalises class.
- A Dalit graduate in informal work shows social closure over “natural” skill.
Caution
- Bodies differ. The error is to treat caste or class as nature’s own sorting.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD NAT[Bodily difference] --> NOT[Not caste class] SOC[Instituted rank] --> CASTE[Endogamy honour] SOC --> CLASS[Property market] IDEO[Nature talk] --> JUST[Justifies rank]
Conclusion
Natural inequality is bodily difference. Social inequality is instituted rank. Caste honour and class property are social. Treating them as nature is an ideology of the hierarchy.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
What are the new forms of family in developed societies? Discuss
Next question in the 2018 paper (Q1). View answer →
-
Does sociology deny biological difference?
It denies that caste and class are biological systems.
-
Is merit a natural inequality?
Measured merit is already schooled and credentialed, hence social.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2019 · Q1(b) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Davis and Moore made it clear that social stratification is a functional necessity and also an unconscious device. Discuss -
2019 · Q4(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Modernization presupposes class society; however caste, ethnicity and race are still predominant. Explain -
2019 · Q6(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Why is gender dimension of social stratification ? How does gender intersect other dimensions of inequality based on caste, class, race and ethnicity ? -
2018 · Q5(e) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
In social mobility possible in closed systems of stratification ? Illustrate from research work. -
2017 · Q4(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
What is Weberian critique of Marxist notion of social stratification -
2017 · Q4(b) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Examine gender. Ethnicity and race as major dimensions of social stratification -
2016 · Q1(e) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
"Vertical mobility brings structural change even in a closed social system." Comment -
2016 · Q2(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Elucidate the basic premises of Davis' structural-functional theory of social stratification. How far is it relevant in understanding contemporary Indian society.
More from this paper
Q1(a) · UPSC Mains 2018 · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
The focal point of sociology rests on interaction. How do you distinguish it from common sense?
Sociology
Sociology focuses on interaction as action oriented to others. Weber, Mead, and Goffman named that object. Common sense is Schutz’s unexamined stock of typifications. Durkheim’s rates and caste studies show why everyday talk is not enough. Sociology uses common-sense language and then tests it.
Q1(b) · UPSC Mains 2018 · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Distinguish between fact and value in Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
Sociological Thinkers: Karl Marx
Weber split value-relevance of the problem from value-discipline in proof. The question of modern capitalism is culturally selected. The claimed fact is elective affinity with inner-worldly asceticism. Ideal types organise the comparison. The book does not preach Calvinism as a duty.
Q1(c) · UPSC Mains 2018 · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Do you think T and Me are central terms in Mead's work
Sociology
Yes: I and Me are central in Mead. Me is the organised attitudes of others, the self as object. I is the unpredictable response that allows novelty. Play, game, and generalised other form the Me. Blumer’s interactionism inherits the pair.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.