How are Hierarchy and Exclusion the major impediments in the transformation of societies? Discuss. (UPSC CSE Mains 2020 - Sociology, Paper 1)
- Social exclusion is systematic –it is result of structural hierarchical features of society. Exclusion is practiced regardless of the wishes of those who are excluded. For example, rich people are never found sleeping on the pavements or under bridges like thousands of homeless poor people in cities and towns. This does not mean that the rich are being excluded from access to pavements and park benches because they could certainly gain access if they wanted to but they choose not to. Social exclusion is sometimes wrongly justified by the same logic –it is said that the excluded group itself does not wish to participate. The truth of such an argument is not obvious when exclusion is preventing access to something desirable. Prolonged experience of discriminatory or insulting bahaviour often produces a reaction on the part of the excluded who then stop trying for inclusion. For example upper caste Hindu communities have often denied entry into temples for the lower castes and specially the dalits. After decades of such treatment the Dalits started building their own temple or convert to another religion like Buddhism, Christianity or Islam. After they do this they may no longer desire to be included in the Hindu temple or religious events. But this does not mean that social exclusion is not being practiced.
- A class system, is hierarchical in which the capitalists and the rich occupy the top position in the hierarchy while the workers and the poor occupy the bottom most position. The position in between these two is occupied by the middle class. Sociologists have also spoken of a six-fold division of class hierarchy.
- The principle of hierarchy is important in the area of operation of power and authority. Normally, power and authority flow from higher level to lower level as we witness it in all types of bureaucracies. The exercise of power and authority and the control of people and resource become organized in a hierarchical way. The higher the position of an individual in the hierarchy, the greater the power and control of resources that he has access to and vice versa. This kind of hierarchical principle can be seen in virtually every area of social life, from politics and economics to religion and education.
- More extensive the hierarchy, higher is the differentiation in the society. Further, according to the functionalists, hierarchy is also a symbol of rising specialisation and differentiation in the society. Post modernists argue that western societies, now have a continuum of individualised inequalities and hence, almost infinite strata and numerous hierarchies.
- Hierarchy can also be interpreted as the opposite of equality. Modern democratic societies provide for equality of opportunity and abhor hierarchy based on status.
- Hierarchy also results into unequal opportunities and unequal rewards. Unequal rewards further reinforce hierarchy. Marxists perceive this hierarchy as a design of the dominant classes and deem it inimical to classless society.
- Hierarchy is viewed in value-neutral terms also. In parlance of work organisation, hierarchy is a necessity. In organisations, hierarchy provides direction to the collective efforts and ensures that orders are executed. No organisation in the world is without a formal or informal hierarchy. In some organisations like army, it is very tight, in some organisations like startup tech firms, it is very loose.
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