Sociology

Societies are also characterized by structures of inequality and domination. We can find this within a society, in terms of wealth and social class, gender, ethnicity, and so on, but also between societies as nation states. Social stratification refers to the way in which these different levels, or strata, emerge and the relationships between them. Sociologists therefore ask where we draw the boundaries between strata, and how flexible they are in letting people to move from one level to another. 12-13