social stratum

any identifiable ‘layer’ within a hierarchical system of SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, social STATUS positions, etc. (compare CLASS).
(formerly, in Eastern Europe) an identifiable grouping or category within a ‘non-antagonistic’ system of social stratification or social class. Such groupings or classes have been termed social strata and/ or ‘non-antagonistic’ in acknowledgement of the claim that all such groups share in a common relation to the MEANS OF PRODUCTION. They remain identifiable since their different levels of education, culture, consciousness, etc. continue to set them apart. See also INTELLIGENTSIA.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Social Stratum

an intermediate or transitional social group that does not have all the characteristics of a class, for example, the intelligentsia; also a class subdivision that possesses certain distinctive traits, for example, skilled and unskilled workers. In Marxism-Leninism, class is the basic element of scientific conceptions of the social structure of a class society and the social stratum is a subordinate element. In non-Marxist sociology, however, the social stratum is considered the basic element of social structure, while classes, if they are considered at all, are usually treated as one of the forms of social strata.

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References in periodicals archive

In prison, I conceived how to set up extensive private organizations in various social stratum and carry out resistance activities among the people.

The establishment of extensive private organizations: the foremost task for human rights guarantees and promoting democracy

There will always be a social stratum that finds itself at the bottom.

Estate was ruined by residents

To demonstrate these hypotheses, the book is divided into three main chapters, each dealing with a particular social stratum. Chapter Two on ruling classes and elites, in which Wirtschafter includes groups as diverse as the nobility, civil servants, soldiers, and clergy, is the least successful.

Social Identity in Imperial Russia

Yet he is a strikingly class-conscious theorist, and the social stratum with which he aligns himself is the one he deems most productive rock-wise - i.e., working-class/lower-middle-class males.

Rock and the Pop Narcotic: Testament for the Electric Church

For this evolving social stratum, dirt, dust and sexual incontinence were to be controlled with as much care as business debts.

The Middling Sort: Commerce, Gender and the Family in England, 1680-1780

"From below," on the other hand, street politics gave expression to lower class conceptions of appropriate behavior in public and local resentment of "intruders" from "outside." Ordinary people's animosity might be directed against employers, publicans, landlords, or shopkeepers who infringed local norms - even against members of one's own social stratum (i.e.

Strassenpolitik. Zur Sozialgeschichte der offentlichen Ordnung in Berlin 1900 bis 1914

"From below," on the other hand, street politics gave expression to lower class conceptions of appropriate behavior in public and local resentment of"intruders" from "outside." Ordinary people's animosity might be directed against employers, publicans, landlords, or shopkeepers who infringed local norms - even against members of one's own social stratum (i.e.

Strassenpolitik. Zur Sozialgeschichte der offentlichen Ordnung in Berlin 1900 bis 1914

Only one of the writers, the baker's wife Boukje Posthuma, was from a lower social stratum. Her diary has shed some light on the experiences of people from the lower classes.

A cracked mirror: images and self-images of elderly men and women in the Netherlands in the nineteenth century

This collaboration will pair loan extension by JS Bank with the provision of knowledge and best practices by SEED, to help advance and develop entrepreneurship in different economic and social stratums. By working with various stakeholders of the entrepreneurial eco-system, the two organizations aim to help these businesses accelerate and optimize their potential and develop the required skillset for sustainable growth.

JS Bank partners with seed ventures for entrepreneurial growth